What is a workplace injury from a legal perspective?
Workplace accidents in New South Wales
Employers in NSW (except a small group of exempt businesses) are legally required to have workerplace compensation insurance for covering workplace injuries. There are three types of insurers regulated by the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA): Icare, self-insurers and specialised insurers.
The NSW government maintains a policy that supports injured workers’ recovery at work which obliges employers to initiate a return to work program within 12 months after they start their businesses. The government policy advocates that recovery at work elevates the injured worker’s mental and physical health and reduces the risk of a long term disability.
Under the work health and safety law in NSW workers also have legal obligations. According to SafeWork NSW, a worker should work by following safety instructions, use personal protective equipment (PPE) and report injuries and unsafe and unhealthy situations to supervisors or health and safety representatives (HSRs). Workplace injury lawyers can give you case-based advice regarding your injury and workplace injury compensation process.
5 most common workplace accidents
Who do you report workplace accidents to in the workplace?
How to claim compensation for workplace injury
When faced with unhealthy and unsafe working conditions or injury from a work-related accident, a worker should first report to his/her supervisor or Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs). An HSR can represent you to your employer in matters of work safety.
The injured employee should report the accident to his/her employer as soon as possible to start your workplace injury compensation process. The employer should report the notification to their insurer within 48 hours after becoming notified FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY- it’s the employer who would be charged with claims excess payment not the employee if the employer doesn’t report the notification to the insurer within 5 calendar days.
As the second step, the worker is expected to submit a “worker’s injury claim form” where he/she provides information about how and when the injury happened, the amount he/she earned before the injury, the treatment process and return to work particulars. The worker and employer should also sign this form.
Workplace injury lawyers in NSW
The Work Cover Medical Certificate provided by the doctor should be submitted in support of the claim form as well. To learn get more information about workplace injury compensation, you can call our workplace injury lawyers on 1800 952 898 or fill our contact form.
