Accident Not Reported

HRLA · April 2003

One of our employees notified us that they slipped and fell on some stairs two weeks ago on site and never reported it since he did not seem to be hurt at the time. Now he is complaining that he has to seek medical attention and to count it as a workers compensation claim. We have a policy that the accident / injury should be reported immediately, not to mention our drug testing policy following an accident.

What are our options? Can we refuse to count it as a workers comp injury since so much time has passed before since the accident and a report of injury or incident was never filed. We have not had a problem with this employee and he is currently NOT under any type of displinary actions or probation for his work.

Any comments are suggestions would be appreciated.

Whatever · April 2003

If you have a workers comp. carrier, file the claim. Then it is up to them to decide the merits of the claim. If you don't have a workers comp. carrier, what does your state law define as timely notification?

Separately, what exactly does the company state about the reporting of on the job accidents? Has the issue arisen in the past and if so, what was done? Is the failure to report an accident subject to disciplinary action? I know these are a lot of questions, but you have two separate issues here.

sonny · April 2003

Ditto to whatever

HRLA · April 2003

Thanks for the quick response. To answer your questions, the company policy requires that on the job accidents are to be reported immediately. Believe it or not, this is the first time that an employee of ours has filed an accident report in an untimely manner, so we have no previous reference.

Our disciplinary policy reads that unsatisifactory job performance or failure to follow required policy and procedures is a reason for discipline, however it does not specifically state late reporting of an accident or injury. I am inclined to discipline and consistently handle it this way in the future.

What do you suggest? Thanks.

mtrokey · April 2003

Like was mentioned before, I would call your WC carrier. They will probably tell you to get the information and reports together and to file the report. It might depend on your wc carrier though.

As far as discipline, I believe you said that it states something along the lines of reporting in a timely manner or something along those lines. Might want to revise and identify what a timely manner is.

Since this has never happened before, therefore there is no past similar situations, I would councel the employee on the need to report injuries within a certain period of time. I would not treat it as a discipline procedure, but just to councel. Basically let them know that worker safety is a top concern of the company. Hopefully, that should take care of the situation.

My company unfortunately has ran into similar situations, and as of right now our policy is a little vague when it comes to identifying what a timely manner is, we are currently in the process of revising.

Hope that helps. just my 2 cents

HRLA · April 2003

Thanks, I appreciate the input!

Anita · April 2003

Our policy is that all incidents/accidents must be reported within 24 hours, no matter how small or trivial the incident/accident seems. All we require is that at least the in house form is completed, so that if in the future there is a problem we have documentation showing how, when, why, what you know the ususal. If the incident/accident isn't reported within 24 hours disciplinary action will be taken. The first time it usually is just a verbal(written) to show the employee that their safety is very important to the company, and to stress the importance of reporting.

WOCO Frank · April 2003

Our reporting policy is pretty stringent. Each of our 25 locations has a step-by-step procedure posted, and part of that procedure is that employees must immediately call me personally to report the incident, unless they are being loaded into an ambulance. To meet that end, the posting includes my office, home, and personal cell numbers.

Realistically, there's not much I can do if they don't follow the procedure, other than verbally counsel them. But the average expense of an incident when I'm notified immediately is less than one-third that of claims in which I am not notified.

moon · September 2003

Your policy make act as a deterent against accidents reported late; however, it cannot prevail against the law in Lousisana. The LA statutes only consider as untimely a report of accident that is not made within 30 days.

Moon

marc · September 2003

Our state gives 7 days to report the accident and then up to 90 days for file claims for the medical expenses. If the 90 days have lapsed, no claim.

If the accident was not reported according to your policy, a write-up or verbal warning is in order - this sets a good tone for your safety concerns and believe it or not, carries some weight with you wc carrier when it comes to policy writing decisions.

Once you are aware, you must file the claim(s. Let them sort it out after that.

Accident Not Reported

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