When you are injured at work, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. The Workers’ Compensation Division will oversee and administer your claim to ensure you receive compensation promptly. However, to receive the benefits, you may have to prove your injury is work-related.
Here is how you can gather evidence for a work-related injury:
Injury report
When you are injured at work, you should report sooner. Your employer will then write a first report of injury, which will be your vital evidence.
Photos
You should take photos of your injury, the accident scene, the equipment/tool that injured you and any other aspect that may have contributed to the accident. This will help establish the cause of the injury and prove that it’s work-related.
Your employer should also investigate the accident scene to gather the necessary evidence and solve the problem, protecting other employees.
Witness statements
Witness statements are crucial in proving a work-related injury. Thus, you should take statements from the people around the scene when you were injured. Of course, most of what they say is what you told your employer when reporting, but they may also have a different perspective, perhaps one may have seen the accident from a different angle.
Time reports
It may help to get time reports to show you had clocked in at the time of the accident. These reports can come in handy when your employer’s insurer argues that you may have suffered the injury outside work.
Medical records
After reporting your injury, you should get medical help and keep your records, from ambulance rides to medications.
If you are injured at work, you should gather evidence. However, if you need medical attention immediately, ask a close colleague to help you. It’s also wise to learn as much as you can about your legal rights and options.