Hard Lessons From A Grisly Accident

Following the horrific death of an employee, Bumble Bee Foods announced its agreement to pay $6 million in a criminal settlement, the largest of its kind in California history.

Since the accident could have been easily avoided, and given the fact that the company had been previously cited for not having adequate safety procedures on the equipment where the employee was killed, the company had no choice but to settle the criminal matter and related claims that will surely follow.

The case highlights issues to which prudent employers should pay attention, among them language problems when issuing safety warnings. The victim was a Hispanic employee who spoke limited English. Employers need to ensure that the unique concerns of a multi-racial and multi-lingual workforce are being addressed.

Among the other takeaways from this case are that strong safety controls must be implemented in order to protect workers in high-risk occupations. The more resources the employer has, the higher the standard will be for what is “reasonable” to protect employee safety. Bumble Bee Foods and its managers were prosecuted for “willful” violations because of the level of criminal negligence associated with their failure to adopt proper safety measures.

Also, employers must make sure that all employees are aware of the company’s safety policies and procedures, and take affirmative steps to confirm this awareness. Passing out a brochure or posting a bulletin is not going to be sufficient to avoid liability.