If you get injured at work, it is essential that you document your injuries as soon as possible. By documenting the details of your injury early when it is fresh in your mind, you will be able to get the most factually accurate account of the events leading up to and after your injury. Depending on the type of injury and the circumstances, the first opportunity you may have to document your injuries may be by filling out an injury report given to you by your employer. In other cases, you may require medical treatment right away, and the first documentation of your injury will be what you tell the doctor or other medical care providers.
If you have been injured at work, it is crucial to hire an experienced workers’ compensation attorney as soon as possible. The California workers’ compensation law firm of Kneisler and Schondel is here to help you fight for the benefits that you deserve. With many years of experience, we have successfully handled a wide variety of workers’ compensation cases.
Why You Should Document Your Work Injuries
First and foremost, your main priority after suffering a work injury is to get immediate medical treatment for your injuries. The chart notes made by your treating physicians and other care providers are considered evidence in your case, so it is important that you tell your doctors exactly what happened at the time of your injury and be sure to address each body part that was injured.
There have been cases in which an injured worker complained of pain in one specific area of the body even though they felt pain elsewhere as well, but they were just too focused on the primary source of their pain during the initial visits with their doctor. This can cause problems later in a workers’ compensation case, particularly if the unmentioned body part is actually the root of the injury. For example, if an injured worker seeks medical treatment for an injury and he or she explains to the doctor that their neck hurts, it may complicate matters if, later on, a shoulder injury is found to be the true cause of the problem. In this scenario, the injured worker could avoid disputes over medical care or even a dispute or denial of their entire case if they accurately documented their symptoms from the start.
It is important to accurately document all aspects of your work injury. This means not just how the injury happened, but also who witnessed the injury, a detailed list of all of your symptoms, and each body part that may be impacted by this injury. This is useful not just for your case, but also for your doctors who will have an easier time diagnosing your condition and treating them properly if they have all of the information in front of them from the start.
How You Should Document Your Injuries
You should document your injuries by giving a detailed account of your injury and all of your symptoms to your doctors at the time you receive medical treatment. There are also things you can do to document your injuries so that you have the least complications in your case. After you report your work injury to your employer, you may be asked to fill out an injury report form. This is an opportunity for you to list all of the details of the incident and be as specific as possible. If you have an attorney at this point, it is a good idea to have your attorney review the incident report before you hand it back in to your employer. That way, you can make sure that all necessary information is included in the report.
Another way you can document your injuries is to write out the details yourself, and retain it for future reference. You should write down as much as you can remember about the incident, making sure to include important details such as where it happened, what time, what you were doing as the injury occurred and who was there at the time. You should also document the date and name of the person to whom you reported your injury, as well as their title. You should always report your injury to a supervisor or manager. Your notes should also include all body parts you believe may have been injured, as well as any specific symptoms.