What to do when you’re hurt on the job

The last thing anyone expects is to get hurt at work. But it does happen, and the company you work for probably has certain procedures in place for such events. The first thing you should always do is tell your supervisor that you got hurt and immediately go see your doctor or the closest walk in clinic or hospital. We can’t stress this enough, it’s extremely important to keep accurate records of everything right from the beginning. The State of Wisconsin provides a standard form for all employers to report a work injury, in which employers are required to fill out. If an injury is severe enough and you’ll be missing more than 3 days of work, you employer must fill out the paper work and submit it to their insurance company within a week.

Once your employer submits the paper work to the insurance company, you might be asked to give a recorded statement, please remember you are not legally required to do this. A recorded statement is not a necessary part of the proceedings for worker’s compensation and you should always contact an attorney before giving any recorded statements. If you have any questions at all about this it’s best to speak to an attorney.

A few things to keep a record of for your worker’s compensation benefits:

1. The date of the injury
2. The cause of the accident and the source
3. The nature of the injury (was it a cut, a sprain, etc)
4. What action were you performing (lifting, carrying, etc)
5. If you were lifting, what was the weight of the object
6. Physical symptoms, how long they’ve lasted, and if the symptoms recurred
7. Were there any witnesses
8. Name of all the doctors, hospitals or walk in clinics you visited
9. Keep records of all money spent on doctors visits, exams, medicine, and treatments
10. Document all the days you were not working because of your injury
11. Keeps records of all the written statements you provided
12. Documentation of any paper work you’ve signed regarding your worker’s compensation claim

If you have been injured at your job and need legal representation, please contact our worker’s compensation attorneys at 414-259-9300. Schmidlkofer, Toth, Loeb & Drosen, LLC can handle your worker’s compensation case in Wauwatosa, WI and surrounding Wisconsin areas including Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine and Kenosha Counties. Your employer and their insurance company have their best interest in mind and will do their best to settle your claim for as little as possible; don’t allow this to happen. Our attorneys have your best interest in mind and we’ll work to get you the settlement you deserve.