{"id":8452,"date":"2021-06-15T12:00:59","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T16:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10028\/uncategorized\/when-is-an-employer-responsible-for-a-workplace-injury\/"},"modified":"2022-08-18T21:16:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T01:16:07","slug":"when-is-an-employer-responsible-for-a-workplace-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/article\/when-is-an-employer-responsible-for-a-workplace-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"When Is an Employer Responsible for a Workplace Injury?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accidents happen in the workplace, and <\/span><a href=\"\/practice-areas\/personal-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">serious injuries<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can be the result. Here\u2019s what you should know regarding workplace injuries and how to address them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b5Z4tyGvIAM\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Are Workplace Injuries?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Workplace injuries are illnesses or injuries that take place at an employee\u2019s place of work or develop due to the requirements of their occupation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nearly any workplace will have some type of safety hazard, although some workplaces are more prone to injuries and accidents than others. For example, even working in an office can carry risks for employees such as getting carpal tunnel from typing or slipping down a staircase, but working on a construction site can pose more frequent and serious risks of being injured by heavy machinery or falling off of scaffolding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Common workplace injuries include things like slips and falls, repetitive stress injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and equipment accidents.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How is Workplace Injury Liability Determined?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just because you are injured at your place of work doesn\u2019t mean that your employer is necessarily liable for the injury. There are a few factors that determine who is liable for a workplace injury:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Was the Employee Following Workplace Safety Rules?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees are responsible for following safety rules in the workplace, such as wearing the proper clothing and safety gear to prevent injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If an employee fails to take the correct safety measures, they are held accountable for their own resulting injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, a construction worker who is struck by a falling object while not wearing a hard hat in a designated area would not be able to sue their employer for head injuries sustained\u2014at least not for injuries that would have been avoided had they been using the proper safety gear. (Not an unlikely scenario, considering that falling objects are one of the <\/span><a href=\"\/article\/top-five-construction-accident-causes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">top hazards at construction sites<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">!)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><a href=\"\/practice-areas\/workers-compensation\/construction-accident-attorney-new-york\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New York construction accident attorney<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will be able to help determine liability depending on the specific circumstances of the accident.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether the Employer Enforces Safety Rules<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All employees have a right to a safe workplace environment. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.osha.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OSHA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) requires that employers <a href=\"\/article\/osha-violations-workplace\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">enforce basic safety rules<\/a> to protect their employees. These rules can include providing adequate safety training for job positions, including acquiring the correct certifications and licensing if necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If an employer does not give sufficient safety training, does not maintain OSHA requirements for their specific workplace, or otherwise creates a hazardous work environment, they can be held responsible for workplace injuries sustained as a result.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are a New York employer, it\u2019s your responsibility to ensure every employee understands the safety rules and regulations of your industry and specific job responsibilities, especially in hazardous areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Workplace Safety During COVID-19<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, signed the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.ny.gov\/news\/governor-cuomo-signs-first-nation-ny-hero-act-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New York Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into law on May 5, 2021. This act updated workplace safety requirements for all New York employers to account for increased risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the new workplace safety requirements include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Health screenings for employees<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Personal protective equipment<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disinfectant and cleaning requirements<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anti-retaliation requirements<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When and Where an Injury Occurs<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employer liability for injuries depends on when and where the injury occurs. For example, a company may loan employees vehicles to provide services in the area. If an employee has an accident that causes injuries to themselves or another person while on the clock driving to or from a job, the employer may be held liable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, if the employee is involved in an accident in the company car while off the clock, the employer cannot be held liable; although the car is the company&#8217;s property, because the employee was using the vehicle for personal use and not for business, injuries sustained are not treated as \u201cworkplace\u201d injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, conditions that develop over time may not be able to be traced to the location of the specific business; but if they are due to responsibilities required by the job, the employer may be required to provide workers\u2019 compensation and aid or otherwise be held liable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is where most repetitive stress injuries fall: sustaining hearing loss from working on loud construction sites, muscle injuries from lifting heavy objects, etc, won\u2019t become apparent at once like a workplace injury, but they are still caused by the work environment or requirements of the job.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How Should You Address Workplace Injuries?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are injured while on the job, it&#8217;s best to hire a personal injury lawyer. Napoli Shkolnik\u2019s skilled lawyers are practiced in personal injury, medical malpractice, social security disability, and more. <\/span><a href=\"\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact us <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">today so we can help you receive justice and financial compensation for your workplace injury.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Accidents happen in the workplace, and serious injuries can be the result. Here\u2019s what you should know regarding workplace injuries and how to address them. What Are Workplace Injuries? Workplace&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[775],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-injury"],"acf":[],"page_builder_type":"gutenberg","gutenberg_data":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}