Five Essential Must-Haves for Handling Workplace Injuries

On-the-job injuries and workplace accidents can happen despite a diligent focus on risk and safety measures. When they do, employers play a crucial role in the employee’s outcome following an injury.

The best way to execute your role as an employer? Know what to do after a workplace injury occurs.

Here are five essential must-haves to help your organization navigate and respond effectively to workplace injuries.

1. A Well-Implemented Accident Reporting Process

Your healthcare organization must have an established workplace injury procedure. Such a plan helps address the needs of the injured worker and should be executed throughout the entire organization.

Begin with immediately evaluating whether the injury requires medical assistance. Next, without delay, give any guidance to the injured worker on where to seek medical treatment immediately following the injury. Protocols for post-accident drug screens and appropriate referrals to Occupational Medicine Clinics should also be followed.

2. Incident Fact Collection

Investigate the incident immediately to preserve key facts surrounding the employee’s injuries, such as video surveillance footage, witness statements, and evidence at the scene of the injury.

Incorporate a series of questions into your fact-collection process to ensure all pertinent information is gathered:

• Who was injured?
• What happened?
• What caused the injury?
• What treatment was sought?
• Who witnessed the accident?

3. The First Report of Injury Form (FROI)

The First Report of Injury (FROI) form is made available by the Louisiana Workforce Commission. Have one or more designated members of your team trained in how to complete this form.

Use the FROI form to report the claim as quickly as possible to your Workers’ Compensation Claims provider. If your workers’ compensation claims are managed by LHA Trust Funds, you may notify us of a claim simply by emailing the completed FROI form to info@LHATrustFunds.com.

The FROI form is required to be reported to the Louisiana Workforce Commission and all questions must be answered on the form to complete the report. While the FROI form is all that is needed to set up the claim and report it to the OWC, additional information such as their job description, four weeks of compensation history, and other items may be requested if the injured worker is unable to return to their duties.

4. Open Lines of Communication

Employers should support the injured worker by maintaining open lines of communication between the employee, any medical providers, and the adjuster handling the claim. Employers must be responsive to any questions or concerns from all parties.

Keep the lines of communication open with your injured worker by maintaining regular check-ins and engaging them as an employee. As the employer, you should also immediately report when an injured employee returns to work.

5. A Process to Return Injured Employees to Work

Return an injured employee to work in some capacity as soon as possible. The longer an injured employee remains absent from work, the greater the likelihood that the employee will not return to their previous position.

In turn, keeping injured workers connected to their position and peers at work can help expedite recovery for those employees. Developing an alternative duty list along with an effective return-to-work program can reduce overall loss when an employee is injured on the job.

Louisiana’s Second Injury Fund

The State of Louisiana created the Second Injury Fund (SIF) to help reimburse employers for costs associated with hiring those who have a prior injury or disability. The fund’s purpose is to encourage employers to hire those who might otherwise be excluded from consideration for employment.

The SIF reimburses part of your claim costs so it can help with a reduction in your experience modifier (E-Mod), directly influencing premiums charged for workers’ compensation coverage. While there are a few requirements for a claim to qualify for potential reimbursement from SIF, the most important component is that the employer has some knowledge of the prior injury or health condition.

Implementing a SIF questionnaire during your hiring process and updating annually documents an employer’s knowledge of employee injuries or health conditions. During LHA Trust Funds claims handling, our adjusters request a copy of this form and pursue recovery when appropriate on behalf of the employer.

Be Prepared

While no one can predict when an accident may happen, you as the employer can create workplace injury procedures to respond appropriately if an injury does occur. And if you have questions about the best way to proceed, our workers’ compensation risk consulting team is on call to help. Schedule a consultation now.

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Need more workers’ compensation guidance? Join us for our annual Workers’ Compensation Symposium on August 13, 2024 at 8 am. LHA Trust Funds claims experts and national industry leaders will discuss current risks in the industry and how to handle them.