In most situations, workplace injuries are devastating to both the victim and his or her family. Workers in all types of jobs do not want to be hurt while engaged in activities that are a part of their work. Dealing with the aftermath of a workplace injury, whether it be for a short or long period of time, while healing is not a pleasant experience for most. When people are injured at work, they will likely want to file a workers' compensation claim in order to be compensated for their pain, suffering, mental anguish, and missed time at work.
Employers do not benefit from workplace injuries either. This is because most employers in the state of Pennsylvania are required to carry workers' compensation insurance to cover claims that injured workers may submit; this insurance is usually expensive depending on the type of job. Because of this, it seems to make sense that anything that would reduce the occurrence of such incidents happening would be a good thing for everyone included.
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the federal agency charged with trying to keep these types of accidents to a minimum. In addition to creating and enforcing safety regulations, OSHA also provides workplace training. Recently, OSHA proposed another avenue to keep workplaces safe. Over the last year or so, OSHA has implemented a program with the intent of trying to make all safety records available to the public.
There are likely multiple ways in which this information could help reduce the number of workplace accidents resulting in injuries and workers' compensation claims. With such information being public, individuals and groups could analyze it and try to craft strategies to prevent these types of incidents from occurring in the future. In addition, the transparency would surely result in employers feeling pressure to stay on top of safety issues in the workplace, particularly if they had disclosed accidents in the past.
Of course not all employers are on board with the proposed rule. During the comment period they have a certain amount of time to communicate their thoughts regarding the matter. These will be taken into consideration by OSHA before further action is taken. If you have questions about workplace injuries, call the Pittsburgh workers' compensation attorneys at Dugan & Associates today for a free consultation at 412-922-0800.
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