Hurt at Work: Now What?
Category: Public Safety
Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Today’s Tip is for public safety.
Please don’t risk the consequences of failing to report an injury.
Today I am talking about what you should do if you are hurt at work.
Whether you’re a firefighter lifting a patient on an EMS call or pulling hose for an aggressive fire attack. Or you’re a police officer chasing or struggling with a suspect, you’re at risk of injury. And don’t forget the risk of injury during training, too.
Obviously, the severity of an injury can vary greatly, from a pulled muscle or a strain to something major that requires transport and treatment.
Today I want to focus on the importance of properly reporting and documenting these injuries. We have all felt a little muscle pull, soreness after a call, or some pain at the end of our shifts. It might not seem like a big deal. Maybe we just shrug it off as something minor that we think will heal quickly. We might be tempted to think it’s just part of the job. But what happens when it doesn’t heal right away?
Please don’t risk the consequences of failing to report an injury. You could wake up the next morning and struggle to even get out of bed. What you thought was something minor could turn out to be much worse.
It can sometimes be difficult to know if an injury is serious enough to report to a supervisor. But failing to report injuries in a timely manner as required by your policy could have unfortunate consequences.
Take the time right now to familiarize yourself with the requirements for reporting an injury. Who do you report the injury to? What forms are you supposed to fill out?
If you don’t report your injury properly, it may be difficult for you to get access to the care that you need.
And that’s Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Gordon Graham signing off.