Workers: How to report an injury and what to expect
If you have a work-related injury or disease, we want to help you as soon as possible. This is an overview of how to report a workplace injury or illness and what happens when we receive your report.
- What to do when you're injured at work
- How to report your injury
- After you've reported your injury or illness
- If your claim is accepted
- If you disagree with a claim decision
- Resources
What to do when you're injured at work
- Prioritize your health and safety.
- Let your employer know about your injury as soon as it is safe to do so.
- If you receive medical attention, let anyone treating or assessing you know that you were injured at work.
- Follow any treatment recommendations from your physician or other health care providers and ask about any modified work duties and activities you can do to help your recovery and return to work (if you’ve been off work). Stay connected to your workplace and work with your employer to identify safe and suitable work.
- Report your injury to us to start your claim. We encourage you to report your injury to us right away. The sooner we hear from you, the sooner we can make a decision on your claim and determine your eligibility for services and benefits. However, you do have up to one year from the date you were injured to report it to us.
If you think you have a work-related disease or illness, report it to us as soon as you notice the symptoms. You can report an occupational disease claim even if you're not working or you've changed jobs.
How to report your injury
We offer three ways for you to report your injury to us:
By phone
You can call our Teleclaim team at 604.231.8333 (or toll-free at 1.888.967.5377), Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. We recommend using this option if you’ve missed (or will miss) any time from work or your paycheque has changed due to your injury or condition.
Additional circumstances when it’s best to call us
Please call Teleclaim in the following circumstances so we can connect you with a specialized team member:
- Your injury involves sexual assault or sexual harassment
- Your injury involves long-term hearing damage that is not associated with any specific incident
- You work in the fishing industry
- You're reporting a mental health injury
Online
You can use our online form to submit your injury report. Our online form is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Mail or fax
You can complete our fillable PDF, Application for Compensation and Report of Injury or Occupational Disease (Form 6), and mail or fax it to us.
Information you'll need to make your report
- Your contact information and the contact information of your employer(s)
- Your Personal Health Number, if you have one
- The date you were injured, how it occurred, and where it happened
- If you’ve received medical care, the details of your first visit, including the name of the clinic or hospital, the name of your physician or practitioner, and what treatment you received
- If you’ve missed any time from work, your earnings from the past 12 months — we also require your Social Insurance Number (SIN) for tax reporting purposes
Additional information for claims in these circumstances
If your claim is related to one of the following topics, reviewing this information may help you when making a claim:
- COVID-19
- Hearing loss
- Mental health injuries
- Occupational diseases
- Out-of-province claims
- If a third party was involved
After you've reported your injury or illness
Once we've reviewed reports from you, your employer, and your health care provider, we will inform all parties whether the claim is accepted. See how we determine eligibility for a claim.
Once you’ve reported your injury, you will receive up to four confidential numbers.
Claim number
This is an 8-digit number that you'll get by mail once we receive your injury report. We share this number with you, your employer, and your health care provider. Please use this number when communicating with us about your claim.
Customer Care number
This is an 11-digit number that you'll get by mail with your claim number. This number is unique to you and if you're ever injured again, you’ll have the same Customer Care number.
Personal Access number
This is a 4-to-8-digit number that we send to you by mail. Your Personal Access number and Customer Care number will help you to access your claim information online.
Reference number
If you report your injury online, you'll also get a reference number. If you need to call us before you receive your claim number, please refer to this number.
Be sure to follow up with your health care provider as needed and give your claim number to anyone who provides medical treatment related to the claim.
- If you get medical treatments (e.g., physiotherapy) related to your claim before it's accepted, you may be asked to pay the provider directly. If your claim is later accepted, you can contact your treatment provider to request reimbursement. They will normally bill us directly for all your approved treatments.
- See health care benefits for information on getting and paying for treatment.
You may be asked to complete and submit an Authorization for Release of Personal Information from Third Parties to WorkSafeBC (Form 69W1). This form gives us permission to ask your employer and health care providers for information relevant to your claim to ensure we have the information we need to make a decision on your claim and serve you more quickly. See view and submit claim documents for details on accessing and submitting information about your claim.
Stay in touch with your employer and, as appropriate, discuss modified duties or a return-to-work plan. If you remain at work, talk to your employer about how you're doing and if adjustments are needed to your duties or plan. If you have any questions about your claim, please call our Claims Call Centre.
If your claim is accepted
If your claim is accepted, we’ll tell you and your employer what benefits we can provide. This might include:
- Health care benefits
- Wage-loss benefits for missed time at work
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Permanent disability benefits
- Services for seriously injured workers
If you’re off work, you and your employer have a legal duty to cooperate with each other and with WorkSafeBC for a timely and safe return to work. See this fact sheet for details on how to fulfill your duty to cooperate or review steps you can take to ensure a timely and safe return to work.
If you disagree with a claim decision
If you don't understand a decision, have a concern with any decision we make, or have new information that may affect a decision, you can:
- Ask us to explain and/or reconsider the decision: We’re able to reconsider a decision on a claim within 75 days of the date of the decision. You can call the person who made the decision, and they will explain the reasons for the decision and/or consider any additional information you provide.
- Request a review of the decision: If you still disagree with a decision after speaking with us, you can request a review by the Review Division within 90 days of the date of the decision.
- Contact the Workers’ Advisers Office: Contact the Workers’ Advisers Office, an independent branch of the B.C. provincial government, if you disagree with a claim decision and want advice and assistance on a potential appeal.
Resources
Creating an online services account as a worker
Learn how to set up an online services account to access your claim online.
See also:
Application for Compensation and Report of Injury or Occupational Disease (Form 6)
You can file your worker incident/injury report (Form 6) online. You can create an online services account so you can log on later to see more details about your claim.
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