Benefits and Compensation

You Violated a Safety Rule—Comp or No Comp?

In yesterday’s Advisor, we looked at two informative comp cases. Today, another case, plus an introduction to the one-stop, online HR problem solver, HR.BLR.com.

If you violated a safety rule and were injured, do you get workers’ compensation?

When Peter Mars first joined Bowman Company as a machine operator, his supervisor, Jim Larson, gave him a tour of the workplace. "You’re going to find that we’re very committed to safety around here, Peter. Here’s the safety manual. Look it over before the first safety meeting."

Mars dutifully read the manual, including a section on how to lock out the conveyor system before fixing a jam. At the safety meeting, the instructor reviewed the company’s lockout procedures. He also provided Mars with a padlock of his own.

"You should never put your hands inside the conveyor until you shut down and lock out the machine with this padlock," the instructor warned Mars as he handed him the lock. "If you don’t follow these rules, you could get docked a day’s pay if you’re caught. If you’re caught a second time, you’re fired. And you could get seriously hurt. Understand?"

Over the next couple of years, Mars attended several other safety meetings where lockout procedures were reviewed and emphasized. He did follow the lockout rules on a couple of occasions when the conveyor jammed.

Then, one day, the conveyor system jammed because a piece of wood became stuck. Mars was too rushed to get his padlock at the other end of the plant. He quickly placed his hand into the conveyor to dislodge the wood.
As he did so, the conveyor suddenly started moving again. It grabbed his hand and crushed it before he could pull it out. Mars was rushed to the hospital, where his hand was amputated.

Mars filed for workers’ comp benefits, but Mars’s employer fought the claim. "What do you mean they won’t give me workers’ comp?" Mars complained to his attorney. "Look at me. I lost my hand because of this job."


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Mars’s attorney filed an appeal before the state supreme court. At the hearing, Bowman’s counsel explained the company’s objections:

  • All employees at Bowman, including Peter Mars, were informed that the conveyor had to be locked out before placing their hands inside the machine.
  • Peter Mars was given a safety manual that described the lockout procedure. He was also given his own padlock.
  • Peter Mars attended at least three safety meetings in which the details and importance of the lookout procedures were explained and emphasized.
  • Employees have been disciplined for not following lockout procedures.

As a result, Peter Mars’s injury was caused by his willful misconduct and he should not be allowed to benefit from his actions, Bowman said.

Decision: Benefits denied for the machine operator, ruled the Alabama Supreme Court. It was undeniable that Mars willfully disobeyed a mandatory safety rule. In fact, he even admitted that he knew at the time he was injured that the safety rules required him to lock out the conveyor before attempting to remove the piece of wood.

Comment: This company did everything right with their safety program, and yet a serious injury occurred due to employee misconduct. Nevertheless, because the company had documented all training sessions, it was able to prove that it was not responsible for the accident.

Consistent, accurate recordkeeping—a challenge, but for sure not the only challenge you face today. In HR, if it’s not one thing, it’s another, right? Like FMLA intermittent leave, overtime, ADA accommodation, and sexual harassment, to name just a few?

You need a go-to resource, and our editors recommend the “everything-HR-in-one website,” HR.BLR.com. As an example of what you will find, here are some policy recommendations concerning e-mail, excerpted from a sample policy on the website:

Privacy. The director of information services can override any individual password and thus has access to all e-mail messages in order to ensure compliance with company policy. This means that employees do not have an expectation of privacy in their company e-mail or any other information stored or accessed on company computers.

E-mail review. All e-mail is subject to review by management. Your use of the e-mail system grants consent to the review of any of the messages to or from you in the system in printed form or in any other medium.

Solicitation. In line with our general nonsolicitation policy, e-mail must not be used to solicit for outside business ventures, personal parties, social meetings, charities, membership in any organization, political causes, religious causes, or other matters not connected to the company’s business.

We should point out that this is just one of hundreds of sample policies on the site. (You’ll also find analysis of laws and issues, job descriptions, and complete training materials for hundreds of HR topics.)


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