Don't plan for accidents, just avoid them

Updated: Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:37:45 +0000 by alsters456

Too many business owners worry about being sued over accidents to their employees when they should be concentrating instead on avoiding them in the first place.

Haidee Vedy,  at Coventry & Warwickshire solicitors Alsters Kelley says this obsession about the possibility of being sued prevents them from looking at potential hazards in a systematic way.

"As a result of the action taken by businesses after injured employees bringing claims for compensation have exposed failings in Health and Safety standards, lots of work places are now far safer than they used to be.   

"In any economic downturn, however, safety is often one of the first areas to see cuts in funding.

"Injuries at work can often not only have a devastating effect on the injured person but result in a drop in productivity coupled with a drop in employee morale.  The aim of every responsible employer should be to avoid accidents and keep their workforce safe,”

"The real issue is not what we can do to avoid being sued but what we can do to avoid accidents in the first place.  The simple equation is that no accidents equals no claims and, in turn, safe and happy employees.

"Frequently, this defensive attitude drives staff into the hands of solicitors.  The instinct to deny everything immediately does not help employers but they often don’t help themselves either.

"Alsters Kelley recently acted for an employee of a manufacturing company, who became the second person to be injured in one of its three paint booths.  When the first accident happened, the employer paid out and repaired the first paint booth but not the second or third.  The second one has now undergone repair but I await victim number three with some resignation as the employer has done nothing about exactly the same fault in that one.

"The message is simple enough: act now and everyone wins.  Fail to act and, in addition to any monetary cost, the business will suffer through people being off work and a sharp drop in employee morale.

"Most health and safety issues boil down to applied common sense and there is no greater example of common sense than taking the time to look at your processes and practices to avoid being on the wrong end of a law suit.”