How Keeping a Journal Can Help Your Maritime Injury Claim

You’ve been hurt while working your maritime job. Your to-do list is probably endless at the moment, between doctors’ appointments, updating work about your injury, and focusing on your recovery. However, adding one more thing to your list—maintaining an injury journal—can help you with your maritime injury claim.

Find out how an injury journal can help you. If you’re struggling to get the compensation you deserve after a maritime injury, call Fuquay Law Firm at 251-473-4443.

Keep the Details Fresh in Your Mind

One of the main benefits of an injury journal is its ability to preserve your memories. After an injury, you may not think you’ll ever forget it. When the pain is fresh and you’re reliving the accident in your mind, writing the details down might seem unnecessary. However, details fade quickly. If you have to talk about the accident to your workplace or their insurance provider, you’ll want to be able to provide details about the injury and your recovery.

Gather Specific Details About Your Treatment

You may see a number of specialists and care providers during your recovery. The dates and names of providers may start to blend together, which will make it difficult to tell your workplace about your treatment progress.

Your journal should have a short review of each appointment you go to, any progress you have made, and any recommendations the care provider gave you. This is especially important if your injury leaves you permanently disabled, as your appointment log will show limited to no progress over a period of weeks or months.

Note Your Physical Limitations

Since you were injured at work, you’re likely able to talk about how your injury has affected your work. However, it likely affects many other parts of your life, and those are equally important. Take a few minutes each day to note what limitations you ran into as you went about your day.

Maybe you weren’t able to make it to the mailbox because of your crutches, so you had to call a neighbor for help. Perhaps your medication left you unable to drive, so you had to sort out a ride home from school for your child. You might have tried to do laundry, only to find yourself unable to lift the basket. If your workplace is refusing to compensate you fairly for your injuries, you’ll need proof that your injuries are serious enough to affect your life in a negative way.

As a side note, you may also want to jot down your pain level each day. It doesn’t have to be detailed—even just a rating from one to ten could give an overall picture of your pain levels over time.

Keep Notes on Work Interactions

Many maritime employers handle workplace injuries very well. They give you space to recover, don’t fight your injury claims, and don’t try to force you back to work before you’re ready. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Some employers are a little too pushy with their injured employees.

They may reach out asking for updates more often than necessary, demand in-depth details of your doctor’s appointments, or try to convince you that you are ready to come back to work. This type of pressure can significantly hinder your progress—not only are you trying to recover, but now you’re also worried about losing your job.

If your workplace is making it harder for you to heal or otherwise behaving inappropriately to you after an injury, make sure to document these conversations in your injury journal. If they attempt to fire you after you return, having conveniently found “performance issues” to blame it on, you’ll have documentation of their attempts to force you back to work.

Get Help with Your Maritime Injury Claim—Call Fuquay Law Firm

Maritime injuries can leave you unable to work and provide for your family, which is why it is so important that you get the full compensation you deserve after an accident. Luckily, there are many laws protecting maritime workers after injuries. If your employer is making it difficult for you to get what you’re owed, we’re here to help. Call Fuquay Law Firm at 251-473-4443 or reach out online to schedule a consultation.