Some jobs are more dangerous than others, but that does not mean that you should ever expect to be injured on the job. According to OSHA and the federal government, your employer must provide you with a safe and healthful workplace. If you do become injured, then you are most likely eligible for workers' compensation. Your employer must have workers' compensation insurance as long as more than five people work for the business, and this insurance is used to pay for injuries, illnesses, and lost wages that are caused by an incident that happened at work. If you are injured, then there are some cases where your compensation claim may be denied. The denial may be caused by a mistake that you make, so keep reading to learn about a few of these mistakes.

Not Reporting Immediately

If your work injury did not require immediate medical attention or if you decided to wait to see if the injury healed on its own before seeing a doctor, then you may be denied workers' compensation. In many cases, you have a time limit when it comes to reporting work injuries and seeking compensation. In some cases, like if you live in California, then you only have 30 days to inform your employer that you were injured at work. However, you will have one year to file a workers' compensation claim. In many states, the timeframes are similar with a short period to inform your employer and a much longer time to file a claim. This means that you should report injuries as soon as possible to your employer. Even if you think the incident will not turn into a future workers' compensation claim, you do not want to bar yourself from future compensation by simply overlooking the initial reporting process. Otherwise, your claim can be denied simply based on the fact that your employer was never informed that an incident occurred. 

Most employers will have incident report forms that need to be filled out when you are injured. Make sure to fill out the form as soon as possible after an injury.

Providing An Inconsistent Initial Report

If you do seek medical attention after a workplace injury, then you will need to tell your doctor how the injury occurred. You may not think that this is important and you may leave out details or describe a condensed version of what happened. However, the injury report will be included in your medical file. If the explanation of the injury varies wildly from reports given to your employer or your employer's insurance company, then your injury claim may be denied.

Even if you are in pain and waiting for treatment from your physician or an emergency professional, take the time to think about the injury incident and how it occurred. Explain the incident in detail. Your initial medical paperwork may need to be used by you as evidence if your injury claim is contested in any way. Contact a workers compensation attorney for help.