Q: I was recently involved in a near mishap at work.
I tripped and fell in the shop just as one of our trucks was backing into it. The driver of the truck could not hear my shouts but, lucky for me, one of my workmates got his attention and he stopped the vehicle. Had he not, I would have been seriously injured, perhaps even killed.
All of it worked out and we joke about it now, but the whole thing is bothering me. I don’t sleep well at night. I get tense at times when I am working in the shop and I am overall not as jovial as I like to be.
Read Also
A power of attorney document may no longer be enough
Recently, some financial institutions have begun imposing their own internal form of “verification” requirement with respect to powers of attorney.
Am I making too much of this or is it possible that my little accident is having this kind of an effect on me?
A: The short answer to your question is “yes”.
Although you were not physically hurt in any way, you may well have been traumatized by the incident.
Unfortunately, we live in a world that does not fully appreciate trauma, and you may have some trouble getting your supervisor to understand that you are struggling with significant emotional re-sponses to your near miss.
I suggest you ask your physician for a referral to a mental health clinic to help you work through the traumatic experience. The sooner she can make the referral, the better.
Hopefully, if it is diagnosed as trauma, she can enroll you in a program to help you sort through it.
As well, you should write out the experience you had in the shop.
Because no one was seriously hurt physically, the chances are that the incident has not been recorded. You should document it. Perhaps, you can even get the truck driver and the other people in the shop to verify it for you.
Unfortunately, people have abused claims for trauma to workers compensation boards, and as a result, they tend to be a little wary of claims.
The board will likely need something in writing from the clinic and a copy of the incident report before it will support a claim for a few days of leave.
Finally, ignore the jokes your workmates are making about your mishap. They were not watching a truck backing up in your path.
Trauma, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Your workmates are not likely to understand yours, but that does not make your experience any less valid.
You have every right to continue the road to recovery with or without their help. It is just up to you to take that journey.
