Being injured on the job can cause major problems, from lost wages, to medical bills, to permanent disability. Any workplace injury should be considered for a workers’ compensation claim, and because the deadlines for filing a worker’s comp claim in Ohio can be short and strict, you should take action immediately after the accident. But do you know what to do, and when, to protect your rights and help you make your case?
Overview of the Ohio BWC system
The workers’ compensation system is set up to provide benefits to people who have been injured in the course of their work or on the premises of their work. This is to provide compensatory benefits to cover medical bills, lost wages, and, in severe cases, disability benefits for people who have been hurt while performing their jobs.
Each state administers its workers’ compensation claims in their own way. Here in Ohio, the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) handles the decisions about whether an injured worker can make a claim for worker’s compensation benefits. The process starts with the injured worker reporting their injury to their employer. After this (or sometimes before, depending on the severity of the injury), you should seek medical attention and follow the advice from your doctor in terms of treatment. The next step is to file your claim, at which point the BWC evaluates the claim and makes an initial decision about whether or not to approve the claim. If the claim is approved, and the employer does not appeal the decision, you could begin receiving benefits at this point. If the claim is denied, you can start an appeal of the decision. There are further appeal possibilities after each decision point.
How to File a Claim in Ohio
If your workplace injury requires immediate medical attention, then you should be sure to seek that at an Emergency Room as soon as the accident has occurred. If your injury is serious, but not so urgent as to require an ER visit, then it’s a good idea to notify your employer as soon as possible after the accident, and then seek medical treatment afterwards. (Medical treatment should be sought as soon as possible after the accident, though, to make sure it’s easy to connect the accident with the injury, leaving no doubt about the causality.) If possible, document everything you can about the accident — the time, place, circumstances, any witnesses, any conditions (weather, equipment, etc.) that contributed to the accident.
After this initial period of recording the circumstances and getting medical treatment, you will need to file a First Report of Injury (FROI) form with the BWC.
Deadlines and Required Documentation
From the moment the injury occurred, a clock starts ticking in terms of filing your claim. Although you technically have one year to file your claim (up to two years in the case of some workplace related illnesses) your chances of having your claim approved are better if you file your paperwork as soon as possible after the injury. (However, it can take some time for the full prognosis for workplace illnesses or injuries to become clear.)
When it comes time to file your claim, you have to provide documentation of the circumstances of the accident, the severity of the injury, and your prognosis for recovery. This can include photographs of the accident scene and witness statements. It will definitely include medical reports, records of time missed from work, photographs of your injuries, and reports from the doctors or any follow-up therapy for your recovery, improvement since the injury, and expected further recovery timeline.
When to Involve a Lawyer
It’s a good idea to involve an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer from the beginning of the process. In most cases, a workers’ compensation lawyer in Ohio won’t ask you to pay up front for your legal costs — instead, you’ll only need to pay for our services if you are successful in your claim. In this way, there’s no downside to getting legal assistance and advice from a workers’ comp attorney in your area. We can help to guide you through the process, and we can be focused on paperwork and deadlines while you focus on your recovery.
If, instead, you decided to begin the process without a lawyer, but you now find yourself facing the appeal of a denied claim, you should definitely call a top worker’s compensation law firm to help you with the appeal. We can help to streamline your evidence and make a compelling case for the appeal.
You don’t need to face your Ohio workers’ compensation claim process alone. We can help. We’re experienced workplace injury attorneys who have been through this process many times. We know what the BWC is looking for, and we can help to make sure that your situation is clear so that you can get all of the benefits to which you are entitled.