Dropping things (on employees)

One of my teenagers was injured at work. Basically another employee dropped something on his head and back. Brilliant, right? The manager on duty called me to find out what to do. First concern—is he OK? "Yes, just a little sore. He's finishing out his shift doing non-physical tasks, then deciding whether to go to the doctor or not."

We've had a couple of the "Of course you're going to the doctor/ER" accidents—broken bones, blood, torn flesh requiring stitches—but for this kind of accident—a possible back injury—things are less clear because the actual damage doesn't always show up right away.

Even though the accident wasn't serious, it still needed to be recorded and reported. I knew the basics but referred the MOD to our regional manager for specifics since it needed to be reported to that level anyway. I told her that, last I knew, what happened needed to be written down, IN DETAIL, along with anyone who saw what happened. The accident scene and injuries needed to be photographed, and any employees involved needed to take a drug test. In this case, that would mean the injured employee and the one who dropped stuff on him (completely accidentally, I might add! They get along really well).

Well, our brilliant regional manager said pictures weren't necessary and that drug tests weren't necessary since it "wasn't anyone's fault." Uh, that's why it's called an "accident," stupid! So the appropriate documentation was done, faxed, and filed. The employee had some bruises and was sore for a few days, but no real damage. He didn't miss any work and we gave him physically easy tasks until he hit 100% again.

About a week after the accident, HR calls and asks where the employee's drug test results are. The regional manager said a drug test wasn't necessary. "Well, she was wrong." OK, so I sent the kid for a drug test, which he didn't have a problem with. He's really clean-cut, a good student, athlete, after-school activities; of course he wasn't doing drugs. But if he DID do drugs, the week would have been plenty of time for certain drugs to be out of his system. Hello! Anyone see a problem with that?!

Since he never visited the doctor, whether pictures were taken or not never became an issue. But the regional manager needs to get things straight regarding procedures, especially considering that I couldn't find any written policy regarding employee accidents. There should be ONE, company-wide standard policy on what to do for an accident, but it appears like each region is handled differently. That's not at all in the best interests of the employees.