When an employee sustains an injury at work, particularly a repetitive trauma injury within the course and scope of employment, demonstrating causation can be challenging. Properly developing the factual record is essential for a claimant in a workers’ compensation case to demonstrate causation and satisfy their burden. In repetitive trauma cases, two types of evidence are often essential to success: immediate notice of the injury to the employer, and corroborating testimony from lay witnesses.

A key component of the factual record is the notice of the injury provided by the claimant to the employer. According to Section 311, 77 P.S. Section 631, a work injury must be reported within 120 days. An injury need not be pinpointed to a specific event or definable incident as long as the injury arises in the course of employment and is related thereto. Many times, employees try to work through the onset of pain until the point when they can no longer tolerate the physical demands of the job. When working in a production or warehous- type job, and other jobs as well, it can be daunting to report a work injury. No one wants to be the person to slow down the pace of production. Let’s face it, supervisors and managers are under pressure to keep production going. In addition, some workplaces give out incentives to employees when there is an injury-free workplace for a predetermined period of time. Generally speaking, no one wants to have to stop and fill out an accident report. It is easier to try to keep one’s head down and power through. Yet it is important to complete an accident report if the injury is affecting the employee’s ability to proficiently perform the position. Even if an employee hasn’t sought medical treatment, the time for giving notice may have started to accrue. If using reasonable diligence, an employee would have known of the existence of an injury, the time for giving notice will begin to run even in the absence of a medical opinion. As such, it is critical to that injured workers complete a report, despite the potential bad looks from supervisors or coworkers, because it may make the difference as to whether the employee is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. In fact, many employers encourage immediate reporting of all injuries and “near misses.”