FELA is an act that is responsible for the preservation of railroad workers’ safety and compensates them for any injuries that they suffer on the job. In addition to that, it laid the foundations for the responsibility of the employer of railroad workers because it set a liability standard to be followed by the employers.
Federal Employers Liability Act helps make sure that the railroad workers are given a safe environment to work in, regardless of the time and situation they are in. It is the responsibility of the employer to take necessary steps to do this. Here’s what employers need to do.
Reasonable Protection from Work Hazards and Unsafe Conditions
According to any general health and safety at work act, it should be the responsibility of the employer to give workers a reasonably safe workplace. That means they must keep the workplace safe from any unsafe conditions and workplace hazards such as giving the workers safety equipment, maintaining the tools they work with so that they don’t pose a safety hazard to workers.
The employers should have inspections carried out regularly to make sure that there are no workplace hazards that they are unaware of in addition to ones that are already in their knowledge. The employer can be held liable for any compensations under FELA if a hazard caused an injury to the railroad employee whether the employer was aware of the hazard or not.
They must also warn the employees of the unsafe conditions or workplace hazards that may come up. This should happen through signs or notices placed in a safe place that doesn’t hinder with the work of railroad workers. The workers may be aware of the danger but the responsibility of the employer must be fulfilled in any case.
Adequately Train Workers, Post Safety Regulations and Supervise
It is the responsibility of the employer to make sure that the railroad workers are properly trained to do the work they are supposed to. This means that the employer should carry out adequate training to equip the employee with the necessary skills to do the railroad work.
More specifically, they should keep a check on the training and experience requirements of the employees to make sure that they have the right experience and are trained well to accomplish the tasks given to them.
The jobs that each of the employees do should be supervised to a reasonable level (more for inexperienced workers) who need it. This is to stop any unwanted hazards to come up when work goes unsupervised, resulting in employee injuries that may happen as a result of the lack of supervision.
Federal safety and health standards should be taken into account when coming up with compliance and safety standards. That’s a given responsibility of the employer. The railroad must have its’ own specific set of safety regulations and enforce those regulations. If the employer fails to enforce those safety regulations and a hazard occurs, they may be liable for compensation under FELA.
When an employee of a railroad company does file a claim, the help of a workers’ compensation lawyer is a great way to ensure that they get their fair share of compensation for injuries.