I’m worried a workplace accident will occur, what can I do?

On behalf of Jeffrey Frederick of Frederick & Hagle posted in Workplace Accidents on Thursday, June 25, 2015.

When at work, employees in Illinois should be able to focus solely on the tasks at hand without worrying about possible safety issues in their work area. It is not just state law that protects workers. According to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers are actually mandated to provide the safest environment possible for their workers. While many employers do outstanding jobs of protecting those who work for them, others continue to ignore safety, putting employees at risk for being involved in a workplace accident. 

OSHA has several very specific standards for employee safety. For instance, according to the OSHA statute, employees must be protected from being exposed to dangerous chemicals or conditions that can cause them to develop serious diseases or illnesses. Additionally, if there are any hazards that cannot be removed from the work area, they must be duly noted with all appropriate safety measures enacted for the benefit of all employees.

A worker does not have to be seriously injured or killed before safety violations at a place of work can be addressed. Those who worry that safety precautions are being violated may voice this concern at both the state and federal levels and to their employer. In especially grave and dangerous circumstances, workers might even be justified in refusing to enter the workplace until the violations are corrected.

Although OSHA states that all employees have the right to be free from experiencing a workplace accident caused by unsafe working conditions, this is simply not the reality. Even minor safety violations can result in catastrophic injuries, putting employees out of work and without a steady income. When this occurs in Illinois, workers’ compensation is often a lifeline for injured workers who are struggling to recover.

Source: FindLaw, “Protecting Yourself from Unsafe Working Conditions“, Accessed on June 23, 2015