Everyone is entitled to a safe workplace. In actuality, your employer is required by law to protect you while you’re at work. However, things can go wrong. You could be eligible to file a claim for compensation if your employer’s carelessness causes an accident at work.
What qualifies as Workplace negligence?
Workplace negligence occurs when an employer or employee fails to exercise the reasonable care expected in a professional setting, resulting in harm, injury, or loss. It involves actions or inactions that breach established workplace safety protocols, policies, or duties.
Examples of workplace negligence include failing to maintain safe working conditions, ignoring safety regulations, improper training, or neglecting necessary equipment maintenance. For employees, negligence might involve failing to follow safety procedures, mishandling equipment, or not fulfilling job responsibilities.
Negligence can lead to severe consequences, including workplace injuries, reduced productivity, financial losses, and even legal action. Employers are legally obligated to provide a safe and hazard-free work environment, while employees must adhere to safety rules and ethical standards.
Addressing workplace negligence requires clear policies, training, and fostering a culture of accountability to prevent incidents and promote a safe, efficient work environment.
Example of workplace negligence
Suppose you work in an office where it is your boss’s responsibility to ensure everyone remains safe. One day, looking at the electrical wiring of that office, you feel it is really old and exposed, which may sometimes cause an electrical shock. You tell your boss this, but they ignore you and do not get the thing fixed.
A few days later, an office colleague is shocked by the exposed wires while working at her desk and seriously injured.
Thus, the boss was careless. They knew the wiring was in a dangerous state but did nothing to correct it after being alerted. They ignored the hazardous condition that led to the colleague’s injury. If the boss had acted in time and corrected the wiring, then perhaps injuries could have been prevented.
Even the injured fellow employee can claim workers’ compensation because he got injured on account of an unsafe condition that the employer’s carelessness had brought about. In case the carelessness has been extreme, they are bound to have a personal injury claim for further damages.
Here are some things that you need to follow in order to prove Emploers negligence :
1. Duty of Care
The first step in proving negligence is showing that the employer owed the employee a duty of care. In every workplace, employers are legally obligated to ensure the safety of their workers while they are on the job. This duty includes providing proper safety equipment, ensuring employees are trained to safely perform tasks, and maintaining a hazard-free environment. If an employer fails to meet these standards, they are considered to be in breach of their duty of care.
2. Breach of Duty
Once the duty of care is established, the employee must demonstrate that the employer breached this duty. A breach occurs when an employer fails to act in a reasonable manner to prevent harm to their workers. This could be due to a variety of factors, such as failure to provide necessary protective equipment, not addressing known hazards, or neglecting to enforce safety protocols. For example, if an employee is injured because the employer failed to repair a malfunctioning machine that was reported as unsafe, the employer would likely be found in breach of their duty of care.
3. Causation
The employee must prove that the injury was a direct result of the employer’s breach of duty. In legal terms, this is known as causation. The injury must be a foreseeable consequence of the employer’s failure to provide a safe workplace. For instance, if an employee slips on a wet floor in an area where there were no warning signs or safety measures taken by the employer, the breach of safety protocols can be directly linked to the injury sustained.
4. Injury or Loss
Finally, the employee must show that the breach of duty caused actual injury or harm. This could be a physical injury like a broken bone or a psychological injury such as stress or trauma due to workplace bullying or harassment. Medical records, witness testimonies, and other evidence play a crucial role in proving the extent and severity of the injury or loss suffered.
Example of Employer Negligence
Imagine an employee named Callum working at a retail store. Callum has repeatedly informed his manager about a faulty display shelf that wobbles and is at risk of falling. Despite knowing about the hazard, the employer does nothing to fix it or remove the display. One day, the display shelf falls over and injures Callum. In this case, the employer’s failure to address the known hazard constitutes a breach of their duty of care, and Callum’s injury is directly linked to the employer’s negligence.
Legal Recourse
If these elements are proven in a court of law, the employee may be entitled to compensation for their injury, medical costs, lost wages, and even psychological harm resulting from workplace negligence. In some cases, depending on the severity of the injury and the jurisdiction, the employee may be eligible for a lump sum payment for permanent impairments caused by the injury.
Proving employer negligence requires the worker to establish that the employer had a duty to provide a safe working environment, that this duty was breached, that the breach directly caused the injury, and that the worker suffered harm as a result. By providing sufficient evidence and working with legal experts, injured employees can pursue justice and ensure that their employer is held accountable for failing to provide a safe workplace.
Read more: What does Public Liability Insurance cover in Australia?
