When you’re dealing with severe pain, it’s easy to focus only on treatment. That’s right—but early actions also protect your claim.
**Prioritize: **
- Get medical care immediately (even if the injury seems “manageable” at first).
- Ask for copies of your visit notes, work restrictions, and any discharge paperwork.
- Report the incident through the proper employer or site process (and keep a copy of what you submitted).
- Document what you can safely document: photos of the area, equipment position, visible damage/guards, and the condition of safety devices.
- Write down the timeline while it’s fresh—what you were doing, what changed, what you noticed before the incident.
Avoid: giving recorded statements that you haven’t reviewed with counsel. Insurers sometimes use minor inconsistencies later to reduce or deny the claim.


