Why Reporting Minor Work Injuries is Essential

 Posted on January 08, 2025 in Workers' Compensation

It is easy to feel a little silly when you go to report a minor work injury to your supervisor. If your injury is so minor that you do not think you will need any medical attention and can keep working that day, you might question whether there is any sense in reporting it. You should always report all workplace injuries, however insignificant they might seem at first. Reporting minor accidents can protect you in case the injury turns out to be worse than you thought. Injuries that do not seem too painful at the time can swell and get worse after you go home for the day. Cuts that seem like insignificant scrapes can start showing signs of injection days later. Documentation is everything in a workers’ compensation case. Reporting an injury promptly can help you get the compensation you need later. After you have reported a workplace injury, you should consult an experienced Will County, IL workers’ compensation attorney.

Work Injuries Can be Deceptively Serious 

Some injuries are obviously serious right away. Other injuries can be deceptive. It is very possible for a worker to go home after an accident thinking that he only has minor injuries that will clear up on their own without medical care, only to find that the injury looks and feels much worse later.

For example, say you suffer a minor cut on your arm while working on a construction site. Minor cuts are common in your industry, and you have had worse. You do not think the injury is worth bothering your supervisor with. Instead, you wash it off and go back to work. When you wake up the next morning, your arm is badly swollen and red around the cut, and you are running a high fever - your cut is infected, and you need immediate medical attention to save your arm.

If you reported the cut when it happened, you would have documentation showing that the cut happened at work and that you likely acquired the infection at work. This documentation will be very helpful when you file a workers’ compensation claim.

Minor Injury Reporting and Industry Pressure 

People who work in "tough" professions, like factory work, construction, and farming, often feel pressure to ignore minor injuries. Workers sometimes fear being ridiculed or thought of as weak if they bother reporting injuries that do not seem serious at the time. Employers sometimes encourage this attitude because it makes it easier for them to resist workers’ compensation claims and underreport safety incidents. If you are worried about being fired or harassed for reporting a work injury, you should know that Illinois law protects workers from unlawful retaliation for pursuing workers’ compensation.

Contact a Will County, IL Workers’ Compensation Attorney

McNamara Phelan McSteen, LLC can help you ensure that you have properly reported your workplace injury. Our experienced Joliet, IL workers’ compensation lawyers will fight for you to recover the compensation you need after getting hurt at work. Contact us at 815-727-0100 for a complimentary consultation.