In a work environment, it is the employer’s job to keep their employees safe in every situation. According to legislation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration can carry out checks and audits at work to ensure that businesses keep their employees secure from different risks.
The legislation places the responsibility and blame of non-compliance on the employer, so that makes it to where they are interested in cooperating with the law. But what happens when employers fail to meet that threshold? Here is what you must know about workplace safety.
Non-Compliance Consequences Can Be Dire
It is a felonious offense to violate the health and safety regulations. Employers can suffer penalties, including fines or jail terms, for doing so. Some of these include:
- Fines and Penalties – The costs of failure to comply can get expressed in heavy penalties. Regulatory fines could dramatically erode the earnings of large corporations, although they could cause harsher impacts for smaller ones and even wipe them out. Problems that put people at risk can lead to an indefinite penalty or jail term.
- Damages caused to the overall reputation – A non-conformity problem may undermine a business. The prestige and credibility of the brand can be severely affected based on non-conformity. Exemption from the industry is likely to result, which also ruins the reputation of businesses. A ruined reputation can also contribute to the loss of opportunities.
- Lawsuits – Employees deserve coverage for the injury if they get hurt on the job. An employee or workers compensation lawyer can help injured workers get compensated. A workers compensation lawyer’s role is to help employers settle compensation claims for their workers if an insurance adjuster does not resolve their cases. Compensations include full or partial permanent incapacity, medical care, and other payments.
- Shut down the company – Failure to comply can result in entity fatality. In the event of significant non-compliance problems, the respective government institutions may sometimes force businesses to shut it down or disband them entirely.
Keep Worker Safety in Mind
An employer is bound to follow the law’s health and safety regulations to provide a safe environment to the employees. Failure to do so leads to excessive punishments by the government and the employees. While worker safety may be the last item on a manager’s to do list, remember that it is a form of investment in corporate health.
The right activities can make a difference in the short and long term.
