Injuries From a Fall While You Were Working in Washington
Have you been in an accident on the job? Have you suffered injuries from a fall while you were working in Washington?
Are you injuries from the fall while you were working in Washington going to cause you to miss time at work? Are you going to be disabled from these injuries for a long period of time? Where will you get the help that you need?
Washington workers’ compensation
Did you know that Washington was the first state in the United States to create a workers’ compensation program? The state of Washington is also unique in that employers in Washington cannot buy private workers’ compensation insurance.
In Washington, an employer has to buy workers’ compensation insurance from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. This state agency oversees and pays workers’ compensation benefits from an insurance pool that is known as the Washington State Fund.
An employer in Washington can choose to be self-insured if that employer meets certain state requirements. Your workers’ compensation rights and benefits are not different if your employer is self-insured. However, it is your employer who does your paperwork and pays for your workers’ compensation claim when your employer is self-insured.
Filing a claim
Do you know how to go about filing a Labor & Industries claim for your injuries from the fall? It is a simple matter.
You go to a doctor who handles Labor & Industries claims and tell the doctor that you suffered injuries from a fall while you were working. Then, both you and the doctor fill out a form that is called a Report of Industrial Injury or Occupational Disease (ROI).
Your doctor should file this report for you with the Department of Labor & Industries if it is a state fund case or with your employer in self-insured cases. If you are not sure whether your case is state fund or self insured, have the report sent to Labor & Industries and they will figure it out for you. The Department of Labor & Industries has to pay for your first visit to the doctor.
One thing that you need to be aware of is that your employer may try to suppress your Labor & Industries claim. This can be done in several different ways. These include:
Inducing you to treat your injury that happened while you were working as if it occurred off the job
Inducing you to not report your injuries
Threatening to fire you if you file a claim
Telling you that you do not need to file a claim, that they will take care of it
Trying to get you to put your accident on your health insurance
Telling you that if you file a claim you will cause all of your co-workers to lose their incentive bonus for keeping work place accidents down.
If your employer is trying to suppress your Department of Labor & Industries claim or your claim has been denied by this agency, you need the assistance of one of these attorneys. These attorneys know workers’ compensation laws in Washington and they will work hard to see that you are given all of the workers’ compensation benefits that are rightfully yours.
Related articles
- Injured Because of a Fall at Work in California (usworkerscomp.com)
- Injured By a Fall on the Job in Arizona (usworkerscomp.com)
- Workers compensation for an injury from falling machinery (usworkerscomp.com)








