Your Employer, Safety and Worker Compensation
by admin on 31/12/11 at 3:28 am
Understand the responsibilities of your employer to guarantee your safety and the provision of workers compensation.
Compensation lawyers make sure that injured employees get properly compensated. Worker compensation functions as insurance covering wages, medical benefits and benefits of dependents in case of death. Despite the most efficient system in providing due compensation to hurt or retiring employees, the causes of injury must be prevented because prevention is always better than cure.
Providing a safe and healthy workplace is always the concern of employers. Workers and contractors should worry only of getting their jobs done and raking in ROI. The company, on the other hand, must worry about the safety and health of all its employees.
Machinery and heavy equipment always pose a certain degree of health and safety hazards. Safety systems must be put in place, which includes controlling the number of people entering hazardous areas, wearing of proper gears and harnesses, controlling pace of work, and so on. The employer, or at least line managers and department heads must be in control of even the most trivial things such as putting up warning signs and keeping doors closed.
Employers should ensure that the path leading to fire exits must be kept open at all times. Emergency equipment, such fire extinguishers and sprinklers, must be working and serviceable, and the workplace must be kept tidy and pleasing to work in. There must be adequate facilities, toilets are clean, drinking water available, eating areas must be hygienic and so on.
The presence of chemicals and toxic materials is also very risky, needless to say. Strict arrangement should be enforced when using, handling, storing and transporting chemicals and other harmful substances. Workers must also be highly trained to handle such substances.
Other than the facilities, an employer must also look into the welfare of its employees. Simple steps should be taken such as the provision of hearing tests in industries that involve loud noises or eye inspections for companies that involve heavy reading or many hours spent staring into the computer monitor. Blood tests are also very helpful for people exposed to lead.
A responsible company keeps records of all information regarding the health and safety conditions of its employees. These will come into play as workers file for claims later on. Such information is what workers compensation lawyers would need to look into when assessing extent of liability.
Company records should include past health and medical records before employment. Other items may include records of biological monitoring, first aid records, asbestos assessments, extent of hear loss, past absences due to health issues and relevant medical information. In general, it is always good to keep a profile of all employees.
In Australia, employers are legally ordered to constantly consult their employees regarding safety, health and welfare. In response, employees are expected to contribute by providing unbiased feedback. The workplace must not only be safe but also maintain open communication between employer and employee.
Finally, an employer must be ready and capable of providing workers compensation. This is one of the first things an employer must guarantee its workers. An injured worker is entitled to wages, negligence claims, liability claims, motor claims and others.
