December 5, 2011 by Fred Hosier
A security surveillance agent monitoring 38 video screens started to put his legs on his desk to revive circulation. His chair tipped over and he was thrown to the flood, sustaining injuries. Will a court allow him to get workers’ comp for those injuries?
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Tags: fell over in chair, Fitzgeralds casino, in scope of employment, Nevada, personal comfort doctrine
December 2, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Two companies and a construction worker have settled a ten-year battle over injuries the worker suffered on the job. Cost: $2.7 million.
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Tags: construction worker, fall from ladder, settlement
December 1, 2011 by Fred Hosier
OSHA has revised its guidance on servicing tires to address current hazards and help workers safely perform maintenance on large vehicles.
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Tags: large vehicle maintenance, service wheels, tire explosion
November 30, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Want fewer injuries at work? Perhaps your company should encourage employees to join weight loss and exercise programs.
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Tags: Falls, obese workers, obesity, sleep apnea, wellness programs
November 29, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Unfortunately for many, staple gun injuries, including ones in which the brain is pierced, are not uncommon in the construction industry. However, doctors say they’ve never seen anything like this case involving a home construction worker in Dallas.
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Tags: brain pierced, staple gun injuries, staple pierces head
November 28, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Some experts advise companies to make light-duty tasks for injured workers tedious to help motivate the employees to return to their regular tasks. It appears this injured worker’s light duty was so boring that she fell asleep on the job.
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Tags: light duty, wage benefits, Workers' comp
November 28, 2011 by Fred Hosier
The writing has been on the wall for a while, but now the federal government has made it official: Interstate truck and bus drivers can no longer use hand-held cell phones while driving.
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Tags: FMCSA, hand-held cell phone ban, hands-free cell phones, PHMSA, texting
November 23, 2011 by Fred Hosier
I don’t get it. Why deny him? I’m speechless. I don’t understand the denial. Those are some of the comments readers left on a story we ran in October about a Joplin, MO, tornado hero who was denied workers’ comp benefits. Now the insurance company has had a change of heart.
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Tags: denied workers' comp benefits, hero, Joplin tornado, Mark Lindquist
November 22, 2011 by Fred Hosier
A worker says he was fired for refusing to wear a sticker with the number “666″ on it, designating the number of injury-free days at the plant. He wouldn’t wear the number because it’s a mark of the devil. Now he’s suing for religious discrimination.
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Tags: 666, injury free, mark of the beast, safety incentives, worker fired
November 21, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Insurance companies have a new tool to catch workers trying to commit workers’ comp fraud, and it’s as close as a computer screen.
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Tags: Facebook, fraud, Twitter, Workers' comp, YouTube
November 14, 2011 by Fred Hosier
In September, an Allentown, PA, newspaper published a series of articles about employees at an Amazon.com warehouse working in severe heat. Now, the other shoe has dropped: An employee sued Amazon for exposure to cold conditions.
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November 9, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Retail giant Wal-Mart appears to be out $10 million in connection with a serious injury suffered by a truck driver who was making a delivery to one of the chain’s stores in northern Colorado.
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Tags: Colorado, jury verdict, slip and fall, Wal-Mart
November 7, 2011 by Fred Hosier
October 31, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Know anyone dressing up as a zombie for Halloween? You might want to pass along this story.
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Tags: Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil: Retribution, zombies
October 28, 2011 by Fred Hosier
On his way to work, an employee parks his car and walks to the facility entrance. He slips, falls, and seriously injures his knee on an icy/snowy sidewalk. The incident didn’t occur on the company’s property. Despite that, the company is still on the hook for workers’ comp. Why?
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Tags: icy sidewalk, slip and fall, Workers' comp
October 26, 2011 by Fred Hosier
The latest statistics on workplace injuries and illnesses contain good news for U.S. workers and their employers, particularly in these challenging economic times.
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Tags: Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction, direct and indirect cost of injuries, illness and injury rate, manufacturing, nonfatal workplace injuries
October 25, 2011 by Fred Hosier
When social services worker Mark Lindquist knew the Joplin, MO, tornado was approaching, he jumped into action to protect three developmentally disabled adults in a group home from harm. Now a workers’ comp insurer says it won’t pay for Lindquist’s extensive injuries that have cost him $2.5 million so far.
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Tags: Joplin tornado, risk, Workers' comp
October 24, 2011 by Fred Hosier
The law caught up with a Toledo, OH, man who was captured on video working on a roofing job while receiving workers’ comp benefits.
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Tags: roofing, Video, workers' comp fraud
October 19, 2011 by Fred Hosier
A worker at a grocery store fell 11 feet onto a concrete floor and suffered broken bones and head trauma. Instead of calling 911, store management lifted the worker into a wheelchair and pushed him to a dock to wait for a relative to take him to the hospital.
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Tags: broken bones, emergency services, employee fall, General Duty Clause, head trauma, Market Basket, repeat citation
October 17, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Did suspension over a safety incident spark a shooting rampage in Cupertino, CA, that left three people dead and six others injured?
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Tags: Lehigh Permanente, shooting, suspension
October 10, 2011 by Fred Hosier
OSHA has ordered a farmer-owned cooperative to increase safety training for grain bin employees and pay a $550,000 fine.
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Tags: farm coop, OSHA settlement, rescue drills, safety consultant, Safety training, trapped in soybeans
October 7, 2011 by Fred Hosier
October 6, 2011 by Fred Hosier
A federal court has ruled that three former Chicago Bears players can’t file for workers’ comp benefits in California and should file in Illinois instead. This appears to end the players’ attempt to file in a state with better benefits.
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Tags: Chicago Bears, NFL, NFL Players Association, Workers' comp
October 5, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Two co-owned trailer manufacturing companies in Texas face a combined $949,800 in OSHA fines following an investigation that was prompted by employee complaints.
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Tags: days away from work, employee complaints, eye injuries, hearing test, toxic fumes
October 3, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Imagine this: A worker is injured and returns to light duty work. After a while he says he “can’t stand it anymore” and asks to be laid off. Then he turns around and applies for full workers’ comp benefits. Did he get them?
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Tags: lay off, light duty, neck and back injury, partial disability benefits, total disability benefits, Workers' comp
September 26, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Should a company’s workers’ comp insurer continue to pay an injured worker who skips medical appointments, doesn’t communicate with doctors and leaves vulgar voice mails for a case worker?
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Tags: doesn't communicate, end workers' comp payments, severe pain, skips medical appointments, uncooperative worker, vulgar voice mail
September 26, 2011 by Fred Hosier
A newspaper has investigated reports about working conditions at an Amazon.com warehouse that serves one-third of the country. Employee claims point to extreme indoor heat, closed doors when it was hot, work rates that couldn’t be sustained and firing threats when workers couldn’t keep up in the heat.
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Tags: Amazon, closed doors, extreme heat, firing threats, heat index, heat stress, Integrity Staffing Solutions, OSHA inspection, paramedics, The Morning Call
September 26, 2011 by Fred Hosier
One worker was killed, another remains hospitalized in critical condition after the collapse of a zip line tower on Hawaii’s Big Island.
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Tags: GoZip LLC, Hawaii, internal injuries, tower collapse, zip line
September 22, 2011 by Fred Hosier
A new OSHA directive outlines the types of businesses and the reasons why inspectors will review a company’s workplace violence prevention efforts.
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Tags: General Duty Clause, healthcare, high-crime areas, OSHA directive, retail, working alone, workplace violence
September 20, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Imagine this: You’re investigating an incident that caused three worker injuries, one of them serious enough to require hospitalization. What are the potential root causes? Lack of safety training? Equipment failure? Sneezing?
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Tags: fire truck, incident investigation, rollover crash, sneezing fit
September 19, 2011 by Fred Hosier
A worker whose job it was to collect overdue cable TV bills, disconnect service and retrieve cable boxes was assaulted while disconnecting service at an apartment complex. Is he eligible for workers’ comp coverage?
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Tags: Boxco, cable boxes, collect cable bills, Workers' comp, workplace assault
September 15, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Bostik, Inc., a manufacturer of adhesives, faces $917,000 in OSHA fines for 50 citations following the agency’s investigation into a March 13, 2011, explosion that injured four workers at the company’s Middleton, MA, plant.
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Tags: acetone, Bostik Inc., explosion, OSHA fine, process safety management
September 14, 2011 by Fred Hosier
If you watched TV news on Sept. 13, you probably saw video of a group of citizens rescuing a motorcyclist who was trapped under a car while both vehicles burned. TV news anchors gushed about the heroism of the rescuers. Does this send the wrong message to would-be untrained rescuers?
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Tags: Brandon Wright, burning car, Matt Lauer, motorcycle rescue, Today show, trapped under a car
September 12, 2011 by Fred Hosier
What happens when a worker quits after an injury and then decides she deserves bigger workers’ comp payments?
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Tags: assembly line, carpal tunnel syndrome, Nissan, reconsideration of benefits, Workers' comp
September 9, 2011 by Fred Hosier
Ten years after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01, controversy surrounds a fund established to help first responders at the World Trade Center (WTC) with their medical bills. Some are getting help, and some aren’t.
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Tags: 9/11, cancer, first responders, First Responders Bill, Ground Zero, post traumatic stress disorder, terrorist attack, World Trade Center, Zadroga Fund
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