Get medical care first
Your health comes first, and so does the medical record. Get treatment promptly, and tell the provider clearly that the injury happened at work and how. That first medical note is often the document a causal-relationship question turns on later, so it is worth being specific about the mechanism of injury.
In an emergency, go to the nearest ER. For non-emergencies, New York workers’ comp care comes from providers authorized by the Board, and your early treatment starts the paper trail that supports your claim.
Tell your employer the same day
Report the injury to a supervisor as soon as you can – ideally the same day. Same-day notice is harder to dispute than a report that surfaces weeks later, and it starts your employer’s own obligations.
A verbal heads-up is a start, but written notice is what the law looks for, and you have a firm deadline for it. Getting something in writing early removes any argument about whether and when you reported.
Write down what happened
Before the details fade, write down the date, time, place, what you were doing, what went wrong, and who saw it. Keep the names of any witnesses and anything you were told. Photographs of the scene or equipment can help.
This personal record costs nothing and is surprisingly powerful. When a claim is questioned months later, a contemporaneous note made on day one carries far more weight than a memory reconstructed under pressure.