Today, workplace injuries are still a significant concern for most employers. On the upside, these workplace injuries have steadily been declining over the last few years. In contrast, workplace injuries that lead to a fatality are on the rise.
If an incident in your workplace or place of business does occur, it’s important to handle things carefully and according to a strict procedure to keep even the notion of a malpractice or disfigurement lawyer at bay.
What to Do When There Is a Workplace Injury
When an injury or accident occurs, time is going to be a precious resource. It’s important to be prepared in advance and knows how to react both swiftly and appropriately. This is true whether any injuries resulting from a given accident are critical or minor.
Ensure Everyone is Safe and Medical Care Has Been Ordered
Before anything else, health and safety need to be taken care of. First, this means making sure all employees involved in the accident have been looked over by a medical professional for signs of injury. If any damages are found, they must be tended by a medical professional as well as documented.
In an emergency situation, medical professionals may need to be called in, or employees may need to be taken to a hospital. Again, this must be taken care of before anything else. Even in non-emergency situations, any injured employee must be seen by a medical professional that is capable of creating a medical record of the injury and event. This can be done at a clinic as well as a hospital.
Make Sure the Scene of the Accident is Secured, As Is Any Evidence
In addition to marking off the scene of the accident until an investigation has been completed, it’s important to mark or make copies of any footage of other potential documentation or evidence of the accident.
Record and Details Using the Proper Forms and Protocol
Depending on what was involved in the accident, the severity, and your location you may need to fill out different forms and notify various agencies or related parties. In any case, this record-keeping should be done as soon as possible.
Help the Employee Return to Work
Even in a case with only minor injuries, any employee should be welcomed back and whatever jobs or activities they are required to perform should be evaluated so they will not stress or worsen their injury. For some, this may mean temporarily changing their assigned duties.
Make a Plan to Prevent Future Incidents
Now that an accident has occurred, it’s essential that there are measures in place to prevent this from happening again in the future. A string of related accidents could lead to consequences. To avoid future incidents, take anything you have learned from the investigation about the cause of the accident and put measures in place to eliminate this cause.
You may also want to perform an overall health and safety inspection to see if the problem is more widespread or if there were other contributing factors outside of the initial area of investigation.
