The Wild Rover
12-10-06, 03:54 PM
Ok...
Man it has been a long time since I have posted in this forum. I have been busy with a hyper active 2 year old, and the experience has taken it's toll....I am not as young as I used to be, and my Mother says this is God's way of paying me back...and I wouldn't trade a moment of it for all the secure conduit couplings in China...
At one time or another, someone, or ourselves, is injured or hurt on the job. Even the safest guy, can be injured. Either by an act of our own doing, or by the result of someone elses carelessness, which seems even worse. I sat down with a workman's comp. lawyer friend of mine, and posed several questions his way, in an effort to get to the bottom of how to protect yourself in the event of an unforseen injury. Read below for my results. Remember, keep all reciepts, x-rays, and company generated paperwork. Sign nothing from your company until a lawyer has read it. KEEP COPIES OF EVERYTHING YOU SIGN!!!
There are three types of work-related injuries:
Specific: occurring from one accident (e.g., broken back, back sprain, lacerations).
Cumulative: injury caused by repetitive activities over a period of time (e.g., bad back, stress-related illness, eye strain, carpal tunnel syndrome).
Occupational Disease: a disease which occurs because of exposure to hazardous substances or conditions on the job (e.g., allergies, sick building syndrome, hepatitis).
What to do when you are injured:
STEP 1 - Notify your supervisor immediately. Report all accidents promptly and no later than 24 hours after the injury becomes known.
STEP 2 - Obtain first aid treatment for a minor injury. For an injury requiring medical treatment, your supervisor/contractor/safety guy should make arrangements, and have a safety plan which is on file at your jobsite HR department, safety department, or government facility (for you embassy guys). There should also be posted and in practice, an emergency procedure should anything happen. I was on a site not too long ago where a man was mortally injured, and it was chaos. Talk to the safety guy, just to know where everybody stands. Those boring safety meetings are a great place to bring this up, so do it. Act like a professional, be a professional. Those meetings are serious. If I get hurt, I don't want the jerk that was too busy to attend that meeting, looking after my best interest...ME!
STEP 3 - In the event your work-related injury disables you, your contractor is responsible for arranging appropriate transportation to the nearest physician or hospital. Your supervisor or a co-worker may accompany you to the physician or hospital.
STEP 4 - Inform your supervisor of the physician's advice concerning your ability to work. Get this in writing form your doctor, and give a COPY to the safety guy. Follow up on the paper trail.
STEP 5 - Return to work only after it is medically feasible and the physician has released you to return to work. Get your doctor to sign the release form, and give a COPY to the contractor.
Who files the injury claim?
STEP 1 - Within one working day of the employer's knowledge of a worker's injury, the employer must provide to the worker a notice of "Potential Eligibility for Benefits" and a claim form.
STEP 2 - After you receive the claim form, fill out the top half, copy it, and return it to your supervisor. Your supervisor will then fill out the bottom half of the form and endorse it.
STEP 3 - After the form is endorsed, the supervisor returns one copy to the employee (within one day of the endorsement date), and mails/faxes the other copies to contractors Human Resources/safety department in the US within five days of injury date. You must check on this. Get everything in writing, and save copies of everything signed.
STEP 4 - Within 14 days from the date the form was submitted, you should receive an initial determination letter informing you whether or not your claim has been accepted, denied, or delayed. If the employer does not comply with the 14-day notice, the payment must automatically be increased 10 percent.
STEP 5 - If your claim has been delayed, the employer has 90 days to make a final decision to accept or deny the claim.
STEP 6 - If your claim is denied, you may appeal it to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board.
Workers' Compensation:
Workers' Compensation is a special kind of insurance which ALL employers MUST purchase to help workers who are injured on the job or get sick from diseases caused by the job. The State Dept. jobs require proof of this. Workers' Compensation is a system set up to compensate employees for work-related injuries.
Benefits and Compensation. Pay attention to this next few paragraphs...
If an illness or injury causes temporary disability, the employee shall be placed on industrial disability leave on the fourth calendar day after the injured employee leaves work as a result of the illness or injury, except that in case the injury causes disability of more than 14 days or necessitates hospitalization, the employee shall be placed on industrial disability leave from the first day he or she leaves work or is hospitalized as a result of the injury.
You are entitled to receive full salary for the first 22 days that you are disabled from your job due to a work-related injury or illness. Thereafter you are entitled to receive two-thirds of your salary for up to one full year while temporarily disabled.
When you suffer a disability that results in prospective loss of value in the labor market, the Labor Code provides for a permanent disability award. These awards may be made regardless of whether you are able to return or continue to work in the construction industry.
Get yourself some Legal Representation ASAP!!!
Often employers contest the legitimate claims of employees. An employer's insurance costs are based on claims. The more successful the claims, the higher the cost. The Workers' Compensation system is very complex, and even when employers do not contest claims, a worker may not receive all that he or she is entitled to. Therefore, it is always a good idea to be represented by an attorney in the proceedings. An attorney is not allowed to charge you a fee for consultation on a Workers' Compensation problem which does not lead to a claim and settlement. In fact an attorney can only charge you a fee based on a percentage of the award. The amount of this fee is set by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and is normally 9 to 12 percent of the final award.
Keep in mind, if you are issued company protective gear, like a hardhat, safety glasses,orange vest, special high voltage gear, etc., and you are injured on the job, you BETTER have this equipment on, or this will affect your case, you may be liable. Keep in mind also, that horseplay, negligence, alchohol abuse, and improper safety practices will all have an outcome on your claim. I hope this info helps. A lot depends on the skill and training you've had over the years. Remember, a lot of these guys are first timers, newbies as it were, and yes, accidents are caused by experienced hands all the time...but the new guys need you experienced hands to instill safety from day one. There is nothing worse than a guy who says "Nobody told me", or wasn't paying attention during the safety meeting because he was explaining to the other guys near him how the hot girl at the London Pub thinks he's marriage material. I threw that one in to see if you guys read this all the way down, and besides, she told me that line last Saturday.:cheers
Man it has been a long time since I have posted in this forum. I have been busy with a hyper active 2 year old, and the experience has taken it's toll....I am not as young as I used to be, and my Mother says this is God's way of paying me back...and I wouldn't trade a moment of it for all the secure conduit couplings in China...
At one time or another, someone, or ourselves, is injured or hurt on the job. Even the safest guy, can be injured. Either by an act of our own doing, or by the result of someone elses carelessness, which seems even worse. I sat down with a workman's comp. lawyer friend of mine, and posed several questions his way, in an effort to get to the bottom of how to protect yourself in the event of an unforseen injury. Read below for my results. Remember, keep all reciepts, x-rays, and company generated paperwork. Sign nothing from your company until a lawyer has read it. KEEP COPIES OF EVERYTHING YOU SIGN!!!
There are three types of work-related injuries:
Specific: occurring from one accident (e.g., broken back, back sprain, lacerations).
Cumulative: injury caused by repetitive activities over a period of time (e.g., bad back, stress-related illness, eye strain, carpal tunnel syndrome).
Occupational Disease: a disease which occurs because of exposure to hazardous substances or conditions on the job (e.g., allergies, sick building syndrome, hepatitis).
What to do when you are injured:
STEP 1 - Notify your supervisor immediately. Report all accidents promptly and no later than 24 hours after the injury becomes known.
STEP 2 - Obtain first aid treatment for a minor injury. For an injury requiring medical treatment, your supervisor/contractor/safety guy should make arrangements, and have a safety plan which is on file at your jobsite HR department, safety department, or government facility (for you embassy guys). There should also be posted and in practice, an emergency procedure should anything happen. I was on a site not too long ago where a man was mortally injured, and it was chaos. Talk to the safety guy, just to know where everybody stands. Those boring safety meetings are a great place to bring this up, so do it. Act like a professional, be a professional. Those meetings are serious. If I get hurt, I don't want the jerk that was too busy to attend that meeting, looking after my best interest...ME!
STEP 3 - In the event your work-related injury disables you, your contractor is responsible for arranging appropriate transportation to the nearest physician or hospital. Your supervisor or a co-worker may accompany you to the physician or hospital.
STEP 4 - Inform your supervisor of the physician's advice concerning your ability to work. Get this in writing form your doctor, and give a COPY to the safety guy. Follow up on the paper trail.
STEP 5 - Return to work only after it is medically feasible and the physician has released you to return to work. Get your doctor to sign the release form, and give a COPY to the contractor.
Who files the injury claim?
STEP 1 - Within one working day of the employer's knowledge of a worker's injury, the employer must provide to the worker a notice of "Potential Eligibility for Benefits" and a claim form.
STEP 2 - After you receive the claim form, fill out the top half, copy it, and return it to your supervisor. Your supervisor will then fill out the bottom half of the form and endorse it.
STEP 3 - After the form is endorsed, the supervisor returns one copy to the employee (within one day of the endorsement date), and mails/faxes the other copies to contractors Human Resources/safety department in the US within five days of injury date. You must check on this. Get everything in writing, and save copies of everything signed.
STEP 4 - Within 14 days from the date the form was submitted, you should receive an initial determination letter informing you whether or not your claim has been accepted, denied, or delayed. If the employer does not comply with the 14-day notice, the payment must automatically be increased 10 percent.
STEP 5 - If your claim has been delayed, the employer has 90 days to make a final decision to accept or deny the claim.
STEP 6 - If your claim is denied, you may appeal it to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board.
Workers' Compensation:
Workers' Compensation is a special kind of insurance which ALL employers MUST purchase to help workers who are injured on the job or get sick from diseases caused by the job. The State Dept. jobs require proof of this. Workers' Compensation is a system set up to compensate employees for work-related injuries.
Benefits and Compensation. Pay attention to this next few paragraphs...
If an illness or injury causes temporary disability, the employee shall be placed on industrial disability leave on the fourth calendar day after the injured employee leaves work as a result of the illness or injury, except that in case the injury causes disability of more than 14 days or necessitates hospitalization, the employee shall be placed on industrial disability leave from the first day he or she leaves work or is hospitalized as a result of the injury.
You are entitled to receive full salary for the first 22 days that you are disabled from your job due to a work-related injury or illness. Thereafter you are entitled to receive two-thirds of your salary for up to one full year while temporarily disabled.
When you suffer a disability that results in prospective loss of value in the labor market, the Labor Code provides for a permanent disability award. These awards may be made regardless of whether you are able to return or continue to work in the construction industry.
Get yourself some Legal Representation ASAP!!!
Often employers contest the legitimate claims of employees. An employer's insurance costs are based on claims. The more successful the claims, the higher the cost. The Workers' Compensation system is very complex, and even when employers do not contest claims, a worker may not receive all that he or she is entitled to. Therefore, it is always a good idea to be represented by an attorney in the proceedings. An attorney is not allowed to charge you a fee for consultation on a Workers' Compensation problem which does not lead to a claim and settlement. In fact an attorney can only charge you a fee based on a percentage of the award. The amount of this fee is set by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and is normally 9 to 12 percent of the final award.
Keep in mind, if you are issued company protective gear, like a hardhat, safety glasses,orange vest, special high voltage gear, etc., and you are injured on the job, you BETTER have this equipment on, or this will affect your case, you may be liable. Keep in mind also, that horseplay, negligence, alchohol abuse, and improper safety practices will all have an outcome on your claim. I hope this info helps. A lot depends on the skill and training you've had over the years. Remember, a lot of these guys are first timers, newbies as it were, and yes, accidents are caused by experienced hands all the time...but the new guys need you experienced hands to instill safety from day one. There is nothing worse than a guy who says "Nobody told me", or wasn't paying attention during the safety meeting because he was explaining to the other guys near him how the hot girl at the London Pub thinks he's marriage material. I threw that one in to see if you guys read this all the way down, and besides, she told me that line last Saturday.:cheers