What should an injured offshore worker watch out for?

Injured offshore workers have many potential risks that they need to watch out for when attempting to pursue their rights. The injured worker must report the injury within a reasonable timeframe. In many cases, injured workers are persuaded to hold off on reporting their injury in order to see if they start feeling better. However, this frequently backfires on the injured worker. It is very common for the employer to officially deny that any accident happened if it was not immediately reported. Injured workers must also watch out for the company doctor. The company doctor may seem as though they are there to help. However, in reality, they are paid by the company and will actively work to minimize the reports of the sverity of the injury, as well as not perform appropriate diagnostic testing that may reveal the true nature of the injury. It is critical that injured workers see a doctor that they choose, who is not paid by the company. Our firm regularly helps injured workers immediately find a doctor and we also pay for the doctor’s visits.

Injured workers must avoid giving a recorded statement. Recorded statements are conducted by individuals who are trained to minimize the value of the claim. In many cases, questions asked in recorded statements are not fair questions and only calculated to trick or mislead the worker. If a company needed information from a worker, then they can get the information from the incident report. The real reason behind a company recording the statement is to try to use it against the worker in the future to reduce the value of the claim. If a company asks for a recorded statement, the worker should refuse and immediately contact a lawyer! You have a right to speak to a lawyer before giving any recorded statement.