The unfortunate truth is that accidents happen, and when they do, parents can become overwhelmed with fear. Children are often expected to be monitored while working, but should something go wrong, as a parent, you’ll need to have some ideas in mind to seek compensation if you feel justified in doing so. While you may be tempted to brush an incident aside, there are situations where you’ll want to hire an attorney who represents children in these kinds of personal injury cases. Keep reading to learn what to do if your child is injured on the job.

Assess the Injury

If one or more of your children are injured on the job, the injury might be more severe than a mere bruise, especially if time passes and you don’t notice. Once you notice the injury, carefully inspect the damage prior to immediately doing any self-treatment maneuvers. Any time your child is injured, you’ll want to have as clear of an understanding of the injury as possible so you avoid the risk of exacerbating the issue. This is also a good time to ask any follow-up questions related to the injury so you can have some background information to help an attorney get off to a good start. Once you have a full assessment of the injury, you’ll be better equipped to know your legal rights going forward. Considering that employees have 20 days from the date of the accident to notify the employer about an injury that took place, you might want to get started on your initial assessment and subsequent examinations as soon as possible. That could even mean taking your children to a doctor to get a physical examination done.

Learn the Law

Know your right to file a claim before you even step foot in your attorney’s office. If your child were filing a claim as an adult, he or she would have the same legal rights. One or more of your children endured some kind of suffering, physical pain, or any other legitimate reasons that would support a personal injury claim. But the law varies from state to state. For example, in Mississippi, children aged 16 are considered minors for employment purposes. That knowledge is worth knowing if you’re a Mississippi resident because you would have to know whether all of the criteria were met before filing a claim. So, for now, get some legal knowledge yourself, but later talk it over with an attorney to make sure your child’s rights are best represented.

Provide Safety Guidance and Assurance

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that about 19% of US adults and 31% of adolescents will experience anxiety. That means that if your child was injured at work, there is a good chance that they may experience some challenging mental health symptoms as well. For that reason, you should take the time to be a shoulder of support for your children, being considerate enough to explain that the pain will end and that there is a way that they’ll be compensated for their injury.

Understand Negligent Supervision Claims

There are reasonable circumstances where your child will need to be supervised at work. Depending on the type of work being done, supervision might be a requirement. But what about a situation where your child gets injured because dangerous items are left in reach? Chemical substances, drugs, and even guns can end up in children’s hands if they’re left unattended, and because of common sense, should your children be exposed to anything hazardous, you would find an attorney interested in pursuing a negligent supervision claim. Additionally, failing to provide children with protection from physical and emotional harm is another circumstance where you would have a right to this claim. So, be sure to talk over the rules surrounding supervision so your attorney can have a clearer picture. If you want to know how serious negligence is, understand that even older adults have to worry about supervision issues. Almost 40% of assisted living residents received assistance with three or more daily living activities. When you’re preparing a legal defense, whether your child needs assistance or not is up to you to think about.

In the future, you’ll have everything you need to file a personal injury claim on behalf of one or more of your children. It’s possible the compensation won’t have as profound of an effect as you’d expect. But even then, taking the time to stand up for your child’s rights can do a lot to help them with their confidence and impression of you. It’s unfortunate that children can get hurt at work, but as a parent, always trust that with the right attorney, you can get the compensation you deserve for your child.