Employer’s Guide: What Should You Do If an Employee Suffers a Personal Injury?
Nobody wants to deal with a workplace accident, whether it’s an employee or employer themselves. While personal injuries can be painful, inconvenient, or potentially life-changing for the employees involved in them, they can also have a crucial impact on the employer — especially if not handled correctly.
That’s why it’s extremely important for employers to react in the right way to any personal injury. Not only is it your responsibility to provide a safe working environment, but it’s also your responsibility to react correctly if that safe environment should become compromised.
With this in mind, here’s what to do if any of your employees suffer an injury in your workplace.
- Make a Report of the Accident as Soon as Possible
A good health and safety procedure should already have an accident book or an accident reporting system in place, and this needs to be completed as soon as possible. It’s the employee’s responsibility to report an accident as soon as possible — as, after all, you can’t always know it has happened unless it’s reported to you — but it’s your responsibility, too, to make sure the details of the incident are correctly recorded.
Be sure to respond as quickly as possible to any accident or injury which has occurred.
- Learn from the Accident
How did the accident happen? If your employee was not at fault, then what caused the accident, and how can similar accidents be avoided in the future? Taking preventative measures is important for taking care of your employees, learning, and growing when it comes to health and safety. You’ll want to put extra safety precautions in place to make sure the same accident doesn’t happen again.
You may want to amend your health and safety policy, undergo a health and safety audit, or think of other strategies to make your workplace a safer place.
- Support Your Employee
The last thing your hurt, injured, and vulnerable employee needs is an employer who is against them following an accident. Your employee has a right to search for a personal injury Arnold MO lawyer, or legal support in other states if the accident was not their fault. To smooth the process, and your employee’s recovery, reaching out is always important.
If your employee needs to take time off for recovery, they shouldn’t feel alienated or guilty from being away from work, and checking in with them and using ongoing communication can help their recovery to be a more positive one.
- Gain Your Own Legal Support
No matter how civil the exchange between you and your employee during this difficult time, there’s always the potential that you’ll need your own legal advice if you are disputing your employee’s claims. They may claim the accident wasn’t their fault, but if you’re in a position to contest that, you may need your own professional strategy to protect your business and your workplace against any potential issues in regard to the accident.
Dealing with an injured employee is never easy, but always take the right steps to protect them, your business, and yourself.
