An accident at work can be a life changing event. It is important to know and understand your rights in the event you are injured at work. In order to protect himself, the most important thing an injured worker can do is immediately report the injury to his or her supervisor. Timely reporting of a work accident is the key to preventing problems with your claim. You should be aware that your employer will fill out a DWC-1, or “First Report of Injury Or Illness” upon receiving your first report of injury. You can view an example of this form at: http://www.fldfs.com/WC/pdf/DFS-F2-DWC-1.pdf.
This form asks pertinent questions such as: when the accident occurred, how it occurred, what injuries occurred, and what body parts were affected. When you report your injury to your employer, it is critical that you clearly state how the accident occurred, your injuries, and you should ALWAYS identify all body parts that were injured. Failure to accurately report your accident and injuries to your employer can result in the denial of your claim.
Once you report your injury to your employer, your employer is required to contact its workers’ compensation insurance carrier. In Florida, generally an employer with 4 or more employees is required by state law to carry workers’ compensation insurance. If the employer is in the construction industry, it is required to carry workers’ compensation if it has 1 or more employees. See Florida Statute §440.02(17) (2009).
In most cases, your employer or the insurance carrier will send you to a medical facility for evaluation of your injuries. If you are not sent to a medical facility for treatment for your injuries within 24 hours of reporting the accident, you should inquire with your employer immediately as to where you can receive medical care. Once you receive your first appointment with a workers’ compensation approved medical facility, the need for accurate and thorough reporting does not end. It is important that you disclose to the medical provider how your accident occurred, what injuries you are suffering from, what body parts are injured and any prior injuries you may have to those affected body parts. Some injured workers may forget or omit the fact they had a prior injury and this can be harmful to their claim.
It cannot be stressed enough that you must disclose, disclose, disclose. Honesty is the best policy. Be aware that carriers can deny your claim if they discover you have failed to disclose prior injuries or if you misrepresent the nature of your work accident. You can even have your claim denied for accidentally failing to mention prior injuries. See Florida Statute §440.105 (2009). While the Florida statute indicates that your claim can only be denied if you “knowingly” present false information, there are plenty of cases where employees have claimed a misrepresentation was accidental, yet they have had their claims denied.
The workers’ compensation statute is ever changing and can be quite complicated. The stated purpose of the workers’ compensation act is to “quickly and efficiently” deliver medical care and pay benefits to injured workers. Unfortunately, it does not always work that way. The attorneys at Lesser, Lesser, Landy & Smith are experienced attorneys and we understand the complexity of the workers’ compensation system. While this firm does not specialize in workers’ compensation, we can appropriately guide an injured worker in the right direction and to attorneys who are as passionate about helping the injured as we are.
