Employees of nonprofits are as vulnerable to workplace accidents as employees at for-profit businesses, and nonprofits are just as vulnerable to judgments that wind up costing money.

And in either sector, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can step in. That can very often be bad news.

That’s the lesson imparted by risk consultant Arthur F. Blinci at the Nonprofit Risk Management Center’s 2016 Risk Summit in Chicago.

Blinci cited the case of a 66-year-old employee of a nonprofit who fell from a roof while doing repair work on the job. He received fractures of his wrist, ribs and hip as well as a lacerated liver. He also received part of $400,000 that his employer faced in a worker’s compensating ruling.

OSHA found a general violation because the employer’s Injury and Illness Prevention Plan was ineffective. That was worth $7,000 itself. There was a serious violation because the employer did not have a fall-protection system in place. That was serious enough for $25,000.

As a heads-up, Blinci said OSHA requested the following documents from the employer after the accident:

• OSHA Form 300 logs, from three years, including the year of the accident;
• A worker’s compensation accident report form;
• A worker’s compensation doctor’s report;
• Evidence of worker’s compensation insurance;
• An injury and illness prevention plan for the organization;
• Training records for the injured employee;
• An accident report by the employee; and,
• A copy of the employee’s job description.