In 2016, Travelers Insurance released an “Injury Impact Report” identifying the leading causes of work-related injury accidents. The study reviewed more than 1.5 million workers’ comp claims from a diverse selection of industries. The claims, filed between 2010 and 2014, revealed the top five most common claims and their relative…
Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog
What Massachusetts Work Injuries Lead to the Most Workers’ Compensation Claims?
More than four million people suffer a work-related injury or illness in the United States annually. Of those injuries, more than two million are severe enough to result in missed work and the need for ongoing medical treatment. For about 1,000 of these workers, injuries are fatal. The good news…
Burn Injuries in the Workplace – How Does Scarring Factor into My Compensation?
Workplace-related burns are most common in occupations that involve working in close proximity to chemicals, high temperatures, electrical currents and machinery. Workplace burns can be thermal (high temperature), chemical, or electrical. Burns can result in serious, potentially life-threatening injuries. But they can also cause permanent scarring, which may be accompanied…
If I’m Working Two Jobs and Get Injured, Do I Collect Workers’ Compensation for Both?
In short, no. In almost every case, you can only receive benefits from the job where your work-related accident or illness occurred. But that doesn’t mean that a second job is irrelevant. If you are injured on the job, and you have multiple jobs, it is essential that you report…
Work-Related Deaths Hit 10-Year High in MA
A total of 70 people died in work-related accidents in Massachusetts in 2016. That’s a 10 year high for on-the-job fatalities. In South Boston, a worker in a seafood warehouse died from exposure to ammonia fumes. A Braintree worker died from drowning while inspecting a municipal water tank. And a…
MA Company Fined $173,500 by OSHA for Multiple Safety Violations
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Review Commission recently cited two MA contractors for safety violations after a scaffolding accident injured three workers. When the 2014 accident occurred at a Wenham worksite, Daryl Provencher and A.C. Castle Construction Co. Inc. were conducting business as Provencher Home Improvements. As such,…
A Fatal Mistake: Boston Company Fails to Provide Safety Training, Two Workers Die in Trench Collapse
In October 2016, two employees of Atlantic Drain Service Co. Inc. died when the trench they were working in collapsed. The trench was adjacent to a fire hydrant supply line, which broke in the collapse, filling the trench with water and killing Robert Higgins and Kelvin Mattocks. The Occupational Safety…
Is Stress Covered by Workers’ Compensation in Massachusetts?
The Massachusetts Workers Compensation Act states that workers’ compensation is provided for “emotional disabilities only where the predominant contributing cause of such disability is an event or series of events occurring within any employment.” Basically, this means that an employee may be entitled to workers’ comp benefits for emotional injuries,…
MA HVAC Worker Dies in 35 Foot Fall From Cinema Roof
A 54-year-old heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) worker died Tuesday after he fell 30 to 35 feet from the roof of the Blackstone Valley Cinema De Lux. John B. Folkes of Canton worked for Medford-Wellington Service Co., a heating/ventilation/air conditioning vendor contracted by the cinema. According to police, the 911 call came…
Scaffolding Accident Results in Death of Boston Man
A 54-year old Boston recently died after falling from scaffolding at a Waltham construction site. The man, who has not been identified, was unresponsive when first responders arrived to the scene, at 427 Lincoln Street. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he died from severe head injuries. According…