In Illinois, employers are required to assess their workplaces for hazards and provide their employees with the proper personal protective equipment to help to protect them from injuries. Employers are supposed to train their employees about the PPE, when it may be required, and how to use it. Employers may offer incentive programs to encourage their workers to use the equipment. If employees fail to do so, the employers may use enforcement actions. Employers who fail to assess worksites, train their workers about workplace hazards, and offer the proper PPE to their workers may face substantial penalties in addition to the workers’ compensation benefits that they may be forced to pay in the event of an injury or death.
Duty to Provide Proper PPE
Employers have a duty to keep their workplaces relatively safe and hazard-free for their workers. They should assess their workplaces to identify any hazards that exist. They should then identify different types of controls that they might implement to reduce the risks. If the hazards are not correctable, the employers must provide proper personal protective equipment to employees who must work around the hazardous condition. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is responsible for enforcing the rules that require employers to provide proper PPE to their employees and may penalize employers who fail to do so.
Employers are also supposed to train their workers about how to use the personal protective equipment. They should explain the different hazards that exist in the workplace and stress the importance of using the PPE provided. The workers have a duty to comply with using the PPE that they have been given. If they don’t, employers may discipline them according to their company’s policies.
When workers are injured on the job in accidents, they may recover workers’ compensation benefits. When the injury accidents happened because workers were not given the proper personal protective equipment, employers may face substantial penalties.
