As an employer, are you taking the safety and security of your employees as seriously as you should be? Considering the fact that employers in the United States pay billions of dollars in workers’ compensation claims every year, it is more important than ever that you are keeping your workers’ best interests at heart.
It is not a fun topic to discuss, but it is essential that you understand the ins and outs of workers’ compensation claims and the types of injuries that can occur so you can work to protect your employees as well as your business. Here is a quick guide to safety and liability in the workplace:
What Does Workers’ Compensation Cover?
The first step to fully understanding how to best maintain a safe workplace is to recognize potential injuries that an employee could suffer that would be considered worthy of needing workers’ compensation. This coverage provides benefits for injured employees, and it also pays out benefits to beneficiaries if your employee were to die as a result of a workplace injury. Worker’s compensation is not only used to pay for the injury at hand, it can also be paid out for days of work lost due to injury.
Workers’ compensation can cover many different types of accidents and resulting issues that may stem from the initial situation. For example, if an employee were to fall down the steps while at work, the workers’ comp might cover the ambulance ride to the hospital, emergency room visits, prescriptions, and any time that they need to attend sessions with physical therapists after the fact. In addition to physical incidents, if an employee were to get sick from chemicals or allergens in the workplace, your company might be responsible for that as well.
If an injury is serious enough, then the employee may be eligible for workers’ compensation for years to come, perhaps even after the employee quits. If the employee is unable to work for months, then they may be using the coverage for that duration. If the event results in disability, then the individual might be covered until the end of their life. If the injury results in death, then there may be the aforementioned payout to the beneficiary, in addition to a portion of the funeral costs.
Slip & Fall Accidents
One of the most common workplace incidents is the slip and fall. In many cases, the damage will be minor, with bumps, bruises, or maybe a skinned knee. However, some slip and fall incidents can result in potential career-ending injuries or disabilities including brain damage, broken bones, or spinal issues.
There are things that you can do to try to avoid these incidents:
- Make sure stairwells are adequately illuminated.
- Ensure all of your floors are flat and there aren’t any changes in the surface.
- Have all rugs properly maintained.
- Make sure that all parking lot pavement is even and snow or ice is cleared.
- Clean any spills or leaked materials as soon as possible.
As the employer and property owner, it is your job to keep your businesses in good condition. Still, it is also important to remember that even though you are responsible, you are not the insurer of every single person that steps into your business. The key is to be diligent about all required maintenance and upkeep. Keep up on repairs and inspections, so even if an employee does get hurt, they will not be able to reasonably argue that it was your fault and not their own negligence.
Understanding OSHA Inspections
As an employer or business owner, you probably realize the inevitability of an inspection by the fine people at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. There are a few reasons why OSHA might visit your business for an investigation. If your business is considered “high hazard” then you might have regularly scheduled inspections. A surprise inspection could also be triggered because of an employee complaint or as checkups after previous investigations.
An OSHA inspector will have several important duties. Primarily they will be looking for hazards in the workplace, but they also may gather samples of suspicious materials, check hardware, and launch investigations into known workplace injuries. Their findings might even lead to new safety programs. These inspections will be very thorough, and since they leave no stone unturned, it is crucial to be prepared — especially in the case of a surprise inspection.
The best thing to do is to be as prepared as possible, as if a surprise inspection could happen any day. Make sure that you are always maintaining proper records of policies, workers’ compensation files, incident reports, and training courses that you have had for your employees. Try to envision every possible safety hazard and prepare accordingly, if doing so leads you to take some unusual safety precautions.
Follow the OSHA inspector with a camera and take pictures of what they document so you can have it on the record and ensure that the issue is soon fixed. Most importantly, understand the risks associated with your particular industry and have proper protocols in place so you can prove that you have your employees’ well-being at heart.
As an employer, you have many responsibilities to both your customers and your employees. Provide a safe and secure work environment so you can prevent unnecessary incidents.
