3 Examples of Non-Compliance in the Workplace

To ensure the safety of workers and consumers, the government implements industry-wide standards of compliance. Following these guidelines is extremely important, as violations typically lead to hefty fines and other severe penalties. However, it’s important to understand what non-compliance looks like before you can correct it in your workplace. That being said, take a look at these three examples of non-compliance, why they happen, and how they can be addressed.

1. Failure to Comply With HIPAA Regulations

A considerable number of examples of non-compliance involve the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA is a law designed to protect the private information of patients in medical facilities. Within a medical facility, this information must be exchanged regularly to ensure the patient receives the care they need. However, this also means that this information is at risk of being compromised through several means. Some of the most common are:

• Doctors and nurses may refer to or bring up confidential information while discussing work with family or friends.
• A failure by those responsible to properly dispose of medical records when they’re no longer necessary.
• Staff may improperly secure medical records, both digitally and on paper.

Why Might These Violations Happen?

Most of the time, HIPAA violations aren’t committed out of any sort of malice; they are committed because people don’t realize that what they’re doing is illegal. If hospital employees aren’t aware of the laws that they need to follow, they’re very likely to inadvertently break them.

How Can They Be Addressed?

The easiest fix for this issue is to offer training and information about HIPAA compliance to all personnel. Be sure to inform everyone responsible for HIPAA regulations, not just the doctors and nurses. 

For example, your IT department needs to know about the regulations surrounding digital security, while your record keepers need to know when and how to properly dispose of a document. Ensure that everyone knows what HIPAA compliance entails, and the role that they play in maintaining it. This keeps your facility out of trouble and gives patients peace of mind.

2. Failure to Follow OSHA Safety Regulations

When overseeing a project that involves manual labor, there may be some employees who aren’t following the required safety procedures. This is, of course, extremely dangerous, and will most likely result in an injury if not addressed. 

In addition, staying non-compliant in the workplace for an extended period is likely to cause legal scrutiny and fines. If your employees are repeatedly failing to follow OSHA safety procedures, you’ll need to figure out why it’s happening and address the issue accordingly.

Why Might This Failure Happen?

There are several reasons why employees might not follow safety regulations. Try to determine the underlying issue so that you can take steps to correct it. Some of the most common reasons why employees fail to follow safety regulations are:

• Inadequate training: If an employee doesn’t know the safety procedures, they won’t know how to follow them and won’t realize they are being non-compliant.
• Forgetfulness: With so many rules and regulations, employees may start to forget more obscure procedures as time goes on.
• Not understanding the importance of safety regulations: If an employee doesn’t understand the danger inherent to breaking regulations, they may be inclined to cut corners.

How Can it Be Addressed?

Fortunately, this example of non-compliance in the workplace is easy to address. Knowing that so many safety procedure issues are caused by a lack of understanding, to solve the problem you will need to create that understanding.

The simplest way to achieve this is to require both onboarding training for new employees and continuing education for veteran employees. This will ensure that all safety procedures are fresh in your employees’ minds and that they understand why each regulation is in place.

3. Failure To Properly File Incident Reports

After an incident occurs where someone is injured, it’s important to file a report as soon as possible. However, there are many cases in which the responsible party forgets to do so. Failing to file an incident report in time can cause complications later on and may cause other instances of non-compliance in the workplace. 

Without a paper trail and hard evidence regarding an incident, the resulting legal proceedings turn into pure hearsay. Thus, documenting incidents as soon as they occur is important for protecting your company and employees alike.

Why Might This Happen?

Because of the chaotic circumstances surrounding most reportable incidents, there are many reasons why an employee could fail to file an incident report. For example:

• Shock or panic: If the incident involves a serious injury or health issue, the sudden danger may initiate a panic response. In this state, an employee is often focused solely on the issue at hand, and may forget less immediately important details like the need to file a report.
• Confusion about what mandates a report: If a minor incident occurs, it can be difficult to tell whether or not a report is necessary. Employees may file unnecessary reports or fail to file necessary ones.

How Can it Be Addressed?

As with the other issues, the primary solution here is to provide more information. Be sure to teach employees precisely what to do in the event of an emergency. Having a process ingrained in their minds will help them stay cool during a crisis and follow the necessary steps during and after the incident. 

In addition, make an effort to clarify what sorts of incidents warrant a report. Removing this ambiguity will keep employees from second-guessing the reports they file, and ensures that there’s a report for any incident that warrants one.

How Compyl Can Help Solve Non-Compliance in the Workplace

Addressing non-compliance requires time, energy, and attention to detail, but our team at Compyl can help ease the burden. We offer cutting-edge workplace compliance and training solutions to businesses of all sizes and allow them to be customized to fit your needs. If you’re interested in working with us, feel free to contact us today!