Injured At Work? Here’s What To Do.
As indicated throughout our website, it is important to hire a workers’ compensation attorney to help assist you with your claim. However, it is not likely that you will have an attorney already hired before you suffer an injury on the job.
This article is designed to briefly tell you what to do as soon as you get hurt on the job. Of course, after you fill out the claim form and see the doctor, you need to contact an experienced California workers’ comp lawyer.
- The first step after any work comp injury is to report the injury immediately to your supervisor.
- Also, if you are able, make a mental note of any witnesses that might have seen your injury.
- Collect any evidence and take pictures of the accident site, unless you are not allowed to take photographs at your job due to confidentiality or security policies.
Completing The DWC-1 Is Important
Your employer should give you a California workers’ compensation claim form, also called a DWC-1, once you report the injury.
As an injured worker, you have the right to demand the form if your employer does not give you the work comp claim form. You will need to fill out your portion of the form to begin your workers’ compensation claim in California. Ask the employer to fill out their section and request a copy of the work comp claim form.
Details Matter
Make sure that you include all injured body parts. If something falls on your shoulder, but your back is the body part that hurts, then make sure that you at least list the shoulder and the back as injured body parts. You can amend your claim later, but it is best to list all body parts that you think may have been injured as a result of the work injury.
It is better to be over-inclusive than under-inclusive. You don’t want to lie or misstate an injury, but if you think that any body part may have been injured, then list it on the form and then get the injury checked out by a workers’ compensation doctor.
Learn More In A Free Consultation
Contact a local workers’ compensation lawyer who can help use that file to fight for all possible workers’ comp benefits. Call Law Office of Eric M. Overholt at 619-908-1563 or send an email to request a time to meet.