(US law and general safety at work information) Every year, millions of people are injured in work environments across the United States. While an employer may be able to reduce the risk of his or her injury in the workplace, some employees may not understand or comprehend all the risks in a certain environment. Because of this, employees can often be injured while operating work-owned equipment. In these situations, it?s important to minimize one?s liability by following all necessary health and safety standards. The following guide explores how one can make his or her workplace legally safe for employees.
Work environments are much safer than they used to be. During the industrial revolution, many factories and industrial facilities had very dangerous working conditions. Between 1850 and 1911, almost eight percent of factory workers experienced a severe injury during their career. Because of this high injury rate, the United States government created the Occupational Safety Hazard Act (OSHA). OSHA protects employees and employers from dangerous work conditions that can pose a significant risk to one?s health.
OSHA provides free copies of its literature to both employees and employers. OSHA handbooks can provide valuable guidance on how a company owner can create a safe working environment for his or her employees. In addition, OSHA has many materials available on its website.
There are many private worker?s compensation law firms that can also provide valuable guidance on workplace injuries. Since a workplace injury can result in expensive litigation for a company, it?s a good idea to avoid any type of incident that could cost a company lots of money.
Most companies only install safety equipment after being sued by an injured employee. Instead of letting this happen, it?s a good idea to learn from the mistakes of other companies. All employees at a company should be treated as a potential liability. This can help ensure that one is at a minimal risk of being sued.
In addition, it?s important to limit liability through warning stickers and training materials for employees. An employee will have less of a chance of winning a litigation case if he or she was in blatant violation of a company?s policies.
OSHA inspectors will often visit a company on a regular basis. Since the visits may occur on random days, it is usually not possible for a company to plan for a particular visit. Instead of letting oneself get stressed at the last minute because of a serious problem, it?s a good idea to address any employee safety concerns proactively. This can be an excellent way to reduce the risk of many common problems.
Violating on OSHA safety rule can have moderately severe consequences. In most cases, a company will be sued thousands of dollars. However, a lawsuit from an injured employee could cost a company millions of dollars. If a company doesn?t follow OSHA rules, the chance of an employee winning a case against a company can be dramatically increased.
In addition, warning stickers can be an excellent way to reduce liability at a company. All potentially hazardous items in a store should be labeled as such. This can include items ranging from shopping carts to one way doors. By putting warning labels on all the objects in a company, the company can claim that employee negligence caused an accident. It?s essential to proactively address safety issues in a work environment.
About the author
This article was written by Karl Stockton for the team at Spencer Law Firm. Contact Spencer Law for substantial experience in personal injury law.
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