Whether you work in construction and are injured in a construction site accident in Miami or anywhere in South Florida or whether you work in an office and suffer serious injuries due to inadequate security in your Miami or South Florida workplace, there are laws to protect you. Although you may be entitled to workers compensation in Miami or your home town, keep in mind that the costs of your injury can be very significant and can include:
1) Loss of income. One of the first expenses you will encounter is loss of income. You may not be able to work for weeks or months due to your injury, and this will reduce and eventually stop the income you have coming in – even if you have insurance and other benefits.
2) Medical costs. Whether you have been injured in the workplace or have been in a work-related car collision in Miami or another community, you may be rushed to the hospital and you may have immediate medical costs. These may include an ambulance to the hospital, surgery, emergency medical care, follow-up care, and other medical expenses. Medical expenses for catastrophic injury can be enormous. Someone who has suffered a serious spinal cord injury in Miami, for example, can spend more than $100 000 for medical expenses in the first year of injury alone.
3) Long-term medical costs. You may need home care or rehabilitation – long-term costs that can really add up.
4) Incidental medical costs and “optional” medical costs. Even if your workplace offers benefits and medical coverage, insurance carriers may not cover some costs – such as so called “cosmetic surgery” to heal scars or “cosmetic” dental surgery to replace teeth. Therapy and counseling may also not be covered, even though you may require these types of services to heal fully. In addition, most serious injuries have multiple incidental medical costs. You may need to pay for braces for soft tissue injuries, for example, or for crutches or a cane.
5) Property damage. If you have been in a traffic or truck accident in Miami or another South Florida community, you may also face substantial costs in repairing or replacing your vehicle and other property damaged in the collision.
6) Transportation costs. If you are seriously injured after your workplace accident, you may not be able to drive. You may need to rely on taxi cabs or another service to travel to doctor’s appointments and to complete everyday tasks. If you are injured for weeks or months, these costs can be significant.
7) Accessibility costs. You may need to alter your workplace, car, or home to make it accessible to you while you recover. For example, if you are in a wheelchair you may need to stay in a different residence or may need to install a wheelchair ramp. Having your home and car altered can be very expensive and in many cases insurance will not fully cover these costs.
8) Long-term loss of income potential. If your injuries are serious, you may not be able to return to your regular line of work. This often happens with serious construction site accidents in Miami and across Florida, for example. If you are forced to take a lower-paying job once you recover partly, you may be making less and struggling financially.
In many cases, you need legal advice after a serious workplace accident to ensure that your rights are protected. The legal team at the Flaxman Law Group has worked extensively on many workplace accident cases, including workplace traffic accident cases, construction accident cases, insufficient security cases, slip and fall cases, and other personal injury cases. If you have been injured in the workplace, call the Flaxman Law Group for a free, no obligation case evaluation.