An employee injury can be a stressful event for any business. Not only do you have to worry about the well-being of your employee, but you also have to navigate the often-complex world of workers’ compensation insurance. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the first steps you need to take when your employee has been injured on the job.
Get Your Employee Medical Attention as Soon as Possible
This should be your top priority. If the injury is serious, call 911 or have someone drive them to the nearest hospital emergency room. For less serious injuries, you can either schedule an appointment with their regular doctor or take them to an urgent care center.
Notify Your Workers’ Compensation Insurance Carrier as Soon as Possible
You should have the contact information for your carrier readily available. If you don’t, now is a good time to create an emergency file that includes this information as well as the contact information for other important people and businesses (e.g., HR, health insurance carrier, etc.). Once you’ve made contact with your workers’ compensation insurance carrier, they will likely send out a claims adjuster to investigate the accident and start the claims process.
Notify Your Human Resources Department or Designated Contact Person
They will need to know about the accident in order to start taking steps on their end, such as gathering required paperwork or notifying your health insurance carrier (if you have one).
Cooperate With Investigators From Your Workers’ Compensation Insurance Carrier
It’s important to remember that these investigators are not there to accuse anyone of anything; they’re simply gathering facts so that they can process the claim more efficiently.
Keep Detailed Records Throughout the Process
This includes things like copies of all correspondence with your workers’ compensation insurance carrier, doctor’s notes, and any other documentation related to the accident and/or injury. Keeping meticulous records will help ensure that everything goes smoothly and will give you a paper trail to fall back on if any problems arise further down the road. Your work site accident attorney will also appreciate having access to documentation.
Check in With Your Employee Regularly
An injury can be a traumatic event, both physically and emotionally. Checking in with your employee regularly will show that you care about their well-being and will help them feel more comfortable coming to you with any problems or concerns they might have about their recovery or return to work.
An employee injury can be a difficult thing for any business owner to deal with; however, it’s important to remember that by taking some simple proactive steps, you can minimize the disruption to your business and help ensure a quick and seamless recovery for your injured employee.
