Reporting an Injury or Occupational Disease

Report of occupational injury or disease must be filed in the following cases.

1. Within 48 hours for every injury resulting in death.
2. Not before 7 days but no later than 10 days after date of injury for all other injuries covered by the Workers' Compensation Act, except those cases resulting in no disability*
   

   disability for the purposes of reporting shall be defined as (1) loss of time or wages beyond the day, shift, or turn in which the injury was received or (2) the loss or loss of use of a member or disfigurement which may qualify for a specific loss payment under section 306 of the act.

   An employee should report all injuries to his/her supervisor, manager, etc., as soon as possible. The employee must give notice within 21 days of the date of the injury in order to receive retroactive benefits, unless the employer already has knowledge of the injury. Notice given more than 120 days from the date of injury may result in the loss of workers' compensation unless the employer already knew of the injury. The employee should give as much information regarding the circumstances of the injury. The report may be made verbally or in writing by the employee or be someone acting in his/her behalf to the employer or to a representative of the employer.
   
   When an employee has been injured or has a recurrence of a previously reported injury, immediately contact SWIF using our Toll Free Hotline at 1-888-388-7943(SWIF). In order to alleviate any confusion and reporting delays please refer to our Telephonic Reporting Questionnaire, this will detail in order all of the questions that you will be asked. Always report ALL injuries to SWIF, no matter how minor the injury may seem. SWIF should be notified by the employer if there is reason to doubt the claim, we will investigate the claim and determine if the claim should be paid. If you have posted a panel of physicians, secure the injured employee's signature on the Workers' Compensation Employee Notification form. This should already have been signed at the time of hire.