- November 4, 2020
- Workers' Compensation
It’s fairly common for an employer to pull out the first aid kit for a slight scrape or burn on-site while you and the manager decide what to do about the injury. But what happens when employers attempt to fix or treat injuries on-site rather than sending you for medical treatment? There are certainly times when an employer sends someone to a medical professional to treat a workplace injury. That should be the case most of the time for most North Carolina employees.
However, we all know that employers will do everything possible to avoid a workers’ compensation claim. Sometimes that means downplaying an injury, or patching the employee up with a standard first aid kit on-site and calling it a day. All varieties of industries have come up with creative solutions to get out of workers comp claims and not all of them are reasonable or even helpful.
Mustard on Burns
Kitchens and restaurants are notorious for hot spots. If you’ve worked in a kitchen, then you know that burns are a daily occasion, even with the best of preventative measures in place. So many kitchen managers have turned to use mustard or vinegar to quell burns and avoid blisters on-site. Except this doesn’t work.
Mustard on burns is one of those old wives’ tales that really hasn’t fallen out of fashion. So it’s not surprising when a kitchen manager slaps some mustard on a burn and calls it a day. Only to have the employee complaining the next day that the burn is still a problem and it has gotten worse.
Super Glue on Lacerations
Superglue and liquid stitches are basically the same things, right? No. This is common in the restaurant industry, construction industry, service industries, and even in administrative positions such as in schools and call centers. It seems like everyone has superglue on hand and the moment someone gets cut they use it to close the wound on-site.
Using Superglue to close a wound rather than treating the wound properly can lead to complications with the healing process and infection. When medical professionals treat a wound, they can properly clean it, and determine if liquid stitches, stitches, staples, or simple bandaging will cause the best healing process. Don’t use super glue on lacerations.
Why Don’t Employers Send Staff for Medical Attention?
Most employers don’t send their employees for medical attention because they don’t want to start a workers’ comp claim. This is a massive legal issue and could cause the employee or being reliable for a lot more than a workers’ comp claim. However, there are situations where an employer does not have to carry Workers Compensation Insurance.
It is possible that your employer chose not to send you because they didn’t have coverage whether or not they needed it. But, under the North Carolina workers compensation act any business that has three or more employees must carry Workers Compensation Insurance with a few exceptions. Railroad employees, domestic servants, farm laborers, agricultural workers, and federal government employees shouldn’t expect workers’ compensation coverage. Casual employees or those who work but not frequently or as an independent contractor should also not expect workers’ compensation coverage.
Temporary workers, such as those working through a temp agency or those working as an independent contractor, are especially susceptible to sustaining injuries on the job and not having access to workers’ compensation benefits.
Finding a North Carolina Workers Compensation Attorney
Hurt on the job? North Carolina workers’ compensation attorneys help those who know I should have access to workers’ compensation claims and more hurt on the job. If your employer was required to carry Workers Compensation, then there’s no reason they shouldn’t send you for medical treatment for any workplace injury. If your employer attempted to treat the injury themselves or said that you didn’t need to go for medical help then they may be in more trouble than having a simple workers comp claim on our hands.
To get help in filing your workers’ compensation claim, and understanding exactly what happened and what complications might arise from on-site treatment, contact the North Carolina workers’ compensation attorneys. Will help you get started with finding the right attorney for your case and assessing exactly what happened after the injury that could affect your health now. On-site treatment such as using mustard on a burn might have aggravated the injury. There are many situations where employers believe they were saving money on a workers’ comp claim, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have access to filing a claim and getting benefits and treatment for your injuries.
