Who's Pays When a Rule-Breaker Gets Hurt?
This story is based on a real court case. The names have been changed, of course, and the dialogue is imagined, what might have been said. The issues and the outcome, however, are all too real. Many workers side-step safety rules every day—maybe some of them are your employees.
Joe was a wrapper at ABC Furniture. His job duties included uncrating, unwrapping, repairing, and rewrapping furniture. But on one particular Saturday, Joe worked his regular job in the morning, then worked overtime in the afternoon an evening, helping his supervisor Mario build a small enclosed office within the warehouse.
Most of the sheetrock for the project was located close to where they were working, but an additional supply was located a good distance away. By late afternoon, all the nearby sheetrock was used up. So Mario sent Joe to get some more.
Although Joe wasn't trained or certified to operate a forklift, Mario told him to use one, since that was the quickest way to move the heavy material.
The Accident
Joe managed to load the forklift and was heading back to the construction area when disaster struck. Because he was unfamiliar with the controls and safe operating rules, the heavily loaded forks were riding too high and the forklift tipped over. Joe's leg was crushed and had to be amputated.
When he applied for workers' compensation benefits, ABC fought the claim, arguing that Joe wasn't authorized to operate a forklift, and was therefore violating safety rules. This meant he was doing something "outside the scope of his employment" when he was injured, which made him ineligible to collect.
What the Court Said
The Superior Court of New Jersey, however, disagreed with the employer's argument, and ruled that the employee could collect benefits—even though he wasn't performing his usual job and even though he violated company safety rules.
What's the Point? Even though this employee broke the rules and did a foolish thing, the responsibility for the accident still rested with the employer. Apparently, there wasn't a strong enough commitment to safety policy on the part of employees and supervisors to prevent an accident like this one.
The employee did the wrong thing. No doubt. But don't forget that it was his supervisor who told him to use the forklift. What was this supervisor thinking! What kind of safety commitment did this supervisor have to do such a stupid thing as encourage an employee to break a safety rule?
In most cases, of course, it's employees who take the initiative when it comes to side-stepping rules and maybe the supervisor turns a blind eye. There are lots of equipment and forklift accident cases where this was the scenario. Usually, the employees are young risk takers.
But no matter how the events leading up to an accident play out, if your employees don't know and follow the rules, and if your supervisors don't enforce them, then when the accident happens, it's the organization that's going to end up taking a bottom line hit in terms of workers' comp benefits, lost productivity, and all the unpleasant things that follow in the wake of a workplace accident, especially one with a serious injury.
Wednesday,
by Chris Kilbourne
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