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Construction Accident Injures Washington Man

Shannon Weidemann — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:02:30 GMT

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 hard dirt surface below, Lt. Chris Mealy said.

The man had to be airlifted to a hospital in Seattle for bleeding from his ear. His condtion was listed as critical. The accident will be investigated by OSHA.

For more information on this subject, please review our section on Workplace Injuries and Workers Compensation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann

Employer Retaliation Brings $6 Million Verdict

Bob Carroll — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:21:09 GMT

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 repeater'

A Broward Circuit Court jury has leveled a $6 million verdict against United Parcel Service, finding that the company wrongfully fired a delivery truck driver from its Deerfield Beach office.
After a four-day trial, jurors needed less than three hours Friday to conclude that UPS unlawfully retaliated against John Thigpen, a 20-year employee, for pursuing workers' compensation benefits. Thigpen received $669,661 in economic damages and $5.3 million in non-economic damages for the mental anguish he has suffered.
Thigpen's legal team argued that the Pompano Beach man was fired after a UPS official sent a May 2001 e-mail directing supervisors to target "injury repeater[s]."
Thigpen, 45, had been injured seven times while with UPS, Adler said. He was fired in November 2001.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bob Carroll

Dirty Secret Behind Electrical Linemen Deaths

Bob Carroll — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 02:02:35 GMT

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 prevented. The dirty secret of America's "clean" power, they say, is that, since the electrical utility industry was deregulated in the 1980s, companies have increasingly found ways to cut back on their liabilities and expenses for line maintenance, resulting in less training, fewer experienced linemen, and a system by which companies are not held accountable or liable in any meaningful way, either by OSHA or in court.
One OSHA source, who asked that his name not be used, said that, without question, accidents and deaths have gone up substantially since deregulation - and that the percentage of such accident victims who die has also increased.
According to [OSHA]....60 to 100 linemen annually suffer "devastating" injuries that leave them permanently crippled, missing limbs, or severely burned. And that's not counting the workers injured at publicly owned utilities such as those run by cities. Those companies, which make up as much as one-third of the U.S. utility industry, don't have to report injuries to OSHA.

Excerpts from the Ft. Worth Weekly article

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bob Carroll

Construction Crane Falls Into Gulf, Injuring Operator

Courtney Mills — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:10:10 GMT

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 over into the Gulf, but media reports indicated that a giant wave may have been at the root of the problem.

"It was almost like slow motion," said one witness. "The rig went into the water, the crane boom snapped over, and the weight just dragged it real slow of the end of the barge."

The crane had been performing construction on the closed Redington Long Pier in Redington Shores.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Worksite Injuries and Workers Compensation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Courtney Mills

Construction Worker Killed in Jacksonville Parking Garage Collapse

Shannon Weidemann — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:27:25 GMT

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 end of the day. An autopsy to identify the victim was also scheduled for later Saturday.

The collapsed parking garage was a chaotic scene for the rescuers who worked to pull the injured to safety. Search and rescue dogs were called in to help. The construction site is along the St. Johns River.

If you would like to read more about construction accidents, please visit InjuryBoard's Worksite Injuries information page.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann

"Worker Error" Hides Poor Management

Bob Carroll — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:51:31 GMT

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 Fatality

Why 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 generally a way of shifting blame from poor management safety systems.

The post features a terrible incident involving a worker, Shawn Patilla. After a valve ruptured in the high-pressure water main he was working on, Mr. Patilla died from head and neck injuries as a result of being hit by the water at a pressure of 90 pounds per square inch.

Now, believe it or not, a worker being injured or killed because he cut into a pressurized pipe is not a freak accident; it happens all too often. In fact, it happens so often that OSHA has a standard designed to protect workers from being killed or injured in such incidents. It's called the "Lockout-Tagout" standard, technically known as the "Control of Hazardous Energy" standard, and is used to protect workers who may be repairing equipment that could turn on while they're working on it, or for pipelines that may be pressurized, as the one that killed Shawn Patilla was.

The OSHA standard for The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout), Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1910.147, addresses the practices and procedures necessary to disable machinery or equipment, thereby preventing the release of hazardous energy while employees perform servicing and maintenance activities. The standard outlines measures for controlling hazardous energies -- electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, and other energy sources.
The lockout-tagout standard also requires workers to be trained about the employers program.

Before anyone can get to "Worker Error" should not management's Lockout-Tagout program, if it existed, be thoroughly reviewed?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bob Carroll

Just How Unfair Is Workers' Compensation?

Bob Carroll — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 03:31:55 GMT

I am an attorney old enough to know that for more than 30 years the rights and benefits of workers under workers' compensation in the State of Florida have steadily declined. The question is, how long can we continue to call the system fair?

Now we have a report brought to our attention by Confined Space which details the failure of workers' compensation throughout the entire country.

Workers Comp: A Colossal Failure

Guess what? Workers Comp doesn't work. And if you don't believe me, go read this:

A new report released today by the consumer rights group, Center for Justice & Democracy (CJ&D), finds that workers' compensation programs throughout the country have been devastating for injured workers, leaving them to contend with an adversarial bureaucracy and inadequate benefits that render many destitute. The report, "Workers' Compensation - A Cautionary Tale," calls the workers' compensation program a "colossal failure." It also notes, "[t]he real winners are insurance companies, which continue to boast record profits as workers' benefits are declining."

The Center for Justice & Democracy provides access to the full report.

"Workers' compensation is an unfortunate example of how a seemingly fair program can be manipulated by political forces into a nightmare for those it was originally meant to help," said CJ&D attorney and policy analyst Amy Widman, the report's author.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bob Carroll

Rail Worker Crushed When Rail Car Falls Off Its Jacks

Bob Carroll — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 05:13:14 GMT

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 verdict

GRAND 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 a rail car in an accident that left him with a severe disability in September 2003.
Booker, 55, gained some satisfaction this week after a federal jury awarded him nearly $1.1 million in civil damages against CSX, a judgment his attorney described as important in this conservative region.
Booker's job was to inspect and repair rail cars at the CSX Wyoming yard. He suffered nerve, vertebrae and pelvis injuries and can no longer work.
A jury Thursday in U.S. District Court awarded a $1.4 million judgment, but reduced it by 25 percent to $1.07 million because of "contributory negligence" on Booker's part.

The end of a lifetime of work for CSX Railroad came when a hopper car -- used to haul grain and granular materials -- fell off its jacks. Booker walks with a cane and a limp today as a result of the accident.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bob Carroll

The Lastest Worst Workers' Compensation Decision

Bob Carroll — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 09:29:03 GMT

The New York Times reports on a decision by the Ohio Supreme Court that makes no sense under the no-fault-based workers' compensation system in that state and in Florida.

Ohio Ruling Denying Pay in Job Injury Draws Debate

The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld a KFC franchise's petition to deny workers' compensation payments to a teenage boy who was severely burned while cleaning a pressure cooker, raising questions from lawyers and the dissenting judges about the basic no-fault tenet of the state's workers' compensation.
The majority in the 5-to-2 decision on Wednesday accepted the argument by the restaurant owner that the boy, David M. Gross, then 16, had voluntarily abandoned his job when he ignored repeated warnings not to boil water in the cooker to clean it. That meant he was not entitled to workers' compensation payments because he no longer had a job when he was injured, the ruling said.
"This is the worst decision I've seen since I've been practicing law," said Philip J. Fulton, a workers' compensation lawyer and past president of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers. "It changes the whole substance of what workers' compensation is supposed to be."

I doubt Florida law would follow this ruling because it seems determined to use workers' compensation as a shield for employers no matter how grossly negligent or reckless an employer may be. However, intoxication of an employee (as opposed to simply disobeying a rule) does create coverage issues.

I have had the terrible experience of losing a Florida case on behalf of a worker who had her arm ripped from her body by the gears of a carton-filling machine. I lost because a Florida Appellate Court concluded that even though the employer ordered the intentional removal of safety interlock systems on six giant carton-filling machines so that the machines could continue in operation while workers opened side doors to clear jams, workers' compensation immunity from a civil lawsuit remained intact.

The New York Times reports on a decision by the Ohio Supreme Court that makes no sense under the no-fault-based workers' compensation system in that state and in Florida.

Ohio Ruling Denying Pay in Job Injury Draws Debate

The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld a KFC franchise's petition to deny workers' compensation payments to a teenage boy who was severely burned while cleaning a pressure cooker, raising questions from lawyers and the dissenting judges about the basic no-fault tenet of the state's workers' compensation.
The majority in the 5-to-2 decision on Wednesday accepted the argument by the restaurant owner that the boy, David M. Gross, then 16, had voluntarily abandoned his job when he ignored repeated warnings not to boil water in the cooker to clean it. That meant he was not entitled to workers' compensation payments because he no longer had a job when he was injured, the ruling said.
"This is the worst decision I've seen since I've been practicing law," said Philip J. Fulton, a workers' compensation lawyer and past president of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers. "It changes the whole substance of what workers' compensation is supposed to be."

I doubt Florida law would follow this ruling because it seems determined to use workers' compensation as a shield for employers no matter how grossly negligent or reckless an employer may be. However, intoxication of an employee (as opposed to simply disobeying a rule) does create coverage issues.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bob Carroll

What Choice Does A Worker Really Have?

Bob Carroll — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 10:16:49 GMT

For too many years I have confronted judges and juries who appear to believe that a worker should simply have refused to perform a particular work assignment because he or she could plainly see it was unsafe. Confined Space posts an article that expresses my frustration with the so-called voluntary assumption of the risk by employees.

"Do what you're told, or take the chance of being fired."

If you listen to the rhetoric spewing forth from OSHA and MSHA these days, you'd think that all employers and workers need is a little more information on how to work safely. A few more fact sheets, a couple more web pages, maybe a speech or two, and all will be well.
Actually, in all too many workplaces, that's not how it happens. Workers are given the choice between doing the job unsafely or losing their jobs, also known as job blackmail -- your job or your life. In these situations, people often blame the workers: "Well, if he knew it was dangerous, why didn't he just quit?"

In one case the employer had intentionally removed the automatic safety cut-off switches on at least 6 giant filling machines. In another, a safety guard had been dismantled. All in the name of greater production.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Bob Carroll