Louisiana Small Business Association
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Workers' Comp - First Report of Injury

As a reminder, starting January 1st, all employers are required to report to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) all work-related fatalities within 8 hours and all in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye within 24 hours of finding out about the incident. 

Employers have 3 options for reporting these incidents to OSHA:

  • Call the regional OSHA office in Atlanta at 678-237-0400
  • Call the 24-hour OSHA hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742)
  • Report online at osha.gov/report_online

Under Louisiana law, employers are also required to report an on the job injury resulting in death or lost time in excess of one week, within 10 days of actual knowledge of the incident to their insurance carrier by submitting a completed Workers' Compensation – First Report of Injury or Illness (Form LWC-WC IA-1), provided by the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC).  The employer's insurance carrier will then submit the report and any other necessary forms to the Office of Workers' Compensation (OWCA) on behalf of the injured worker(s).

Any employer that fails to report such an injury to its workers’ compensation insurer or to the OWCA is subject to a penalty for failure to do so.  Penalties assessed for late reporting of workers' compensation claims can range up to $500 per each noncompliance of this law.

It is important to provide the date that you (the employer) had actual knowledge of the injury/illness, as requested in Item 7 of the Workers' Compensation – First Report of Injury or Illness, as this is the date when the ten day time requirement begins.

For additional information please visit the LWC's website at laworks.net/workerscomp/owc_districtofficelisting.asp, for your local OWCA office's contact information.  

Published: 01/06/2015

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