Workplace Injuries

• Dirty Secret Behind Electrical Linemen Deaths

  Bob Carroll | January 07, 2006 2:02 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Mothers, don't send your boys to be linemen.An electrical lineman's job is clearly one of the most dangerous in the United States. But the real tragedy, according to veteran linemen, family members, attorneys, and even OSHA [U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration] investigators, is that many of those deaths and horrible injuries could and should have been...

• Employer Retaliation Brings $6 Million Verdict

  Bob Carroll | May 18, 2006 2:21 PM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  An injured worker is legally entitled to file a worker's compensation claim without fear of retaliation by his employer. Sometimes, however, the employer decides to retaliate by firing the injured employee or by taking some other adverse action. When that happens, the law provides for a cause of action against the employer. Ex-UPS driver to get $6 million over firing for being 'injury...

• Construction Crane Falls Into Gulf, Injuring Operator

  Courtney Mills | August 27, 2007 2:10 PM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  A construction crane operator was injured on Saturday morning when the giant crane he was maneuvering fell off a barge and tipped over into the Gulf of Mexico.The operator was subsequently taken to Suncoast Hospital in Largo with minor abrasions on his head and body. No other incidental injuries were reported as a result of the crash.Initial reports did not exactly clarify why the crane toppled...

• Construction Accident Injures Washington Man

  Shannon Weidemann | September 29, 2007 9:02 PM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  A construction accident in Tenino, Washington has left an 80-year-old man injured on Monday. He was working on an underground bunker being built there. He was injured in a fall from some scaffolding. The man was reportedly working on at eight-foot-tall scaffolding structure at the site on the 7000 block of Churchill Road Southeast around 1 p.m. when he fell and hit his head and neck on the...

• "Worker Error" Hides Poor Management

  Bob Carroll | January 08, 2007 5:51 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  A post at Confined Space about so-called Worker Error sums up my opinion after years of investigating and litigating claims arising from the workplace in Florida. Surprise: Employer Finds "Worker Error" To Blame For FatalityWhy is this not surprising? Employer investigates employee's death. And the cause is? Worker error, of course.Bottom Line: Blaming workers (even foremen) for accidents is...

• Worker Paralyzed By Falling Beam In 1994 Receives Verdict of $32 Million

  Bob Carroll | December 12, 2005 11:27 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  It has been 11 long years, but Norman Pelletier finally received the jury verdict he deserved. The construction worker's life changed instantly when an overhead steel beam broke loose and struck him, leaving him permanently paralyzed below the chest. He was motionless on a steel deck, his spine shattered and ribs crushed. Norman's attorneys worked mightily on his precedent-setting workplace...

• Construction Worker Killed in Jacksonville Parking Garage Collapse

  Shannon Weidemann | December 08, 2007 3:27 PM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Fourteen people were injured and one man was killed when a parking garage that was under construction in Jacksonville collapsed on Thursday. The body of the victim was discovered in the wreckage today. It is unknown why the construction accident occured. They were in the process of pouring fresh concrete at the time of the collapse. Bulin said she expected the body to be retrieved by the...

• Rail Worker Crushed When Rail Car Falls Off Its Jacks

  Bob Carroll | January 14, 2007 5:13 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  The Grand Rapids Press carries the story of a seriously injured rail worker who was a awarded over $1 Million in damages against CSX Railroad.Rail worker receives $1.1 million verdictGRAND RAPIDS -- With 24 years in at CSX Railroad in Grand Rapids, Reginald Booker planned to finish his career as a carman there. Instead, he found himself fighting the company after he was nearly crushed underneath...

• It Ain't Easy Being Mickey

  Bob Carroll | April 10, 2006 8:42 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Visitors to the theme parks of Florida may not appreciate the pain and suffering going on under those character costumes. The word from China is that being Mickey or Pluto is not a walk in the park. In Florida, the Workers' Compensation law requires that the employer provide a safe workplace. If costumed characters are regularly experiencing physical problems, which may be the case, I would...

• Crane Contacts Power Line And Causes Injuries And Death

  Bob Carroll | March 28, 2006 5:30 AM | 0 CommentsTampa Bay, FL

  Most workers assume that injuries or deaths that occur on a worksite are exclusively covered by the Florida Workers' Compensation Laws. There are circumstances, however, when the law permits a claim under Workers' Compensation and what are called third party claims against other responsible persons or companies. Because the compensation scheme of the official Workers' Compensation program is...