Six Key Responsibilities of the Workers Comp Injury Coordinator

An injury coordinator is the person at the business that coordinates activities between the employer, injured worker, doctors, and insurance company. Usually they handle other duties as well; however, in companies where there are many claims, they may be dedicated to the role of Injury Coordinator. 1. The injury coordinator provides a written post-injury response procedure to all workplace staff. These procedures list the steps each participant must take when a workplace injury occurs. Participants will include the employee, supervisor, witnesses and physician and any other persons with knowledge of the injury or part of the response team. These procedures list steps each participant must take at the time of a work-related injury. 2. The injury coordinator coordinates the paperwork process when employees are injured, including receiving, processing, and archiving the work ability form, the witness report of injury, a supervisor report and an employee report as well as all subsequent documentation. 3. Communicates workers’ compensation policies to the employee population by posting a transitional duty policy, providing employee brochures or offering wallet cards. 4. Informs in-service employees on post-injury response procedures. 5. Stays in touch with injured employees with a first-day phone call and a get well card. (workersxzcompxzkit) 6. Structure the company’s communication program using documents found in your corporate injury management manual or develop company-specific documents. Employee communications may need to be translated into additional languages. Contact your insurance resource to determine how to proceed. Most importantly – it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be started! My biggest challenge as a consultant is helping the client recognize that they can “do it.” Author: Rebecca Shafer, J.D. Rebecca designs and develops workers’ compensation cost containment programs, and is the developer or Workers’ Comp Kit®, an on-line automated tool kit with an assessment, benchmarking and improvement plan. Rebecca can be contacted at: 860-553-6604 and email: [email protected] http://www.ReduceYourWorkersComp.com. We accept articles on WC cost containment. Contact us at: [email protected].