Fact Checked What should you do after sustaining a workplace injury?
One of the most important things an injured worker can do after sustaining a workplace injury is reporting the injury. Rather than a verbal report of the injury, the injured worker should request that an incident report be completed, noting the accurate time, location, mechanism of injury, and injured body parts. A signed incident report with both the injured worker and a supervisor signature is best. Incident reports are one of the best ways an injured worker can document a contemporaneous account of how the injury occurred and a detailed description of symptoms following an injury.
Even if an injury is severe enough to require immediate medical attention or transport to a medical provider, the injured worker should request that a report be completed in the following days. Generally speaking, completion of the incident report also provides the worker an opportunity to tell the employer that their worker’s compensation carrier needs to be notified of the injury and the claim filing process needs to begin. If an incident report is not offered by the employer, it is prudent to still document the situation to human resources in writing via email or text to memorialize that the incident was appropriately reported.
Speaking to an experienced worker’s compensation attorney about immediate incident reporting steps to take can significantly reduce issues with the worker’s compensation carrier down the road.
