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In The Winery

the contract employer may create on site.

By having an organized and integrated approach
to the safety and health program for your winery,
you can be well on your way to better managing
the welfare of your employees and avoiding acci-
dents and their associated costs.

Understanding Workers’
Compensation Basics

Workers’ compensation was one of the first insur-
ance programs adopted broadly throughout the
United States. It is designed to provide a satis-
factory way to address the medical and economic
aspects of employment related injuries.

With this insurance, your workers’ are provided
benefits for certain conditions sustained in the
course of employment such as injury, disability,
and death. These benefits are paid without regard
to fault in exchange for the worker giving up their
right to sue their employer.

Most states have compulsory workers’ compen-
sation laws requiring employers to accept and
comply with all provisions of the law. The purpose
of these workers’ compensation laws is to provide
benefits for any of your employees who suffer an
occupational injury or disease.

Important Wording Within
These Laws Include:

• A definition of “occupational injury” that
appears in many state workers’ compensa-
tion laws is an injury “arising out of and in the
course of employment.”
• “Arising out of employment” is generally inter-
preted to mean that the injury must arise out
of a risk which is reasonably related to the
employment.
• “In the course of employment” is generally
interpreted to mean that for an injury to be
compensable, it must occur when the work-
er is at work, during the hours in which they
are expected to be there, and while they are
engaged in the work that they are employed to
do. In other words it has to do with the time,
place, and circumstances of the injury.

While early workers’ compensation laws had no
provisions for occupational disease, each state has

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