Accident Reporting in the Workplace
An employer or person in control of work premises is required to report work-related accidents, injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences that occur to an individual in the workplace. Accidents must be reported for employers to investigate, and to determine if an employee is eligible to receive worker's compensation benefits, short-term disability and other benefits. Accident reports also help with the prevention of reoccurring injuries and illnesses.
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Significance Of Accident Reports
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Each company has its own policy on when to report an accident and what information should be reported. All employers require an employee to report a workplace injury. The reason an accident should be reported is so an employer can thoroughly investigate the accident to prevent it from occurring in the future. Accident reports must be kept on file with the employer for a specific time frame.
Types Of Accidents
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There are various types of workplace accidents that must be reported. Those types include major injuries, injuries that require an employee to miss work for more than a three-day period, work-related diseases, dangerous occurrences, if a customer or member of the public is taken directly to the hospital or any deaths. Falls, explosions, burns and being caught in machinery are types of accidents that can also occur in the workplace.
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Benefits Of Accident Reporting
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Reporting accidents is beneficial to the workplace. Reporting accidents allows for identification of how and where risks in the workplace arise. This gives an employer and individuals knowledge on how to possibly prevent the same type of accidents and other accidents in the workplace from recurring, and prevent pain and suffering from individuals in the workplace.
Accident Reporting Features
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The features listed on an accident report should detail certain specifics, such as the date of the accident, along with the date of the accident report itself. An employee's personal information should be put on the accident report for identification purposes. On the accident report, the details of the injury, including how it was caused and who witnessed the accident should be listed. The accident report should be signed by an employer, manager or authority figure, along with any comments they may have pertaining to the accident.
Misconceptions
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It is a misconception that if an employer is injured on a Monday and returns to work on Friday that the injury does not have to be reported. This is incorrect. If an employee is injured and off of work for more than three consecutive days, the workplace accident must be reported. If employee is injured on Monday, and then returns to work from the injury on Thursday, but is back out of work on Friday, the injury does not have to be reported, because the individual was not out for more than three consecutive days.
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