Ramona’s Health and Safety Nightmare

Ramona McKenzie was on her way to work on a cloudy Monday morning when she got the call on her cellphone that no human resources manager wants to receive: An employee had just been injured at her workplace.

While turning into the company driveway, Ramona sees an ambulance, the injured worker, and a number of other employees surrounding the injured worker. Ramona parks her car, rushes over to where the employee is lying, and inquires about what happened.

The injured employee informs Ramona that she fell on the way into the building because no salt had been laid earlier in the morning to melt the ice on the parking lot. At this point, the ambulance takes the injured employee to the hospital and Ramona asks to speak to the plant manager in his office.

Shaken by everything that had occurred, Ramona asks the plant manager to find out why no salt had been put on the parking lot, as this was the norm after a significant snowfall. The plant manager informs Ramona that he would do this but also notes that the injured worker was wearing high-heeled shoes while on her way into the building. He also says that the employee arrived to work unusually early, before any other workers, since she felt she had a few tasks she wanted to complete for a meeting scheduled at noon and wanted more time to prepare. She claimed that she informed her supervisor very casually at the end of the day yesterday that she may be arriving to work early to finish the project by the deadline.

Now that you know the facts of this scenario, please assist Ramona by answering the following questions.

QUESTIONS

I Could this accident have been prevented? If yes, how? If no, why not?

II Who is responsible for this accident?

III What does Ramona have to do to ensure a smooth return to work for the injured worker after the accident?