According to a report released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, teen work injuries remain a major issue for Massachusetts despite a slight decline over the past few decades. The report is a part of the department´s “teens at work” project that tracks teenager hospital room visits and teenager…
As summer approaches, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced a national initiative to educate workers and their employers about the hazards of working outdoors in the heat and ways in which employers can prevent heat-related illnesses for their employees. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis…
Governor Deval Patrick has recently agreed to keep Massachusetts workers’ compensation rates at their current levels after an agreement was reached between the Massachusetts worker’s compensation bureau, the state insurance division and the attorney general’s office. As earlier reported in Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Rate Freeze, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley…
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recently released a campaign for a safer working environment for employees who drive while working. Following national awareness and campaigns on the dangers of texting while driving, OSHA is working together with the Department of Transportation and has released a “no-texting while…
The Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley has recently announced that Maria Oliveira-Soares, a woman from Randolph, Massachusetts, has been charged with two counts of Workers’ Compensation Fraud. After a referral instigated by the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), AG Coakley’s office began an investigation into Oliveira-Soares’ fraudulent claims for…
Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) is investigating an accident in which one of their employees was electrocuted and burned while working on electrical lines in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. A WMECO spokesperson reported that the Berkshire County man, who remains unidentified, is recovering at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston but would not…
The Massachusetts State Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that the insurance company who fought a claim by a Boston Big Dig worker should not have been penalized for taking the matter to court. Thirteen years ago, Dante DiFronzo was hit by a car at a Boston Big Dig jobsite when…
A Massachusetts Department of Transportation worker fell into a 20-foot deep shaft in the Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston early on Friday morning. Officials have reported that either a ladder broke or the worker slipped just after 1 a.m. He was reported to have suffered from leg injuries from the…
A contractor who was hired to take apart an above the ground pool at a residence in Windham has suffered severe injuries and is in critical condition. Fire Chief Thomas McPherson Jr. reported that, “Preliminary reports indicated that the patient was a contractor who was disassembling an above-ground pool, which…
The Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley has announced that John Cloutier, 46, of East Freetown, Massachusetts, is guilty of Workers’ Compensation Fraud while working for the Department of Correction. From July 2008 to March 2010, Cloutier collected workers’ compensation for a work-related injury and told medical examiners that he…