Reporting Work Injuries to OSHA: How to Report a Work Injury that Wasn't Reported

Getting injured at work can cause a lot of distress and normally the procedure is that if you get injured at work and the injury causes you to be unable to work you will receive workers' compensation benefits or you can hire a workers' compensation lawyer to receive benefits but in some places, particularly small businesses, may try to hide injuries and not report it to the Workers' Compensation Board. 

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) they are trying to crack down over the next two years on businesses (large and small) who are not reporting or who are underreporting work injuries.  Not reporting work injuries is a way that some businesses decide to handle work related injuries because they do not want their insurance prices to go up due to being a "high risk". Other times the reasons for not reporting a work accident may be because the owner of the company wants to uphold a reputation for having a low injury rate. 

OSHA plans on investigating 350 companies by the end of their two year project to crack down on underreported injuries at work and have already investigated over 185 companies so far. OSHA is targeting businesses with abnormally low injury rates that they believe would normally be higher and places where they have received anonymous tips that the issue of underreporting work related injuries and accidents occurs. 

If you were injured at work or if you are aware of work related injuries that get "swept under the rug" and covered up you can contact OSHA at 800.321.6742. If you wish to you may remain anonymous.  

Continue reading more information about Workers' Compensation benefits or contact us if you would like more information about applying for Workers' Compensation benefits in New York.