If you've been injured at work, or because of your work, you may be eligible to claim benefits from WorkCover Queensland, or your employer if they are self-insured.
An injury is 'a personal injury arising out of, or in the course of, employment if the employment is a significant contributing factor to the injury.'
Injuries can happen at work, travelling to and from work or while on a break from work. Injuries can also take place if you are travelling for work, or visiting other workplaces or sites for the purposes of your job.
Examples of different types of injuries covered:
Employees may be covered while working from home, as long as the injuries arise out of—or in the course of—employment, and employment is a significant contributing factor to the injury. Employees may be covered for injuries sustained while working from home and on a recess break.
For WorkCover claims, we consider each case on the individual facts at the time. Once you have lodged your claim we will contact your employer for further information and notify them that a new claim has been lodged on their policy. If you have specific queries, please call us on 1300 362 128.
Make a claim for workers' compensation
Injury Information Pack
We understand that having a worker sustain a workplace injury can be a challenging time for both the injured worker and the employer. WorkCover Queensland is here to support the injured worker and employer through the recovery of the work-related injury whilst encouraging a focus on rehabilitation and return to work.
The purpose of this information pack is to assist employers to understand what is required in the unfortunate event of a workplace injury. In addition, this pack provides information for an injured worker to assist with a timely return to work.
Having suitable duties available is important to support an injured worker's return to work. WorkCover Queensland has a range of available resources to coordinate return to work.
Stay at work: return to work
Getting back to work is an important step in recovering from a work-related injury and means a worker can return to a normal life, often reducing the financial and emotional impact on them and their family.
Returning to work may mean you’ve gone back to your old job or another job. However, being injured at work doesn’t always mean time off work. Continuing to work during your rehabilitation, called stay at work, is often the best thing for you. This can mean working reduced hours or lighter duties (suitable duties). More about the return to work process.
Research tells us that stay at work has important health and wellbeing benefits. An early return to work and activity helps prevent long-term disability and improves the likelihood of you continuing to work once you’ve returned (called sustainable return to work).
Benefits of rehabilitation
We all have an interest in helping workers return to work—employers, workers, doctors, and health providers all benefit from being committed to rehabilitation. Who's involved in return to work?
Worker benefits
As a worker, your participation and commitment to rehabilitation means:
Employer benefits
There are benefits for an early return to work for employers too; employer participation in rehabilitation (either through a rehabilitation return to work coordinator or another person) can:
WorkCover is responsible for the administration and enforcement of compliance with occupational health and safety, management of workplace injury and workers compensation legislation as well as managing the workers' compensation system
Reference: Workcover Qld