Any business that is directly related to the public is prone to liabilities associated with accidents. If your employee sues you for injury or death as a result of unsafe working environment, you may face a significant amount of costs that can cripple your business. Some of the most common accidents at the workplace include; electrical accidents, vehicle accidents, industrial diseases, asbestos exposure and RSI among others. Let us walk you through ways on how a business can protect itself from a personal injury claim;
Maintaining a culture of safety in the business
Although introducing change in a business can be challenging, a new safety program is necessary. This can play an important role in reducing the number of severity as well as compensation claims. As a business owner, it’s your responsibility together with the top management to bring an effective and lasting change. Every worker should observe safety through a change of work habits in their daily tasks. The following ways will help to improve the safety of the business;
Periodic safety training programs
This involves making employees feel they are part of the business. Proper training should be done if there is a risk of potential injury in the workplace. The management should share all the techniques that can make doing certain tasks safer. If the employer does not provide the correct training and relies on employees to use their common sense, it could be a recipe for disaster. Similarly, new employees should follow the same practice. The business should go a step further, not to encourage the workers to find their ideas to improve safety when accomplishing their tasks. It’s the responsibility of an employer to provide written instructions to ensure safe work procedure.
Create a plan to control workplace hazards
As a business owner, you must identify hazards then look for the most effective ways to minimize or eliminate them. Ensure all employees have access to safety kits. Secondly, explain to your employees the measures you will take to ensure they are working in a safe environment. Likewise, discuss what you expect from them.
Regular inspection of workplace
You should ensure that workers are using the equipment and tools provided to them in a safe manner. For instance, you should check whether your workers understand how to lift objects without injuring themselves. In addition, check whether the boxes are kept in a safe way. Also, you can plan how you will be meeting regularly with your workers to discuss health and safety issues.
Provide the right tools, equipment and protective gear
One of the most effective ways of reducing accident at work is providing your workers with the right safety equipment. Similarly, no worker should use the wrong tool or take a shortcut to accomplish the assigned tasks. Workers should be able to use new equipment by wearing the right protective gear.
Have an experienced legal team
The employer must consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer to help determine the right action in case an injury occurs. The team should be well experienced and dedicated to protecting your rights throughout the complex legal system. On the other hand, the lawyer should offer competent legal advice concerning safety at the workplace. When a worker is injured in an accident, whether it’s your fault or someone else fault, you want to be sure your business will be well represented when the employee is making personal injury claims. Some of the reasons you should have a personal injury lawyer to handle your case include;
Proving a case can be difficult
Sometimes it becomes hard to prove that the plaintiff was responsible for the accident. An experienced personal injury lawyer will help to prove a case that you should not be held responsible for the injury suffered by your employee.
Filing rules are strict and insurance companies don’t play fair
A good attorney will help you with all the paperwork. Although insurance companies are supposed to protect the employees from unexpected events, any worker who does not have fair representation may not get a fair deal. An experienced lawyer will help you avoid the many pitfalls associated with compensation cases and ultimately reduce these costs for the business.
In a nutshell, a business should develop an effective safety program to reduce the risk of personal injury. This helps to minimize worker’s compensation claims and business insurance expenses. Similarly, every business needs public liability insurance to protect itself from the risks and costs associated with accidents.