Most companies in Pennsylvania likely already have safety programs in place to help their employees avoid injury. However, business owners may not realize the need to update those programs along with their changing workforce.
When businesses go long periods without any incidents, it may be less obvious that their safety programs could be flawed or missing important protocols. Workers who have been there for years may learn on their own what the safety risks are, but when new hires come about, they may not be as quick to learn. Some newer risks may not be covered in older training programs.
When some business leaders realize that their safety protocols do need an overhaul, they simply create more of them. However, this can often create short-term results rather than long-term successes. It may instead be necessary to re-think the entire safety strategy based on a realistic vision statement for the future. Assessments to the current safety program are necessary in order to determine influencing factors, but it's suggested that assessments should come second to strategy development as assessments may result in safety protocols that solve existing problems rather than an overhaul of the entire strategy.
An employee who becomes injured on the job, whether or not it is due to out-of-date safety programs, may wish to try to file a claim for workers' compensation. While this generally bars someone from filing a lawsuit, they may still receive benefits that could cover the costs of medical care as well as lost pay as a result of missing work for recovery.
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