If the statute on safety violations expires, you would not be able to take legal action even if you have a winning case

All employers are under legal obligation to ensure the health and safety of their workers, which is known as duty of care. Within this responsibility, they are required to assess the risk of workplace stress for their workers and to take appropriate action to ensure their wellbeing. Should the employer fail to ensure your safety or health, you may be in the position to seek legal action against them for the safety violations. Failure of duty of care can be, for example, not providing proper safety equipment during a construction job, unduly exposing you to Covid-19, or even renting an office in a building that does not have a proper fire exit.

Speak With Your Company

The first step should be having a conversation with your employer or your company’s HR department about your concerns. Companies generally wish to avoid legal battles and these issues are often the result of an oversight instead of malicious intent. Stick to the facts and point out the violations you’ve seen, and you may be able to settle the matter in house without having to spend your personal savings on legal fees.

Know Your Rights

Consulting with law firms which have experience in issues such as health and safety violations will help you plead your case. Whether you’re speaking with your employers directly or taking legal action, you need to learn the exact laws that are being violated. Consulting a lawyer is not only faster and more accurate than researching the laws yourself, but it can also give you an idea of how strong your case is. If there is precedent for the issue, then you’d be in a stronger negotiating position. Lawyers will also help you avoid some of the tactics antagonistic companies use to deter employees from taking legal action.

Keep Records of the Problem

One of the key factors in a legal battle is evidence, and you want to make sure that you gather as much as you can. This refers to more than just documenting the issue. When communicating with your employers, save all the emails exchanged. If your conversations take place in a meeting room, you should note down the time, place, and names of the people involved in the safety violations. It can also be helpful to bring your lawyer with you to these meetings, or ask for permission to record the minutes of the conversation. If any promises are made or agreements are reached at any stage, be sure to ask for their commitment in writing. These are all key steps to protecting yourself as your traverse the tricky field of a legal tangle.

When to Go to Court Over Safety Violations

While it is better for both sides to settle the matter quietly, if your company is not addressing your valid complaints, you may have to take the matter to court.

• Can You Afford It?

If you’re suing a company, the chances are that they have greater resources than you. Lawsuits can be long and expensive journeys, and many companies will employ delaying tactics such as sending excessive information or pushing back court dates to run your funds dry. Be sure that you can afford a long battle. If the violation is occurring against multiple employees, such as workers being exposed to toxic chemicals on-site, you should ask your lawyer if you can file a class-action lawsuit. In other cases, lawyers will be willing to work for a percentage of the final payout or even work pro bono.

• Is Your Case Strong?

Take an unbiased look at the evidence and documents you have been able to collect to support your case. Your gut feelings or sinking suspicions are not the same as concrete evidence. For example, if you fell off a forklift and broke a leg, that does not automatically qualify as a workplace injury. You would need to prove that the employer’s negligence was directly responsible for the injury occurring, such as a lack of protective equipment. You would need copies of your medical records, along with supporting documents such as the proven lack of safety in the machines being used, a copy of OSHA regulations and so on. In simple terms, you need to be able to prove that the employer could have prevented the injury. Consulting with an experienced employment lawyer is the best way to find out how good your claims are and whether you are likely to win.

• Keep Your Expectations Tempered

In most cases, lawsuits do not result in multimillion-dollar payouts. You need to keep realistic goals in mind. For example, if you were fired after contracting Covid-19 on the job, you may be entitled to getting your job back or a pay raise. If you suffered an injury that leaves you unable to work, then you could qualify for worker’s compensation. Sadly, there are employers in the USA that fail to protect their employees and do not subscribe to workers’ compensation insurance. These are known as “non-subscriber” cases and are a common type of lawsuit. If your company does not have worker’s comp insurance, there is a chance they have had other workers’ injuries before, and those may be useful as evidence in your case. Just remember that whatever compensation you achieve at the end needs to match the magnitude of the injury.