"Growing Trend: Prosecution for Workers' Injuries, Deaths"

"Growing Trend: Prosecution for Workers' Injuries, Deaths"National Law Journal (07/18/05) Vol. 27, No. 45, P. 13 ; Sozio, Stephen G.; Gregory, Earnest B.
Prosecutors are increasingly charging businesses and their managers with criminal conduct in certain cases where workers have been injured or killed on the job. Although the combination of the civil tort system and federal worker-safety regulations have generally been sufficient to provide incentives for businesses to keep workers safe, criminal prosecution creates an additional risk for companies that do not follow the regulations. The most common criminal charge in such incidents is reckless homicide or reckless assault, with "recklessness" being defined as disregard of a known risk without regard to the possible consequences. As a result, businesses should establish up-to-date compliance standards for safety procedures and treat workplace injuries or deaths with the same seriousness as they would the commission of a crime. The risks of criminal prosecution for those who do not comply with federal safety standards and regulations include jail time for individuals and increased insurance costs and government monitoring for the business as a whole.