What To Know Before Accepting A Job With A High Risk Of Injury

While you can get injured on any kind of job, certain types of jobs have a higher risk of injury than others. These tend to be physical jobs, which hold the risk of you accidentally injuring yourself with work equipment, or jobs that place you in dangerous situations, such as a mine, or if you work in the police force. However, the higher risk of injury shouldn’t scare you off – you just need to be aware of certain things before accepting the job offer, so that you know what to expect. We’ll be guiding you through what you need to know. 

Worker’s Compensation

If you sustain an injury on the job, you may become a candidate for worker’s compensation. This means that the company will be responsible for all your medical expenses, and sometimes even more than just that. How big of a financial contribution you receive will depend on a variety of factors, such as the type and severity of the injury, as well as whether you will be able to fully recover or not. It is advisable to get a lawyer to help you claim worker’s compensation since it can be a tricky thing to navigate.

Medical Benefits

It’s not generally a requirement that businesses give their employees medical benefits, but there are various reasons why they should. Medical benefits can come in the form of medical aid, medical insurance, or any other type of contribution towards medical expenses. It’s something to look for if you’re taking a job with a high risk of injury. If the job you land doesn’t cover it, you should still consider getting it, even if you need to pay for it yourself. The monthly expense may seem unnecessary, but it will be much worse if you need to pay out a lump sum out of your savings to cover your medical expenses.

Safety Procedures & Precautions

With any job – but especially one with a bigger chance of injury – both employers and employees need to make the work environment as safe as possible. While you’re going for interviews, be sure to ask companies what extra precautions and preventive measures they’ve taken to ensure their employees’ safety. Once you land the job, make sure you do everything you can on your side to stay safe, such as following any safety procedures and attending any state-required site safety training the job requires. For example, manufacturing businesses may have different safety protocols to electrical companies.

Leave

All companies are required to give their employees a certain amount of leave per year, so legally, you should be getting sick leave that you can use if you’re injured on the job. However, once that sick leave runs out, you’ll have to use your annual leave, and once that runs out, you’ll need to take unpaid leave. This means that a serious injury could end up costing you money. Be sure to ask any prospective employers what types of leave they offer. After that, you can then decide whether it’s a risk you’re willing to take or not.