Becoming injured in the workplace is potentially debilitating. Keeping your bills in check, putting food on the table, and keeping track of your injury-related medical bills can quickly become a tense and frustrating experience. If you’re hurt on the job, you may qualify to receive workers’ compensation benefits from your employer. Workers’ compensation benefits assist those who are hurt on the job. It can help by covering necessary medical costs, including prescriptions, surgeries, therapy, and follow-up visits to the doctor. In fact, your employer’s workers’ compensation policy may have a list of approved doctors who can see injured workers free of charge. For workers who are unable to work either temporarily or permanently, workers’ compensation may provide them with a portion of their wages. Loss of Sight In our day-to-day lives, sight is arguably the most important of our five senses. Everything we interact with, especially in a work environment, is perceived by vision. It stands to reason that losing your sight is perhaps the ultimate threat to your career and your livelihood. If you work at a sawmill or as a chemical engineer, you are at risk of losing your sight on the job. A small piece of saw dust or even a small splash of chemicals is all it would take to make you go blind. When that happens, you may be no longer be able to work. Nearly every profession available requires the use of sight. Name it, and it likely requires your eyes. Butchers must see the meat they chop, computer technicians must be able to see a monitor, taxi drivers need to see the road—the list goes on. The loss of your sight is a practical guarantee that you will be out of a job. Pain and Suffering Often, workers believe that they are entitled to receive pain and suffering through workers’ compensation. Unfortunately, pain and suffering is not paid through workers’ compensation. Rather, injured workers are entitled to benefits that can provide a wealth of benefit in helping them rebuild their life after losing their sight. Social Security Disability In addition to workers’ compensation, loss of sight means that you are likely qualified to receive Social Security Disability. Make sure that you speak with an experienced attorney to determine if Social Security Disability is an option for you. Help with Medical Expenses If you’re injured on the job, workers’ compensation may assist you by helping with your medical expenses. This may include pain management medicine, eye drops, and eye surgery. Payment of Wages If you are unable to continue working as you’re healing, workers’ compensation may pay a portion of your lost wages. If you’re completely disabled, you may qualify to receive a portion of your lost wages for an extended period of time. You may also be eligible to receive disability through Social Security. Job Training In the likely case that you can no longer perform your job because of your loss of sight, you may qualify for job training in order to find a job you can perform. In this instance, you should remember that you apply for disability. Don’t Face the Insurance Company Alone If you’ve lost your sight on the job, don’t face the insurance company alone. It is possible that you may inadvertently sign away some of your legal rights if you sign a settlement agreement. In that case, it’s very likely that you’d get far less than you deserve. In order to protect your rights as an injured worker, you should make it a priority to call a workers’ compensation attorney. Don’t hesitate. An attorney can help you protect your legal rights and handle the insurance company on your behalf.
