Construction Law Blog

In an article published on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 for Construction Executive, Courtney Paulk and Kelly Bundy discuss how employers can establish an “unpreventable employee misconduct” defense amid alleged Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations.

According to Courtney and Kelly, just because an employee broke the rules and did not follow safety procedures, it does not mean the employer is off the hook for liability. They go on to expand on the following six tips for employers to establish and succeed in unpreventable employee misconduct defense: 

1. Create an effective, written safety policy – which is the safest, best practice to communicate rules effectively and it provides the best defense in the event of a citation.
2. Communicate work rules by making safety manuals mandatory reading, conducting consistent training for employees and periodically reviewing the set rules.
3. Create a clear, progressive disciplinary policy to prevent future violations.
4. Sufficiently monitor employees, including supervisors, to identify and prevent safety violations.
5. Consistently enforce disciplinary policy without postponement to avoid insufficient enforcement.
6. Document all disciplinary policies, training records and disciplinary records.

“Having documented disciplinary policies, training records and disciplinary records may help an employer establish effective communication of its rules, active monitoring and supervision of its employees, and adequate enforcement when violations are discovered,” Courtney and Kelly explained.

To view the full article, click here.