Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

February 25, 2014

Injured Logan Airport Construction Worker Awarded $3 M in Personal Injury Settlement

A Logan Airport construction worker was awarded $3 million in a settlement with his employer and the general contractor for the airport, after he suffered debilitating injuries from an incident in 2008.

The 37-year-old man had fallen nearly 35 feet through an unprotected opening on the arrival/departure ramp at Logan International Airport in Boston, landing on a roadway beneath the ramp and suffering multiple traumas including a traumatic brain injury. The victim’s lawyer had filed a lawsuit against the general contractor, who then filed a third-party claim against the worker’s employer. All of the parties involved agreed to partake in a mediation, which included four loss-of-consortium claims for the worker’s wife and three children.

The lawyer who undertook this case hired numerous experts including a behavioral neurologist-to demonstrate the long-lasting health effects of the victim’s brain injury, as well as cinematographers to produce video of witness interviews. Orthopedic surgeons, a neuropsychologist, a life-care planner, and physical and speech therapists were also interviewed during the mediation to further back up the victim’s claim against the plaintiffs. In a court-approved settlement, the worker was granted 58% of the monetary verdict, while his wife and children were awarded 42%. The court also granted a workers’ compensation lien reduction of $378,000. Since the initial settlement, this workers’ compensation case has been settled for an additional $1.5 million.

When a worker is injured in the state of Massachusetts, often it is through workers’ compensation that a person will collect payment to cover injury-related medical costs and lost wages. The purpose of workers’ compensation is to ensure that workers, should they be injured on the job, will be taken care of in exchange for not filing a lawsuit against their employer. Achieving all of these workers’ compensation benefits can sometimes be challenging and what people do not often realize is that workers’ compensation does not cover personal injury in the future, and that their benefits are only limited. What many people fail to know is that they can be eligible to file a secondary claim against a third responsible party to receive additional compensation for their injuries.
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February 20, 2014

OSHA Focuses on Protecting Cell Tower Employees after Increase in Worksite Fatalities

by Altman & Altman

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is collaborating with the National Association of Tower Erectors and other industry stakeholders to ensure that communication tower employers understand their responsibility to protect workers in high-hazard work environments.

This comes in response to a series of tragic fatalities last month in Texas and West Virginia involving several cell tower works who had fallen during routine working operations at their cell tower stations.

“Tower worker deaths cannot be the price we pay for increased wireless communication,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “Employers and cell tower owners and operators must do everything possible to stop these senseless, preventable tragedies.”

The agency has expressed concern over the alarming increase in preventable injuries and worker fatalities at communication tower jobsites. Last year, there were 13 fatalities that occurred in this industry-more than in the two previous years combined. The majority of these fatalities were the result of serious falls. The trend appears to be continuing with the four worker deaths occurring in the first five weeks of 2014. OSHA has now focused its attention on tower safety, and last week, sent out a letter to communication tower employers urging compliance and strict adherence to safety standards and common sense practices.

By law, OSHA requires employers to provide adequate fall protection equipment, train employees how to use the safety equipment and ensure that they use it properly and consistently. In addition to falls, tower workers have also been injured or killed by falling objects, the structural collapse of towers and equipment failures. For example, OSHA issued citations in December 2013 to Custom Tower LLC of Scott, LA for one willful violation following the death of a worker who fell approximately 125 feet.
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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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February 7, 2014

OSHA Cites Packaging Corporation of America For Repeat Safety Hazards After MA Plant Inspection

by Altman & Altman

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited the Packaging Corporation of America for two repeat violations of workplace safety standards following an inspection of the company’s Chelmsford, MA manufacturing plant. The company is now facing up to $66,000 in potential fines.

OSHA spokesperson Jeffrey Erskine stated that, “While no injuries occurred, the potential for serious injury was evident.” Specifically, OSHA inspectors found that plant workers were exposed to crushing, struck-by and caught-in machinery hazards while setting up a press. Inspectors also found that operating procedures-shutting down and locking machines’ power sources-were not followed, and workers were at a high risk for being caught in operating conveyer belts on the same machine that lacked protective guarding.

Similar violations had been found in the company’s Opelika, AL location, therefore OSHA cited the company for a repeat violation.

OSHA’s hazardous energy control standard requires machines to be powered off and their power sources suspended before conducting maintenance services to avoid injury and fatalities should the machine once again become powered on. The machine-guarding standard requires that machine-operating parts be guarded to protect caught-in hazards.

Packing Corporation of America, which is based in Illinois, had 15 business days from the receipt of its citations and proposed penalty to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the OSHA Review Commission.

While luckily there were not any worker injuries in this case, this situation demonstrates a lack of oversight on behalf of the Packaging Corporation of America to keep its workers safe. According to OSHA standards, employers have a legal responsibility to ensure that a safe workplace is provided to all of their employees.
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February 7, 2014

Seasoned Natick, MA DPW Employee Fatally Injured in “Freak Accident”

by Altman & Altman

A long-time employee of the town of Natick was killed and a second town employee was injured Tuesday night while making emergency repairs to a water line.

According to reports, six members of the Department of Public Works went to repair a water line break. Two of the employees on scene were working in a trench, when a backhoe was accidentally pulled forward and the stabilizer struck the workers.

No other information was provided and police and town officials are continuing their investigation of the incident.

For family members of those who have been killed on the job, there is undoubtedly no amount of monetary compensation that can recompense their loss of life. Family members including spouses and children may file a wrongful death and/or workers’ compensation claim to receive financial relief. Immediate family members may be entitled to recover up to 60% of the deceased worker’s average weekly wage as well as other benefits.
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January 31, 2014

OSHA Extends Comment Period of Proposed Crystalline Silica Rule to Feb. 11

by Altman & Altman

In August 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration filed a petition for a new rule that would reduce the instance of chronic respiratory illness and cancer among U.S. workers, by putting limits on the amount of crystalline silica a worker can legally be exposed to. In a statement published by the organization last week, OSHA decided to extend the public comment period on the proposal from January 27, to February 11, allowing stakeholders additional time to raise concerns and make further recommendations. Public hearings on the proposed rule are set to take place on March 18, 2014.

Crystalline silica is a toxic particle that kills hundreds of workers and sickens thousands each year. The proposed rule includes two separate standards-one for general industry and maritime employees and one for employees in the construction industry.

OSHA presently enforces a rule dated 40 years to regulate permissible exposure limits (PEL) for silica exposure, which has proven itself 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.

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.
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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 20, 2014

Worker Fatally Injured in New Bedford Industrial Incident

by Altman & Altman

New Bedford officials have reported that a 35-year-man was the victim of a fatal work incident involving a shucking machine at a seafood processing plant on Thursday.

The man was apparently doing a routine cleaning of the machine when he became entangled in the machine’s rotary turbine engine. Rescue crews were dispatched to the scene, where he man was pronounced deceased. The incident remains under investigation.

Industrial machinery injuries are almost always severe and debilitating. A moment’s inattention or single misstep as well as a defective or unguarded piece of equipment can lead to irreparable damage of a limb, result in permanent disability and end a career, or even result in death.

While there are a number of types of industrial machinery that can cause fatal work injuries, the most common types of dangerous machinery include:

-Mechanical power presses -Powered and non-powered conveyer belts -Printing presses -Sheering machines -Drill presses -Meat-cutting saws -Milling machines -Grinding machines -Food slicers -Slitters Continue reading

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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January 3, 2014

Worker Injured During Gas Main Break in Shrewsbury, MA

by Altman & Altman

NStar and state authorities are investigating a gas explosion in Shrewsbury that injured a gas worker.

A spokesman for NStar said that the gas explosion destroyed a backhoe, and caused nearly 150 nearby gas customers to lose service for hours. One worker was treated for a burn injury as a result of the blaze.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will investigate the accident further.

Burns are common injuries in the workplace. Regardless of their cause, burns can be incredibly painful and may cause long-term complications, scars, disfigurement, and even death. Burns are classified into three categories: superficial, partial-thickness, and full-thickness. When workers are injured on the job, regardless of their injury, it is in their best interest to seek the advice and assistance of an experienced workers’ compensation attorney.
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