Do you have clients who want to challenge certain Workers’ Compensation claims by citing employee misconduct? According to this recent Business Insurance article, if employers want to challenge federal citations for workplace safety violations, they must demonstrate that they:
- Provide proper training. Document the organization’s workplace training and demonstrate that all relevant employees participated in these sessions.
- Communicate safety rules clearly. Provide proof that the organization has implemented proper safety rules and communicates them clearly (and often) to all employees.
- Enforce the rules. Show that the company has a disciplinary program and that safety rules are enforced. Back this up with records, such as disciplinary letters to employees who violated the rules.
- Close training and education gaps. Periodically retrain employees, train all new employees, and update all staff about any new safety rules.
- Avoid common defense mistakes. For instance, do not claim that employees “should have known better” as a defense, because OSHA will ask for proof to back up this claim.
Jencap specializes in Workers’ Compensation Insurance for a wide variety of commercial risks. Please contact us for more information.
