The Importance of Reporting a Workplace Injury to Your Employer
There were more than 120,000 ‘serious’ claims for a work-related injury in Australia in 2019-20, meaning workers’ compensation claims that are accepted for an incapacity that results in a worker being off work for a week or more.
A workers’ compensation claim begins with an injured worker reporting the incident that caused their injury to a work health and safety (WHS) supervisor or manager.
It is crucial this report is made as soon as possible after a work injury occurs. Failure to do so may affect a later workers’ compensation or common law claim a person makes in relation to the work injury.
Many workplaces have formal work accident reporting procedures and protocols as part of the company’s WHS policy which will create a record of the circumstances of the accident.
But even where this is the case, or in the absence of this reporting method, a work injury should promptly be reported to management and, in some cases, co-workers who were involved in or witnessed the incident.
A work capacity certificate from a doctor should also be obtained as soon as possible after the incident.
Important steps to take after the accident
Whether the injury or illness you sustain as a result of a work incident is serious or not, it’s important to seek medical treatment as soon as possible afterwards. In some circumstances, obviously, immediate first aid will be required.
Even a minor injury should be reported. Some workers can brush off a work-related injury as insignificant only for it to later flare up and be more serious than first thought. This can be problematic if there is no initial record to support a subsequent compensation claim.
In making a report, an injured worker should always detail any old, pre-existing injuries, particularly if there are in the same area as the new injury.
A doctor will treat the injury and also provide a Certificate of Capacity. This document is vital in terms of a workers’ compensation claim, providing information about the injury to an insurer on an injured person’s capacity for work and their entitlement to compensation.
The certificate will result in an injury management plan on the treatment and rehabilitation of the injury, and whether retraining may be required.
Just as importantly, the certificate is a record which can become evidence in any later dispute about a compensation claim.
Why a record of the injury is vital
In a workers’ compensation case from 2016 a disability support worker brought a claim against her employer alleging that she’d hurt her back while pulling a client’s wheelchair over the step of a doorway. But the worker failed to record details of the incident she said caused the injury in the facility’s daily records book. There was also no evidence she had made a complaint to her employer or a doctor regarding the injury at the time the incident occurred.
The court heard that the plaintiff had also suffered a back injury in 2010 which was almost identical to the injury for which she claimed. It also heard that despite a number of visits to her doctor after the alleged work incident, the worker had not mentioned the work injury until a number of weeks after it occurred.
Ultimately the court did not accept the woman’s account of the injury and entered a judgment for the defendant.
The case emphasized the importance of making a record of a work injury as soon as possible after the incident, as well as establishing a medical record by visiting a medical professional, also as soon as possible.
Speak with expert personal injury lawyers
At Gajic Lawyers, workers’ compensation claims and work injury damages claims are our specialties.
If you’ve experienced injury or illness at work, seek immediate treatment but also consider calling our personal injury professionals straightaway. We can give you the guidance you need in a time of significant stress to put you in the best position to make a compensation claim for your work injury.
We’ll help with the gathering of evidence, medical assessments, initial claims for medical expenses and lost wages, and anything else you may be entitled to as a result of the injury.
To learn more about compensation claims, contact us at Parramatta, Cabramatta, Perth, and Adelaide Compensation lawyers team today.
