Part 4 - After an Injury

Reporting Your Injury

When injured on the job most workers first thought (or hope) is that the injury is not serious.  An injury can be embarrassing and there is usually a concern that the injury may put their job at risk.  For these reasons and others, many workers fail to report injuries or minimize their report of pain.  These are serious mistakes.

The right thing to do for your claim is to immediately report your accident and pain to your supervisor.  Workers should make a truthful report, not minimizing pain or excusing the cause of the accident to gain favor with the employer.  It is important that the worker get prompt medical attention.  Exaggerating the facts, that the accident was no one’s fault or that the injury was minor. 

It is important that the accident and injury be reported immediately.  The longer a worker waits to report an injury the worse it is going to look to the employer.  The company will become suspicious, with good reason, if a worker fails to inform them of an on the job injury.  A worker may think that they will look better to the company if they do not report the accident or minimize the seriousness of the injury but this almost always makes things worse.  Do the right thing.  Truthfully and fully report all injuries to employers and seek immediate medical attention.