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Thursday, January 31, 2013

I Told My Supervisor - Why Do I Need To File An Accident Report In Writing?

Today's post comes from Matthew Funk of the NY Bar.

QUESTION: I TOLD MY SUPERVISOR ABOUT THE ACCIDENT BUT I DID NOT SUBMIT AN ACCIDENT REPORT. AM I GOOD TO GO WITH THE VERBAL NOTICE?
ANSWER: ALWAYS REPORT AN INJURY IN WRITING
Joe was working a construction job when Mike accidentally beaned Joe on the head with a 2X4. After seeing a couple of Tweety Birds and a whole bunch of stars, Joe went down to his supervisor’s station and told him he had just had an accident. Then he went off to the ER to make sure he was not seriously injured, relieved he had taken care of business at the job site. All he had to do now was get better.
No, Joe! No! Yes, Joe satisfied the notice requirement. However, Joe was NOT good to go.
Supervisors sometimes have a funny habit of forgetting conversations or oral notices of an accident. Even if Joe’s supervisor were his best friend, when push came to shove there could be no telling what the supervisor might say in Court front of a Judge. Furthermore,
to ensure proper procedure, a shop steward should request the same written accident report that was also submitted to the supervisor. This would confirm that in fact an accident report had been filed.
Filing written accident reports should be a common practice. If a worker is injured all parties involved should want a written accident report as soon as possible. This will eliminate all the problems that arise when a worker only gives an oral notice of an injury.