Relevant to staff training, employers should make reasonable accommodations for the learner with a disability. Most accommodations are relatively inexpensive. Examples, include magnifying glasses to aid in reading, taped text for those who are visually impaired, and instructional material with oversized lettering. Another liability concern relates to negligent training. Negligence is generally defined as conduct that falls below the standard of care that is necessary to protect others against exposure to an unreasonable risk of foreseeable injury.
Most negligence falls in the unintentional category, such as an intraoperative injury to a patient.
Deliberate infliction of emotional distress is an example of intentional negligence. Injuries or damages resulting from improper training could be a source of litigation. Although the Center had a policy on fire evacuation procedures, the nurse in this instance was not trained on the policy. The nurse's breach of a duty was failing to remove the patient from a room on fire. The proximate causal link between the death of the patient and the legal duty to adequately train the nurse on fire evacuation policy was argued successfully before a trial court.