It’s a call no business owner or manager want to receive: “There’s been an accident and the injuries are very serious.”
Immediately, your mind starts racing with thoughts of the employee and the family, but also your other employees, the company, doctors, lawyers. While you put on a brave face, in the background you’re wondering how to take care of your injured worker while keeping everyone else going as well.
All employees should be trained in three key steps to take when a serious injury takes place:
- Employees trained in first aid should attend to the employee right away
- Call 911
- Stop work and secure the accident scene (area where the injury occurred).
Note: Nothing should be moved or disturbed, except to prevent further injury or to give the injured employee medical treatment. If this is the case, be sure to document it.
Next, the supervisor needs to make sure that further calls are made:
- Call the main office and/or owner and advise them of what has happened
- The injured employee’s family needs to be notified
- If the employee is expected to stay overnight in the hospital or could die from his or her injuries, DOSH needs to be notified within 8 hours at 800-423-7233.
- Finally, Approach clients should call our 24/7 crisis response line so that we can deploy our safety team, nurse case manager, and grief counselors as needed. The number is 206-812-3850.
With so many steps to be taken, you can imagine how easy it would be to miss something in the heat of the moment. The members of our crisis response team will help you ensure that proper steps are taken while you and your team focus on providing compassion and support to your injured colleague and the family.
Reduce the risk
The Approach safety team can help you prevent injuries from happening in the first place. If it’s been more than a year since your company’s last safety review, use our Safety Visit Request form to schedule your on-site visit from Approach.
