Despite how many precautions you take, there will always be a chance that an accident happens at your workplace. If something does happen, then you need to be aware of the various responsibilities that you as an employer have. This ensures that you won’t have a problem in the future with your employees. Here are some responsibilities that you have to be handle properly.
Be Aware Of The Local Laws
Before anything else, you should be familiar with all the laws that are part of workplace injuries and liability. Consult with a local expert since each state has different laws on employer liability. For example, a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles would tell you something different from someone in New York. This can be a surprise for some companies that operate across different regions but your company must be aware of the differences. The most important one that you have to be aware of is how to ensure that you have the least amount of responsibility in an accident. Most laws have the company be responsible on some level but you can minimize that by taking the right precautions.
Reporting The Incident
One big responsibility that your company has is to report the accident. Several authorities need to know that a work accident occurred. For one, there are the authorities. Immediately after the accident happens, you need to report it with complete details of the incident. Most of the details will come from your employees so you need to have an incident reporting process ready to accept their report. The authorities, in this case, can include various government bodies like the Department of Labor and the local unions. They need the reports for their records. Your company also has to inform the insurance company as soon as possible, since processing any insurance claim will take time. Check with local authorities for the deadline of the necessary reports.
Get The Employee Treatment
To minimize the liability and compensation your company has to payout, it is essential that the employee or employees hurt by the accident should get treatment as quickly as possible. For that to happen, you need to have good emergency procedures. This means you have people trained in first-aid who can immediately help and minimize the damage and get your employees to safety. Next, you also have procedures on calling emergency services quickly so that your employees can go to the hospital as soon as possible. Strong safety guidelines should help with this.
Cooperate With The Insurance Company
As a company, it is also your responsibility to cooperate as much as possible with your insurance company. Your insurer will be investigating the incident, and you should be working hand-in-hand with them. This ensures that you can prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. Additionally, cooperation with the insurance company can make it easier to get the appropriate compensation. The investigation from the insurance company will usually involve interviews with supervisors and other employees. They will also review all the reports about the incident. Your attorney should be the one handling this so that nothing gets missed.
Return The Employee To Work Or Compensate Them
As a part of your responsibilities as an employer, you need to ensure that your injured employee can come back to work or has full compensation from you. Legally, as long as a company has more than 20 workers and the employee was working for a year before the incident, they have to be returned to the same position if possible. If they can’t do their old job, then they have to be reinstated in the first available position. This right to reinstatement lasts for two years after the incident. Usually, the local government has an organization that judges whether an employee is safe to come back to work so you have to work with them.
Help Prevent Fraud
It is also part of your obligation as an employer to prevent fraud as much as possible. Some employees can lie about the severity of their injuries. Providing an honest report of the accident can greatly reduce the chances of fraud happening.
An accident in the workplace is a serious incident for both your company and the worker involved. On your side of things, even a minor accident can cause disruptions in your company. For your worker, it can be a life-changing experience depending on the severity of the injury. Being aware of all the legal responsibilities and repercussions can help both sides out, ensuring minimal disruption and a satisfying result for your employee.