Reporting an Injury.

When a work place injury occurs the injured worker is required to report that injury to his or her employer as soon as possible. Section 287.420 requires an employee to provide the employer with written notice of the time, place and nature of the injury and the name and address of the person injured within thirty days after the accident unless the employer was not prejudiced by failure to receive the notice. The same is true for occupational diseases except that an occupational disease must be reported no later than thirty days after the diagnosis of the condition. An employee who fails to notify the employer of a work injury within thirty days may jeopardize his or her ability to receive workers' compensation benefits.

The employer must report the injury to the employer's insurance company, or the administrator if self-insured, within five days of the date of the injury or within five days of the date on which the injury was reported to the employer if that is later.

The insurance company or administrator must report the injury to the Division of Workers' Compensation on a First Report of Injury form (WC-1-EDI) within thirty days of the employer receiving knowledge of the injury.

The employee does not report the injury to the Division of Workers' Compensation unless the injury was not reported to the Division by the insurer or administrator. If this happens then the employee can report the injury to the Division by either calling the Division's toll-free information line at 800-775-2667 or by filing a Claim for Compensation form (WC-21).