Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

November 30, 2014

Billerica Freight Shipping Terminal Fined by OSHA for Exposing Workers to Hazardous Conditions

Employees at the Central Transport LLC freight-shipping terminal in Billerica were exposed to numerous hazardous conditions including potential electrocution, falls, crushing and other injuries. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the workers’ employer knowingly and repeatedly disregarded basic worker safeguards to prevent such injuries from occurring; the company now face $330,800 in fines for those hazards.

According to a press release published by OSHA last week, OSHA’s acting deputy regional administrator for New England Jeffrey A. Erskine said, “several hazards were brought to management’s attention, but the company took no corrective action, while other conditions were strikingly similar to violations for which Central Transport was previously cited at its locations in Illinois and Mississippi. The cited conditions put employees at risk of deadly or disabling injuries.”

An inspection revealed that the company’s building leaked water on to the work floor where electrical cabinets and forklift battery chargers were located; employees were forced to stand in water while plugging in the battery chargers and drove forklifts on slippery surfaces. These conditions ultimately exposed individuals to possible electrocution, as well as forklift tip-overs and slipping hazards.

Additionally, OSHA investigators found that workers were exposed to fall hazards from the loading dock entrance ramp, which was lacking required safety guardrails. Finally, inspectors found workers faced potential crushing or struck-by injuries from defective forklifts that were not removed from service. OSHA alleged that the company had ample knowledge of all of these hazards and did not address any of the conditions. Thus, OSHA fined Central Transport for 4 willful violations, which carry $242,000 in fines, as well as two repeat violations totaling $44,000 in fines (for unstable and insecure stacking of materials and failure to inform employees of the dangers associated with hazardous chemicals) and 8 serious violations carrying $44,800 in fines (for inadequately evaluating workers’ abilities to operate forklifts; unattended forklifts; lack of fire extinguishers; and tripping and electrical hazards).
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November 26, 2014

Boston Porch Collapse Injures One Worker, Kills Another In Jamaica Plain Construction Accident

by Altman & Altman

A construction worker was killed and another seriously injured when they fell from a porch that was under construction in Jamaica Plain. At the time of the Boston construction accident the workers were building rear porches.

Bill McCarthy, who is the worker that survived with injuries, said he is not sure why the porch collapsed. He fell from the top deck to the deck on the second floor. Construction worker Steve Lathrop, who fell to 30 feet to the ground, sustained fatal injuries.

Boston police are investigating the accident. According to the Boston Herald, a day before the tragic accident, the building permit for the job was pulled.

November 18, 2014

Slip and Fall Accidents Can Cause Injuries on the Job, Lead to Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Claims

by Altman & Altman

With snow already arriving in certain areas of the state, now is a good time to talk about how Massachusetts slip and fall accidents on ice and snow can easily cause injuries to workers on the job. The risks of injury is high enough that, according to workers’ compensation carriers United Heartland andAccident Fund Insurance Company of America, this type of accident comprises close to one third of all work injury claims in the Midwest that require a worker take time off work. That said, in 2013 there were also workers who were involved in slip and fall accidents in other regions undergoing icy conditions in the U.S.

In Massachusetts, please contact our Boston workers’ compensation lawyers if you were involved in a slip and fall accident while working. It is important that you file your work injury claim with your employer right away. Unfortunately, there may be challenges in getting your compensation on time or receiving your compensation at all, which is why you want to work with an experienced Massachusetts work injury law firm that can help you while protecting your rights.

The United Heartland and Accident Fund are offering the following suggestions to minimize the chance of a slip and fall work accident:

November 14, 2014

Study of Workers’ Compensation Claims Shows that Massachusetts Doctors Prescribe Strongest Painkillers Most Often

by Altman & Altman

According to a study of workers’ compensation claims, from 2010 to 2012, doctors in Massachusetts were likely to prescribe the strongest painkillers for injuries sustained on the job more often than physicians in other states. The Workers Compensation Research Institute conducted the study, which examined workers’ nonsurgical claims involving over seven days of time lost from work. The group looked at employee claims in twenty-five states.

Schedule II drugs include the strongest narcotics. In addition to being the most potent narcotic they carry the highest risk for addiction and abuse. Prescription opiate addicts may even switch to heroin.

The researchers did not provide a reason reason why Massachusetts physicians were the ones prescribing the most drugs to injured workers. The state even has a number of laws in place to prevent over-prescription of opiates. Doctors can’t dispense drugs from their offices, which means profit is not a motivation. The study did, however, note that there was more opiate prescribing going on in the Northeastern part of the U.S.

November 10, 2014

Newburyport, MA Construction Accident Leaves Worker with Burn Injuries

by Altman & Altman

Two workers sustained burn injuries in a Newbury, MA construction accident on Tuesday. The incident took place in a trench close to a gas line.

At the time, crews were replacing old gas pipes when a flash fire ignited as a worker was welding a cap onto the old gas line. According to firefighters, there was still some residual gas, which was ignited by the welding torch.

Another worker ran to the trench, pulling the other man out. Both men were taken to the hospital. The worker who was in a trench when the fire happened sustained severe burn injuries to his face. The other worker sustained minor burns from the rescue.

October 30, 2014

Ebola Crisis Puts the Focus On Workplace Safety for Healthcare Workers, Nurses

by Altman & Altman

The recent outbreak of the Ebola virus is raising questions about whether or not the proper precautious are in place to protect healthcare workers, including nurses, who are often front and center when it comes to taking care of patients with infectious diseases. In the U.S., nurses Amber Joy Vinson and Nina Pham were infected with Ebola while working at a hospital. They both treated Thomas Eric Duncan, who is the first person to die in from the virus in this country.

Fortunately, both women received the necessary medical care and they no longer have the disease. Early diagnosis of their condition may have helped.

Last week, over 200 nurses gathered outside the National Nurses United headquarters in California to call for tighter protections for healthcare workers from Ebola. The NNU believes that Vincent and Pham were exposed to the Ebola virus because the necessary safety controls were not set up at the hospital where they worked. In a recent survey, four out of five nurses said that have not been instructed on how to handle patients with Ebola.

October 24, 2014

OSHA Fines MA FedEx Ground Packaging System, Inc. for Guarding Machine Hazard

by Altman & Altman

The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration fined FedEx Ground Packaging System, Inc. upon finding an unguarded conveyor belt at the company’s Wilmington, MA shipping distribution center.

After inspecting the Wilmington facility, OSHA officials discovered that the belt conveyor system’s rotating parts were insufficiently guarded on the periphery to prevent employee’s fingers and hands from potentially becoming caught. Failing to guard the conveyor belt could have resulted in injuries, including pinched and crushed fingers and hands, concussions, abrasions and serious nerve damage. Proper machine guarding would ensure that no part of an employee’s body would come into contact with the machine’s moving parts.

According to OSHA’s records, the company has already twice been cited for similar safety violations in 2010 and 2011 at facilities in Grove City, Ohio, and in Syracuse, New York.

“It is critical for workers’ safety and health that an employer with multiple facilities, such as this, ensures that required safeguards are in place and maintained effectively at all times in all locations,” Jeffrey Erskine, OSHA’s acting deputy regional administrator for New England said.

Considering the company’s prior violations, OSHA cited FedEx for a repeat violation with a proposed fine of $44,000. According to OSHA, a repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.
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September 28, 2014

MA Electrical Company Cited By U.S. Department of Labor After Deaths of 2 Workers

by Altman & Altman

Massachusetts Bay Electrical Corporation was cited by the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) last week, following the deaths of two of workers in April.

According to reports by OSHA officials, the two electrical workers had been working in Bourne, MA, from a raised personnel platform attached to an Elliot 40142 truck-mounted crane. Then men, who were performing maintenance work on power lines along the mainland side of the Cape Cod Canal, fell more than 150 feet when the crane suddenly overturned. Both men tragically sustained fatal injuries.

Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts said that the accident could have been prevented had the employer supplied the men with adequate training that would have ultimately allowed the men to conduct their work safely.

Following a months-long investigation, OSHA officials found that the employees were not properly trained or evaluated on how to use the Elliott 40142 truck-mounted crane. The report also found that supervisors at the job site did not follow procedures for setting up and operating the crane in accordance with the crane’s safety manual, even though the manual was in the crane and at the job site. “They also did not conduct proper pre-lift planning and other required tests to ensure that the lift could be done safely.”
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September 26, 2014

Cape Cod MA Crane Accident Deaths Were Preventable

by Altman & Altman

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says that the Bourne, Massachusetts crane accident deaths of two works last April could have been prevented if only the proper working conditions and procedures were followed. Joseph L. Boyd III from Fall River and John Loughran from Quincy died on April 12. The two of them worked for the Massachusetts Bay Electrical Corp. They were over 150 feet in the air working on electrical lines when the boom fell to the ground. They died immediately.

According to OSHA, the company’s employees did not get the proper training and were not assessed regarding their ability to work the crane. The government agency found that supervisors at the site failed to follow procedures for setting up and running the crane even though there was an operating manual available. They also failed to perform the correct prelift planning and other necessary tests to make sure the lift could be conducted safely.

Now, Massachusetts Bay has been ordered to pay a $168,000 fine for workplace violations, including the failure to use load charts to assess the minimum angle of the boom angle, failure to use an aerial lift, and allowing the crane to run at over 50% the rated capacity for its configuration.

September 4, 2014

I’ve Just Been Injured At Work, What Should I Do?

by Altman & Altman

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 about my family?” A dozen questions flood your head immediately. But there’s no need to panic, we’re here to help you.

Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 152, Section 25A, employers are responsible for providing workers’ compensation insurance coverage to all of their employees. That means that workers, in any line of work, are supposed to be guaranteed benefits should they become ill or injured while on the job-even if they are the ones who caused the accident and subsequently, their own injury. The benefits may include compensation for lost wages after the first five calendar days of full or partial disability, medical treatment related to the employee’s illness or injury, and job retraining for qualifying employees.

How do you know if you qualify?

Employees can begin qualifying for benefits temporary total incapacitation benefits if their injury or illness has prevented them from returning to work for 5 or more full or partial workdays, which do not have to be consecutive. Employees who require medical attention for their injury or illness are entitled compensation for their care including reimbursement for travel and prescriptions.

By law, your employer must file the Employer’s Report of Injury or Fatality with seven business days from his/her employee’s fifth day of lost time. If an employer does not file this form, an employee may submit an injury report in writing directly to the insurance company. Your employer is required to have a poster displayed in the workplace with the name and address of its workers’ compensation insurer and policy information.
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