You’re at work. It’s like any other workday on the jobsite, when suddenly, the unthinkable happens. You’re rushed to the emergency room with serious injuries-possibly a broken back and a head injury. “How am I going to afford this medical treatment? What if I can’t go back to work? What…
A state Supreme Court said that a worker at a marketing and P.R. firm who was injured while playing kickball as part of a team building event is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The reason for this, said that court, is that participating in the game was part of his…
Last year more than three million American employees experience a work-related injury. For employers this represented around $1 billion per week, in addition to the employees’ social costs. Aside from the financial loses, employees may also be face other disadvantages because of their injuries: if employees are off work for…
Six months after the death of a worker in a New Bedford processing plant, his employer has been ordered to pay a hefty fine. Sea Watch International Ltd. was cited for seven serious safety violations following the deadly Massachusetts work accident. The company must now pay a more than $35,000…
The Massachusetts House has just approved legislation that establishes a “bill of rights” for domestic workers. Under the bill, domestic workers are defined as individuals who provide services in the home, such as laundering, housekeeping, caregiving, home companion services, cooking, and childcare. (Babysitting is not included). The bill was approved…
The Department of Labor has is in the midst of a legal battle with Donald Pottern, of the company Crown Furniture of West Springfield, for firing a worker who filed a safety complaint with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In a statement made by OSHA official Robert Hooper,…
According to a study by the National Employment Law project, the number of workers that fall under the “temp” category in the U.S. rose 41% between 2008 and 2012. It appears that temporary staffing agencies are not just providing temporary office clerks and secretaries to employers, but they also they…
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 3 million non-fatal workplace injuries were reported in 2012, the most recent year in which data is available. That means nearly 3 million injured workers could have been in need of worker’s compensation. An injury sustained on the job can…
According to “Dying for Work,” a report prepared by the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, 48 workers in this state were killed on the job in 2013. The report was released yesterday right before Workers Memorial Day today. The day is designated for remembering…
A contractor recently lost his eye after the nail gun he was using accidentally discharged. He was working outside a home when the work accident happened. A local fire official said that it is not known at this time how the gun went off, but that it did cause a…