Injured at Work in Denver?

Your health comes first. If your injury is an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Denver Health Medical Center at 777 Bannock Street is Denver’s primary Level I trauma center, operating the Moore Shock Trauma Center. UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora is a second Level I trauma center. HCA HealthONE Swedish Medical Center in Englewood is a Level I trauma and burn center.

For non-emergency workplace injuries, your employer or their workers’ compensation insurer may have a designated provider or clinic. Under Colorado law, your employer has the right to select the treating physician for workers’ comp claims (C.R.S. § 8-43-404). If your employer designates a provider, you must treat with that provider for your initial visit. However, if the employer does not designate a provider, you may choose your own. After the initial visit, you have the right to request a change of physician through the Division of Workers’ Compensation.

Tell the doctor that your injury happened at work. Be specific about what happened, what you were doing, and where it hurts. This medical record is the foundation of your workers’ comp claim. Without it, the insurer will dispute the connection between your work and your injury.

Colorado law (C.R.S. § 8-43-102) requires you to provide written notice of a workplace injury to your employer within 4 working days of the accident. But don’t wait — report it the same day, in writing. An email, text message, or written incident report creates a documented record that protects you if the employer or insurer later claims you never reported it or that the injury didn’t happen at work.

Include the date, time, and location of the injury, what you were doing when it happened, how the injury occurred, and what body parts were affected. Keep a copy for yourself.

If you miss the 4-day notice deadline, you are not automatically barred from filing a claim, but late notice can reduce your benefits or give the insurer a reason to challenge your claim. The safest course is to report immediately and in writing.

Colorado’s workers’ compensation system (C.R.S. § 8-40-101 et seq.) provides several categories of benefits. Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits pay two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a state maximum that adjusts annually. For 2025, the maximum TTD rate is approximately $1,178 per week. TTD benefits begin after you’ve missed more than 3 consecutive work shifts due to the injury.

Temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits apply when you can return to work in a limited capacity at reduced pay. TPD pays two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury average weekly wage and your current earnings. Permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits apply if you have a lasting impairment after reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI), calculated based on your impairment rating and other factors.

Medical benefits cover all reasonable and authorized medical treatment related to your work injury, with no out-of-pocket cost to you. This includes surgery, physical therapy, prescription medications, diagnostic imaging, and any assistive devices. Colorado also provides a specific permanent total disability (PTD) benefit for workers who are permanently unable to work as a result of their injury.

Colorado gives you two years from the date of injury to file a workers’ compensation claim (C.R.S. § 8-43-103). For occupational diseases, the 2-year clock starts from the date you knew or should have known the disease was related to your work. Missing this deadline permanently bars your claim.

To file, submit a Worker’s Claim for Compensation form to the Colorado Division of Workers’ Compensation. Your employer is also required to file a First Report of Injury with the Division and their insurer. If your employer fails to file, you can still file your own claim directly.

If your employer’s insurer denies your claim, you have the right to request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge at the Colorado Division of Workers’ Compensation. The Division is located at 633 17th Street, Suite 400, Denver, CO 80202. An attorney experienced with the Division’s hearing process can help you present your case.

Workers’ compensation is typically your exclusive remedy against your employer — you cannot sue your employer for a workplace injury in most cases. But if someone other than your employer or a co-worker caused or contributed to your injury, you may have a separate personal injury lawsuit against that third party.

Common third-party claim scenarios in Denver include: a delivery truck driver or commercial vehicle operator who causes an accident while you’re working on a roadway or job site; a property owner who maintains an unsafe condition at a location where you’re sent to work; a manufacturer of defective equipment, tools, or machinery that malfunctions and injures you; a subcontractor on a construction site whose negligence causes your injury.

Third-party claims are separate from workers’ comp and allow you to recover damages that workers’ comp doesn’t cover, including pain and suffering, full lost wages (not just two-thirds), and punitive damages in egregious cases. Colorado’s modified comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. § 13-21-111) applies: you recover nothing if you’re 50% or more at fault. The workers’ comp insurer has a subrogation right to recover benefits paid from your third-party recovery.

Workers’ comp insurers in Colorado routinely deny or delay legitimate claims. Common tactics include disputing that the injury happened at work, claiming a pre-existing condition caused your symptoms, pressuring you to return to work before you’re medically ready, or sending you to an “independent medical examination” (IME) with a doctor chosen by the insurer.

You have the right to challenge any denial or reduction of benefits through the Division of Workers’ Compensation’s hearing process. You also have the right to request a change of treating physician if your current provider is not meeting your medical needs.

Keep a detailed record of every interaction with the insurer: save emails, take notes during phone calls, and keep copies of all documents. If the insurer is denying or delaying your claim, an attorney who practices before the Colorado Division of Workers’ Compensation can level the playing field.

Denver’s economy has been one of the fastest-growing in the country, and certain industries carry elevated injury risks. The metro area’s construction sector has boomed with continued residential and commercial development across RiNo, Sun Valley, the National Western Center area, and Central Park. Falls, struck-by incidents, electrocution, and caught-between hazards — OSHA’s “Fatal Four” — account for the majority of construction worker deaths nationally. Colorado recorded dozens of construction-related fatalities in recent years, and the OSHA Denver Area Office at 1244 Speer Blvd., Suite 551, conducts regular inspections at metro area job sites.

Oil and gas service companies operate across the Denver-Julesburg Basin, and workers in this sector face risks from heavy equipment, high-pressure systems, chemical exposure, and transportation incidents. Warehousing and logistics are also major employers in the metro area, with Amazon, Walmart, and other operators running large fulfillment centers in Aurora, Commerce City, and along the I-70 and I-76 corridors. These high-volume operations produce musculoskeletal injuries, forklift accidents, and repetitive stress injuries at elevated rates.

Denver International Airport, the third-busiest airport in the nation, employs tens of thousands of workers across airlines, ground handling, concessions, maintenance, and ongoing terminal expansion projects. Airport workplace injuries may involve both state workers’ comp and federal regulations depending on the employer.

Colorado’s workers’ compensation system is an administrative process with its own procedures, deadlines, and rules that differ from civil court. Claims are heard before Administrative Law Judges at the Division of Workers’ Compensation, not in a traditional courtroom.

Most workers’ comp attorneys in Denver offer free consultations and work on contingency. Under Colorado law, attorney fees in workers’ comp cases are subject to approval by the Division and are typically calculated as a percentage of benefits recovered.

If your claim is denied, if the insurer is delaying your medical treatment, if you’re being pressured to return to work before you’re ready, or if you’re not sure whether your injury qualifies for permanent disability benefits, an attorney can evaluate your situation and fight for the benefits you’re entitled to.