Lessons Learned Trying to Gain Workman’s Comp: Part 3: Reporting The Job Injury
If you haven’t read the previous articles, you can find them here.
Part 1: The Company Doctor
Part 2: Having a Previous Iinjury
One Friday night, five hours into my shift I was pulling one part from a machine to place it into another. During this process I twisted my back and felt a large popping sensation. I was in trouble immediately. I initially asked to go home, and the supervisor refused. Then I said that at the very least I needed to go to the emergency room to which I was also refused. I told him my intentions of going to see my doctor on Monday and getting medical leave which he then told me that only the company doctor can approve FMLA, which I later learned wasn’t true.
He offered to write up an accident report but said that if I left to go to the E.R. that it would count as an occurrence (an occurrence is unauthorized leave, a fireable offense). Dumbfounded, because basically if everything he told me was true, I would be fired unless I returned to the line. So, barley able to walk, I returned to the assembly line to attempt to finish the remainder of my shift. I had to fight through extreme pain for five more hours. During this time my pain was only getting worse, my right leg went totally numb and I was starting to lose feeling in my left hand.
Mistake Number 4:
If you are ever injured on the job, your supervisor is required to write up an accident report, this is not optional. Here is a snippet from the OSHA handbook,” An injury or illness is considered work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment caused or contributed to the condition or significantly aggravated a preexisting condition”. Also any event which goes above the call for normal first aid. At the very least If you make a request to go to the E.R. they are to allow you to go, even so much so as to provide transportation if need be.
However I was intimidated by my supervisor and in today’s economy was in fear of losing my job. After a previous stint of around 5 months unemployment which ate away at what little savings our family had, I was in fear of a repeat of that event and decided it simply wasn’t an option.
I went home after finishing my shift and found myself in extreme pain. It was actually much worse than when the accident happened, which is not surprising considering I worked 5 more hours. I decided that the E.R. was indeed my only option.
I went to the E.R. and told the treating doctor what happened, both with the accident and the way my supervisor reacted. She was a stupefied as I was about how work responded. They gave me a powerful pain reliever and this barely touched the pain I had. It did however allow me to get a few hours sleep that night. However, as soon as it wore off I woke up in even more pain if that is at all possible.
The rest of the next day I couldn’t even get out of bed. I was so angered and in so much pain that I didn’t even bother to call into work. What was I going to do, keep arguing with the very supervisor who wouldn’t even allow me to go to the E.R.? I decided at that moment enough was enough and I needed more help than my immediate supervisor could offer. I would wait till Monday when the human resources office was open and handle it then. In the mean time, almost 24 hours later, I went back to the E.R. and received another dose of pain medication which then allowed me to get a little more sleep. I was lucky in the fact that it was the very same E.R. doctor and at least she was already aware of what had happened. She sent me home with a prescription of very some very strong pain medication to help me through Sunday until I could see my doctor on Monday.
To view the rest of my reports about my battle with workman’s compensation, please go to my profile and subscribe to my articles. This way you can be updated when the rest are published.
Previous Articles:
Lessons Learned Trying to Gain Workman’s Comp:Part 1: The Company Doctor
Lessons Learned Trying to Gain Workman’s Comp:Part 2: Having a Previous Iinjury