Going straight through an accident When Seriously Hurt on the Job

No one likes to think about what will happen if they are seriously hurt on the job, but in the back of our minds we all know that serious accidents do happen especially in construction work. Significant time and endeavor is put into accident stoppage (which is a good thing that benefits everyone) but very miniature is done to notify workers what to expect if they do preserve a serious work linked injury. This is what I learned over the past 35 years.

What happens after the 911 call

For the laborer and his family there is just one thing that occupies their thoughts and actions: "Please God let him live". family and friends rush to the hospital and begin the long vigil.

It is very different for those who have an economic stake in how the accident happened: the employer, the liability and payment guarnatee companies, general and sub- contractors, and the owners of the project. Their representatives are mobilized immediately. It starts with the next call after 911. construction managers are instructed to immediately notify the chief security officer or guarnatee representative so they can assume control from that point on. This was the time line in one such case: the boss filed its formal observation of accident with its guarnatee business 1 hour and 3 minutes after the laborer was run over by a truck. 59 minutes later a claims adjuster was assigned the case. 23 minutes after that, the security coordinator was on his way to the hospital to get medical information. 2hr and 29 minutes later the security officer reported to the claims adjuster that the laborer was undergoing a 12 -13 hr operation. By days end, the guarnatee business was working out how much money this accident was going to cost them. Unfortunately the line in the sand is drawn as soon as the business begins its investigation.

Keep in mind that guarnatee associates are in business to earn profits for their shareholders. The less they pay out in claims the greater their profits are. Good guarnatee business employees all the time seek to increase the business profits. This often leads to a situation where the laborer is treated as an adversary who is attempting to wrongfully get benefits.

All guarnatee associates belong to an club called the guarnatee Services Organizations (Iso); a central database where every claim for guarnatee benefits that has ever been made, by anyone, no matter how it occurred or who was at fault. One claims adjuster proudly testified that the very first thing he did upon being assigned a new case bright a woman who was severely injured when a truck crossed over the center line and struck her head on, was to send for an Iso report. He stated that the data is used to decree if person (in this case the injured woman), is the kind of person who is likely to abuse the system. In this guarnatee company, there was a corporate mentality that everyone is presumed to be filing a fraudulent claim until proven otherwise.

Once an injury occurs, the former goal of these trained business representatives quickly goes from accident stoppage to damage control. First the accident scene is secured and preserved for their accident investigators. Co-workers and all other witnesses are sequestered, interviewed and statements are recorded. Frequently, only the statements of witnesses favorable to the company's position are recorded while those witnesses who are less favorable are minimized or even ignored in the official reports.

When Osha shows up, the witnesses are not ready to be interviewed by the government inspector. Many excuses are given for their absence from "they no longer work on this job" to "all our laborer witnesses were sent for psychological counseling." The Osha analyst often gets passage only to the employees who allege allegiance to the business position.

Things are lost, like the worker's hard hat or security harness, Significant evidence such as the ladder or scaffold that collapsed are misplaced during the post accident turmoil. Co-employees are instructed not to speak to anyone about the accident, often with the subtle indication that their prolonged employment is at stake. Even the injured worker's closest friends must now act cautiously out of fear for their jobs.

Once the facts are uncovered the business professionals put just the right kind of spin on their official version of what happened. In one modern case, where a laborer stationed on the ground was electrocuted when a crane operator maneuvered his crane too close to a high voltage line, the employer's representative informed the police and hospital that the laborer must have been struck by lightening from a passing storm. Once the statement was made it was repeated dozens of times in conversations with hospital personnel, police and Osha all done with the found to preserve of a time to come legal defense. an additional one was to advise that the accident happened because the laborer positioned himself in the "kill zone" when in fact the worker's foreman decided the location where the workers were to be stationed.

One way to help safe against this one sided investigation is to prescribe a trusted, level headed, friend or family member to act as the injured worker's point person until pro help is retained. This frees up the family so they can attend to the wellbeing of the injured laborer while the ongoing task of dealing with all the practical issues are attended to, such as supplying Significant data to police agencies, Osha, and guarnatee companies, dealing with hospital and payment forms, getting the Significant data to file for worker's payment benefits, speaking to witnesses who come to the hospital to visit the injured laborer before the boss interferes with their willingness to speak about the accident, and most importantly preventing the spread of non Significant data about the worker, his family, and other personal matters that have nothing to do with the accident or injuries. The point person can take other uncomplicated measures which may prove to be highly helpful at a latter time such as requesting names of all inherent witnesses to the accident from police and co-workers, request for as much detailed data about what happened, taking some basic photos of the accident scene and tracking down all personal items of the injured laborer such as his work gloves, hard hat, security belt, and even the worker's boots and clothing which may have been left on the job site or removed from the laborer in the ambulance or accident room.

The day after the accident

Insurance associates are also given passage to confidential medical data that they are not entitled to. In one case, within 24 hours of sustaining a life threatening injury, the guarnatee business solicited the patients roommate to act as an inside informant supplying the business with data he overheard the doctors and nurses discussing about the patient's injuries, care and treatment.

More often, a uncomplicated telephone call from an guarnatee representative to the hospital, with the introduction "I am with the guarnatee business that represents the injured laborer and I need some data to process the medical bills" opens up a direct line of communication. The fact is some of these calls may not be from anyone who has a right to confidential medical information. To forestall this type of unauthorized communications, the hospital should be located on observation not to speak about the patient's care and rehabilitation to anyone who does not present a proper written authorization from the patient.

The near term rescue period

Hospital care is costly and therefore there is a great economic interest in discharging the sick person from the hospital as soon as possible. As a sick person you have the absolute right to share in your dismissal planning and must take advantage of this opening to forestall a premature dismissal or be subject to an inadequate dismissal plan. Ask questions and demand answers that you can understand about what the injuries are, what rehabilitation is Significant and how the rehabilitation is to be provided.

When a serious accident occurs doctors must decree what to treat first. The process of deciding the order of rehabilitation is called triage. The patient's most foremost needs are addressed first followed by care and rehabilitation for the non life threatening injuries. When the injuries are identified medical devotee are then called in to treat the sick person for each exact condition. This rehabilitation by different medical devotee can often lead to injuries that are never documented or treated in the hospital. For example a laborer who was injured in a scaffold collapse may have had severe neck and back injuries which want unblemished bed rest. A fracture of the foot went undiagnosed in the hospital because the sick person was on unblemished bed rest and he was not allowed to walk until several weeks later. That is when the sick person first realized there was something wrong with his foot. an additional one example is the sick person who suffers a "closed head injury" which occurs when the brain strikes the inside of the skull causing injury as happens when a person suffers a concussion. This injury may lead to the patient's inability to concentrate, slow speech patters, delays in the quality to reply verbally, inability to recall the names of uncomplicated basic objects, forgetfulness, difficulty reading and comprehending what has been read, or loss of short term memory. Because the sick person is preoccupied with the more sure injuries, the subtle effects of a terminated head injury may not be noticed until several months after the accident. To insure proper documentation of these injuries and to be eligible for payment of medical care and treatment, the sick person must be a self advocate. Taste your former care physician and illustrate the symptoms you observation as soon as possible. The quicker the health is treated the better off the sick person is and the sooner the bills will be processed. Keep in mind that telling one of the specialists about a newly discovered injury may get you no where if the injury is not something that devotee treats. You need to speak with your former care doctor, even if he has not treated you for any of the work linked injuries. He will act as you general physician and get you to the correct physician for rehabilitation even if it is a payment linked injury.

In the long term

Insurance associates who are facing long term payment payouts to injured workers often think themselves as being victimized by the laborer and therefore justified in pursuing a procedure of action designed to get the laborer off the payment rolls no matter by what means. In one situation, where the laborer had been carefully to have sustained a total permanent disability from his work linked accident, I discovered the claims supervisor for the guarnatee business had admonished her staff handling of the injured worker's claim stating "I don't think it is true that there is nothing you can do. If the claimant is non-compliant with treatment(smoking cessation, causing Pt & Mds to refuse to treat him, etc.), you should be able to request for retrial the Board to desist benefits, I know that you will not get the Board to terminate, and this is not honestly the goal. However it may be a enough threat to convince the claimant that he must co-operate in the rehabilitation of his injury. Please discuss this with counsel right away and let me know the outcome of that discussion." This is a good example of how a severely injured laborer goes from the status of a protected laborer to being portrayed as an opportunist who is milking the system.

Yet an additional one situation revealed the following interchange in the middle of an guarnatee supervisor who learned that the injured laborer went to the guarnatee payment physician for an exam but failed to bring his synthetic leg along. She reported "I got the Ime description back for [injured worker]. First note is that the miniature snip didn't bring his prosthetic leg." This was upsetting to the supervisor because she wanted the physician to find that the laborer had learned to use his leg and therefore he might be found to no longer be disabled. In response to this, the person directly handling the claim replied: "I just called [injured worker] at home. Woke him up (don't I feel bad!):I asked him why he didn't bring his leg and he stated that it was because it wasn't human and it wasn't a part of him, I advised that I would have to set an additional one exam because he didn't bring it and he said that it didn't indicate anywhere on the paper work to bring the prosthetic with him and he wasn't a mind reader."

Remember, when a laborer is badly hurt on the job person will all the time be stuck with cost of the medical care and rehabilitation and help with the lost wages. It might be the worker's payment company, a liability guarnatee company, your secret health guarnatee company, Medicaid, Medicare or the owner of the property. person will have to pay and the cost will be high. When large sums of money are at stake, "for profit" associates will do what they have to safe themselves. You need to do the same for your well being and that of your family.

inquiry Going straight through an accident When Seriously Hurt on the Job inquiry