Article
Crisis Management - What to do when a team member dies on the job
I have had lots of learning experiences in my career in human resources. But perhaps the most difficult situation I have had to deal with is when a team member dies on the job.
It is always heartbreaking to learn of a team member’s death – regardless of the situation. But there is a distinct difference between an employee who loses their long battle with cancer and an employee who dies in a car accident on the way to a client appointment or in a forklift accident in your facility. This article is meant to help HR departments handle accidental employee deaths in the workplace.
The first major area of importance in dealing with these tragedies is to communicate properly and with great sensitivity. Communication should come frequently and as early after the accident as possible. Although it may be some time before all the specifics concerning the cause of the accident are known, it is important that the company gather facts about the accident and relay this information in a timely manner to alleviate gossip and a sense of panic within the organization.
Be up front about the accident and give the employees as much detail as you can. As you learn more, share these facts with the entire team. Certainly e-mail is a great way to communicate in these situations. However, if the company does not have many facilities, it would be much more appropriate and effective for the CEO to have a face-to-face discussion with the employees with whom the deceased employee normally worked. The CEO should speak to all employees in the facility whenever possible.
When an employee dies on the job it is critical for everyone to show compassion. Managers and executives need to recognize that the employees that worked closest to the deceased employee will be traumatized to a certain degree. The HR team should designate a point person who will be responsible for communications with the family of the deceased. I always made it a priority to attend the service (whether it was a wake, funeral or memorial service) and introduce myself to the spouse and family. I wanted the spouse to know that although the funeral was certainly not the right time for us to talk, I was there when he or she was ready to address questions and provide assistance with needs such as life insurance, COBRA continuation coverage and other related issues.
An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can be a valuable tool during these sad and difficult times. The availability of an EAP program should be reiterated to the employee population when an employee dies on the job. The EAP can also prove very useful for members of the family of the deceased.
Another important factor for dealing with a crisis such as this is to honor the deceased. A month after the fatality, those employees closest to the deceased employee will begin to feel that perhaps the employee “died in vain”. The company can show compassion as well as show these employees that their friend did not die in vain by establishing college scholarships in the person’s memory. Or, the company could start a tradition of being involved in a charity that was close to the heart of the deceased employee. If you understand what caused the accidental death, it will be in your best interest to purchase equipment or implement critical procedures designed to prevent this type of on the job accident from occurring in the future. Therefore, the company will be able to show that it has learned from the accident and has taken measures to prevent this type of occurrence from happening in the future. From an image perspective the company is able to show that it takes
safety seriously!
It is also critical that the company fully cooperate with any government agencies (such as OSHA) that will likely be investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident. Insurance companies (whether it is workers compensation carriers, life insurance companies or liability carriers) will want to know more specifics about the accident. The HR department needs to cooperate quickly and fully with these insurance companies so the company can learn from any mistakes it may have made, help the family of the deceased move on with their lives and help all employees move on from this tragedy.
To summarize, the key to crisis management as it relates to a death that occurs on the job:
- Compassion – Recognize that many employees will be traumatized by the tragedy. Let the family of the deceased know you are available to help when they are ready to talk.
- Communications – Frequent and as detailed as possible. This will enable employees to move on and stop “gossip”, “insinuations” and “water cooler talk”.
- Memorialize – Help the employee population feel that the employee did not die in vain and that the company valued the deceased employee.
- Employee Assistance Provider – If you have a program in place, remind team members and the family of the deceased about the availability of this service.
- Cooperation – Do everything you can to cooperate with officials and learn from any mistakes that may have been made.
