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Your injury may vary, minor to severe
Below is a list of common injuries:
Head injury, or brain injury, back injury, whiplash injury, shoulder injury, broken bones including nose, arm, leg, finger or toe fractures including fractured shoulder, arm, leg or finger, loss of limb I.e the loss of a leg or arm, loss of finger, thumb or toe, wrist injury or hand injury and there are many more...
Suffering an injury at work can have a detrimental effect on a person’s life, health, finances etc. There are a number of repercussions after suffering an injury and these may include:
Physical health issues
The pain and potential permanent scarring or impairment can cause much misery to an individual. Certain injuries take a long time to heal and just continuing to carry out normal everyday tasks can be challenging. Not everyone has a good support network of family and friends who are able to help and the severity of the injury will dictate the level of self-sufficiency. Just going to the toilet can be a mission in itself and this can also have an impact a person’s mental health.
An injured person may not be able to play with their children, or carry out their usual social and recreational activities (such as bike riding with friends). They may not be able to make love to their partner, or suffer a loss of libido and this may affect relationships.
Both physical and mental health can have a positive or a negative impact on relationships with family and friends on so many levels. While an injury can bring people closer together it can also drive them further apart. An injury quite often has a ripple effect on everyone.
Mental health issues
The stress, the shock and potential anxiety can lead to a variety of mental health conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or it can even aggravate a previous mental health condition.
It has been known for an injured person may become dependent on prescription drugs, alcohol or other non-prescription drugs. Some of these drugs can lead to other physical health conditions. It is absolutely imperative that the necessary treatment is sought as early on as possible, before the condition gets out of hand. An injured person may require counseling and the use of cognitivebehavioural therapy may be of great help to overcome the injury on a mental level.
Inability to return to work
An injury may mean being off work for a while until it has fully healed. A severe injury may mean never being able to return to work. Unfortunately some injuries can be extremely debilitating and result in a permanent impairment. In some cases an injured person may have to think about re-training for an alternative career if possible.
Financial stress and making a claim for compensation
If you are off work you may be entitled to receive Workers Compensation. The Workers comp insurer pays your wages whilst you are off work and covers your medical expenses. If you have suffered a permanent injury you may also be entitled to a lump sum payment. If your employer (or fellow worker) was negligent is any way you may also be entitled to make a common law claim (or negligence claim). The Workers compensation insurer will assess your injury and issue you with a Notice of Assessment (or NOA) this will state the percentage of impairment according to their assessment. At this point do seek professional legal advice before signing as you will lose your rights to future compensation such as a common law claim if you accept the offer. Advice from a personal injury lawyer does not have to cost you anything either. You can call the Legal Compensation Helpline on 1300 850 441 who will offer you free legal advice and a free consultation.
Worry of what others think and say
Suffering an injury can set off all sorts of emotions. You may feel bad about being off work, guilty about not being able to look after yourself or your family. You might somehow feel you were to blame for the accident even though it wasn’t your fault at all. These feelings of worthlessness can cause a lot of upset and if you make a claim for compensation you may find yourself questioning your own integrity or morality. It is important to remember that workers compensation is a legal entitlement that is there to support you and compensate your for losses, expenses and pain and suffering.
Of course there are those who judge, but unless they have been in the situation of suffering an injury and experienced all the repercussions of that injury perhaps they will never know what it’s really like. Whatever people think, they truly don’t know. Nothing is black and white, shades of grey is really all that exists.