What to do after a significant injury event

Something we all hope to forever avoid – but must be prepared for – is a serious workplace injury. As leaders of our entities and safety programs we must be ready to make sound decisions that do not put our employees at risk of further harm or expose our entity to additional risk. It is important to know who will be responsible for what after a significant injury, and what that even means for your organization.

Different injuries = different actions

Not all injuries should be treated and reacted to in the same way. Minor injuries (think scrapes, abrasions, sunburns) happen frequently, but are relatively minor. They usually require no medical treatment beyond first aid, and they don’t involve large systems or pieces of equipment that are innately hazardous.

Significant injury event

So, what constitutes a significant injury event? If an injury is catastrophic, life-endangering, leads to inpatient hospitalization or amputation, or if multiple employees have significant injuries (requiring medical treatment beyond first aid) we would classify it as a significant injury event. When these occur, you will need to ensure certain steps are taken.

Assign these tasks ahead of time and make sure they are completed when a significant injury event has occurred.

• First – ensure all injured and affected employees get the medical treatment and care they need ASAP.
• Ensure involved and witness staff fill out reports and witness statements, sooner rather than later. Take pictures and videos of the site for your own documentation.
• If a fatality, in-patient hospitalization, or amputation is associated with the injury you must report the incident to L&I. See Retro’s reporting webpage for additional information and timelines.
• If a specific site is associated with the injury, secure the location until L&I has investigated, or confirmed that you can release the site.
• Contact your AWC Retro claims coordinator so they can start immediate work on the claim process.
• Conduct an accident investigation with the end goal of determining causal factors. This is to try to fix holes in our system with this process; it is not about assessing blame. Standard Operating Procedures and policies should be open to review after significant injures.
• Supervisors and HR should stay in contact with the injured worker to help alleviate the psychosocial strain of the event as much as possible. Be a support for the worker.

Train employees and assign responsibilities

Management and supervisory staff in your departments should be trained on your entity’s expectations for post-injury response. Have a plan, have assignments, be prepared. Have questions or need suggestions? Contact your Retro team and let us help you get ready.