For business owners in Connecticut who wish to reduce safety risks in the workplace, the most important thing is to create a work culture that is more risk-minded than safety-minded. Many employers, unfortunately, believe that employees will be safe as long as they follow established procedures. Employees, for their part, often think of safety as the responsibility of the company and are not told to be proactive in recognizing and communicating risk.

Employers should try to instill more risk thinking into the employees. Rather than emphasizing that all safety incidents are preventable, employers should focus on the fact that one cannot completely eliminate risk.

Not all risks are equal, so a company's resources should be used to address whatever might lead to large-scale incidents. A 2018 DuPont Sustainable Solutions survey of 350 executives found that two-thirds feel safe when they hear that incident rates are low. This shows that many think more about short-term impact than about factors that might create a significant, long-term incident.

Employers must involve their employees by fostering a trusting relationship with them rather than issuing orders from the top down. The front-line personnel on the shop floor or in the field are critical to risk reduction, so employers must empower them in particular. Employers should always keep from adopting a check-the-box mentality.

Those who are injured on the job and who were not necessarily the victims of anyone's negligence may be able to receive workers' compensation benefits. These could cover medical costs and a portion of lost income as well as benefits for those who incur a permanent disability. Victims may want a lawyer to help them file the claim and, if the claim is denied, mount an appeal.