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?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: common sense, machine guard, warning sign, Workers' comp
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: back injury, good faith effort, permanent partial disability, sit home and collect comp
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: employee injured at gym, exercise class, Workers' comp
Imagine this: Someone finds one of your employees on the ground, conscious but incoherent, in your company’s parking lot. He dies two days later in the hospital. Cause: blunt trauma to his head. Is this death reportable to OSHA?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: blunt force trauma, OSHA reportable, parking lot, work-related employee death
A jury in Illinois has awarded the family of a worker $6.74 million after he died at an Archer Daniels Midland plant in 2007.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Archer Daniels Midland, record jury verdict, third degree burns
A diabetic employee can’t control his hypoglycemic episodes. In recent episodes, he’s become disoriented around dangerous equipment and threatened violence against co-workers. Can you fire him for safety reasons, or is he protected under disability law?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Americans with Disabilities Act, diabetes, disability, fire worker for safety reasons, hypoglycemic episode
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:
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: climbing into truck, ruptured tendon, shipping yard, tractor trailer, Workers' comp
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: lap-band surgery, morbid obesity, weight-loss surgery, Workers' comp, workplace injury
Have you ever fired someone for violating a company safety rule? In this case, a company did just that and then found itself in court on a charge of racial discrimination.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: lockout/tagout, racial discrimination, safety violation
Have you ever fired someone for violating a company safety rule? In this case, a company did just that and then found itself in court on a charge of racial discrimination.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: fired for safety violation, Georgia-Pacific, racial discrimination
The Transportation Department will require direct observation collections for all return-to-duty and follow-up drug tests for transportation workers in safety-sensitive jobs.
Read the rest of this entry »
Have you ever been suspicious of a workers’ comp claim? Be careful. A recent ruling appears to draw an important — and, in this case, expensive — distinction between “reasonable” and what you might call “reflexive” suspicion.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: employee surveillance, recent court ruling, workers' comp claim
Have you ever been suspicious of a workers’ comp claim? Be careful. A recent ruling appears to draw an important — and, in this case, extremely expensive — distinction between “reasonable” and what you might call “reflexive” suspicion.
Read the rest of this entry »
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!
Read the rest of this entry »
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: construction, illegal immigrant workers, workplace accidents
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: New York state labor law, responsibility for safety, scaffold
A new federal court ruling further complicates whether you have to pay employees for the time they spend putting on and taking off safety gear. This recent ruling is a split decision for employers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: court decision, donning and doffing safety gear, safety gear
A new federal court ruling further complicates whether you have to pay employees for the time they spend putting on and taking off safety gear. This recent ruling is a split decision for employers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: donning and doffing PPE, pay for donning and doffing, putting on and taking off PPE
When is a fire escape not a fire escape? When it’s a scaffold, according to a New York Court.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: demolition, fire escape, scaffold
When employees get injured at work, they can’t sue because workers’ comp is their “exclusive remedy,” right? That’s not the case if a company is found to have intentionally allowed employees to be harmed, as this case shows.
Read the rest of this entry »
Although the Occupational Safety and Health Act doesn’t include provisions for criminal penalties, prosecutors will use environmental law to send managers to jail for violations.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: concealed facts from OSHA, lie to OSHA, plant manager sentenced to prison
Was an employee’s skin condition caused or simply aggravated by contact with chemicals at work? The distinction played an important part in this workers’ comp case.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: chemicals at work, psoriasis, Workers' comp
What constitutes loss of use of feet and hands to qualify for permanent disability? A state court says it’s not necessary for employees to actually injure their feet or hands for that to be the case.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: hip injury, permanent disability payments, shoulder injury, slip and fall, workers' compensation
Now more than ever, it’s important for companies to clearly establish who is responsible for safety at multi-employer worksites.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: contractor, multi-employer worksites, OSHA fines, subcontractor
Companies won’t be facing a new, stricter permissible exposure limit (PEL) for hexavalent chromium.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: federal court, hexavalent chromium, permissible exposure limit
Loading ...
