Own An Agricultural Business? Tips To Help Prevent Injury So You Are Not Sued

25 April 2017
 Categories: Law, Blog


If you have an agricultural company, you know there are some dangers. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help prevent your employees from getting injured. There are also tips on what you should do if anyone claims an injury while working on your farm.

Teach Them to Drive a Tractor

If you hire an employee that has not used a tractor, you need to ensure they are properly trained on how to use it properly. This is because the leading source of farming accidents are related to tractor overturns.

Your tractors should be equipped with ROPS (roll over protective structure), which is a cage frame or roll bar that is designed for tractors. This can prevent the tractor from turning completely over, which would cause serious harm or death. ROPs should be used along with seat belts to keep the driver in place during the turnover and prevent them from being crushed by the tractor.  Your employees should also watch how fast they drive the tractor and when driving it under unsafe conditions. ROPs come standard with newer tractors, but if you use older tractors they may not have this.

You also need to ensure your employees turn the tractor off when they get off of it. They may have to get off the tractor for a few seconds to move something out of the way. Even this few seconds could cause an accident if the tractor were to come out of gear.

Provide Safety on the Road

If your employees ever have to drive a tractor on the road, you need to ensure other vehicles know that they will be driving at a much slower speed. In order to do this, a symbol alert should be attached securely to the tractor to alert drivers. Place the symbol high on the tractor to ensure people will see it.

The tractor should also use flashers to alert drivers. This will make it very easy for them to see it so there is not an accident. The rear lights should be aimed downward to prevent blinding the drivers behind the tractor.

Contact a Labor Lawyer if Someone Claims Injury

If you have an employee that claims they are injured on your farm and you do not believe this, you need to contact a labor lawyer to help you. If you do not, you may end up paying for that employee's medical bills, as well as lost time from work. The employee could sue you if you refuse to pay for these things.

This lawyer can advise you on the legal standards that are set by local and state government to ensure you do everything properly. This can result in saving you a lot of money in legal fees, as well as lost time with your business. The labor law attorney can give you much more information about how they can help you in different situations.

Following these tips should help you run your business smoothly with no problems. For more information, visit http://www.vanblk.com


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