Incident procedures - what to tell the spouse?
I had a very unique situation and I'm looking for any insight that any of you can provide.
Without getting into too many details of the incident, an employee hit himself in the head with a post-pounder causing a small 1/4" laceration on the top of his forehead. As with most head injuries, the cut bled quite a bit.
So the Manager gets the call from the injured employee and he explains what happened. He states that his co-worker is on the phone with EMS and they are en-route.
I drive by the scene and see EMS, Fire, and our own PD at the scene. So instead of delay transport, I head to the ER to receive the patient.
As I get to the ER, the employee's wife enters the ER lobby quite frantic. "Yes, my husband has been involved in a motor vehicle crash, he has a cut on his head with massive bleeding and I would like to see him," the wife tells the front desk.
At this point, I quickly go to her, introduce myself, and explain what REALLY happened and the extent of his injuries to help calm down the spouse.
So, my question is does your company have any Incident notification/communication policies or procedures you are willing to share?
Thanks ahead of time.
Comments (5)
Personally for me, it depends upon the severity of the injury. If the employee is able to call their spouse, I encourage that. I've only ever had one injury that was not like that and the injured worker specifically asked that no one call his spouse and that his best friend/neighbor who worked with him go tell her and bring her to the hospital - she was very pregnant and had a little one at home with her.
It depends on the situation. On a previous job, it was a policy for the heads of each contractor to have emergency contact numbers of all of their employees who are working on sight That way, if their significant other has to go to the hospital, they can be contacted. Also, another policy was that incidents had to be reported to the supervisor. If they were reported to me and not the supervisor, I would give them a call informing them what had happened and remind them of their responsibilities to their employee. First offense is a verbal warning, second was suspension, third was termination from site.
In my long career in manufacturing I have had to make several calls to employee's spouses when we had employees become severely injured, per company policy we had to inform the spouse anytime the employee was sent to the ER unless for just sutures or something small. If we knew it was an amputation or serious injury that would required surgery and/or hospitalization HR had to call the spouse and meet that person at the hospital to offer assistance! We were not to be intrusive but to be of immediate assistance to the family if needed. I cannot tell you how much good will this bought us! It really helped if any future WC or legal issues arose later! I found this a very useful thing to do, but I hated it too! As I remember sitting there in the hospital watching the family and knowing somehow are Safety System had failed, and I was somehow responsible. Made me work very hard to not have to do that!
In many years of working with my employees I was not loved, but I was respected as someone who spoke to truth! That went for training as well especially in stuff like Lockout! So in closing the training I ALWAYS did this: I would sit down and look the employees in the eyes and say, "Now you understand YOU have NO choice to lockout when you remove guarding or other safeguards! You MUST be protected! If for some reason you believe you cannot you must consult your supervisor and get a Hazardous Work Permit Approved. I am an approver and you better be protected or forget it! You all understand?" They acknowledge my question.
Then I say, there are two things I hate in my job. Second, I hate to have to fire people! First, I hate to have to call a spouse of an employee that was just hurt on the job! Notice the order I used. So let's male one thing perfectly clear. I will personally terminate you in a heartbeat and without reservation if you put my in a position to even possibly have to call your loved ones! You understand that? Now sign this form that you will lockout!"