By practicing safety measures, good body mechanics and common sense, many injuries can be avoided. However, if an Employee is injured at work, the following process is followed in order to receive quality medical care, smooth processing of a claim and the assurance that the medical costs will be fully covered if a claim is determined to be work related.
· Report the injury immediately to the school/department secretary or administrator.
· The Employee will be given a claim form (DWC Form 1) to complete; the Employer is also required to complete and submit a form (Form 5020). The forms are returned within 24 hours or as soon as possible. If an Employee is not sure if they are hurt or not, the rule is “when in doubt, report the injury”.
· If an Employee has completed a physician designation form prior to the injury, he/ she may seek care from this physician. The physician an Employee designates must be his/her personal physician (one who has their medical history on file). If the Employee does not have a physician designation form on file and wishes to designate a doctor, he/she is to fill out the form and return it to Human Resources. If he/she does not have a designated physician form on file, he/she must go to one of the HealthWorks Clinics.
· HealthWorks Clinics were selected to provide easily accessible, quality care to injured workers. The doctors and nurses are specifically trained to handle work-related injuries (occupational medicine). There are six locations to choose from.
· Failure to follow the above process may result in non-payment of the Employee’s medical expenses and/or delays on the claim.
To download more information about Worker's Compensation, click here.