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Several towns in Massachusetts, including Brockton, Pittsfield, and New Bedford, will receive thousands of dollars in damages from CVS, which was found to have overcharged state residents for prescription drugs under the workers’ compensation insurance system. The Division of Health Care Finance and Policy uses the same methods to price prescription drugs for workers’ compensation claims as for Medicaid.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced the payments last Thursday after investigating allegations that the pharmacies were overcharging residents. The Attorney General filed last month in Suffolk Superior Court.

CVS will pay $1.35 million of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on top of $1.3 million to the towns and cities impacted. Boston will receive $60,000 in damages, while Brockton will get $52,000. The communities should get their checks later next month.

Source: Brockton to receive more than $50,000 in CVS overcharges, Enterprise News, October 1, 2010 Continue reading

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In response to a February job-site explosion that killed six workers and injured dozens more, Connecticut’s governor has issued an executive order banning the use of flammable gas to clean pipelines at power plants in the state. The accident occurred on Super Bowl Sunday at an electric plan construction site.

The governor moved to prohibit the ‘gas blow’ procedure after she says it became clear that no one at the state, local, or federal level had control of pipe-cleaning operations. Her hope is that the executive ban will minimize the chances of similar workplace accidents in the future.

The ban has already caught the attention of the chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, who applauds the legislation and says provides a model for other state and the federal government to emulate.

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The United Kingdom has declared this week National Fork Lift Safety Week. As far as we could tell, there is no similar awareness week in Massachusetts or the rest of the United States, but perhaps it’s time.

According to stats recently released by the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA), 43 people, including two teens, are likely to be seriously injured by fork lift trucks in the UK over the next week.

Statistically speaking, this would include eleven serious, long-term injuries such as amputations and twenty pedestrians hit by a moving truck. Fatalities involving fork lifts occur on average every six weeks, and that rate doubles in September as companies add staff in preparation for the end of the year.

FLTA’s chief executive says managers and supervisors need to do a better job of enforcing safety regulations and training staff to avoid fork lift accidents.

Source: National Fork Life Safety Week, Abeceder.co.uk, September 19, 2010 Continue reading

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A settlement has been reached with a Stoughton, Massachusetts strip club that allegedly misclassified dancers and massage therapists as independent contractors, denying them overtime pay and workers’ compensation protections.

According to reports, roughly 50 women have asked to share in the settlement, which set aside $400,000 for the women and $200,000 for the attorneys who litigated on their behalf. An additional 100 woman who worked in the club between December, 2006 and September, 2009 reportedly may be eligible to share in the settlement.

Several other Massachusetts clubs have been sued or are being sued over similar disputes. A Suffolk County judge reportedly ruled last year that plaintiffs could seek damages from a Chelsea, Massachusetts club. Some clubs have now reclassified dancers and massage therapists as employees and paid them minimum wage. Misclassifying workers to avoid paying workers’ compensation is a common issue in other industries as well.

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Here in Massachusetts, news about construction accidents has been relatively quiet. However, in Liege, Belgium, two women died earlier this week in a tragic crane accident. Three more workers were injured.

The construction accident occurred when a crane carrying materials to the second floor of a building collapsed.

The basket fell onto a lorry containing the three workers, according to the findings of the initial investigation. The two crane accident victims, the manager of a tiling company and her daughter, were in the basket of the crane when the accident occurred.

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A collapsed steel beam at a construction site in New Haven, Connecticut has injured four people. The construction accident occurred on Winchester Avenue around 10am today when the beam collapsed and feel about 30 feet, trapping a man under the beam.

Two of the injured workers are in critical condition and one is in serious condition, all at Yale-New Haven Hospital. The fourth worker is in stable condition at St. Raphael Hospital. The identities of the injuries workers have not been released.

The site building is owned by Yale University. Another accident reportedly injured another person at the same construction site a month ago.

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This Friday, an 18-year-old golf course employee drowned while cutting grass at a Massachusetts golf course.

The victim, a college student, was operating a ride-on lawn mower at a Lakeville golf course when he drove into a manmade water hazard.

The worker was pinned by his ride-on lawn mower under approximately five feet of water. The young man was discovered about twenty minutes after being submerged. He was given CPR at the scene of the work accident and was rushed to Morton Hospital and Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
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Last week, an 18-year-old male who was about to start college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst drowned while working as a groundskeeper at the Back Nine Club in Lakeville, Massachusetts. Officials say the incident appeared to be a tragic accident.

The teen was reportedly riding a lawnmower on the course when he accidentally drove into a man-made water hazard, becoming trapped under the lawn mower in roughly five feet of water. Rescue workers performed CPR and the injured worker was transported to Morton Hospital and Medical Center in Taunton, where he was pronounced dead.

A spokesperson for the Plymouth district attorney’s office said the office of the chief medical examiner would perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death, though it appears to be an accidental drowning. The district attorney’s office is investigating the case.

Source: Groundskeeper drowns at Lakeville golf course, Boston Globe, September 4, 2010 Continue reading

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Last month, a traffic crash near the Thomas P. O’Neill Tunnel injured a Boston police officer while he was on duty. The accident occurred around 8:41am on I-93 northbound, according to a state police spokesperson.

The police offer’s injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. No other injuries were reported in connection with the accident, and it was unclear if anyone would be charged.

If you have been injured on the job, then the Boston workplace injury law firm of Altman & Altman may be able to help. Our attorneys can help you recover compensation for lost wages and medical costs. We may also be able to file a secondary claim so that you can recover additional compensation. Contact us to discuss your legal options.

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According to the Star Gazette, railroad companies often ship deadly chemicals across the country on a daily basis, yet the companies refuse to publicly disclose exactly what those substances are or how frequently they are transported through certain areas.

A spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) reported that only railroad companies know what cargo is held within the cars. As a result, HAZMAT crews that are tasked with responding to the scene of an accident have no knowledge of the contents of the railway cars.

The spokesperson defended the railroad company’s lack of disclosure, stating that the information must remain undisclosed since it is a “matter of national security.”
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