Workplace injuries are a sad and serious affair. Unfortunately, it can happen even at the safest and most professional work environments. This is especially so when your line of work involves heavy machinery, chemicals, or in general, manual labor. This is why you need to be prepared for the worst. There are a couple of steps that you can take, and we have outlined them below. Having a plan set in place, knowing exactly what to do when an injury happens is key to minimizing any possible consequences, both towards the employee, and towards your company.
Train Your Management
What most people forget when training people to stay safe at the workplace is to actually train the managers as well. This isn’t only about keeping people safe, but about knowing what to do when an injury happens. So teaching them what to do, how to handle the situation, to whom to report to, all these things will invariably give you the extra seconds you need to save somebody from a serious injury.
Furthermore, strengthening the bond between employees and management is something you should always keep in mind. Setting up team building exercises, for example, will help maintain company unity, and will teach everybody how to work as a unit better.
Contact Your Insurance Company
The moment something happens, submit a claim. Any delay will decrease the chances of a claim being fulfilled. Set up a system that speeds things up, a system that tells you exactly what to do and when to do it. So, look at it like this. An injury happens. You provide aid to the injured party, contact the insurance company, contact the hospital or medical professional, and get a report.
Getting good NSW Compensation Lawyers, being able to contact them, can speed things up significantly as well. This is in case the insurance company decides to act in bad faith, or if there was a misunderstanding that needs to be dealt through judicial methods.
Don’t Procrastinate With Investigations And Record Keeping
As we've said earlier, set up an investigation the moment a problem occurs. Whatever the injury is, you should keep a clear and thorough record of everything that happened. This means the manner of injury, the place, any machinery or chemicals involved, the people there, witnesses…. A properly trained manager should be able to write up a good and though report. The reason here is that they should know in detail what the employee’s job actually is, and so understand the nature of the injury and situation better than most.
The records themselves need to be precise, and ready to be sent to a moment’s notice. Remember, you need to prepare for the worst, not just in regard to an injury, but to the fact that insurance companies want to make a profit.
Set Up The Workplace Properly
The best way to help your injured people in the workplace is by minimizing their injuries in advance. This means setting up the workplace and work site to be as safe as possible. Set up a safety protocol, get the right rails, protective gear, and equipment. Regularly maintain and check said equipment, and maintain a general culture of safety at your company.
Maintain Communication
While you should take matters into your own hands (or delegate to a specialized department of your company) know that everybody should be informed about what's happening. This means the employee, his or her family, the insurance company, and the hospital should know what is happening at all times. You should probably let the people at the work site know what's happening as well, in order to keep employee morale up. This will show them that you care and that you are taking care of them whenever you need to.
Conclusion
Workplace injuries are always regrettable and it’s up to you to minimize the fallout as much as possible. This isn’t only a matter of getting sued, but of showing your people and your customers that you care about your staff. They need to know that you will do you’re all in case anything happens, and that you are not just hyper-focused on profits.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about steps to take if one of your workers gets injured on the job site or in the office.
Interested in more articles about employee risk management?
Read Related Resources:
• Tips To Best Respond To Employee Injury Claims
• Management Advice For Employee Injuries
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