Reporting your offshore injury

Reporting your injury in a timely fashion is one of the most important things you can do if you are injured offshore. 

Initially, you may think your injury is not serious.  However, if the injury turns out to be serious, your company, and its insurance company, may later claim that you weren't hurt or aren't hurt as bad as you claim if there is no report of the accident.

Any accident involving any injury, no matter how minor, should be reported immediately.  The right thing to do, and what most companies expect, is that you will tell them when you are injured.  You should make a truthful report.  You should not exagerate your injuries and you should not minimize them either.  You should make sure that you identify any witnesses and any possible reasons for the accident.

The company should then get the proper and timely medical care you need.  If they don't, consider consulting with an experienced Jones Act or maritime lawyer.  They can usually make arrangements for you to get proper medical care.

Companies do not like employees who make up injuries or employees who fail to report injuries timely.  Simply put, the best policy is to always report any accident or injury when it happens, whether you think it is serious or not.

We have had cases involving serious back, neck, shoulder, or other injuries that did not at first seem as serious as they turned out to be.  Not reporting your injury can really hurt your case.

Also, not reporting your injury immediately can delay medical care, which can then make the situation even worse for all involved. 

You may think that you will look better to the company if you don't report your injury or if you just try to "tough it out."  This is almost never true.  And any company that holds it against you for reporting an accident or injury is not following industry standards and policies or good common sense.

No matter where you live, we can help you if the company does not let you report your injury or accident or doesn't complete a proper report and do a full investigation.  If you run into a situation where the company is not handling your accident or injury claim the right way, feel free to call us for help and advice.

Name:

Phone:

Email:

Tell us more:

Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C
1001 Texas Avenue, Suite 1020
Houston, TX 77002

Phone: 713.224.7800
Fax: 713.224.7801