Slips and falls are the second-leading cause of workplace injuries (after overexertion), but a few simple corrective measures can protect both Ohio workers and their employers. You would think employers would want to guard the health of their workers, but that is not always the case.
A report by EHS Today, an occupational health and safety magazine, makes six simple suggestions for employers to prevent such accidents:
- Conduct a comprehensive safety audit.
- Review slip and fall incident reports to pinpoint areas of concern.
- Pay special attention to the storage of liquids, which are a common source of slip and fall accidents.
- Reach out to employees by sponsoring a contest to identify floor safety hazards.
- Ask floor care vendors, who are knowledgeable about new technologies and products, for advice.
- Enlist the assistance of insurance carriers, who have a financial interest in helping minimize slip and fall accidents.
It may seem obvious that employers would want to protect their employees from injuries caused by slip and fall accidents. Related costs add up quickly: insurance, hiring and training a substitute employee if the injured worker is out for an extended period of time, taking corrective measures after the fact to prevent the accident from happening again, possible fines if safety regulations were violated, and so on.
But some Ohio employers are short-sighted when it comes to money and safety. They would rather save a few dollars now - for instance, by not investing in proper safety training - and hope that nobody gets hurt. Or maybe they think keeping their workers in the dark about safety measures means they will accept what happened as an unavoidable accident not worthy of the time and expense of pursuing through complicated legal avenues.
If you've been injured in slip and fall accident, you may have questions about your options. Who is going to pay your medical bills? Are you entitled to workers' compensation? Is your employer guilty of breaking any federal or state regulations? Do you have grounds for a lawsuit?
While you feel overwhelmed by these questions as you try to address your health issues, you may be under pressure from an insurance company to reach a financial settlement. Knowing your situation, they will try to take advantage of you by offering much less money than you need or deserve.
Your employer, which may already have ignored your safety, is far from your most reliable source of information. You need an advocate who is going to aggressively protect your rights. The experienced worker's compensation attorneys at Hochman & Plunkett Co., L.P.A. have more than 150 years of combined experience handling cases just like yours. For your convenience, we have offices in Dayton, Troy, Springfield and Cincinnati. Contact us online to schedule a free initial consultation.