Suppose I own a business and have lots of employees who come to a location I own, work eight hours, and then leave and go home at the end of the day. An employee points out to me that he is concerned about the emergency alarm system which warns employees at the location about fires, tornadoes, and the like. Am I required to provide such an alarm/notification system to employees and/or other persons who are on the property where my business is located? Specifically:
- Is it typically required by city/building codes?
- Is it typically required by labor regulations or OSHA?
- Do common-law principles requiring that I take reasonable care to ensure the safety of those on my property cover this sort of thing?
- Where must I make the alarm/notification visible/audible? Certain rooms? Most rooms? All interior areas? All interior areas and immediately outside the building? Do I need something in the parking lot(s) as well? Assume that all of this is my private property.
- In what ways would I be liable for injury, death and/or loss of property which were reasonably caused by my failure to add alarm/notification systems? Civilly? Criminally?
Does having received or having not received notification from an employee about the dangers of not having such system(s) in place change any of the above?
Bonus points:
If the employee pointed this out in good faith, assuming at-will employment, what repercussions (if any) would there be if I terminated said employee?
If the employee pointed this out in bad faith, but the complaint is factually correct, does that change (or not) the answer to the above?
EDIT - if a specific locale is required to provide a meaningful answer, let's say Montgomery, AL, USA, commercially zoned near the downtown area within city limits. That said - I would prefer if answers focused on more general principles than only pulling that city's municipal code.
