“One of my guys got hurt on the job. What do I do?” Take care of him first. Then work through a short list of reports, some due in hours and some in days, and handle the week after in a way that keeps him on your side and keeps you within the law. Here is the order, with the rule behind each step. Read it before you need it; the day it happens is a bad day to look things up.
The first minutes: care
For anything serious, call 911 first and everything else waits. OSHA’s construction standard on medical services and first aid, 29 CFR §1926.50, is about being ready before that moment comes:
The last one is the one that matters most on a new street in a new subdivision. Put the job address on the work order in every truck, and make sure the person calling can read it out.
For a minor injury, know before it happens where your carrier wants workers sent. In California, if your employees are covered by a medical provider network, the state’s workers’ compensation division says to give the injured worker the network notice and arrange the first evaluation with a network physician. Your agent can tell you the rule for your policy and state.
The first hours: OSHA’s clock
Under 29 CFR §1904.39, you report to OSHA within 8 hours after a work-related death, and within 24 hours after an in-patient hospitalization, an amputation or the loss of an eye. OSHA says “all employers under OSHA jurisdiction must report these incidents to OSHA, even employers who are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA records due to company size or industry.” A visit to the emergency room that ends without a formal admission is not an in-patient hospitalization, but a fingertip lost on a saw is an amputation. OSHA Recordkeeping and Injury Reporting for Small Crews covers how to report, what to have ready and the states with stricter rules. Decide now who makes the report if you are at the hospital.
The first day or two: your comp carrier
Every state sets its own deadline for telling your workers’ compensation carrier, and some are short. Three examples:
| State | What the employer must do |
|---|---|
| California | Give the worker a claim form within one working day after the injury is reported; forward the completed claim form with your report to the claims administrator within one working day of receiving it; within one working day of receiving the claim, authorize up to $10,000 in appropriate medical treatment (Division of Workers’ Compensation). |
| Florida | Report to your carrier within 7 days after actual knowledge of the injury, and give the employee a copy of the report (Fla. Stat. §440.185(2)). The employee has 30 days to tell you (§440.185(1)). |
| Texas | File DWC Form-001 with your carrier within eight days from the date the employee is unable to work for more than one day because of the injury, or immediately for a work-related disease or death; send a copy to the employee and keep one as your record of the injury (Texas Department of Insurance). |
If you are not in one of these states, ask your agent today, while nobody is hurt, what your state’s deadline is and how the carrier wants the first report. Put the answer and your policy number in the truck. Workers’ Comp: When Your State Requires It covers who must carry coverage in the first place.
Report the small ones too
Some owners are tempted to pay a small doctor bill themselves to keep a claim off the record. The rating system has already shrunk that reason. NCCI’s guide to experience rating says most states have approved the Experience Rating Adjustment, under which the mod calculation includes only 30% of an individual medical-only claim, so medical-only claims are reduced by 70%. NCCI says the adjustment “decreases the incentive for employers to pay medical-only claims without reporting them to the insurance provider.” Before you decide a claim is too small to report, read your policy and your state’s reporting rule.
Write it down while it is fresh
The carrier, the state and possibly OSHA will ask what happened, and memories fade fast. Before you leave the site, or as soon as you can:
If you had more than ten employees at any time last calendar year, you probably keep OSHA records this year (29 CFR §1904.1), and a recordable case goes on the OSHA 300 Log and 301 Incident Report “within seven (7) calendar days” of learning of it (§1904.29(b)(3)). The recordkeeping article above explains what counts as recordable.
No retaliation, and no pressure not to report
Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act says “no person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee” for exercising rights under the Act, and OSHA’s investigator desk aid lists “reporting a work-related fatality, injury, or illness” among the protected activities. A worker who believes he was punished may file a complaint with OSHA within 30 calendar days of the action.
OSHA’s recordkeeping rule says the same thing in its own words: “You must not discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee for reporting a work-related injury or illness” (29 CFR §1904.35(b)(1)(iv)). It also requires a reasonable procedure for reporting injuries, and says a procedure is not reasonable “if it would deter or discourage a reasonable employee from accurately reporting a workplace injury or illness.” State comp laws add their own protection. Florida’s, for example, says no employer shall “discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce” an employee because of a valid claim or an attempt to claim compensation (Fla. Stat. §440.205).
Drug testing after an accident is allowed, within limits. OSHA’s 2018 clarification says §1904.35(b)(1)(iv) “does not prohibit” post-incident drug testing, and lists testing under a state workers’ compensation law, and testing to find the root cause of an incident when you test all employees whose conduct could have contributed, not just the one who reported. State drug testing laws vary; Drug Testing Crews Where Cannabis Is Legal covers them.
The days after: light duty that fits
Getting a hurt worker back to suitable work is good for him, and the rating system rewards it: NCCI says the experience rating plan includes “an incentive to enable injured employees to return to work as soon as reasonably possible.” But the doctor sets the limits, not you. California’s workers’ compensation division puts the rule plainly: if the treating doctor reports work restrictions, “any work you assign to the employee must meet these restrictions”; if you have no work that meets them, the employee “cannot be required to work”; and if the doctor says he cannot work at all, he cannot be required to.
Say a roofer’s helper sprains a knee and the doctor writes “no climbing, no lifting over 20 pounds.” Ground work that fits, such as staging material within the weight limit, running the magnet sweep or loading the dump trailer from the ground, might work. Put the offer in writing, list the duties, match them to the restrictions, and send a copy to your carrier. Do not quietly let him climb “just this once.”
A one-page plan for every truck
- The job address on every work order, and who on the crew holds a first-aid certificate.
- A first aid kit checked before each job and every week.
- OSHA’s deadlines: 8 hours for a death, 24 hours for an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or lost eye.
- Your carrier’s name, policy number, first-report deadline and where to send workers for care.
- A blank incident page: when, where, what, who saw it, photos taken.
- Your written reporting procedure, given to every worker, saying they can report injuries without punishment.
If the injured person works for one of your subcontractors, his own employer’s carrier handles the claim. If that sub turns out to have no coverage, read Uninsured Subcontractors before you assume it is not your problem.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and vary by state; check with the agency named above or a professional for your situation.