It is a matter of creating a paper trail to document your injury. In all likelihood, you won’t need to file a claim if you aren’t seeking treatment and likely will not miss more than three days of work. However, injuries can sometimes be more serious than initially believed and can come with complications that will require medical treatment.
An example to consider is if you suffered a cut on your thumb during work. It didn’t seem serious at all at the time, so you merely put a bandage on it and went on with your business. Unfortunately, the wound got infected and a week after the injury occurred you needed to be hospitalized for the infection.
In the above scenario, had you reported the injury to your employer as soon as it happened, your employer would be aware of it later and there would be little doubt as to how you acquired an infected wound on your thumb. As it is, your employer will likely wonder why the first time he or she is hearing about your workplace injury is only after it has become a serious issue.
As your employer is generally the first one to investigate the claim and the first with the opportunity to dispute it. You do not want him or her to doubt your claim’s validity. If this happens, give us a call.