Work injuries usually take place at a job site. Factory workers get injured on the factory floor, or restaurant workers sustain injuries in the kitchen. There may be other workers present who witness the incident and can validate the worker’s report of their injury. Additionally, the injured employee may feel confident about their right to request workers’ compensation benefits because their injury obviously occurred on the job.
Sometimes, workers who are on the clock perform job tasks at different locations. They may need to drive to a customer’s location for a sales or service call. They might need to complete training at an off-site location while they are technically on the clock and earning wages.
How can employees hurt while away from company premises pay for their injury-related expenses?
Workers’ compensation may still apply
The workers’ compensation program does not just protect people hurt in the physical workplace. It indemnifies employers for liability related to worker injuries. Even if employees get hurt in another location while they are on the clock, workers’ compensation coverage may still be available.
Many professionals occasionally drive for work. Even those who do not have jobs in the transportation sector may occasionally find themselves running errands in their own vehicles while they are on the clock. Car crashes involving workers on the job are a top cause of mortality and severe injury across many different industries.
Professionals in a variety of different sectors also perform work in remote locations for their employers. They may install devices at another company or repair a furnace in a client’s home. Provided that the employee was on the clock when an incident occurred, workers’ compensation may apply even though the incident took place far from the formal address of their employer.
Injured workers do need to follow the right procedures. Reporting the incident to management to ensure that there is internal documentation and following the appropriate procedures for a workers’ compensation claim can help those hurt in an off-site incident while working protect their eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits that they may need later.
Learning more about workers’ compensation benefits and claims can help professionals handle their losses appropriately when a work injury occurs off-site. Professionals facing complicated benefits claims due to when or where they got hurt often require the support of a legal professional to ensure they obtain the workers’ compensation benefits they need, and that’s okay.