Day: March 29, 2018

When it comes to establishing a business, it’s important not just to make sure your business prospers, but to also ensure your workers and employees are able to work properly and safely to earn their living. A working environment that is safe and risk-free from accidents is something that everyone wants to achieve, and while accidents do happen all the time, achieving a safer working environment isn’t impossible. It may however take time and planning to do so.

According to the International Labor Organization, fatalities as a result of accidents and diseases related to work actually amount to total of 2.78-million deaths annually, with 374-million more being injured or sick due to non-fatal circumstances at work. These not only cause employees to take extended leaves, but can also leave a gaping hole in the production of the company as well. Creating a safe working environment is not only something extremely crucial to your business’ success, but also extremely crucial to the safety of your workers. Here’s how to do this:

• Try to make an assessment of the safety of your premises before modifying any plans. Try to compile all the plans and protocols you have and compare them with respect to the current status of your working environment. How do these protocols hold up given the condition of your workplace? Do all of these instructions still apply to the current status of the workplace and your operations, or do things have to be adjusted? Try to put these elements for consideration.

• What do you think are risks in the workplace that have to be addressed? Try to look into your accident report logs and look for the most common and frequent causes of workplace injuries and absences in your premises. How much of these is a result of human error, and how much of these is something your company can address? What sort of equipment and/or modifications do you have to do in order to fix these? Try to take note of these as well.
• How soon do you need the above changes to be applied? Try to look into your working schedule so far and assess as to whether or not repairs should happen immediately, or if they can be divided into different “parts” depending on your budget. Try to assess the need to work on all of these repairs and modifications at once, and what gear and/or equipment you may need to improve the status of your workplace’s safety.
• How knowledgeable are your personnel when it comes to safety procedures and protocol? How often have you been practicing your safety drills, and how much do they know about the safety of your premises? Try to test them and see if they can remember the protocol you’ve established in your handbook. If you think there’s a lack of unity and concern from your staff, try to hire a trainer to be able to guide them towards understanding the importance of learning how to keep themselves safe in case of disasters.

Conclusion

Remember, when it comes to business strategies on making a safer working environment, it’s important to have a compromise between your business goals and your workplace’s condition. Being able to strike a balance between the two will not only afford you a safer working environment but a more efficient one as well. If you’re looking into the legal aspects of making your workplace safer, you can also click here to learn more.

Driving a vehicle can be an extremely convenient thing to do, especially when you consider how expensive commuting can be and how dangerous traffic can be for walking. Unfortunately, car crashes can happen to anyone, and it can be extremely dangerous and risky for all parties involved in the proces. This is especially hassling if you’re dealing with a car crash with a drunk driver.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 90 people die everyday in the United States because of vehicle crashes, and a third of these crash fatalities involve drunk driving. That makes approximately 32,000 people becoming fatalities in the U.S. due to these crashes every year, and 2-million more being injured because of these accidents. If you get yourself involved in a car crash, you have a lot of things put at risk and learning a drunk driver was involved in the accident can put you in a stressful situation. Dealing with this, however, isn’t impossible. Here are a few tips:

• Remember that you generally have two choices, none of which are always the best in every circumstance. While factors included in every car accident aren’t the same, the options you have when it comes to dealing with a drunk driver remain the same: you either go for a settlement, or take the case to court. Both of these options will further be discussed below, but do remember that it’s not all the time that a settlement or a lawsuit will work in your favor. Everything still depends on the factors included in your particular accident.

• Consider insurance claims, even in these alcohol-related situations. If you’re unsure whether or not you want to file a case against the drunk driver, perhaps consider waiting for their insurance provider to communicate with you. Remember that in the United States, most if not all states require drivers to carry a certain amount of insurance for their vehicles. As such, if you file a claim against the car insurance provider of the drunk driver, you may actually get a sizable amount of settlement. This can work if you express your intention to seek compensation for your losses and injuries that were a product of the incident.
• Was the drunk driver convicted of driving under the influence? Try to check if the driver in question was in fact convicted with a driving under the influence charge. This is because while insurance companies will most likely try to resist giving a sizable settlement on victims of their drunk driving clients, taking the case to court knowing that their client will be likely declared guilty of driving under the influence can put them at a disadvantage. This is because you, the plaintiff, may gain the sentiments of the judge and/or the jury if it’s been found out that the drunk driver has in fact been negligent of his responsibilities on the road.
• Be wary of “no fault” state laws as well as there are a couple of states that follow what is called a “no fault” policy when it comes to accidents. In these states, both parties will have to turn to their own personal injury protection cover in order to get their various bills provided for. This means while the drunk driver may in fact be at fault, the “no fault” policy will not consider it as such. However, this has a particular limitation which is dependent on the severity of the injuries the other party has suffered.

Conclusion

When it comes to dealing with a car crash with a drunk driver, a lot of legal factors will be in play. The important thing here is to make sure you approach the situation with a cool head and assess the circumstances based on the factors above. It’s also helpful if you get a lawyer to help you when it comes to dealing with the legal specifics of the incident as their knowledge may be of great benefit for your needs. Click here to learn more about how this can work.