Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

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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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):

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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