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Personal Liability for Safety Professionals

Personal Liability for Safety Professionals. Adapted from Legal Liability: A Guide for Safety & Loss Prevention Professionals by Thomas Schneid & Michael Schumann and from Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook fro ABS Consulting, Government Institutes. Introduction. Roles & conflicts

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Personal Liability for Safety Professionals

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  1. Personal Liability for Safety Professionals

    Adapted from Legal Liability: A Guide for Safety & Loss Prevention Professionals by Thomas Schneid & Michael Schumann and from Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook fro ABS Consulting, Government Institutes
  2. Introduction Roles & conflicts Criminal sanctions Protecting yourself with paperwork Protective theories Class exercise – Personal Risk Assessment
  3. Conflicting Roles Decisions affect health, safety & personal welfare Conflicting duties Management Cost concerns Employee welfare Unions Expanding workload Mistakes = professional & personal problems
  4. Criminal Sanctions Increase in use by OSHA DOJ represents OSHA Willful violations – plain indifference, not intentional disregard Advanced notice of inspections Knowingly false statements, representations or certifications State criminal codes Must be approved by OSHA Or have general applicability (traffic & fire codes) Environmental statutes No death requirement Knowing or negligent conduct EPA and OSHA MOU for joint inspections, referrals and information exchange
  5. “Pearl Harbor” file For when disaster strikes and the bombs start falling Document details of every action Management not committed to safety Compliance is not possible Include correspondence, email, documentation of phone calls, minutes of meetings, denial of funding, etc. Aids with credibility and memory “Past recollection refreshed” Hindsight is 20/20
  6. Personal Protective Theories 3 for civil liability Indemnification Protection by company for actions within scope of employment Company pays legal fees, penalties and damages Insurance Creates ‘deep pockets’ Not available for criminal protection or willful actions Can be very expensive Minimal assets = “Can’t get blood from a turnip” Puts what you do have at risk 1 for criminal liability Compliance
  7. Personal Risk Assessment
  8. Conclusion “there is no substitute for a safety and health program that is in compliance with the OSHA standards”, Legal Liability, p. 194
  9. Questions
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