Thousands of Minnesota workers are injured each year while working. Information released by the Minnesota Department of Labor reported that 3.8% of full-time workers experienced an OSHA-recordable injury in 2022.
For an injury to be OSHA-recordable (and thus included in this statistics) it needed to involve a visit to a health care professional that extended beyond basic first aid and/or required prescription medication.
With this in mind, the over 85,000 injured workers in 2022 that were accounted for in the Minnesota Department of Labor statistics include those that need more than basic care.
What Should You Do After a Work Injury?
Your employer works to maintain a safe working environment, but accidents do happen. Report your injury to the human resource department at your company. They will have a process for filing a report of injury so that the incident is documented.
If you experience a serious injury at work that requires immediate emergency care, seek medical help immediately. You will be able to file a report with your human resource department later.
There are countless types of injuries you can sustain at work. This includes physical harm to extremities, overexertion, trips or slips, exposure to dangerous substances, and more.
Because of the wide range of possible injuries, it is always a good idea to get checked out by a medical professional following a work injury. If the accident is properly reported to your work and communicated with your human resource department, your care may be covered by workers’ compensation.
Who Should You See After a Work Injury?
If your work injury requires immediate medical attention, visit an emergency room.
For all other injuries, your employer’s human resources department may recommend a clinic and doctor for you to see. You may be required to see this clinic to complete an initial evaluation and drug test if necessary.
After this though, Minnesota law allows you to seek care at any clinic. You can choose to have follow-up visits at the clinic you initially went to, or switch to another clinic to continue your worker’s compensation care.
Depending on the injury, care could start with a medical provider or chiropractor and then also include physical therapy if applicable to your injury. Integracare provides medical, chiropractic, and physical therapy care in one location. This allows your providers to work together to manage your recovery and makes care more convenient with it all taking place under one roof.
What if Workers’ Compensation Denies Your Claim?
There are a variety of reasons your worker’s compensation claim could be denied. For example, this could be because the workers’ compensation insurance company does not believe the injury happened at work.
If you do not feel your workers’ compensation company is treating you fairly, you may need to seek legal representation. Talk to your care provider at Integracare – they may have a lawyer they recommend that was helpful for other patients who had similar situations.