Speaking Up: Why You Should Always Report Injuries at Work

Getting injured is a pain—literally! And while you may be tempted to tough it out and avoid making a big deal out of an injury, that’s usually not the right approach, especially if the injury happened at your workplace. Here are the four reasons why you should always report workplace injuries.

Injuries Aren’t Always as Minor as They Initially Seem

You may feel like there’s no need to report your injury because you aren’t experiencing many symptoms. Just because an injury seems minor, though, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is. There could be more serious damage than you realize. For example, you may think you’re fine on the day of the incident, only to struggle even getting out of bed the next. You should report every injury, as you never know when one will be more severe than you think.

You May Need to Take Time off

If an injury prohibits you from doing your job, then you’ll need to take time off until you’ve healed. Your employer should be fine with this if you’ve let them know about the injury, but if you haven’t, you’ll be burning through your days off. Save those for a vacation by letting your employer know when you need time off due to injury.

It’s Important If You Need to File a Worker’s Compensation Claim

Incidents at the workplace are covered by your employer’s worker’s compensation insurance policy, which pays for any costs you incur from the injury, such as lost wages if you need to take time off and medical expenses. You won’t get anything if you fail to report your injury, though, and there are limits on how long you have to make a claim. By reporting an injury, you can get a record started. This will come in handy in getting your claim approved or winning an appeal if your claim is denied and you need to hire a worker’s comp attorney like Gilbert, Blaszcyk & Milburn LLP or someone similar.

Your Employer Could Adjust Your Workload

If your injury isn’t too bad but causes some issues with your typical workload, then your employer may be able to adjust what you do or your schedule to help you out. Employers will often be amenable for injuries, especially those that occurred at the workplace, but only if you report what happened.

There’s no downside to reporting an injury at work, but there’s plenty of potential upside. Keep yourself covered by reporting any injuries as soon as possible.