Expanding the Definition of an 'Accident Witness'

When investigating a workplace injury on a job site, one standard practice is to locate and interview witnesses. So, who do you look for? In most cases we look for anyone who saw the injury. After all, that is the definition of a witness, right?

If the claimant is a predator, there will likely be no witnesses to the alleged injury. No one saw the claimant get hurt so the conclusion that “there were no witnesses” is made. In reality, there are some witnesses that may have valuable information to contribute to the investigation. These will be supervisors or coworkers who were exposed to the claimant before and after the alleged injury.

Suppose a claimant reports to work complaining of leg pain to his coworkers even before the shift begins and then later that day claims that the same leg was injured during the course of working. Unfortunately, this happens quite often. The claimant may come to work on the day of the alleged injury already limping or cradling an injured arm and then allege a workplace injury to cover the medical costs arising from an injury that actually occurred at home. These limps, moans, and groans prior to the injury may be valuable information to risk managers and claims adjusters as they process the workers compensation claim and may mean serious savings to your company.

Consider interviewing people who worked with the claimant after the injury. For example, if the claimant states that the injury occurred midway through the shift, but no one actually saw it happen and the claimant finished the shift; find out if the claimant's behavior during the remainder of the shift was indicative of the injury or if it was “normal” in the eyes of supervisors and coworkers.

Often, fraudulent claims are filed for injuries that actually happened over a weekend or holiday. If the claimant reports the injury on Monday morning or after a holiday, this would be a good time to check with people who worked with the claimant during the shift on which the injury allegedly occurred to gather information about behavior that might indicate a fraudulent claim.

Remember that a witness is not only a person who is aware of the injury, but someone who knows about the claimant. Always include supervisors and coworkers in your investigation. This will improve the quality of the investigation and may provide valuable information to assist in the fair and accurate processing of the claim.