Injury at Work

If one of your employees suffers an injury at work, make sure their injury is treated as soon as possible. If it’s an emergency, call 911 right away. After the injury, your employee can file a claim with your workers’ compensation insurance, also known as workers’ comp, to help get important benefits, like medical treatment coverage.

There are different state laws for this coverage depending on where you live. Generally, if your business has employees, you’ll need workers’ comp. However, even if your business isn’t required to carry this coverage, it can still be a good idea to get it. Many employees with a work-related injury sue their employer for their medical expenses. Without coverage, you’ll be financially responsible. And if you can’t cover the costs out of pocket, it can be devastating for your small business.

It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t usually need coverage for independent contractors that you hire for your company, and that workers’ compensation doesn’t help cover personal injury claims that aren’t caused by a person’s work.

If You Have an Employee Injured on the Job, Don’t Panic

1. Act fast: If your employee needs immediate medical attention, call 911 or an ambulance to take them to the hospital.
2. Follow all Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommendations: OSHA requires employers to notify the agency when severe work-related injuries occur. You’ll need to report employee deaths within eight hours and hospitalizations, amputations or eye loss within 24 hours. Call the 24-hour hotline at 800-321-6742 or report the incident online.
3. Review your emergency plan: Follow the steps outlined in your plan for work-related injuries. If you don’t have an emergency plan, consider creating one, because it’s best to prepare for the worst. Your plan should detail the steps for different emergencies, including accidents and fires.
4. Get employees to a safe place after an injury: Move any other employees in the area to somewhere safe. This can reduce the risk of additional injured workers.
5. Review the situation: When your employee is injured at work, you’ll need to determine how severe it is and what caused it. This can help you decide if you should file an injury claim or not.
6. Get information, evidence and photos: Document your employee’s injury with photos. Even if they say they’re fine, you should still note the injury in case they file a claim in the future. You may also want to speak with other employees who witnessed the accident.
7. Maintain open, honest communication: Be transparent with your employee and insurance company while going through the workers’ compensation claim process.

What to Do When an Employee Is Injured off the Job

If there’s an employee injured off the job, workers’ compensation insurance won’t provide them with benefits. To get workers’ comp benefits, an employee must experience an injury at work. If your employee is injured outside of work, their health insurance can help cover the costs of their treatment.

When Work Injury Compensation Is Not an Option

Most states require businesses to carry workers’ compensation insurance if they have employees. But there may be exceptions for employees in certain industries, like:

• Domestic workers
• Agricultural workers
• Seasonal workers

If these workers are injured, and you’re not required to carry coverage for them, they’ll likely have to handle their medical bills on their own. If they’re an independent contractor, they may have workers’ compensation coverage from their main company.

Navigating a Workplace Injury

It’s not uncommon for employees to get hurt on the job no matter what industry you’re in. Whether you’re a contractor, plumber, or even a barber, everyone is susceptible to injury and illness from a work-related cause.

If your employee has a work-related injury or illness, you should seek medical care for them. Your employee should file a report with the company to start the workers’ compensation process. After getting their report, you can start documenting and gathering information about their injury or illness.

Each state has a time limit for filing workers’ compensation claims related to workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities. You may want to make sure your employees know about any statute of limitations. No matter where you live, the sooner they file an injury report, the better. If they wait too long, your employees could lose their workers’ compensation benefits.

What Injuries Should Be Reported at Work?

Employees should report any workplace injuries that are caused by normal work activities or job duties. Some of the most common causes of workplace injuries include:

• Slips and falls, such as an employee sliding on ice outside your office or slipping on a wet floor.
• Improper lifting technique, which can cause an immediate injury or a repetitive stress injury, like tendinitis.
• Car accidents while your employees drive for business purposes.

Although these are some of the more common ways your employees can get an injury at work, workplace injuries can vary from industry to industry. For example, construction employees may experience different workplace accidents than someone working in an accounting firm.

How The Hartford Helps When an Employee Is Injured on the Job

Workers’ compensation insurance is just one way we help get injured or ill employees returning to work quickly. With workers’ comp, we can help pay for your employees’ medical treatments if they get injured on the job. We can also offer wage replacement, which helps replace most of their lost income if they take time off from work to recover.

Our team of insurance specialists are here to help you. If one of your employees gets injured on the job, we make filing a workers’ compensation claim easy. To learn more about workers’ comp and other liability insurance policies you may need, get a quote today.