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IndustryWeek recently compared workers’ compensation costs and benefits across the United States and listed Massachusetts in its top 20 states for workers’ compensation. Massachusetts was the only New England state to appear in the top 20, while several western and Midwestern states made the cut.

IndustryWeek’s rankings included the workers’ compensation premium per worker, based on the Insurance Information Institute, the average benefit payment per capita-total state workforce, among other factors.

According to Deborah Talbot, president and CEO of Health Resources Corporation in Woburn, Massachusetts, the rates, benefits, and awards vary widely according to state, a statement that was consistent with the findings of IndustryWeek’s workers’ compensation analysis.

Workers’ Compensation: Expenses & Awards ARE an Important Consideration for Manufacturers, IndustryWeek, December 9, 208 Continue reading

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Following a wave of fatal crane accidents across the country, a New York contractor has been indicted in a Midtown crane collapse that occurred last year, killing seven people. The district attorney said that William Rapetti was in custody this morning and was indicted on homicide and other charges.

The accident occurred last March, when a 19-story tower crane broke off of an apartment building, hitting several buildings and causing one brownstone town house to be demolished. The construction site inspector who had supposedly inspected the crane several days before the accident was later charged for false claims, and in September of last year, OSHA cited Rapetti Rigging Services for failing to properly stabilize the crane.

According to an email sent to The Associated Press by Rapetti’s defense attorney, the contractor “has agreed to offer his full assistance and expertise in helping to determine the actual cause or causes of the crane collapse that day.”

NY contractor indicted in crane collapse, Associated Press, January 5, 2009 Continue reading

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Despite the current economic climate, the AFP reports that China is in the midst of a rapid construction boom, putting up buildings at a rapid pace. However, this growth has come at a high cost to China’s workers.

In fact, the State Administration of Work Safety estimates that 99 people died on construction sites between January 1 and December 14. The total death toll from work-related accidents during that period was 1,942.

Last Saturday, 32 more people died as the result of two difference accidents in China. The first, in the village of Donggangcheng, involved an explosion that killed fifteen people and injured nine. The accident is under investigation.

The second accident, in the city of Changsha, killed seventeen people after a construction lift plummeted to the ground. The lift was designed to carry only twelve people, so the police are questioning the construction company’s project chief, general manager, and lift operator.


China adds 32 deaths to dismal work safety statistics, AFP, December 26, 2008 Continue reading

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The Worcester Business Journal reports that according to a state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Division of Occupational Safety survey, Massachusetts’ rate of work-related injuries and illnesses for 2007 was lower than the national average and the lowest in New England.

Massachusetts reported four injuries or illnesses per 100 full time workers, compared to the national incidence of 4.2 cases per 100 full time workers. That rate includes the nearly 90,000 non-fatal injuries and illnesses reported among Massachusetts’ 2.8 million private-sector workers.

The highest rate of injury (6.1 per 100 workers) occurred in construction workers, while workers in the financial services experienced the lowest rate (1.3 per 100 workers).

Work Relatively Safe In Massachusetts, Worcester Business Journal, December 18, 2008 Continue reading

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A construction accident occurred recently in Maitland, Florida when three men who were doing concrete work lost their footing after the scaffolding came loose from the building. The workers were left dangling in the air six stories above the ground while emergency rescue crews worked to help them down.

Fortunately, none of the construction workers were injured, though they were a bit shaken up by the incident. Two of the men refused medical treatment, while the crane operator was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

The cause of the construction accident is under investigation.

Three workers safe after Maitland construction site accident, Orlando Sun-Sentinel, December 8, 2008 Continue reading

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Design News reports that Massachusetts has dropped criminal charges against a company that had been found criminally negligent in the Big Dig ceiling collapse that killed a 39-year-old woman. The now infamous accident occurred in Boston on July 10, 2006.

After a federal investigation found that its “Fast Set” epoxy was used incorrectly to attach bolts in the ceiling of one of the tunnels in the Big Dig construction project, Powers Fasteners agreed to pay $16 million and remove the product from the market.

This agreement negates the involuntary manslaughter charges (carrying a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine) resulting from the construction accident. According to a news conference with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, “what we have been able to achieve today is a far greater result [than the original charges].”

Massachusetts Drops Criminal Charges against Powers Fasteners, Design News, December 18, 2008 Continue reading

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Earlier this month, a construction worker in an underground excavation pit was seriously injured when he became partially buried by falling concrete. The construction accident occurred around 4:20am on Thursday, December 11.

The unidentified worker was buried from the waist down inside a 25-foot deep pit. Emergency medical personnel responded to the call to treat the construction accident victim. He was pulled from the hole approximately 15 minutes later and taken to the hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Three other workers suffered minor injuries as a result of the underground accident.

N.Y. Times Square construction worker escapes death from falling debris, JusticeNewsFlash.com, December 15, 2008 Continue reading

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Last Friday afternoon, a scaffolding collapse injured two workers in what could have been a much more serious accident, according to a veteran firefighter responding to the construction accident.

Construction workers were repairing the façade of the Kravis Center for the Performing Art, which was damaged during Hurricane Francis in 2004. The fire rescue captain said the anchors attaching the scaffolding to the wall way around 1pm last Friday afternoon. Close to two dozen construction workers were in the vicinity when the seven levels scaffolding came tumbling down, which could have resulted in major injuries.

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, though two workers sustained minor injuries. OSHA will investigate the construction accident.

OSHA Investigates Kravis Construction Accident, CBS12.com, December 12, 2008 Continue reading

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Earlier this year, Robert Augeri, 31, was killed by a Mack truck while working on a highway paving project on Interstate 495 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Two companies involved with the fatal highway accident were cited for safety violations by OSHA.

Augeri’s employer, Brox Industries, of Dracut, was cited on October 30 for failure to make sure that its safety program covered directing traffic in areas where workers were on foot and failure to properly train employees. In November, Brox agreed to correct its violations, and OSHA reduced the fine from $15,000 to $10,000.

On November 7, OSHA cited Lewis Maynard Trucking, of Methuen, for a failure to start and maintain an effective safety program. The companies agreed to correct its violation on December 3 and will pay a reduced fine of $900.
Continue reading

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The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported on statistics involving work-related injury deaths among Hispanics in the United States. The period studied was 1992-2006 and during that period, a total of 11,303 of Hispanic workers died from work-related injuries.

One positive finding was that death rate for Hispanic workers declined during the period; despite this, the rate was still consistently higher than the rate for all U.S. workers. The study found that Hispanic workers in the construction industry are at a particularly high risk of fatal injury. In fact, between 2003 and 2006, 34% of Hispanic worker deaths occurred in that industry.

Potential factors cited included potential miscommunications caused by language barriers among non-native English speakers and employment in work that puts them at high risk for injury. The most common fatal events included highway accidents, homicide, and falls to a lower level.

Work-Related Injury Deaths Among Hispanics-United States, 1992-2006, Journal of the American Medical Assocation, December 3, 2008 Continue reading

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