b'34 SAFETY (continued from pg 33)Whiletheclaimwaspendingontheclaimantsreport it to OSHA.bruised toe, he also filed additional motions to add additional conditions to the claim. These began withI could describe at least dozens of situations in which the allegation that the incident had also resulted intheemployersaccidentinvestigationresultedin a sprained ankle, which had morphed into plantarcontrolling what could have been very costly claims. fasciitis,whichresultedinanalteredgait,whichIt is not just in the area of workers compensation then, allegedly, had aggravated a pre-existing lowwhere a good investigation can be very beneficial in back condition, and that had turned into a herniatedcontrolling your exposure to other costs, it can also disc. So, the minor bruised toe had, after aboutprevent possible OSHA inspections and citations.two months, expanded to a herniated disc, with an extended period of disability. Thanks to my clientsForanyincident/accident,whichdoesnotresult initial investigation, we successfully defended thein hospitalization, the supervisor should notify the bruised toe, which resulted in a denial of all of thecompanysafetydirector,orhis/herteamleader, additional requested conditions. thatanaccidenthasoccurredandtheseverity oftheaccident/incident.Inthecaseofsuchan In one other case, the employee of a different clientincident/accident, the supervisor should be directed had an employee hobble into her office one morning,toconductaninvestigationusingthecompanys right after starting time. This employees job wasstandard accident investigation form. He/she should to use a hand grinder to clean up large cast ironinterview the injured employee, noting their identity, flanges. These flanges were so large and heavy thatand then interview all eyewitnesses. I suggest that he had to use a hoist to move them around and tothesupervisorcommitthewitnessesstatements place them onto his worktable. He claimed that oneto writing. He/she should add a line to the end of of these flanges, after he disconnected the hookthestatementsimilarto:Ihavereadthisentire Dedicated to keeping its members at the forefront in their industryon the hoist, fell off the table had struck is knee.statement and it is a true recitation of what I saw After he was taken to the emergency room (he wasand/or heard regarding ___________s accident admitted to the hospital), my client took a look at hison _____(date).The supervisor should also take work area and found it to be in pristine condition.photographs of the accident scene, if appropriate, There was no flange laying on the floor, where oneanddocumentanyotherrelatedenvironmental that was accident-related, should have been. Also,conditions. This may seem like quite a bit of effort, all of his tools were where they were supposed tobutwhatmayseemlikeasmallincidentwhen beputattheendofeachworkday.Afterseeingitoccurs,cangrowintosomethingmuchmore this,shebegantointerviewemployeeswhohadserious with the passage of time. Also, even though come into work at the same time as the claimant.the incident may not be OSHA reportable, it could Shehadtwoemployeesthatsignedstatementsstill result in a compliance inspection if it results in indicating that when they saw him arrive at work, hean employee complaint. could barely walk from his car into the shop. Further investigation revealed that he had been in a seriousInthenextissueIwilldiscusstheaccident incident the night before and been injured. He hadinvestigationprocedureitself,includingwitness lived with the pain in his knee so that he couldinterviewsandthefiveWhysofanaccident make it into work the next day to make an accidentinvestigation. I will also provide some guidelines on claim,inordertoobtainworkerscompensationhow to deal with different types of accidents, from benefits. This incident occurred before the currentminor incidents to serious hospitalizations, as well OSHA reportability requirements. If it had occurredas fatalities. today,itwouldhavetohavebeenreportedto OSHA, being work-related. Her investigation was completed in less than a day and, therefore, if this had occurred in 2022, she would not have had to The InsulatorApril 2022'