Three Things To Do When Injured at Work

Work injuries, industrial injuries, and workers’ compensation accidents…whatever you want to call them, work accidents happen daily. If you are injured on the job, here are three things to do when injured at work in Louisiana:

1) Report the accident and injury to your supervisor immediately.  I’ve heard too many times from injured workers that they are “not the type to sue” or “not the type to file a claim” and don’t want to report a work accident and injury when it occurs because they don’t want to get the company in trouble.  If you fail to report a work accident or if you wait too long to report a work accident, you are only hurting yourself in the long run.

2) Demand that your employer make a claim to their workers’ compensation insurance company.  All employers are required by law to have either workers’ compensation insurance or to be self-insured. Neither you nor your employer should be penalized for making a claim to the workers’ compensation insurance company. However, the longer you and/or your employer wait to report an accident, the longer it can take you to get the medical treatment you need to return to work.

3) Demand to see your own choice of physician.  Arguably, this is the most important thing that you can do after being injured in a work accident.  Under Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Law, you are entitled to treat with your own choice of physician in any field or specialty.  Most employers will immediately send you to an occupational medicine clinic or an urgent care facility immediately after the accident.  Even if you’ve been sent to such facilities by your own employer, you need to demand to see your own choice of physician to get a proper diagnosis and treatment plan from a specialist. While not all injuries require specialty treatment (minor cuts, scrapes, abrasions, and burns), injuries to your back, neck, shoulders, knees, head, and others normally need specialty treatment.