When an worker ignores directions from a doctor, who’s responsible when the worker causes a serious accident on the job?
In some cases, it’s your firm that ends up on the hook – both for workers’ comp and for other people ’s injuries caused by misuse of a prescription drug.
Situations like these raise three questions that even HR/benefits pros have trouble answering. How are you – or supervisors – supposed to know what meds people are on and whether they’re taking them as directed by their physicians?
In most cases, you won’t.
Can you find out without violating health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) or other laws?
You can’t, unless the worker volunteers the info or a physician notes the effects of medication being the reason for the accident.
So if you won’t know and can’t find out, how on earth can your firm be held responsible after the fact?
It all depends on the circumstances. Three key danger signs –
• A supervisor already has knowledge of an employee’s medical condition, when not the meds themselves. Example – the employee requested a schedule change and said it was due to a particular medical problem
• The person has a history of erratic behavior that management suspects is medication-related, and/or
• The employee’s job involves potentially dangerous situations.
Spotting possible danger
A Florida case (Johnson v. Rentway) is a classic example of the two of the three big danger signs.
1. the supervisor knew an staff member had insulin-dependent diabetes.
2. the employee was under physician’s orders to take insulin at specific times, which required the business to adjust the employee’s schedule.
But due to short staffing, the staff member was often forced to work shifts that overlapped with times he was supposed to take injections.
What’s more, the employee worked a potentially hazardous job (he was a expert truck driver).
In conclusion, the inevitable happpened. the employee suffered a diabetic blackout at the wheel, causing a serious crash that injured himself and another driver.
The worker filed for workers’ comp, and the injured driver sued the corporation. the firm fought – and lost- both cases. Total cost – $5 million.
Corporate Wellness Companies