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Personal Injury vs. Workplace Accident

When it comes to injuries sustained on the job, there are three primary ways to tackle it:

  • Take no action
  • File a worker’s compensation claim
  • File a personal injury claim

If the injury is minor and does not warrant a medical provider’s attention (for instance, a scraped knee, superficial bruise, or small cut) there is no reason to file a claim. But if an accident occurs that causes more serious injuries and requires care from a doctor or other medical provider (such as a broken bone, back or knee injury, major lacerations, or worse), then you will need to consider filing a worker’s compensation claim or personal injury claim.

To help explain which option is best for you, let’s take a look at the general differences between personal injuries and workplace accidents and explore your options should your injuries occur while working.

What Is a Personal Injury?

When a person sustains a personal injury, they have suffered damage due to the intentional or unintentional negligence of another person. Overall, personal injury is typically an umbrella term that covers a wide range of accidents and incidents, including:

There are several parameters surrounding personal injury cases. It’s one thing to sustain bodily injury or property damage on private or public property, but it’s another to suffer damages due to another’s negligence or misconduct.

For an accident to be considered for a personal injury case, the following must be true:

The defendant was required to fulfill a duty of care.

“Duty of care” refers to a person or entity’s responsibility to exhibit care to prevent harm to others. For example, duties of care can include:

  • Driving safely so as not to cause a car accident or injury.
  • Adequate warning of danger or risk (for instance, a “caution: wet floor” sign in a store or a “caution: contents hot” notice on coffee cups).
  • Providing quality care to patients throughout their treatment.
  • Providing quality care to nursing home residents throughout their residency.
  • Ensuring product safety quality control or providing adequate warnings of a potentially hazardous product.

The defendant breached their requirement to fulfill their duty of care.

For a person to successfully file a personal injury claim, they must be able to prove that the defendant breached their duty of care, which led to the injury or damage. Examples of a breach include:

  • Reckless, distracted driving, or knowingly operating a malfunctioning vehicle.
  • Failing to warn others of a wet, slippery surface at a store or other space with public access.
  • Providing substandard medical care with the understanding that it could result in injury for the patient.
  • Providing substandard nursing care with the understanding that it could result in injury for the nursing home resident.
  • Failing to perform quality control or to provide adequate warnings of a potentially dangerous product.

The plaintiff sustained an injury following a breach of the defendant’s duty of care.

Personal injury cases are only viable if an injury occurred only as a direct result of another party’s negligence or misconduct. Examples include:

  • A reckless driver who was texting while driving crashed into another vehicle and caused bodily injury to the driver and/or passenger(s).
  • A storeowner failed to address a wet spot on the floor, leading to a customer slipping, falling, and sustaining an injury.
  • A medical provider provided substandard care to a patient, leading to worsening conditions, a decline in health, or additional complications or injuries.
  • A nursing home staff provided substandard care to a resident, leading to a decline in health or an increase in medical complications or injuries.
  • A product manufacturer did not check the quality of a product before releasing it for distribution and sale.

If all three criteria are met in your situation, you likely have a personal injury case on your hands.

What Is a Workplace Accident?

A workplace accident is a particular type of injury that happens while performing workplace duties:

  • At the place of work
  • On a job site
  • On the road while in a company vehicle
  • Fulfilling a work-related task in your personal vehicle

Common Types of Workplace Accidents

Some of the most common types of workplace accidents reported include:

  • Overextension and repetitive stress injuries – Employees who lift heavy items or perform the same motions repeatedly throughout the day for weeks or months at a time can either overextend themselves to the point of injury or eventually develop a stress injury.
  • Falls—Employees can sustain injury from a slip-and-fall incident or after falling from a higher surface, such as a roof, scaffolding, or lift.
  • Car accidents—Employees who drive company cars or their own personal vehicles for work-related purposes can sustain injury if an accident occurs on the road. Accidents that occur en route to and from work, while on a lunch break, or while running a personal errand do not usually count as workplace accidents.
  • Electrocution—Those who work with electricity and electrical equipment are at a higher risk of electrocution. Electrocution can occur when working with faulty machinery or equipment; it can also be a consequence of a poorly managed job site.
  • Being struck by an object—From boxes that fall off shelves in a warehouse to pieces of construction material that topple over, there are several ways an employee can incur injuries after being stuck by something.
  • Entanglement—Those who work in factories or are around large machinery and equipment run the risk of sustaining injury if a body part becomes entangled in the machinery or equipment.

Are Workplace Accidents Also Considered Personal Injury?

Construction team providing first aid to a coworker after a falling accident at a construction site.

When someone gets hurt on the job, there are one of two primary ways to approach it:

  • File a workers’ compensation claim
  • File a personal injury claim

About Workers’ Compensation Claims

Workers’ compensation, or workers’ comp, is a no-fault system that serves employees who are injured on the job. Those injured are not required to provide proof of negligence or misconduct; they only need evidence that an injury was sustained while performing work-related duties.

Workers’ comp benefits are unique to each company’s insurance policy but typically include benefits that cover:

  • Medical expenses for treatment or rehabilitation
  • Partial reimbursement for lost wages during the recovery period
  • Temporary or permanent disability benefits, if applicable
  • Travel expenses for medical treatment, if applicable

About Workplace Personal Injury Claims

For someone to file a personal injury claim due to a workplace accident, they are required to prove negligence on the part of the accused, usually a subcontractor, vendor, or any other third party who is not your employer* or a coworker*. From a manufacturer that provided faulty equipment to a subcontractor that created an unsafe environment on a job site, there are many reasons you may be able to file a personal injury claim for a workplace accident.

*It’s rare that you would be able to file a personal injury claim against your employer, as workers’ compensation laws protect employers from liability—although there are extenuating circumstances. That’s why it’s crucial to speak with a work injury lawyer.

Personal injury damages you can seek compensation for may include:

  • Economic damages due to medical bills, loss of income, property damage, and more.
  • Non-economic damages due to the pain and suffering experienced after the injury. This can include mental and emotional distress, as well as the sadness and depression that comes from losing quality of life.
  • Punitive damages that are designed to punish the defendant. This only applies to cases of either gross negligence or malicious, intentional negligence.

Have you been injured on the job? Make the right move by partnering with the personal injury and workers’ compensation lawyers at Clark, Smith & Sizemore.

Our work injury lawyers have fiercely represented employees injured at their place of work or on the job. Workplace accidents can be tricky, and the laws can be complex. Let us navigate the case for you, fighting for you to receive fair compensation and the benefits you deserve.

Call us today for a free consultation: 478-254-5040.

Thanks for checking out part 3 in our 6-part series about personal injury. Stay tuned for all of our personal injury articles, which include: