Duty of care is defined as a moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others. In this article, we’ll explore what this means for employers, schools, and remote work settings. We’ll also look at responsibilities, legal implications, and best practices.
Key Takeaways:
- Duty of care is a legal and moral obligation to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety and well-being of employees and others.
- Organizations are required to have a comprehensive duty of care framework established which includes legal compliance, risk assessments, and mental health support to mitigate liability and ensure a safe working environment.
- The rise of remote work following COVID-19 has made it more important than ever for employers to establish duty of care practices regardless of whether employees are located in the home or office. This may include ergonomic support and emergency preparedness to protect employees outside traditional office settings.
What is Duty of Care?
The legal term “duty of care” means taking reasonable steps to protect others from harm. This principle is based on the idea that one should act as a reasonable person would in the same situation and avoid acts of negligence. However, beyond being a legal requirement, it’s also an ethical obligation to look after others’ safety and well-being. This is never more evident than in the workplace, where there is both a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that the duty of care is carried out to the best of the employer’s ability.
Within any organization, the responsibility for duty of care needs to be upheld by different departments such as finance, security, HR, and compliance. It is important for each department to ensure its share of care responsibilities to create a safe and supportive working environment. This includes recognizing the specific risks associated with different roles in their department and then proactively establishing best practices to reduce those risks.
Employers also need to assess the risks of their operations, especially in light of global events such as pandemics and natural disasters. By being proactive and identifying and mitigating potential risks in advance, they can prioritize employee safety for the future.
Some states, such as California, have established legal requirements around the duty of care. For example, California’s Civil Code section 1714 states that individuals must take reasonable care to avoid harming others who are in similar situations. This legislation highlights the need to act reasonably and provide care consistent with what a responsible person would do, while also foreseeing and planning for potential risks that could otherwise cause foreseeable damage if ignored.
In short, to discharge one’s duty of care is to create an environment where employees feel safe, respected, and supported at work.
The Legal Framework of Duty of Care
The concept of duty of care has been an integral part of the worldwide legal system, dating back to the case of Donoghue v Stevenson in 1932. This case involved Mrs. May Donoghue drinking a bottle of ginger beer in a café that had a decomposed snail in the bottle. She fell ill and subsequently sued the ginger beer manufacturer, Mr Stevenson. The House of Lords held that the manufacturer owed a duty of care to her, which was breached because it was reasonably foreseeable that failure to ensure the product's safety would lead to harm to consumers.
Case law plays a significant role in shaping the legal framework of duty of care and sets precedents for how legal obligations are determined even between parties with no direct relationship.
For a plaintiff to prove negligence, they must show that there was a legal duty of care that was breached and resulted in an injury to the plaintiff. Breaches are identified when an individual or corporation acts or fails to act in a way that leads predictably to injury or harm to someone who has been harmed. However, the duty of care goes beyond just avoiding injury. It also requires proactive steps to uphold safety and health standards. Employers can easily find themselves liable if they don’t keep up to date with new regulations and update their practices accordingly.
Whether an employee works remotely or on-site, businesses have the same legal responsibility to ensure worker health and safety. It’s also essential to adopt duty of care strategies and organizational frameworks as job roles change over time. This will require an acute knowledge of current laws and an understanding of industry best practices across all departments of the company.
Key Legal Terms Around Duty of Care
To understand the duty of care, it’s important to know the main legal terms. For example, when bringing a civil claim for negligence, an attorney for the plaintiff must prove five core elements: Duty, Breach of that Duty, Cause in Fact (actual cause), Proximate Cause (legal cause), and Damages. The first element of “Duty” is a critical prerequisite that must be shown to establish the legal obligation to avoid acts that could harm others. These are the building blocks of any claim, and whether there has been a breach of the duty of care.
When creating a duty of care framework, it is essential to identify specific responsibilities and develop strategies that reduce risk. This requires not just knowledge of the legal requirements, but also the willingness to carry out actual actions that prevent harm. By taking these steps, organizations can create a safer environment and reduce potential legal liability.
OSHA’s General Duty Clause
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) plays a central role in setting and enforcing the duty of care in the workplace. Employers are required under OSHA’s General Duty Clause to keep their workplaces free from recognized hazards that could cause death or serious harm..
A clear care policy is essential for employers to meet OSHA’s General Duty Clause and this will outline safety expectations for managers and employees and define proactive planning steps.
Employers that are compliant with OSHA’s standards have the opportunity to substantially strengthen their commitment to employee care and create a safer environment for every employee on site. However, if employers fail to mitigate known risks in the workplace, they can be held liable for breaching the General Duty Clause.
Why Duty of Care Matters
Duty of care is more than just a legal requirement. It’s also an ethical imperative of an organization’s commitment to its staff, and neglecting this duty can result in damaged reputation, high staff turnover, and potential lawsuits. This is why it’s critical to have a robust framework that can methodically tackle employee safety and health issues for both onsite and remote employees. This means providing safety training, ergonomic support, and mental health resources so employees are prepared for all situations they may face, regardless of where they are working.
Having a safe workplace is also key to building trust and loyalty with employees, which often leads to increased retention rates and productivity. This involves clear communication to ensure all team members are educated on safety procedures and trained on what to do in an emergency. By having these types of conversations about safety issues, employers can build a strong safety culture company-wide.
Employers have both a legal and moral duty to protect their employees’ physical and mental well-being. This means ensuring medical standards are being met to prevent negligence and providing a safe environment. Mental health issues left unaddressed can be costly in the workplace, costing businesses nearly $108 billion a year.
Implementing Duty of Care in the Workplace
Fulfilling duty of care in the workplace means looking at many aspects of employee health and safety. Employers must view their care responsibilities as part of the company’s overall policies and tailor these for different working conditions. This means recognizing the legal requirements and being proactive in practices that prevent potential risks which could harm or injure employees.
Duty of care also plays a significant role in travel risk management, particularly with recent global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather events. To keep employees safe while traveling, companies must help adjust their travel plans and prioritize whatever preparation is needed to mitigate risks.
Proactive risk management is key for building resilience and trust across an organization because it often leads to higher morale and productivity. For example, a property owner must ensure their premises are safe in order to avoid liability for injuries due to negligence. With public health concerns, climate events, and socio-political dynamics changing constantly, organizations must continuously refine their duty of care strategies so they remain relevant and effective.
It’s also important for businesses to ensure remote workers receive specific safety training for the unique risks they face outside of the office. By tackling the specific challenges of remote work head on, companies can create safer workplaces where everyone feels supported no matter where they are located.
Risk Assessments
Risk assessments are a fundamental part of workplace safety. This involves identifying hazards that could harm employees and evaluating the risk. Good risk assessments involve identifying hazards and implementing controls that mitigate those risks and keep employees safe.
A multi-factor test is key to good risk assessments as it evaluates an organization’s duty of care by looking at several factors such as the likelihood of harm and the standard of care.
Risk assessments should be done regularly to review the effectiveness of existing safety measures and re-assess any new potential risks. Fortunately, there are technology solutions such as AI-driven analytics that can help with duty of care by streamlining risk assessments and risk management processes.
Crisis Management Plans Build Safety and Confidence
Crisis management plans are key to business continuity and employee safety during emergencies. These plans should have specific responses to different emergency scenarios, thus ensuring employees are prepared. For example, by outlining pre-defined roles and responsibilities for staff during emergencies, employees can ensure their organization is prepared to respond effectively during a crisis. Companies should also make sure these plans include preparedness for disease outbreaks since these types of public health emergencies can impact travel plans and require adjustments to employee safety protocols.
Today, crisis management software allows organizations to coordinate responses during emergencies and ensure rapid communication. There is also cutting-edge technology available that can prevent or mitigate threats such as active shooters in the workplace or other public places such as schools, hospitals, restaurants, and places of worship. A perfect example is Omnilert Gun Detect software, which has become a key layer of protection in an organization’s overall security infrastructure. When integrated with an existing security camera, this technology can identify a weapon in a fraction of a second, and once human verified, can instantly activate a response that includes dispatching police, locking doors, sounding alarms, and automating other responses to notify those in harm’s way and save lives. This technology is being widely adopted across the U.S. with the goal that over time, it will become as ubiquitous as fire alarms in public places.
Communication Strategies
Employees must have a clear understanding of safety protocols and their role within the duty of care framework. By outlining expectations and procedures, potential safety issues can be avoided and overall security in the workplace improved. There are even Apps available today that can assist with all of this by providing real-time updates of any potential security risks so employees feel safe and ready.
Clear communication strategies can also help support employees’ mental health initiatives because they foster a workplace environment that is psychologically safe. These could include specialized response training programs for employees on how to act during extreme situations such as an active shooter event. Regular drills and consistent communication and education is what will ensure companies are prepared to handle these potential threats.
As with any communications strategy, it is important that employers keep employee contact information up to date so they can communicate effectively during emergencies.
Duty of Care for Remote Workers
The rise of remote and hybrid work has highlighted the importance of employers’ duty of care to extend to their off-site workforce. For example, access to the right tools and support systems is key to keeping remote workers productive, secure, and safe.
Employers must also take reasonable steps to prevent actions that could foreseeably harm remote employees, or cause injury to their physical and mental well-being. This includes mental health support for employees in a remote setting such as recognizing their need for downtime after hours and upholding their right to disconnect from work related activities once they step away from their office duties.
Ergonomic Support
With more employees working at home than ever before, it has become critical to offer ergonomic tools and adjustable furniture that can reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries and promote physical health. By investing in ergonomic assessments and supplies, companies show they care about their employees’ musculoskeletal health and in turn, boosts productivity through a better working environment.
When providing ergonomic support, employers should make sure the products and services they are offering meet legal standards so they can meet their duty of care to remote workers.
Emergency Preparedness for Remote Workers
Being prepared for emergencies is part of an employer’s responsibility to remote workers. This involves crisis management plans that define explicit procedures for different emergency scenarios so employees and staff understand their role and responsibilities when an event occurs.
The use of crisis management software enables organizations to streamline their emergency response and keep team members in touch, ultimately improving security for staff working remotely. By giving off-site employees access to essential emergency contacts and information resources, companies can create an environment where people can manage sudden incidents quickly and competently.
Schools and Duty of Care
Schools have a legal and fiduciary responsibility to keep students, teachers, and visitors safe within their premises and during school-related events. However, to accomplish this, they need to deploy protective measures such as a more secure infrastructure, supervision of students, controlled entry points, and emergency preparedness procedures. It is not enough just to be a gun-free zone.
The scope of care by schools also includes emotional issues such as bullying, harassment, and mental health via facilities such as counselling. Teachers and staff need training to identify potential cases of abuse or neglect, and they must be equipped with the skills to deal with urgent situations or confidences shared by students. Part of best practices in this area includes regular risk assessments and monitoring off-site school events to safeguard student welfare.
By stringently adhering to legal standards at the state and federal levels, schools can avoid being charged with due negligence. Being compliant with these standards will enable them to avoid liability claims for inadequate safeguards or misconduct.
Mental Health and Duty of Care
Employees have come to expect their employers to take proactive steps in their duty of care responsibilities that prioritize mental health and overall well-being. This is particularly important around employee travel, where preparation can greatly reduce stress and anxiety. When communicating with employees about travel, clarity and support is key for helping them to feeling safe. By eliminating this stress, companies often benefit from higher productivity from their employees.
Employee Assistance Programs
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) offer private support and resources to employees dealing with personal or work-related issues that impact mental health. These support systems typically include services like therapy, legal advice, and financial guidance to help employees navigate stress.
An EAP is defined as a voluntary, work-based program that offers free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals, and follow-up services to employees who have personal and/or work-related problems. EAPs address a broad and complex body of issues affecting mental and emotional well-being, such as alcohol and other substance abuse, stress, grief, family problems, and psychological disorders.
Using EAPs have been shown to reduce stress in the workplace, reduce absenteeism and increase the likelihood the employee will stay with the company longer.
Work-Life Balance
Ensuring employees have a healthy balance between their work and personal life is key to reducing stress and preventing burnout. This in turn helps companies by increasing productivity and employee satisfaction. One way to accomplish this is through flexible working hours that allow employees to manage their time more effectively around their personal commitments and family circumstances.
Business Travel and Duty of Care
Organizations need to have a duty of care framework for business travelers who face risks different from those in a typical office environment. This framework should cover all aspects of business travel and prepare employees for any unexpected risks that may arise. It may also include provisions for vaccinations and pertinent information that can help protect employee well-being while traveling.
There are several unforeseen risks of business travel and these includes accidents, travel cancellations, and political unrest. Being prepared for these risks and ensuring an effective response involves proactive planning.
It is the employer’s responsibility to monitor threats to keep employees safe while they travel. While it’s not possible to eliminate all risks of business travel, companies can mitigate these risks through the proper implementation of duty of care policies. These practices are important not only for employees, but also for business continuity by ensuring secure and effective arrangements for travelling staff.
Tracking, Accommodations, and Safety Alerts
Travel managers must ensure accommodations comply with safety protocols and special requirements. Tracking employees' whereabouts and securing safe accommodations are key to keeping them safe. Recognizing both preventable and inevitable risks, travel managers can build a safer journey for employee travelers.
Safety alerts are an important tool for informing business travelers of potential dangers they may face while on the move. These warnings can notify employees of potential dangers such as possible political unrest, health hazards, or climate disturbances at their destination.
Keeping in touch with employees helps them stay out of harm’s way and ensures they have access to company support throughout their journey.
Case Studies and Examples
Real-life examples where duty of care was a factor can provide more insight into how it’s used in different scenarios. One example is the Hillsborough disaster, a fatal crowd crush that represented England’s deadliest event in sports, with 97 fatalities and 766 injuries.
In a case such as the Hillsborough disaster, lawyers determine if a duty of care exists between the injured party and the defendant by looking at legal standards and previous cases. Employers can use these examples as educational tools, highlighting what works and what they can learn about their responsibility to individuals.
Extreme Weather Events
Duty of care is critical for organizations during extreme weather to keep employees and stakeholders safe. It is important for companies to adapt their policies for these situations.
By preparing for natural disasters and severe weather, organizations can protect their employees and business continuity.
Active Shooter Incidents
With 503 mass shootings in the U.S. and 330 incidents in schools in 2024, gun violence is clearly on the rise. Organizations – whether that be a business, school, hospital, restaurant, retail store, or place of worship - have a critical responsibility to prepare for and address active shooter situations.
Many organizations today are employing technologies and gun prevention strategies into their overall security infrastructures as part of their duty of care principles. Because no single technology or strategy is effective by itself to curb gun violence, a layered approach is needed with different solutions working together. This may include things such as visual AI gun detection, metal detectors, bullet proof glass, and added security, to name a few.
Visual AI gun detection from companies such as Omnilert has become a game-changer in the fight against gun violence. In fact, its flagship product, Omnilert Gun Detect, recently received the full SAFETY Act Designation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is now elevated to the “Approved Technologies List”. Achieving the SAFETY Act is a rigorous multi-year process and is granted only to technologies that have been thoroughly tested and can prove their effectiveness as an anti-terrorism product.
Whatever strategies an organization decides to deploy, it is recommended that employers hold regular training sessions and practice drills so employees are prepared to react appropriately and safely if faced with an active shooter incident.
Tools and Technologies for Duty of Care
Modern tools and technology are key to meeting care obligations, and data analytics enable organizations to better monitor and meet their care responsibilities. These solutions help businesses by combining information from bookings, expenses, credit cards, and mobile devices to meet care obligations. These tools provide critical assets to meet duty of care requirements and simplify the process for organizations to monitor employee safety.
It is important to note, however, that while technology can help with the duty of care, strict liability may still apply. This means organizations can be held legally responsible for certain injuries or damages regardless of the precautions taken, especially in product liability cases.
Visual A.I. Weapons Detection
Visual AI gun detection technology provides organizations with an always-on monitoring system and automatic response mechanism for gun threats. It never gets tired or distracted like humans, and it can monitor as many cameras as an organization has, whether that be 10 or 10,000.
One example, Omnilert Gun Detect, leverages existing security cameras to help prevent active shooter incidents by identifying firearms the moment they are brandished. Once a gun is verified, Omnilert’s open network system seamlessly integrates with existing security infrastructures, triggering a rapid, multi-layered response—locking doors, alerting first responders, providing real-time intelligence with images, location, and video of the shooter, and sending immediate warnings and guidance. By reducing response times and delivering actionable insights in seconds, Omnilert not only helps mitigate threats, save lives, and reduce the operational, legal, and social costs of gun violence but also connects with trusted security partners and evolving technologies to ensure maximum flexibility and comprehensive protection for today and the future.
Crisis Management Software
Crisis management software can be essential in business continuity because it enables organizations to react properly during crises and improves decision-making. Many software solutions have real-time analytics and dashboards built in that allow ongoing monitoring of incidents to minimize the impact of disasters and crises on operations.
Technologies such as Omnilert Gun Detect also provide situational analysis during an event that also helps minimize the harm caused by an active shooter incident. By providing precise information on the shooter, first responders know exactly where to go, who to look for, and what type of threat they face—ensuring a faster, more effective response.
By keeping people safe during a crisis, organizations can avoid liability for a plaintiff’s injury, which is why it’s important to have robust crisis management strategies. Using crisis management software and situational intelligence capabilities can greatly improve an organization’s ability to keep its business running during emergency situations.
The Future of Duty of Care
Organizations are responsible for meeting their duty of care obligations, which involve a collective effort from various departments like HR, risk management, and facilities maintenance. This collective responsibility helps prevent foreseeable harm and meets legal requirements.
In the future, organizations will likely deploy more advanced technology and data analytics to help them better predict risk and reduce potential harm to employees. They will also need to regularly review their duty of care policies to make sure they align with changing legal requirements and ethical expectations.
Conclusion
Duty of care is a key part of organizational responsibility that covers legal, ethical, and practical considerations. From understanding the legal framework to practical strategies in the workplace, employers must take proactive steps to keep employees safe and well. Organizations can meet their duty of care obligations by conducting regular risk assessments, developing crisis management plans, and adopting clear communication strategies. This will create a safer, healthier, and more productive workplace and allow the organization to build a culture of care that protects and supports employees, whether they work onsite or in a remote location.
FAQs
What is duty of care?
Duty of care is a legal obligation to take reasonable steps to prevent harm to others. Companies need to be accountable and responsible for the safety of their employees.
Why is duty of care important in the workplace?
Duty of care is important in the workplace because it keeps employees safe, builds trust and loyalty, and reduces the risk of legal issues.
How can organizations implement duty of care for remote workers?
Organizations can meet their duty of care for remote workers by providing ergonomic resources, developing clear emergency preparedness plans, and offering mental health and well-being support.
What tools and technologies help with duty of care?
Organizations can better meet their duty of care requirements by using tools and technologies for travel and expense management and Omnilert Gun Detect for weapons detection.
Implementing these solutions makes an organization safer and more prepared when a crisis arises.
What are the key legal terms for duty of care?
The key legal terms for duty of care are Duty, Breach of Duty, Cause in Fact, Proximate Cause and Damages.