Injury reporting systems > Short guide to best practice injury reporting systems

An overseas study of injury reporting systems* came to the following conclusions about how to encourage the best outcomes:

Keep it simple

have a single point of contact to ensure that the process is uniform

Staff the injury reporting process with an experienced triage case manager

Either in-house or using a contracted service. The quality of information derived from this process greatly impacts the claims management function and builds positive relationships with employees.

Make it easy to use for employees and supervisors

A phone call is efficient and personal especially when talking to a medical professional.

Immediately integrate the injury reporting process with access to qualified medical care

Employees that receive medical treatment on the day of injury have much higher satisfaction levels.

Set an expectation of early return to work

With prior targeted communications and reinforce it on day of injury.

Set an expectation of early return to work

Open discussions about return to work from the start help employees understand the system.

However not all organisations will have the resources to implement all of these measures.

Whilst not all organisations have the resources to implement all the measures, most organisations can set up a modified version.

Reporting to one central person who coordinates initial management will make a difference.

*PERI Day of Injury Study: “Controlling the workers’ comp line of scrimmage.” Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI), 2005