Imagine this. A machine in your workplace has a sharp blade that chops things. Do you really have to tell employees not to stick their hands near the blade when the machine is running?
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Tags: common sense, machine guard, warning sign, Workers' comp
Here’s a cautionary story for workers. John Capanna had a bright future at the age of 20. He was already a crew chief for his employer — a good job. Then, a workplace explosion burned over 90% of his body.
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Here’s proof that workplace injuries happen in the service industry, too. And those injuries can lead to workers’ comp claims.
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Tags: back injury, casino dealer, service industry, workers' comp claims
Now that OSHA is keeping an eye out for incentive programs that discourage workers from reporting injuries, what can you do to encourage safe practices?
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Tags: encourage safe practices, incentive programs, report injuries
Most companies have all the work-related hazards they need, thank you. They see no need to introduce additional hazards not normally associated with whatever work is involved. But one company’s unusual gimmick has set the stage for what promises to be an interesting workers’ comp decision.
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Tags: chimp attack, hazards, Workers' comp
OSHA added something new to its Web site this week.
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In some states, when workers are placed on permanent partial disability, it’s expected that injured employees will make a “good-faith effort” to find alternate employment they can perform. However, one state court just found a reason to overturn that 15-year precedent and allow a worker to keep collecting.
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Tags: back injury, good faith effort, permanent partial disability, sit home and collect comp
A dust explosion at a plant in Florida sent four workers to the hospital. One had to be airlifted to a burn center for critical injuries.
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An explosion at a worksite may cost an employee his leg, if attempts to reattach it fail.
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Tags: explosion, gas fumes, sever worker's leg
It’s long been a subject of debate among safety pros: Do safety incentive programs reduce injuries, or do they encourage workers not to report when they get hurt? It seems OSHA has weighed in on the issue, buried within a directive for its inspectors.
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Tags: national emphasis program, Recordkeeping, safety incentive programs
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is questioning President Obama’s choice to head OSHA.
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Tags: David Michaels, OSHA nominee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
If one of your employees was injured in an exercise class, you wouldn’t expect that to be covered by workers’ comp. But that’s not how one court saw it.
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Tags: employee injured at gym, exercise class, Workers' comp
Conveyor belts and tracks too often prove to be the source of serious employee injuries. Those injuries attract OSHA’s attention and wind up as fines.
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Tags: conveyor, foot injury, repeat violation
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and OSHA interim administrator Jordan Barab have said that a new combustible dust regulation is one of their rulemaking priorities at OSHA.
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Tags: combustible dust regulation, Hilda Solis, Imperial Sugar explosion, Jordan Barab
A government agency says the February 2008 explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, GA, that killed 14 workers and injured 36 others, was caused by poor equipment design, maintenance and housekeeping.
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Tags: Chemical Safety Board, combustible dust, dust explosion and fire, Imperial Sugar explosion, poor housekeeping
When it comes to workplace injuries, have you ever asked yourself, “Is there something in the water?” A recent magazine article kinda suggests that.
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Tags: Men's Health, top 10 accident-prone cities, workplace injuries
Good news for employers in one state: Your workers’ comp insurance rates are going down. But that’s not all the information released. A new report also details who files for comp more often and why.
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Workers’ comp boards and courts draw a fine line between what is and what isn’t a work-related injury that qualifies for benefits. See if you can guess how the court ruled in this case:
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Tags: climbing into truck, ruptured tendon, shipping yard, tractor trailer, Workers' comp
Advice from a paramedic: Don’t do what this worker did when a nail flew into his eye.
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Tags: eye protection, face protection, nail in eye
A man has been sent to prison after using money he received for a workplace accident to deal crack cocaine.
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Imagine this: An employee, who happens to be morbidly obese, is injured at work. Doctors say, before he has surgery to correct the workplace injury, he needs weight-loss surgery.
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Tags: lap-band surgery, morbid obesity, weight-loss surgery, Workers' comp, workplace injury
What do you do with employees who have a history of injuries? Fire them and they may sue, but leave them on the job and they might harm themselves or others.
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What do you do with employees who have a history of injuries? Fire them and they may sue, but leave them on the job and they might harm themselves or others.
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Tags: fitness for duty, history of injuries, safety-sensitive jobs
Imagine this: A company sponsors a Family Fun night of bowling for its employees and their families to improve morale. One employee injures his back while bowling. Does he get workers’ comp because this was an employer-sponsored event?
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Tags: back injury, improve morale, Workers' comp
Imagine this: A company sponsors a Family Fun night of bowling for its employees and their families to improve morale. One employee injures his back while bowling. Does he get workers’ comp because this was an employer-sponsored event?
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You hear it all the time: Sedentary, overweight and out-of-shape employees can be a huge drain when it comes to health insurance, workers’ comp and other costs. Whip ‘em into shape and you’ll save, save, save!
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Tags: court, decision, employee, exercise class, injury
In the last two weeks, three undocumented workers have reached settlements totaling $3.85 million for workplace accidents in New York.
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Tags: construction, illegal immigrant workers, workplace accidents
New regulations; accidents with multiple fatalities; the President-elect’s take on what OSHA should be doing. What is the top safety story of 2008?
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Tags: new regulations, Obama, OSHA, top 10
Expecting an employee to construct a proper scaffold from materials and tools available at a worksite violates state labor law, according to a New York state court.
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Tags: New York state labor law, responsibility for safety, scaffold
Are computer injuries restricted to carpal tunnel syndrome and eye strain? A new study documents a number of injuries you might not expect.
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Tags: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, carpal tunnel syndrome, computer injuries
OSHA is two-thirds of the way through the federal 2009 fiscal year. How are inspections stacking up this year?
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Tags: ASSE, high incident rates, OSHA inspections
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis had two messages for attendees at the American Society of Safety Engineers’ annual conference: We’re here to help companies provide safe workplaces, but we’ll also crack down on those who don’t.
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Tags: American Society of Safety Engineers, Hilda Solis, Jordan Barab, Safety 2009, Texas construction fatalities
When is a fire escape not a fire escape? When it’s a scaffold, according to a New York Court.
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Tags: demolition, fire escape, scaffold
An employee of a woodworking business is hospitalized in intensive care after a piece of wood pierced his chest and exited his back.
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Tags: American Wood Source, impaled by piece of wood, impalement injuries
In the last two weeks, three undocumented workers have reached settlements totaling $3.85 million for workplace accidents in New York.
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Tags: employer financially responsible, illegal immigrants, injuries to undocumented workers
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