Workplace injuries can happen to just about anyone in Connecticut. While a construction worker may fall from a height or a factory worker may be injured by a piece of machinery, even office workers could be injured lifting something or could suffer repetitive stress injuries. When a person is injured on-the-job, it is important to take certain steps to pursue workers’ compensation benefits, if appropriate.
First, workers should immediately let their employer know they have been injured. This way the employer can provide the worker with medical treatment and file the appropriate forms with the Workers’ Compensation Commission and its own workers’ compensation insurance carrier. Second, workers should seek medical care. If an employer has a designated medical provider, the worker may need to visit that physician for initial treatment of injuries.
Third, workers should file official forms as soon as possible. This is because there is a statute of limitations for filing a workers’ compensation claim and, once that time period is up, a person may no longer be able to pursue benefits at all.
Finally, if a worker does not receive benefits within two weeks of becoming disabled, that worker should get in touch with the employer’s insurance carrier. To start paying benefits, the insurance carrier must receive certain forms from the worker’s employer, as well as a medical report from a physician stating that the worker suffered an injury on-the-job that has left the worker disabled. The insurance carrier also needs to receive the worker’s tax information.
