At a Texas work site, a serious injury can create a medical emergency, an insurance issue and potential litigation. Your company’s first priority is care for the injured person. After that, your response should address required notices, evidence preservation and internal coordination.
Start with care and notices
Get medical help, secure the area and determine whether Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) notice rules apply. A work-related death is usually due to OSHA within eight hours. An in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye is usually due within 24 hours.
Texas duties depend on your workers’ compensation coverage. If your company has coverage, you should report injuries that cause more than one day of lost work, along with work-related illnesses and deaths, to your insurance carrier. Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) Form-001 is usually due no later than the eighth day after the employee’s first missed workday, after notice of an occupational disease or after a work-related death. The carrier then sends the form to the Texas DWC.
Preserve evidence early
Your response should also account for possible tort claims. Your company should save surveillance video, equipment, inspection records, maintenance logs, training records, incident reports and witness names. You should also photograph the scene, equipment and area before conditions change.
If a claim seems likely, your leadership team should speak with counsel before changing, discarding or commenting on key evidence. A litigation hold may help protect emails, texts, videos and other records that could matter later.
Review non-subscriber duties
Texas private employers may choose whether to carry workers’ compensation insurance in most cases. If your company is a non-subscriber, workers may sue for negligence after a workplace injury, and Texas law limits certain defenses in these lawsuits. These include contributory negligence, assumption of risk and negligence by a fellow employee.
Non-subscriber employers with five or more employees should review whether they need to file monthly DWC Form-007 reports for certain injuries, illnesses or deaths.
Use the incident to improve safety
After the first steps are complete, review what happened and consider whether training, inspections, staffing or work rules need to change.
A serious on-site injury requires more than a fast report. A steady plan for medical response, notices, insurance and evidence can help your company prepare for any later claim.