HOW IT CAN AFFECT YOU AS A BUSINESS OWNER
Employer’s Liability is that area of law that deals with an employer’s duty of safety and care for its employees. The duty of an employer goes further than providing tools, tasks and salary to employees. By law, your duty as an employer includes:
- Providing a safe place of work your staff.
- Adequate safety equipment and tools.
- Safe system of work with effective supervision.
- Competent employees.
If an employee is injured while on the job and it is determined that it is as a result of your failure as an employer to comply with any of the above duties, the possibility exists that an employee could successfully bring a lawsuit against you for any loss suffered as a result of injury whilst on the job.
Employee’s entitlements in a claim
If the employee had a serious work injury, in addition to compensation for the injury itself, the following are other types of claims available to the employee:-
- a claim for loss of income/earnings for the period which the injury caused the person to not be able to work or run their business
- A claim for handicap on the labour market is possible if the injuries cause the person to no longer be able to do the same kind of work and if they went into the job market their disability from the injury causes them to work at such a level that they earn less money or they’re unemployable
- The costs of future medical care can be claimed if the injury requires future surgery or ongoing medical supply/equipment due to a disability arising from the injury
- The costs of current medical treatment and visits can also be claimed
- In the event the claim is disputed by an employer and goes to trial, if judgment is entered in favor of the injured employee any money awarded by the court will attract interest. The interest is generally 3-6%.
Tips for employers to reduce exposure
To reduce your risk of exposure, you should consider the general nature of your operation and the safety of the work space especially for high risk areas. You should know as an employer that your duty to provide a safe place of work does not only include the actual work building of the employer, the duty extends to when employees are sent off site to work. Case law states that the responsibility to maintain a safe place of work extends to any area the employee uses in connection with or in furtherance of his employment.
One should also consider if the way in which the tasks are being done or the system of operation in place to achieve an objective or perform a task is safe. Consider if any part of the operation can be improved from a safety point of view.
Employers must ensure that there is supervision and the implementation of proper procedures to keep the work area safe and ensure compliance with established procedures. The institution of frequent notices, warnings and training sessions are also strategies an employer can implement to reduce the likelihood of injury in the workplace. Record keeping related to when such strategies noted above are used ought to be maintained by employers as it may be useful in defending an injury on the job claim.
Employers must be cognizant of the fact that whilst workers are trained, they can be careless as to their safety while performing their tasks/duties. It is possible for an employer to be found liable in a lawsuit wherein injury occurs due to a worker themself being careless in the way in which the task is being performed. It is for this reason the law requires an employer to organize its system of work in such a way that it reduces the risk the employee will do something foreseeable careless while performing his work duties.
In the event an employee is injured, employers should have an established injury on the job procedure where employees make reports of incidents and an investigation be done into the incident. It is encouraged that a report is done on the incident to assist you as the employer in the event of court proceedings against you by the employee.
If you as an employer are sued for negligence causing injury on the job, you would be required to prove that due care and skill was used to protect the employee. The degree of what is required by an employee to successfully defend a claim of this nature is dependent on the facts of each case.
Accidents are never planned. As an employer, the safety of your employees whilst doing work for your profit must always be a consideration in how work is organized and set up to be performed. Consider how your system of work is organized and how you can improve same to reduce the risk of injury on the job. Ultimately, this will reduce the likelihood of financial exposure due to negligence as an employer.
