The Immense Risk of Working While Intoxicated

If you call a St. Louis workers compensation attorney after sustaining damage at work, there is an excellent chance that you’ll get the legal assistance you need. One exception is if you were intoxicated at the time of the injury, as this condition usually disqualifies you from obtaining benefits. This result is just one of the many issues that are associated with working under the influence. Below, we detail a few more of them and try to convince you to never go to work in this state.

Losing Your Job

The first risk you run when you work intoxicated is losing your job. Even if you think you can hide your condition, there is a greater chance you can’t. A co-worker or superior is bound to observe strange behavior, smell your breath, or catch you in some other way. Even worse, many companies have the tools needed to test you right then and there. The result will be a significant punishment, with termination being a probable outcome.

Worsened Motor Skills

As far as job performance, your ability to complete typical work tasks will be diminished. In a white-collar setting, this effect will lead to poor performance. This result is unfavorable, but not disastrous. The severe consequences come when that worker is in a blue-collar setting, where dangerous machinery is commonplace. Under these conditions, a lapse in motor skills could lead to a gruesome injury.

Poor Judgement

Another factor that can lead to injury is poor judgment. When things go wrong at work, you need to act quickly to resolve them. An intoxicated person will not have the ability to do so. Additionally, you might create problems through your lack of judgment. An example might be cutting a corner on a safety protocol and paying the price for it.

Fatigue

Alcohol and other drugs often cause immense fatigue. This factor can lead to your reaction time slowing or you falling asleep entirely. Both can cause poor performance and put you at risk of sustaining an injury. Being tired is dangerous enough on its own, but combining it with a mind-altering substance takes it to another level.

Your Potential Workers’ Compensation Claim

Much of our discussion in this article has been about getting injured at work. What you might be thinking is that even if you do sustain damages, you’ll be able to collect benefits for them. If so, you are mistaken. Being intoxicated is one of the few circumstances in which you lose your potential support. The reason is that extremely negligent actions negate workers’ compensations coverage. A few examples of this behavior are horseplay, starting fights, and working under the influence.

Ultimately, you must do whatever you can to stay away from work while intoxicated. While most workers have no trouble with this task, others can’t help themselves. If the latter is the case for you, you might want to seek professional help. On the other hand, you might sustain a work injury while being entirely sober. In that situation, your next step will be calling aSt. Louis work injury attorney for assistance.