Critical injuries

Some injuries are serious enough for you to be taken straight to the hospital for treatment. If your injury is severe, it will likely need immediate hospitalisation.

Depending on your injury, you could be in hospital for a long time and/or need a number of surgeries or treatments.

These types of injuries can include but aren’t limited to:

• crush injuries that involve multiple broken bones and damage to internal organs
• spinal cord injuries
• traumatic brain injuries
• full thickness burns to more than 30% of the body
• inhalation burns that cause permanent respiratory damage
• blindness
• loss of a limb.

Injuries like these are often complex and life changing. Experiencing any work-related injury can be challenging, however injuries this serious can be especially difficult for you and your family.

WorkCover has a specialised Critical Care team that works closely with workers who’ve experienced life-changing injuries and their families, with the aim of helping you return to independent living.

We work together with your employer and medical or allied health professionals to ensure successful rehabilitation and to get you back to work if possible.

If you’ve sustained a serious work-related personal injury, we may also work in partnership with the National Injury Insurance Scheme Queensland (NIISQ) to manage your claim.

Our team is sensitive, highly experienced and knowledgeable and will support and guide you every step of the way.

If a critical or serious injury has happened in your workplace, you'll need to notify Workplace health and Safety Queensland.