Services
Document a loss
Support a claim
For carriers and employers
Service areas
Middle Tennessee
- Nashville
- Clarksville
- Murfreesboro
- Franklin
- Hendersonville
- Smyrna
- Spring Hill
- Gallatin
- Lebanon
- Columbia
- Brentwood
- Mount Juliet
- La Vergne
- Cookeville
East Tennessee
West Tennessee
Workplace Injury Scene Documentation Before Repairs Begin
For workers' compensation carriers, self-insured employers, third-party administrators and their counsel, Delator Claims Division documents the place where a workplace injury was reported: the machine, floor, guarding and lighting as found, before repair, cleanup or resumed production changes them.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
A plant, warehouse or job site does not stay still after an injury. The line restarts, maintenance replaces a guard, a spill is mopped, a damaged rack is pulled. Each of those is reasonable, and each removes something an adjuster or defense attorney will later want to see. A scene documentation assignment sends a licensed investigator to record the area in its current state, with photographs, video and measurements, and to note anything already altered.
The assignment is taken from the employer side of the claim and requires the employer's permission to enter and photograph. It is not offered to injured workers or their attorneys. The investigator records conditions and does not evaluate them. Delator is not an engineering firm or a safety regulator, and the report does not say whether a machine was defective, whether a rule was broken or what caused the injury.
Situations that call for a scene visit
- A press, conveyor or saw is locked out after an injury and maintenance is waiting for clearance to repair it and resume production.
- A worker reports slipping on a production floor where coolant, oil or water is cleaned on every shift as routine housekeeping.
- A fall is reported from a ladder, mezzanine or dock edge, and the height and surface below have not been measured by anyone.
- The injury happened at a customer's or general contractor's site where the employer has access only for a limited window.
- A severe injury is likely to bring third-party claims against an equipment maker or property owner, and counsel wants the scene recorded early.
What is recorded at the injury scene
- Machine and controls as found
- Overall and close photographs of the equipment, control positions, emergency stops, data plates and serial numbers, without operating, adjusting or disassembling anything.
- Guarding and safety devices
- Whether guards, light curtains, interlocks and barriers are present, where they are positioned, and their visible condition at the time of the visit.
- Floor and walking surface
- Surface material, slope, drains, mats, visible contaminants and wear, photographed with a scale reference and from the direction the worker was reported to be traveling.
- Lighting conditions
- Fixture locations, which fixtures are working, and photographs taken under the lighting in use on the shift when the injury was reported.
- Measurements and layout
- Heights, reach distances, aisle widths and clearances tied to fixed reference points, with a sketch showing where each measurement was taken.
- Postings and changes since
- Warning labels, lockout tags and posted procedures at the station, plus anything the site contact says was moved, cleaned or repaired after the injury.
From request to delivered record
- RequestCall dispatch or submit the request form with the location, loss type and urgency.
- DeployDispatch assigns the nearest available licensed field investigator through the statewide network.
- DocumentPhotographs, video, measurements and factual notes are captured once the scene is safe to work.
- PreserveFiles are timestamped, organized and kept in their original form with a record of who captured them.
- ReportThe package is delivered securely to the requesting party, typically the same day.
How quickly an industrial scene changes
Production pressure is the main reason. A stopped line costs money each hour, so the area is cleaned and restarted as soon as the employer is permitted to do so. Fluids on a floor are gone within minutes. A bent guard or broken fixture is swapped from spare stock. Pallets and material that set the layout on the day of the injury are shipped. Outdoor sites change with weather and with the next phase of work.
Delator's Emergency tier puts an investigator on site in thirty minutes to four hours, and dispatch runs every hour of the year. When the request comes after changes have been made, the investigator documents the present state and records, from the site contact, what is said to have been different on the day. Replaced parts that were kept are photographed and tagged in place so the employer can hold them for the carrier.
Working inside an operating facility
The investigator arrives with the site's safety requirements in mind: escort, protective equipment, photography restrictions and areas that are off limits. Photographs follow a fixed order from the overall area to the station to the specific component, so a reviewer who has never seen the plant can follow them. Proprietary processes outside the injury area are kept out of frame when the employer asks. Nothing is touched, powered or moved by the investigator.
The finished record goes to the requesting carrier, employer, administrator or attorney, typically the same day. It is frequently passed to others: a safety consultant, an engineer retained by counsel, a subrogation unit considering a claim against a manufacturer. Because the record contains observations and no opinions, each of those reviewers can use it without first separating fact from commentary. Technical conclusions are theirs to reach.
This service is available to insurance carriers, self-insured entities, third-party administrators and the attorneys who represent them. Delator reports facts and observed indicators; decisions on coverage, liability, settlement and any fraud referral remain with the client.
It is not offered to policyholders or claimants, and Delator does not act as a public adjuster. Policyholders and claimants can request neutral scene documentation instead.
Common questions about this service
Who can request injury scene documentation?
Employers, their workers' compensation carriers, third-party administrators and attorneys representing them. Access to the workplace must be authorized by whoever controls the site. Delator does not offer this carrier-side service to injured workers or claimant attorneys, and it does not enter a facility without permission.
Can you document the scene if the machine has already been repaired?
Yes. The investigator records the equipment in its repaired state, photographs any removed parts the employer kept, and notes the maintenance contact's description of what was changed and when. The report makes clear which conditions were observed directly and which were described by others.
Will the investigator test the equipment or give a safety opinion?
No. The investigator does not run machinery, defeat interlocks or perform tests, and does not state whether equipment met any standard. Delator documents conditions. An engineer or safety professional retained by the client can rely on the photographs and measurements to form their own opinions.
Can you cover a night-shift injury during the same shift?
Dispatch operates 24 hours a day, every day. In the anchor metro areas typical on-scene time is under 60 minutes, and every county is covered by the four-hour statewide deployment guarantee, so a scene can often be recorded under the same lighting and staffing as the injury.
Available statewide, including
Every Tennessee county is covered. See the deployment map for typical response tiers by county.
Request documentation anywhere in Tennessee
Dispatch is staffed around the clock. For time-sensitive scenes, calling is fastest; the request form works for routine and scheduled assignments.