Were you poisoned on the job?

Each person has the right to a safely maintained workplace, and should not have to suffer injuries in order to make a living. However, while some jobs present very real threats, such as those involving large machinery, some workplaces poison an individual through exposure to toxic substances. This might happen quickly in a single incident, but most often it occurs incrementally over time.

If your workplace contains toxins, then you may be facing toxic exposure. Toxic exposure is a serious injury on par with a broken or severed limb, but the variety of symptoms it presents can make it difficult to identify and diagnose.

If you believe that toxins present at your workplace injured you, there are several direct courses of action you can take to seek a fair remedy and help create a safer workplace for yourself and for others.

Identify threats and push for solutions

The first and most important thing you must do is get proper medical treatment. Not only will experienced, professional medical treatment potentially cure the effects of toxic exposure, it will aid you in collecting official documentation on what exactly caused your illness.

Toxic exposure is not magic, and with proper medical care, it is possible to determine definitively what substance affected you. Knowing exactly the substance can help determine where you encountered it and who is to blame.

If you work in an environment where you believe you suffered toxic exposure, then there is a very real risk that others also suffered similar exposure or may in the future. Your employer has a responsibility to ensure that the workplace is reasonably safe, and should know of any present danger.

They may choose to remedy the issue in a number of ways, and if you faced exposure on the job, you do not want to return to work until it is safe to do so.

Documentation is key

Toxic exposure is a tricky breed of injury. You may have to go to great lengths to prove that you encountered toxic substances in your workplace in order to receive compensation for your losses.

Also, you may miss a significant amount of work while in recovery, or simply waiting for the workplace to be safe to work in again.

No matter what the specifics of your claim, it is vital that you obtain as much documentation as possible – especially documentation from your medical care provider and any paperwork associated with reporting the issue to your employer.

The more documentation that you can amass, the more complete a picture you and your team can assemble when building your injury case.

Build a team that understands law and medicine

Do not make the mistake of shortchanging yourself with subpar legal counsel when building the case that may be the fight of your life.

It is wise to consider proper, professional legal counsel from an experienced attorney who understands both the law surrounding toxic exposure and the medical implications. Strong legal counsel will use this combination of disciplines to defend your rights and pursue fair compensation for your losses.