There were almost three million workplace injuries in the United States, in 2015. This means that if you are employed somewhere, especially if your work is in any way dangerous such as construction, or other industrial jobs, there is a good chance that you may be prone to suffering an injury on the job. If you have been injured at work, it is important to know what steps need to be taken afterwards. Employers have comprehensive workers’ compensation insurance, in the unfortunate event of a workplace injury, to help cover treatment and rehabilitation for their employees.
After being injured on the job, the employee may need to work with their employer, a case manager for the insurance company, and sometimes a lawyer, to file a claim. However, along with filing a claim, after you are injured on the job, the first step is to alert someone who can help you.
Therefore, after receiving medical attention, you will need to alert your immediate supervisor or boss to make them aware of what happened. Most companies, by law, have workers’ compensation procedures in place that they follow in case an employee does become injured on-site. A record or some type of documentation will need to be recorded about how, when, and where the injury occurred, and the events that take place after the injury. Keep a copy of this documentation for yourself, and submit another copy to your supervisor.
Workers’ compensation law varies from state to state. In other words, many states have what is called a statute of limitations on when a person can file a claim after being injured at work. In the state of Florida, workers’ compensation laws state, that a person has 30 days from the day their injury occurred to file a claim. It is important that you see your doctor immediately after being injured, and most importantly, file your claim early.
If not reported within those 30 days, the insurance company will often deny your workers’ comp benefits. Your workers’ compensation lawyer or nurse case manager can tell you what the laws and claim deadline is in your state, and whether any exceptions may apply to you.
Florida Sportsmedicine and Orthopaedics is a leader in diagnosing and treating work-related injuries. As a certified Expert Medical Advisor (EMA) for the state of Florida, Dr. Talkington understands the Florida workers’ compensation system and develops treatment plans that focus on the injured employee and obtaining maximum medical improvement (MMI) as quickly as possible.
Our office team works together with the employee, adjuster, and nurse case manager to ensure that the employee returns to work as quickly and safely as possible. We take pride in our reports and our timely communications.
