Blog - Month: January 2026
How to Avoid Being Sued for Injuries at Your Commercial Property
One of the biggest risks commercial property owners face is a visitor suffering an injury on their property.
One slip and fall can start a cascade of events, starting with a premises liability lawsuit seeking financial compensation. Your defense, as a property owner would be proving that you lived up to your duty of care to protect visitors to your property from injury.
Also, since your commercial property policy will not cover property liability, you’ll need a commercial general liability coverage as well.
Accidents happen, but if a third party is injured on your commercial property, the chances are high they’ll seek some type of compensation, either for medical costs, lost wages or both. And if they seek out legal counsel, prepare to be sued.
Prevent accidents before they happen
To reduce the chance of an accident, keep a tidy facility and fix any issues that could result in an injury. Take the following steps:
- Be proactive about inspections, repairs and maintenance.
- Have written inspection and maintenance guidelines that meet or exceed industry standards particularly as they concern safety of tenants and guests.
- Ensure your employees closely follow the guidelines and encourage them to report any issues that could result in injury.
In the discovery phase of a lawsuit, a plaintiff may ask for your maintenance and risk management procedures as well as documentation regarding whether you followed those procedures.
Your policies should be extensive and clear, but not overly intricate. Documentation is key to showing that you took reasonable steps to keep the property safe.
Your defense
Keep in mind that the duty is for you to use a reasonable amount of care. What is reasonable is determined in comparison with what an average commercial property owner would do.
There are times when accidents really do happen, and you are not automatically liable for them. You are neither expected to be perfect, nor are you expected to prevent every single mishap.
Rented property
A commercial property owner may not have a duty of care when they are not in control of their property. When the owner leases the property, the lessee may assume the duty of care to maintain the premises in reasonable condition.
A lease should clearly state that the renter is responsible for premises safety and that they indemnify the owner in any lawsuits and pay the costs to defend these lawsuits.
Insurance
Finally, make sure that you have commercial general liability insurance, which covers legal defense and potential settlements or judgments, helping protect your assets and financial stability.
Mental Health Issues Among Construction Workers Grow
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. construction workers say they have experienced anxiety or depression in the past year, according to a new survey of more than 2,000 workers and executives.
Poor mental health can increase the risk of injuries, slow projects and drive up absenteeism, turnover and disability claims. OSHA now highlights workplace stress and mental health as key safety concerns, noting that stress contributes to physical illness, impaired concentration and higher injury rates.
While the industry overall has made large strides in improving and promoting workplace safety, it’s been slow in recognizing the effects of mental health on safety. The survey by St. Louis-based construction firm Clayco explores the mental health and psychological safety issues construction workers face and how employers can establish protocols and services to identify and assist workers in need.
How mental health affects safety and performance
According to OSHA:
- Stressed and fatigued workers are more likely to miss hazards, make errors and cut corners, increasing the chance of falls, struck-by incidents and other injuries.
- Long-term stress contributes to physical problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic pain and sleep issues.
- Anxiety and depression undermine focus, motivation and judgment, which can affect safety, quality and productivity.
- Workers dealing with untreated mental health issues are more likely to miss work.
Key findings from the Clayco survey
The survey by St. Louis-based construction firm Clayco found that:
- 64% of construction workers reported anxiety or depression in the last 12 months.
- Top drivers of distress were the physical demands of the work (47%), poor work-life balance (42%) and tight deadlines (41%).
- 36% missed work due to mental health concerns in the last year.
- 45% said they would feel ashamed talking about mental health, addiction or suicidal thoughts with coworkers.
- 37% of those who used mental health services reported discrimination or unfair treatment at work.
What construction leaders can do
The good news is that there are proven steps companies can take.
Treat mental health as a safety priority — Put mental health on the same footing as fall protection or lockout/tagout. Include it in safety policies, job hazard analyses, orientation and toolbox talks. Remind supervisors that stress, fatigue and distraction are risk factors for incidents.
Train supervisors to recognize warning signs — Provide frontline leaders with training on how to spot behavior changes, withdrawal, irritability, substance misuse and other signs of distress, and how to have supportive conversations. OSHA and other organizations offer supervisor guides and mental health conversation tools tailored to employers.
Promote the services you offer — Audit what mental health benefits you offer, from Employee Assistance Programs to telehealth and counseling. Place information about these services in break areas, pay-stub inserts and safety talks, and repeatedly reinforce that services are confidential.
Reduce stigma through leadership example — Leaders who talk openly about stress, burnout or using counseling send a powerful signal that it’s okay to ask for help.
Address jobsite stressors you can control — Review schedules, overtime expectations, travel demands and staffing levels. Where possible, rotate assignments to limit extended travel, set more realistic deadlines, build in recovery time after major pushes and ensure workers can take breaks and time off without penalty.
Discipline Should Be Part of Your Safety Program
Does your injury and illness prevention program spell out the disciplinary action your company will pursue if its safety rules are not adhered to?
Addressing disciplinary issues can be a very sensitive and stressful process for most managers, supervisors and employees. However, if such issues are avoided or handled poorly, it can lead to serious consequences such as property damage, injury – or even fatality.
Looking at discipline not as a form of punishment but as a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity in order to eliminate unsafe circumstances, might ease the stress for the owner, manager and employee.
Education is the key to establishing proper disciplinary procedures and holding workers accountable to the company’s health and safety policy and program, as well as to applicable regulatory requirements.
The main objective of a disciplinary program is to ensure that rules and safe work practices are taken seriously by all employees, and that they are followed. When disciplinary action is deemed appropriate, it should be conducted in a timely manner. Trying to conduct a disciplinary response to unsafe behavior by waiting only allows a habit to become more ingrained.
Discipline should be positive, not punitive or negative. The goal is to correct the problem, action or behavior. The type of discipline should fit the severity of the misconduct, and it should be conducted in private.
Five-step disciplinary program process
- Reviewing policy and procedures (managers and supervisors).
- Investigation of accusations and infractions (supervisors and safety and health reps).
- Determining and reviewing disciplinary action (supervisors and safety and health reps).
- Documenting disciplinary actions and program enforcement (supervisors and safety and health reps).
- Conducting disciplinary meetings and promoting safe work practices and compliance to regulatory requirements (supervisors and safety and health reps).
If your company hires subcontractors, they should also be required to comply with your health and safety policy.
Sample disciplinary action
You should make it clear that the company reserves the right to discipline employees who knowingly violate company safety rules or polices. Disciplinary measures will include, but not be limited to:
- Verbal warning (documented) for minor offenses.
- Written warning for more severe or repeated violations.
- Suspension, if verbal and written warnings do not prove to be sufficient.
If none of the above measures achieves satisfactory, corrective results, and no other acceptable solution can be found, the company will have no choice but to terminate employment for those who continue to jeopardize their own safety and the safety of others.
Non-punitive discipline
The first step of formal non-punitive discipline is to issue an oral reminder, with the manager’s primary goal being to gain the employee’s agreement to solve the problem.
Should the problem continue, the manager moves to the second step – the written reminder. Together, the manager and the worker create an action plan to eliminate the gap between actual and desired performance.
If disciplinary discussions have failed to produce the desired changes, management then places the individual on a paid, one-day “decision-making leave.” Tenure with the organization is conditional on the individual’s decision to solve the immediate problem and make a “total performance commitment” to good performance on the job.
The employee is instructed to return on the day following the leave with a decision either to change and stay, or to quit and find more satisfying work elsewhere.
Thus, the purpose of the disciplinary transaction has changed from a punishment method to a process that requires individuals to accept responsibility for their own behavior, performance and continued participation in the enterprise.
Insurance That Helps You Survive Another Business’s Disaster
In October and November of 2011, floods inundated large parts of central Thailand, including thousands of factories that made everything from automotive parts and hard disk drives to eyeglass lenses and air conditioners. In addition to the human and economic cost in Thailand, the disaster affected businesses around the world.
Carmakers in Detroit shut down because they could not get the parts they needed and half of the world’s hard disk drive production was wiped out, leaving computer manufacturers with stalled assembly lines. When disasters like this occur, businesses around the globe feel the effects.
In addition to making advance arrangements for alternative suppliers, businesses can protect themselves by purchasing two types of insurance coverage: Contingent business interruption, and supply chain insurance.
Contingent business interruption
Contingent business interruption insurance, also called business income from dependent properties, pays for a business’s lost profit plus continuing expenses when it must slow or stop operations because of damage to another business’s property.
These other businesses can be customers or suppliers. For example, if a motorcycle dealership was left with no bikes to sell because its supplier in Japan suffered a fire, the insurance would make up part of the lost income.
The damage must result from a cause of loss that the insurance policy covers, such as fire or a hurricane. This is important because standard property insurance policies do not cover losses caused by catastrophes such as floods and earthquakes.
Supply chain coverage
Supply chain insurance takes contingent business interruption a step further. It covers income lost because of damage to a supplier’s or customer’s property. However, it also covers losses resulting from events that do not cause physical damage. These may include:
- Labor disruptions
- Production process problems
- Trade disputes
- Wars
- Political turmoil
- Closed roads, bridges, railroads and shipping channels
- Public health crises
- Actions by regulators
- Financial difficulties
Businesses often have different tiers of suppliers, with key suppliers in the top tier and less important ones in the lower tiers. It is common for them to insure only the top tier.
However, insurers are increasingly offering multi-tier coverage. This applies to the business’s entire supply chain. Multi-tier coverage provides a more comprehensive solution for the business while also spreading out the insurer’s risk.
Some insurers offer options. One lets policyholders choose between measuring losses in terms of gross earnings or number of units from the supplier. Some also offer agreed-value coverage, which eliminates penalties for buying amounts of insurance less than the amounts of value at risk.
Businesses should determine where they are vulnerable to supply chain losses and develop back-up plans for dealing with unexpected disruptions. These could include reserves of the needed supplies and contracts with alternative suppliers.
Insurance can help the business recover from a supply chain loss after the fact. Advance planning can help make that loss as small as possible.
If you would like to know more about business interruption insurance, don’t hesitate to contact us.