It all starts with a workplace injury. Someone leaves oil on a floor, forgets to wear safety goggles, fails to remember to replace a safety guard on a saw, touches something that should absolutely, positively, never ever be touched. And once that happens, a chain of events takes place, most of them bad.
We’re all familiar with the process: The injured worker is taken to an overcrowded occupational clinic (often accompanied by one or more co-workers, who are no longer doing their jobs) where they can pretty much figure on spending a good portion of their working day. Then the OC doctor (if you ever get that high on the medical food chain), who just assisted a 10-year-old with crayon stuck up his or her nostril, will now try to diagnose an industrial accident. From there it becomes a labyrinth of missteps and wrong turns as everything gets sorted out by the supervisor, the claims people, insurance company and your human resources department. All the while, the injury clock is ticking and your premiums are getting ready to escalate.