When you are injured at work, it’s vital to report the matter immediately to your employer or any senior. If you develop an occupational illness, you should inform your employer about it as soon as you notice its symptoms.
Here is why you need to do this:
Get immediate medical attention
If you sustain an injury at work or contract an illness and report it to your employer, they should follow the company’s outlined procedures to help you receive treatment. Taking too long to report your case may cause you a delay in getting medical help. By the time you visit a doctor, the condition may have worsened. Besides, an injury that may seem minor, not warranting to be reported, may become serious with time.
Link your injuries to work duties
It can be easier to prove an injury occurred when you were in the line of duty if you report it immediately. If you wait days after it happened, your employer’s insurance company may argue you were injured by an element outside work. You may need more evidence to link the injury to your work duties.
Quicker access to benefits
A work-related injury or illness may cause you to miss work. You may need to miss work to fully recover. In such an instance, you will lose wages and other benefits. When you report an injury/illness quickly, your employer can initiate an investigation and file a First Report of Injury, allowing you timely access to workers’ compensation benefits.
Reporting a work injury or occupational illness promptly offers many advantages. If your employer’s insurer refuses to compensate you or to do so fairly, consider legal guidance to know the steps to take to receive what you deserve.