If a worker is badly injured, what happens next?
January 1, 2010 3 minutes read
If a worker is badly injured, what happens next?
It's a moment dreaded by every occupational health manager — learning that an employee was seriously injured at work. It's also the "moment of truth" for how well the occupational health manager does his or her job.
According to Mary (Penny) B. Nicholls, RN, CCM, COHN-S, a disability consultant with Alabama Power Company in Birmingham and a member of the advisory board for the Deep South Center for Occupational Health & Safety at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, if a worker is badly injured, the first thing that should be done should be to assess the severity of the injury. Direct the employee's care to a medical facility that can provide the appropriate level of care needed.
"If it is a burn, don't waste critical minutes by sending them to a tertiary hospital," says Nicholls. "Get them to the nearest burn center, by air evacuation if possible. Or if it is a major trauma, direct them to the nearest Trauma Center."
Robert Emery, DrPH, vice president of safety, health, environment and risk management at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, says that your first step — after ensuring prompt, compassionate care for the employee — is to address other needs of the injured worker. These include family notifications and assisting with the filing of worker's compensation insurance claims.
"Ensure that the hazard that caused the injury is mitigated in some way, even if it's with something like temporary barriers," he says. "Review OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] reporting requirements to determine if the event meets the threshold for immediate notifications, or if it is merely to be recorded on the OSHA 300 log."
Begin investigation
Delegate someone onsite to begin a thorough investigation into the accident, and do this quickly and effectively, says Nicholls. Take these steps:
• Identify witnesses and separate them to gather statements.
Have each person write down what he or she witnessed. Read it and ask questions that clarify their description of the injured employee, what they were doing, and the environment at the time of the accident.
"Each witness saw the incident through a different set of eyes, but can be easily swayed by co-workers telling what they thought they saw at the time," says Nicholls.
• Get photographs as soon as possible of the accident area.
"Many cases may not go to court for years," says Nicholls. "Everyone's memory either fades with time, or becomes clearer based on the information they hear from others at the scene."
• Cover the "5 W's" — who, what, when, where, and why.
Document what processes/actions were being performed at the time; what procedures were being followed; whether personal protective equipment was in place or not, and if it was required for the process being performed; and machinery lock-out status. Identify anything that was different on the day of the injury from the other days the process has been performed without injury, says Nicholls.
The person who accompanies the employee to the hospital must be made aware of the need to salvage all of the clothing, including any personal protective equipment the injured employee may be wearing, and gather it for the safety department, says Nicholls.
Your documentation should include witness statements, photographs, and diagrams of the accident location and all of the surrounding areas. "No clothing, personal protective equipment or tools should be destroyed. They should be bagged and preserved until released by the Safety Team, as they may be vital to the investigation," says Nicholls.
It's a moment dreaded by every occupational health manager learning that an employee was seriously injured at work. It's also the "moment of truth" for how well the occupational health manager does his or her job.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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