Dealing with an injury at your workplace has the potential to be a confusing and stressful process in California. They would probably be questions of what happened, where it happened and who is responsible.
As described on FindLaw, what you do in the first few days after an accident would probably be the most important. However, even if you felt you did not do everything you could or should have immediately following an injury, you could still have options.
Establishing a record of the events surrounding an injury could be the key to simplifying the process. Any substantive record helps, and other people involved may have access to such records. However, you should probably review the forms and contents of any messages you send to make sure they coincide with your goals — having a responsible party compensate you for your injuries, for example.
Time does play a factor in many cases, but there could be an exception that allows you to get the help you need. For example, it might be possible to get assistance if you recently learned that you had a medical problem and that the issue related to something that happened in your workplace.
You would probably see the best results if you were able to take action quickly after your injury occurs. However, this level of speed is not always possible, and the law might still allow your claim if some time had passed. Each case is different, so please regard this only as general information. It is not intended as legal advice.