Workers' Compensation

March 20, 2014

Two Injured in Chinatown Construction Accident

Emergency crews were called to the scene of a partial building collapse at 45 Stuart Street this morning. Boston Fire Department reports that two victims were treated at the scene of an accident at a high rise construction site. One of the victims had minor injuries while the other was taken to Tufts Medical Center with serious head injuries, according to the Boston Globe.

The accident occurred when the twelfth floor of a partially constructed building collapsed down to the fifth floor when 120 workers were on the site. “A dead load on the 12th floor collapsed, pancaked down to the fifth floor,” Deputy Fire Chief Robert Calobrisi told CBS Boston. The cause of the collapse was not immediately known, but construction workers are not permitted to resume work until the structural integrity of the building is evaluated by an engineer.
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February 28, 2014

Massachusetts Office Accidents Can Cause Serious Boston Work Injuries

by Altman & Altman

An office setting can be rife with potential safety hazards. Yes, sitting behind a desk is definitely safer than hauling lumber at a construction site, but don’t think Boston injury accidents still don’t happen. If you were injured at the office, please contact our Massachusetts workers’ compensation law firm today. You may want to explore your options.

Common Office Accidents:

• Fall accidents are the most common kind of office accident (includes slip and fall accidents, trip and fall accidents, step and fall accidents, and other falls.) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, office workers are at least two times likely to sustain a disabling injury in this type of incident. Common causes include wet floors, poor lighting, bending or reaching for an object while in an unsteady chair, electrical cords on the ground, an open drawer, uneven flooring, objects left on the floor, or standing on a chair instead of a ladder, and dark hallways and stairwells.

February 17, 2014

MA Excavation Company Cited by OSHA After Violating Excavation Safety Standards

by Altman & Altman

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Wakefield, MA excavation and utilities contractor Joseph P. Cardillo & Son Inc. for willful and serious violations of excavation safety standards at a Milton, MA worksite. Cardillo is subject to almost $145,000 in proposed fines following an inspection by OSHA’s Braintree office in August of 2013 in response to an anonymous complaint.

According to Brenda Gordon, a representative for OSHA’s Braintree office, the proposed fines were based on the gravity of the hazards and the employer knowingly refusing to comply with using required safety standards. “The workers could have been crushed or buried in seconds beneath tons of soil and debris, without any escape options,” Gordon stated.

Under OSHA’s standards, all trenches and excavations 5 feet and deeper must be protected against sidewalls collapsing. Protection may be provided through shoring of the trench walls, sloping the soil at a shallow angle or by using a protective trench box.

Since 2011 Cardillo has been in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program which focuses on employers with a history of safety violations that endanger workers by demonstrating indifference to their responsibilities under the law. The company is eligible to comply or appeal the citations.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.
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January 30, 2014

Hospital Workers are Susceptible to Serious Massachusetts Work Injuries

by Altman & Altman

If you are a hospital worker who was injured on the job, you should speak to a Massachusetts workers’ compensation law firm. Depending on the nature of the job, a hospital worker may be at risk of serious injuries from slip and fall accidents, lifting and transferring patients, infectious diseases and tainted needles, combative patients, and exposure to hazardous substances. Other common causes of hospital worker injuries requiring days away from work include physical overexertion, trip and fall accidents, and contact with equipment or objects.

The Department of Labor says that in 2012 alone, there were 250,000 work-related illnesses and injuries at US hospitals. Nationally, workers’ compensation losses cost hospitals about $2 billion a year

Some Hospital Work Injury Facts (From OSHA.gov):

January 10, 2014

OSHA Extends the Comment Period for Proposed Rule that Would Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses

by Altman & Altman

The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced this week that it has planned to extend the comment period through March 8, 2014 on the proposed rule to improve workplace safety through the development of enhanced tracking of reported workplace injuries and illnesses.

The period was extended by 30 days in response to a request submitted by the National Association of Home Builders. According to a press release released by OSHA, the proposed rule would seek to modify the current regulations for recordkeeping and add additional requirements for the electronic submission of any injuries or illness information that employers are already required to keep on file.

OSHA’s mission is to keep employees safe from injury and illness. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are ultimately responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure that these standards are adhered to by employers through enforcement, and by providing training, education and assistance.
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October 17, 2013

Worker Fatally Injured at 49ers Stadium Construction Site

by Altman & Altman

A delivery truck driver died on Monday after he was crushed by a steel rebar being unloaded at the new 49ners stadium construction site.

The victim, Edward Lake II, 60, died as he was unloading a bundle of rebar set to be used in the construction of the new $1.2 billion stadium. Both state and local authorities investigated the incident, and the lead construction manager halted work on the project for the remainder of Monday. The death is the second to take place at the site in four months. According to the contractor, employees would resume work on Tuesday and take part in safety meetings and be offered counseling.

It is unclear whether OSHA will cite the contracting company for the incident. The prior fatal incident, according to OSHA investigators, did not warrant a formal citation as the incident was deemed “unexplained.”

More than 4,000 workers suffer fatal work injuries each year in the United States according to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). National statistics continue to show the construction industry as the most hazardous work environment for individuals, with construction site injuries occurring nearly three times the rate of any other industry in the United States.

Construction’s “Fatal Four”

Nearly 20% of all occupational injuries occur in the construction industry. Falls accounted for 35% of deaths, followed by struck by an object (10%), electrocutions (9%), and caught in-between injuries (2%). Considering the statistics, these “fatal four” accounted for more than 55% of all construction worker deaths in 2011.
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September 18, 2013

Charlestown Workers Injured During Scaffolding Incident

by Altman & Altman

Two men working at an under-construction home in Charlestown were injured after the scaffolding they were standing on collapsed.

The incident occurred around 8 a.m. yesterday morning, and Boston fire rescue was immediately dispatched to the scene. Both men were transported to a local Boston hospital with injuries to their backs, legs, and necks. It is unclear of the cause of the accident or whether OSHA had been called in to investigate the incident.
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The construction business remains the most hazardous work industry in the United States, accounting for nearly 20% of all workplace fatalities annually. While both victims in this case are expected to survive, the incident serves as yet another reminder to construction workers of how dangerous their job can be. Carpenters and roofers incur risky situations on a day-to-day basis, and among these types of workers, falls are the leading cause of injury or death. In a report published by The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational and Safety Health, out of the 32 reported work-related deaths in Massachusetts last year, six were cause by falls.

Scaffolding is used as a temporary platform that is used to help build, install, repair, or reach any surface that cannot be reached by ladder. Scaffolding incidents can occur for a number of reasons including incorrect assembly and improper manufacturing. Accidents can also happen when supports fail or collapse, when scaffolding is broken, scaffolding is wet and a worker slips and falls, or when workers are inadequately trained on how to operate equipment.

Approximately 2.3 million men and women or 65% of those in the construction industry work on scaffolds in the United States. Protecting workers on construction sites where scaffolding is commonly used may prevent an estimated 4,500 injuries and 60 deaths each year, according to OSHA.

No matter what the actual cause of the incident-whether it was a misstep by the victims, a manufacturing defect with the scaffolding or any other circumstance that caused the men fall, ultimately the construction company may be liable. By OSHA standards, employers are responsible for providing safe work environments for all of his or her employees to prevent hazardous situations that pose the threat of serious bodily injury or death. Though the details of this situation are still vague, what can be discerned is that had proper safety precautions been taken; such as the use of a safety harness, the men’s injuries may have been prevented.
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September 10, 2013

Workers Injured During Diesel Tank Fire at New Hampshire Gas Station

by Altman & Altman

Two South Carolina men suffered serious burns after the materials they were working with ignited in an underground diesel gas tank at a Manchester gas station.

According to Manchester Fire Chief James Burkush, the two men were part of a five men crew that was re-lining the interior of a diesel gas tank. The two men were in the gas tank when a flammable chemical resin they were using to affix fiberglass material to the sides of the tank, caught fire.

Witnesses to the incident said that there was no actual explosion rather there were plumes of heavy smoke rising out of the manhole where the two men were working. One of the men was able to get himself out immediately, but the other worker had to be pulled out by his safety harness. John Brewer, owner of Johnny B’s Car Care which is attached to the Mobile station the men were working at, said that one of the men he cared for had severe burns to his skin and his skin seemed to be melting off.

Fire officials believe that an electrical light attached to the edge of the tank started the fire. After they vented the smoke and fire, firefighters were able to go inside the tank, where they were able to recover the light, a respirator, and clothing of the burnt worker. Burkush said that the fiberglass was completely melted and burnt during the fire.

Both men were treated at an area hospital with life-threatening injuries before being flown to a hospital in Boston. Doctors at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, where the men were first treated, said that aside from the burns each of the men sustained, they both suffered from pulmonary and inhalation injuries from smoke and toxic fumes.
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Burns can happen in many different on-the-job situations; whether at a factory, chemical plant, construction site, kitchen, or other type of industrial site. Regardless of their cause, burns (scalds, chemical burns, electrical burns, radiation burns, smoke and inhalation, or contact burns), can be incredibly painful and can cause long-term complications such as scars or disfigurement, and even death.
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August 29, 2013

OSHA Proposes New Rule to Protect Workers from Toxic Silica Exposure

by Altman & Altman

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration filed a petition last week intended to reduce the instance of chronic respiratory illness and cancer among U.S. workers. The plan seeks to lower worker exposure to crystalline silica, a toxic particle that kills hundreds of workers and sickens thousands each year. OSHA’s proposed rule includes two separate standards-one for general industry and maritime employees and one for employees in the construction industry.

Currently, OSHA enforces a rule dated 40 years to regulate permissible exposure limits (PEL) for silica exposure, which is inconsistent between different work industries. The proposed rule would bring these PELs up to workplace standards and into the 21st century; greatly lowering the amount of silica exposure to workers. OSHA predicts that this new mandated policy would save nearly 700 lives per year and prevent 1,600 new cases of silicosis annually.

What is Crystalline Silica and Where Is It Found?

Crystalline silica is a micro component of soil, sand, granite, and other types of materials. Quartz, cristobalite, and tridymite are three types of crystalline silica. When materials containing crystalline silica are grinded, cut, or drilled the particles become respirable-sized. Crystalline silica is considered a human carcinogen, and can cause a variety of respiratory issues including lung cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease. When inhaled, crystalline silica causes scar tissue formation on the lungs, and debilitates the lungs’ ability to absorb oxygen. Silicosis, aside from being incurable, can lead to other infectious diseases and debilitating conditions including tuberculosis.

Silica exposure is a threat to nearly 2 million workers in the United States and is most common in construction jobs including abrasive blasting, foundry work, stone cutting, rock drilling, quarry work, tunneling, as well as maritime work. The most common exposures to workers in construction occur during abrasive blasting with sand to remove rust and paint from bridges, and other surfaces, as well as concrete mixing, concrete drilling, brick cutting, and rock drilling.

General industry employees are often exposed to crystalline silica particles from asphalt paving jobs, painting industries, cement and ceramic manufacturing, as well as soap and glass manufacturing.
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July 30, 2013

How to Make the Most of Witness Interviews after a Workplace Injury

by Altman & Altman

When an employee is injured at work, a certain protocol is taken to investigate how and why the accident occurred. Witness interviews are a crucial part of this protocol, and are heavily relied upon by investigators, as these testimonies provide important information that can help piece together the situation. While the purpose of investigations is not to specifically find fault for an accident, investigations are used to identify the root cause of the incident and help both employers and employees prevent similar accidents in the future. Investigations are also conducted to fulfill legal requirements, determine the costs associated with the accident, determine compliance (on behalf of the employee and the employer) with safety regulations and to determine and correct safety hazards, and to correctly process workers’ compensation claims.

Conducting Witness Interviews

As a general rule, witness interviews should be conducted by experienced safety personnel as soon as possible after the accident occurs. Witnesses are typically the best source of information to determine the sequence of events leading up to the accident. Though it is standard procedure for a unit administrator or law enforcement personnel to take witness statements prior to the investigation team’s arrival, those statements should not be heavily relied upon as the sole witness statements.

Witnesses’ mental states should be taken into account when an investigator is conducting the interviews. Sometimes witnesses are traumatized or may be on medication, and thus are unable to give accurate accounts of the events. On the other hand, witnesses may be anxious to speak about the accident, and providing them with that opportunity may help them. In some cases, family members of the injured person(s) can help the investigation by offering insight into character traits or behavior patterns of the victim. To ensure that witness accounts are accurate and witnesses are being truthful, individuals should be interviewed alone. Interviewing witnesses together may cause confusion and may cause witnesses to give inaccurate versions of what happened.

The first step to conducting an interview is to explain to the witness the purpose of the investigation. Interviewers should listen carefully and take notes that do not distract the witness. A tape recorder may be used to record the witness statements, but only at the consent of the individual. Investigators should also use sketches or diagrams to help the witness better describe the accident.
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