Workers' Compensation
Workers ' Compensation
How does the cost of workers ' compensation affect construction costs? Is it worth the time and money to have a strict safety program? These are both questions that construction companies have been asking for years. But before these questions can be answered lets look it the history of workers ' compensation. Construction is one of the most dangerous occupations. In the United States, the construction industry employs about 5% of the workforce but accounts for 11% of all disabling occupational injuries and 18% of all occupational fatalities (Accident, 1993). Using this statistic alone the need is apparent for a good system for workers ' compensation insurance. Prior to workers ' compensation legislation an employee had two choices for collecting lost wages and medical cost due to injury. They could either a) take whatever offer the employer gave them or b) sue their employer. The cost of litigation has always been high and mostly unaffordable to the common man. Even if the employee had the money to take his employer to litigation and found him to be negligent, the employer could often defeat the worker 's claim under one of the three common law defenses: the assumption of risk doctrine, the fellow servant doctrine, or the doctrine of contributory negligence (Newman & Hancher, 1991). In addition to the difficulty of overcoming the common law defenses, the injured worker faced other problems in trying to bring suit against the employer. Filing suit often resulted in the injured worker 's losing his job. The lawsuits were expensive and time-consuming. There was no guarantee that the employee would win the suit or would collect damages sufficient to cover the loss and cost of the suit (Newman & Hancher, 1991). So this meant that the employee pretty much had to take what the employer offered them. This became apparent to employees that something needed to be done to protect their rights. By 1949 every state had enacted an
How does the cost of workers ' compensation affect construction costs? Is it worth the time and money to have a strict safety program? These are both questions that construction companies have been asking for years. But before these questions can be answered lets look it the history of workers ' compensation. Construction is one of the most dangerous occupations. In the United States, the construction industry employs about 5% of the workforce but accounts for 11% of all disabling occupational injuries and 18% of all occupational fatalities (Accident, 1993). Using this statistic alone the need is apparent for a good system for workers ' compensation insurance. Prior to workers ' compensation legislation an employee had two choices for collecting lost wages and medical cost due to injury. They could either a) take whatever offer the employer gave them or b) sue their employer. The cost of litigation has always been high and mostly unaffordable to the common man. Even if the employee had the money to take his employer to litigation and found him to be negligent, the employer could often defeat the worker 's claim under one of the three common law defenses: the assumption of risk doctrine, the fellow servant doctrine, or the doctrine of contributory negligence (Newman & Hancher, 1991). In addition to the difficulty of overcoming the common law defenses, the injured worker faced other problems in trying to bring suit against the employer. Filing suit often resulted in the injured worker 's losing his job. The lawsuits were expensive and time-consuming. There was no guarantee that the employee would win the suit or would collect damages sufficient to cover the loss and cost of the suit (Newman & Hancher, 1991). So this meant that the employee pretty much had to take what the employer offered them. This became apparent to employees that something needed to be done to protect their rights. By 1949 every state had enacted an
Bibliography: National Safety Council. Accident facts. Chicago, Ill. 1993. Lencsis, Peter. Workers compensation: a reference and guide. Quorum Books. Westport, CT. 1998. Newman, K.D., and Hancher, D.E. Workers ' compensation issues in construction. J. Profl. Issues in Engrg., ASCE, 117(3), 228-233. 1991 Clough, R.H., Sears, G.A., & Sears, S.K National Council on Compensation Insurance. Workers compensation premium, finding the perfect fit. Boca Raton, FL. 1991 National Council on Compensation Insurance Hancher, D.E., de la Garza, J.M., & Eckert, G.K. Improving workers ' compensation management in construction. J. of Constr. Engrg. and Management. 123(3), 285-290. 1997 Levitt, R.E National Council on Compensation Insurance. ABC 's of revised rating plan. Boca Raton, FL. 1992 National Council on Compensation Insurance the price of workers compensation insurance. Boca Raton, FL. 1989 Grogan, T