What warehouse workers should know about premises liability

Warehouse workers can pursue premises liability claims against their employer if they are negligent in their duty to protect their workers from risks.

What should warehouse workers know about premises liability? Who is liable when a worker is injured in a forklift, pallet tipover, or truck accident at work? Loading docks, forklifts, and conveyor belts make warehouses an inherently dangerous place to work. Every day, warehouse workers risk a potential slip and fall accident, caught-in-between accident, crushing injury, slip and fall accident, or overexertion injury. Next to construction, transportation and warehousing are the most dangerous job sectors in the United States. Employers in Kansas have a duty of care to protect their workers from these risks. When they are negligent in that duty, workers can pursue premises liability claims against the employer.

Forklift Accidents

From 2011 to 2017, a total of 617 workers were killed in forklift accidents. Each year, approximately 7,000 nonfatal injuries requiring days away from work are caused by forklift accidents. These accidents include individuals who are caught in or compressed between equipment and objects, individuals who are struck by the forklift, falls to lower levels such as falls from loading docks, and accidents involving pedestrians or commercial motor vehicles.

Roughly 25% of these accidents are due to poor training of forklift operators. Other causes include failure to properly illuminate warehouses and loading docks, failure to mark travel lanes properly, and failure to secure barriers that prevent falls to lower levels.