Partner Article

Managing your business through personal injury circumstances

Although personal injuries are nothing to sniff at in the workplace, the focus is usually on the injured employee, rather than on the business. When someone has an accident in the office, business or otherwise known as commercial law can come down hard on companies, leading to large losses of money, both directly and indirectly.

Even the most watertight health and safety programme can still lead to human error and injuries. More often than not, organisations have to front the bill, but there are ways of mitigating costs for companies.

The Ways That Personal Injury Can Cost You

Management usually underestimates the costs of personal injury. Directly, businesses can expect to pay out for premium costs, lost wages, health and safety fines, as well as medical expenses for their injured employee.

The indirect costs continue this ripple effect throughout the company. Profit losses accumulate throughout many sectors. Not only do personal injury claims affect human resource’s time, but you have staff replacement costs to consider. A missing employee can reduce levels of productivity in the office; especially if they’re relied upon for many in-house processes.

Keeping Up Spirits

Company morale is a huge issue. When a staff member is seriously injured and the company is blamed, negative feelings spread. It’s up to you to restore conviviality in the office, whether that means organising treats at lunchtime or personally thanking individuals for their hard work.

Small raises also don’t go amiss, if they’re long overdue. Just don’t obviously butter-up your staff, otherwise this approach could backfire.

Protect Your Reputation

If the personal injury gets a lot of coverage, it can tarnish a company’s reputation. A bad reputation obviously means terrible sales, so it’s important you keep your customers and clients happy at this time. With less people on-board and low staff morale, customer service can drop.

Taking Precautions Should Be Top Of Your Priority List

Prevention is the best cure and enhancing your health and safety programme is crucial. With a largely flawless system, even when personal injuries do occur, you can show that you’ve managed your company responsibly and taken your duty of care seriously. Even if you’re sued, the final cost of compensation will be considerably lessened with up-to-date health and safety precautions.

If a personal injury highlights a flaw in the company’s system, see the silver lining and make sure that no further members of staff are affected.

When an accident does occur, do everything in your power to take care of your employee. Ensure that they receive immediate medical attention and that the incident is reported in the accident book. Check up on them regularly. Send flowers if the injury is serious and they have to remain in hospital. Send around a ‘Get Well Soon’ card through the office, so everyone can show their support.

Although you shouldn’t do all this in the hope that your employee won’t sue you, some members of staff could be dissuaded from claiming for minor injuries, if you treat them well.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Denver Burke .