What Are Unsafe Working Conditions?
Unsafe working conditions are those physical situations in the workplace that have been altered in such a way as to result in a hazard to the safety of the employees. These conditions can arise from environmental factors, machinery or equipment, unsafe working practices or the overall organization of a job task.
Common examples of unsafe work conditions include:
is an act of negligence on behalf of the employer. It is a failure of the employer to provide a safe workplace for its workers.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) , the most common workplace injuries are caused by "slips, trips and falls," which account for 26% of all workers injuries and falls from heights amount to approximately 36% of all workplace fatalities.
Under Section 5 (a)(1) of the OSH Act, employers are required to provide a place of employment "free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees." This encompasses work organization, practices and physical conditions.
Employees’ Rights Under the Law
Federal and state laws demand that employers provide a working environment free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. As a result, there is an abundance of regulations setting safety standards for work sites and employees. These laws apply to business offices as well as industrial plants and construction sites. In California, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is responsible for ensuring safe and healthful working conditions for all workers in the state.
For a variety of reasons, however, not all employers abide by workplace safety laws. Some (but not all) employers will issue a questionnaire to new employees to determine whether they have had any prior injuries or existing medical conditions. Employers have no right to this information under state law and your employment cannot be terminated, suspended, or otherwise discriminated against because you refuse to answer these questions. Depending on your answers, your employer may make changes to your workplace environment, possibly as an accommodation for your condition, to avoid your filing a lawsuit. No matter what action your employer takes to improve workplace safety, a risk of injury to you persists if you are forced to continue working despite that risk.
Occupational safety and health hazards affect employers and employees equally, and as a result, it benefits everyone to identify hazards present in your workplace and work together with your employer to eliminate them. Once you put your employer on notice of workplace hazards, however informally, they may be legally obligated to take reasonable steps to remove those hazards. OSHA regulations, such as disallowed excessive heat levels, require certain action be taken when a violation is noted. Employees who refuse to perform unsafe work may file an official complaint with OSHA.
To encourage workers to keep employers aware of any dangers present (or suspected present) in their workplace, California provides employees with whistleblower protection rights. If your employer retaliates or discriminates against you for reporting a workplace hazard, he or she can be liable under California labor laws. You may be able to sue your employer for wrongful termination, emotional distress, or other wrongful acts that you suffer as a result of your employer’s retaliatory actions.
Needed Before Filing a Lawsuit
Although you have the right to take legal action if your employer refuses to provide a safe, hazard-free workplace, there are several steps you typically need to take before you can file your lawsuit. Most employers make it easy for employees to discuss workplace hazards directly with their supervisors. To start, it’s important to report your unsafe working conditions as soon as possible.
Your first step is to report the hazards to your supervisor, or call your company’s Hotline Reporting. Everything should be handled through the chain of command, so don’t go to a Vice President or the top HR person to begin handling your complaint. That type of approach will only get you in trouble. You want your manager to handle it, to show you have faith in them. If he or she fluffs you off, then you have to report it to the next level.
If you have called the Hotline, the company is now aware of the issues and it must assign an outside occupational safety and health officer to your case to investigate the hazards. It will also give them more time to fix the issues before you escalate your concerns.
If your employer fails to remedy the situation and the hazardous conditions remain, you can make a complaint to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for an on-site inspection. OSHA can order your company to fix the hazards or issue citations and fines if the conditions remain.
In addition to OSHA, you can also file a lawsuit against your supervisor if you can prove "intentional tort" or specific negligence. This type of lawsuit is only allowed if the danger was so great that your supervisor knew the only way to prevent you from being injured or killed was to warn you and order you to stop the work.
It’s very challenging to prove this degree of negligence, but if you can provide evidence such as company records, internal reports, emails and text messages, you may have a chance.
If you end up having to file a lawsuit for unsafe working conditions, you may, but are not required to, try and seek out a settlement first. A settlement is not the same as a formal mediation. To begin the settlement process, you’ll need to put together a packet of information about your case, including:
Once your packet is complete, drop it off at the viewing window of the other party with a date and time stamp. If you do not hear back from them, follow up with a phone call and/or email. If you still don’t hear anything, you’ll need to hire a mediator. Your mediation should occur within two to four weeks of your submission.
When Should You Seek Legal Action?
There are two main scenarios where pursuing legal action for unsafe working conditions may be appropriate:
Injuries caused by employer negligence: If your injuries were caused by circumstances beyond your control, then it is worth investigating your options. Many times, these circumstances stem from negligence or recklessness on the part of an employer. Law firms that specialize in workers compensation and negligence can help uncover fault in an incident, and if fault for the incident lies with the employer, the injured employee could be entitled to additional damages.
Ongoing issues: If you (and perhaps even several other employees) are facing consistent problems, it may be time to pursue a lawsuit. One of the biggest reasons that things tend to get overlooked is because these dangerous issues become normalized. Telling an employer or supervisors isn’t always enough — sometimes outside legal help is needed to make the employer aware of how serious theses conditions really are. If it takes a lawsuit from a worker (or another worker), then so be it.
There are many reasons to consider filing a lawsuit over unsafe working conditions — the question of whether it’s right for you depends on the circumstances.
Filing a Lawsuit
For some injured in the workplace, filing suit may be an option. Though this avenue may be pursued upon being injured from unsafe working conditions on or off a job site, there are a few facts to consider:
1. Strict Time Limits
A statute of limitations is used to minimize the time lapsed between an event (injury) and the consideration of a legal claim in the interests of fairness to both parties and clarity of evidence.
Most personal injury lawsuits have a limitation of one to four years depending on the state.
In New York, any claim against your employer – for unsafe working conditions is no exception – must be filed within one year of the date of accident. If you miss that window and do not show good cause why the statute should be waived, the complaint will be dismissed as time-barred.
In Illinois, the statute of limitations for an injury caused by unsafe working conditions is two years from the day you were injured or knew or should have known of the cause of your injury.
2. Litigation Steps
A worker can file suit against policy and standards violations with various government agencies, or in conjunction with a personal injury complaint .
In addition to the complaint and summons, a plaintiff must also provide all documentation to support their case, obtain any and all witness contact information, and whether there are expert witnesses that can speak to the specific safety tip that was ignored.
Once the complaint is filed, the defendant will have 30 days to file their answer with the court, and then 30 more days to file a counterclaim.
3. Legal Representation
While not legally required, seeking legal representation is a wise choice for a potential plaintiff because of the complicated nature of federal, state and local labor laws, as well as their variations.
An experienced litigating counsel will be familiar with deadlines for motions, hearings and other filings; and even if the defendant corporation has an entire legal team in play, a workers’ compensation attorney will understand the intimate details of a worker’s compensation case.
A legal expert can also recommend whether a worker is entitled to a settlement without having to endure lengthy litigation – which is often draining physically and emotionally.
Understanding the laws and how to protect your legal rights can be challenging, especially when you’re trying to recover from an injury. The attorneys at Dorf & Nelson LLP are here to help make sense of it and guide you through the process.
Possible Outcomes from Taking Action in Court
Should you file a lawsuit against your employer for unsafe working conditions, it’s important to be aware of the potential outcomes of that action so that you can formulate proper expectations. In the best case scenario, both your health and the working conditions will improve, as your employer is forced to do more to protect the safety of their employees. Your lawyer will seek the maximum compensation to which you are entitled not only in terms of safety, but also for the impact that your employer’s negligence has had on your life. As with any area of law, however, not every lawsuit will be as grounded in reality. You may receive a settlement or refund for what were deemed to be unsafe working conditions, but it is unlikely that you’ll receive the maximum award possible. The goal of any lawsuit is a prompt settlement; in fact, the vast majority of lawsuits end up being settled out of court. It is likely that your company will not want to go through the hassle of a lawsuit or be found on the wrong side of a verdict. This is why they will likely be eager to settle quickly, even if the settlement isn’t of the amount that you might have wanted.
Please note that in some cases, you may not have the opportunity to sue. While anyone can technically sue anyone for anything in the United States, winning those lawsuits is a different matter entirely. You may be compelled to file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or your state equivalent before you’ll be able to go ahead and sue. This may be as simple as filing an OSHA 7 form, which OSHA can then act upon if they believe that the complaint is legitimate. In other cases, a contract may expressly prohibit you from taking your case to court. If you signed arbitration clauses or agreements to not join a class action lawsuit, there may be nothing that you can do about unsatisfactory working conditions. In such cases, your only recourse may be to wait until your employment ends and file a lawsuit then, a process that could take years or decades.
Unsafe Working Conditions Examples
Let’s examine several real-world examples of unsafe working conditions that spurred lawsuits.
"Bump in the Night"
After a long night shift at the local 7-Eleven store in rural Butler, Pennsylvania, Mikayla Allen was stocking the freezer when a masked man with a gun jumped out from behind the aisle and fired three shots. Mikayla was knocked to the ground and shielded her head with her arms. She later discovered that the shots had broken her wrist and shattered her lungs. She sued the store, alleging employees did not have adequate training or policies to prevent violence against them. The jury awarded her $100,000.
"Mismatched Equipment"
2006 saw the death of 18-year-old Caleb Cuello, a seasonal landscaper for the city of Watsonville, California. Caleb was mowing grass in a nearby park with a ride-on lawnmower when his teammate lost control of the mower and crashed into him, killing him instantly. The team was not equipped with radios, nor were they trained to spread out or use "spotters" to warn of oncoming injury. Instead, they were given mowers and push blowers and sent out to cut grass on a very busy day with no supervision.
The following year, a Watsonville family of four, including two small children , was injured when their car was struck by a vacant vehicle that had rolled down a hill and crashed into them. A police investigation revealed that three city workers had failed to properly secure the vehicle after it broke free from its parking brake and rolled downhill before crashing into the Chu family’s car, killing the parents. The workers had been leaving work and parked their vehicle with no parking brake on the steep driveway at the top of the hill. The family sued the city for $25 million, but the case was settled for $6 million.
"Inadequate Training"
In 2008, 40-year-old Stephanie Hernandez was working as a surgical assistant for a cosmetic surgery office in Montreal. Stephanie’s responsibilities included transporting patients to and from the operating room. For surgeries requiring general anesthesia, the patient was wheeled around in a stretcher. On at least two occasions, the medical practice had used a bedpan to collect a sleeping patient’s bodily fluids when transferring the body from the operating table to the stretcher. The bedpan had sharp protrusions that punctured the skin of Stephanie’s wrist, neck, and torso, leaving permanent scars. She sued the practice for her injuries, and the court ordered the company to pay her $15,800.