- Bottom Line: everyone is responsible for health and safety in the workplace;
- Everyone in the workplace has a duty to act as a “reasonable person”;
- Federal and state laws set standards that employers must follow to ensure health and safety in the workplace;
But employees also have a duty to act as a “reasonable person” to ensure health and safety in the workplace.
Everyone is responsible for safety in the workplace.
There is a concept in the law known as the “reasonable person” standard. In 1881, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. described the concept as follows:
“The law considers, in other words, what would be blameworthy in the average man, the man of ordinary intelligence and prudence, and determines liability by that.”
A more modern description of the concept is that of a hypothetical person in society who exercises reasonable—or average—care, skill, and judgment in his or her conduct. This hypothetical person serves as a comparative standard for determining a defendant’s liability. Every person has a duty to act as this “reasonable person” would under the same circumstances.
If someone fails to act as a “reasonable person” would under the same circumstances (breaches his or her duty), that person is said to be negligent. If his or her negligence causes foreseeable injury to another, he or she may be liable for damages under the legal theory of Negligence.
In effect, every person in the workplace has a duty to act as a “reasonable person” would act in the workplace. This includes company executives, supervisors, employees, contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers.
Both federal and state law set standards or regulations (in addition to the “reasonable person” standard) that employers must comply with to ensure health and safety in the workplace. For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is the primary federal law that governs health and safety in the workplace. OSHA was enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970.
Among other requirements, employers under OSHA must:
- Comply with standards, rules, and regulations issued under OSHA;
- Ensure employees have and use safe tools and equipment;
- Properly maintain tools and equipment;
- Use posters, labels, and/or signs to warn employees of potential health or safety hazards;
- Establish policies and procedures and communicate them so that employees can follow health and safety requirements;
- Not discriminate against employees who exercise their rights under OSHA (i.e., “Whistleblower Protection”).
Although these standards are meant to ensure health and safety in the workplace, employees must also do their part. To ensure compliance with the “reasonable person” standard in the workplace, employees must:
- Follow safety policies and procedures set by the employer;
- Wear safety gear provided by the employer;
- Not show up to work impaired (through lack of sleep or under the influence of drugs or alcohol);
- Report co-workers when they violate safety policies and procedures;
- Report unsafe conditions in the workplace.
If an employee fails to act as a “reasonable person” in the workplace and causes or contributes to causing foreseeable injury to a co-worker, the employee may find him or herself as a defendant in a lawsuit alongside his or her employer.
Written by:
Linda K. Leibfarth
Watts Guerra LLP
4 Dominion Drive, Bldg 3, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Phone (210) 477-0500
© Watts Guerra LLP 2015
