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Homeowners assume that company insurance protects the workers they hire on their property. However, that is not the case. A worker on your property can sue you as a homeowner and hold you responsible for legal costs if they are injured. Some advice from a New Jersey slip and fall attorney, have some options to avoid or help you reduce your liability.
As A Property Owner, You Owe a Duty of Care to A Worker on Your Property
Someone who enters your property to perform work is called an invitee and is owed the highest level of care. If an invitee enters your property, you must fulfill four primary duties:
- The duty to search a property for unknown or hidden hazards
- The duty to repair known or discovered hazards in a reasonable amount of time
- The duty to warn of existing hazards that may not be obvious
- The duty not to cause an injury through a wanton or willful act
If you fail to meet these duties of care and a worker is injured on your property, you could be legally at fault for failing to take due care to avoid the accident or injury.
What is an Invitee?
An invitee is permitted to enter or remain on your premises for the owner/occupier, such as a construction worker. The invitee enters by invitation, expressed or implied. The owner/occupier of the land (or premises) who invited the invitee onto the premises is under a duty to exercise ordinary care to render the premises reasonably safe for the purposes embraced in the invitation.
Exercise or Don’t Exercise Control
Whether you hire workers for a house renovation or do some maintenance, you have two options:
- Exercise control over the workers or
- Don’t exercise control over the workers
Depending on your chosen option, you could be liable if a worker got hurt or avoid liability significantly.
If You Exercise Control
If you employed control over the work on your property, such as performing tasks typically given to a general contractor, you could assume more liability if a worker got hurt. The closer you monitor work done on your property, the greater your liability may become concerning worker injuries. Sometimes it is better to let someone else handle the job.
If You Don’t Exercise Control
If you decide not to exercise control over the work, this can reduce your amount of liability. Suppose you take a step back and allow a general contractor to take over the work. In that case, the contractor will most likely bear some legal responsibility for the worksite’s safety. However, you are still required to provide a reasonably safe space for workers while abiding by the duty of care owed to workers.
Contact Us Today
Understanding whether you may be fully or partially liable if a worker got injured on your property could be challenging. You may need a New Jersey personal injury attorney to help you with your case. Contact us today for more information about liability issues.