Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog
New businesses and small businesses may not be aware of their obligations for worker safety, or may not devote sufficient resources to keeping employees safe. Worker health and safety must be a top priority for anyone hiring employees, whether they are a start-up company or an established business with hundreds of employees. 
Victims who are injured on-the-job need to understand their legal rights in pursuing a work injury claim after an accident or illness. A workers’ compensation lawyer should be consulted by those who are injured or by family members who lose loved ones due to workplace accidents.
Entrepreneurs Need to Focus on Workplace Safety
Recently, Entrepreneur published an article for business owners on the importance of making workplace safety a priority.
- The costs of a single workplace injury can be very high. Entrepreneur gave the example of an employee fracture, which can result in $95,291 in direct and indirect costs.
- Insurance doesn’t provide complete protection from losses. Most people assume that workers’ compensation insurance policies cover 100 percent of the costs and expenditures a business incurs when an employee gets hurt. This is not necessarily true. Fines that are levied by government agencies if a worker is hurt because of a safety violation are not typically covered by insurance. Indirect costs not covered by workers’ compensation could run as much as 20 times the value of the direct costs that insurance picks up.
- Injuries can do damage to a company brand. If a company causes injury to employees or the public, this can make headlines and can result in customers turning away from the business.
- Safety performance is increasingly becoming a criterion considered in awarding contracts. Many companies now ask to see a potential vendor’s safety records as a part of a comprehensive bid package. This means that a history of safety violations and work injury claims could result in the business losing out on future work opportunities.
- A small business can quickly get a high incident rate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates a recordable case rate by multiplying the number of injuries by 200,000 and then dividing the number of hours that employees work at the firm. As a result, just one injury at a small company can result in an incident rate that is alarmingly high.
These are a few key reasons why entrepreneurs need to think carefully about how to protect their workers and need to follow safety regulations on the worksite. Of course, the most important reason for company owners to ensure they are following the rules and providing adequate safety training is to avoid the devastation that an injury or death can cause to employees and their families.
Victims who are injured as a result of a safety violation or because of any injury on-the-job should consult with an experienced Boston workplace accident lawyer for help pursuing a claim for monetary compensation for medical bills and other losses.
If you are injured on the job in Massachusetts, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your workers’ compensation claim– (617) 777-7777.
More Blog Entries:
Workplace Injury Often Result of Fatigued Employees, March 29, 2014.