Employees deserve protection when reporting occupational accidents. However, many workers feel uncomfortable about opening up on some workplace accidents. The leading cause of this uneasiness is that the employees do not know how the employers will react to the news. Workplaces that have this culture among its employees often have a work environment whereby workers are punished for reporting injuries. Thus, even in instances of near misses, one is highly likely not to report for the fear that their job might be at risk. Bureaucracy is another factor that inhibits people from disclosing accidents in their places of work ( Croteau, 2013 ). For example, some organizations can have lengthy compensation procedures that involve loads of paperwork and meetings, thus discouraging workers from initiating the processes. It is not an accepted practice for teachers to conceal accident instances despite possible retaliation by management and ridicule by fellow teachers.
Teachers are required to prepare incident reports that document instances of harm that occur within schools. The reports are fundamental pieces of information that assist claim representatives and legal counsel to process claims made against a District (“ Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs," 2018 ). Injured teachers can report to the management so that they are compensated. However, the management may want to frustrate the efforts of such teachers to avoid unnecessary attention from the education department. Also, fellow teachers can ridicule their counterparts when the latter report an accident. It is thus upon an individual teacher to fill an incident report form that will initiate the compensation process.
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In conclusion, different reasons may inhibit workers from reporting accidents at the workplace, but the major ones are employer's retaliation and bureaucracy. An employer can turn against the reporting employee and punish them in a bid to deter others from reporting similar incidents. Also, bureaucracy in processing accident claims can dissuade a worker from reporting an accident. Teachers are required to report accidents and incidents that occur within their line of duty, although there is a high likelihood of management retaliation and ridicule from fellow teachers.
References
Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs. (2018). Guide to Reporting School Incidents [Ebook] (1st ed.). Cerritos. Retrieved from ascip.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Incident-Reporting-Guide-Final-2018.02.28-.pdf
Croteau, M. (2013). Many Americans Afraid to Report Injuries on the Job, Says New FindLaw.com Survey. Retrieved 3 February 2020, from www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/many-americans-afraid-to-report-injuries-on-the-job-says-new-findlawcom-survey-236348511.html
