Articles Posted in Boston Work Accidents

When employers take steps to try to protect workers, often the focus is on preventing accidents that lead to injuries. An accident has an immediate and devastating impact when it occurs and the effects are immediately felt by workers, their families and the employer. However, EHS Today has recently suggested that preventing workplace accidents should not necessarily be the primary focus of employers who want to improve overall safety and work conditions. Instead, EHS Today suggests that the real concern for employers should perhaps be centered on preventing work-related illnesses and exposure to hazardous substances.

Our Boston work injury attorneys know that thousands of workers are exposed to hazardous substances and toxins on the job and develop work-related illnesses as a result. We urge employers to maintain a focus both on preventing workplace injuries and on preventing workplace illnesses in order to create the safest worksite possible.

Workplace Illnesses a Major Cause for Concern

According to EHS Today, there are more than 2.3 million workers who die each year across the globe as a result of hazards in the workplace. An estimated 318,000 of these deaths are due to occupational injuries or injuries that happen on the job. The remainder of the deaths result from work-related illnesses. This means that as many as 2.3 million people die each and every year because their jobs made them sick.

Despite the fact that many more people die each year as a result of illness than injury, most workplace safety initiatives focus on preventing workplace accidents. While this is important, employers also need to give equal or greater attention to preventing circulatory diseases and cancers. Together, cancer and work-related circulatory diseases cause as many as 55 percent of all worker deaths worldwide while injuries cause only 18 percent.

Just in the United States alone, an estimated 37,000 to 61,000 people die each year from occupational cancer. This number is inexact and is a large range because it is often difficult to conclusively prove that a particular case of cancer can be tied to a workplace incident or exposure to toxins at work. This is because there are generally many causes of cancers and because cancers develop slowly over time. A worker exposed to a toxin at work could develop cancer five, ten, or even twenty years or more after the initial exposure occurred.

Unfortunately, this long period between toxic exposure and workplace illness is a major part of the reason why employers tend to focus more on resolving immediate situations and preventing accidents that occur and cause injuries right away rather than focusing on preventing workplace exposure to toxins. An employer who has an employee in an accident will have an immediate workers’ compensation claim and an immediate OSHA inspection may be prompted. Exposing workers to a toxin, on the other hand, comes with no immediate consequences.

The problem with this focus on preventing accidents is that work-related illness rates are on the rise in industrialized countries even as workplace injury rates drop due to prevention efforts and workplace safety laws. Employers need to make a commitment to reversing this troubling trend and can do so by taking prevention of workplace illness seriously.
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Construction projects, road repair, and other outdoor maintenance projects often take place as the weather heats up. Though workers may be out of the elements, including rain and snow, they may also face an additional threat–heat illness.

This summer, OSHA is working to create awareness around the deadly (but often overlooked) risk of heat illness. OSHA’s nationwide initiative, the “Heat Illness Prevention Campaign,” is focused on teaching workers and employers about the potential dangers of hot weather.

Every year, thousands of workers get sick from exposure to heat. In the most severe cases, workers can lose their lives. Our Boston workers’ compensation lawyers have seen a wide range of injuries and illnesses impact the lives of America’s workers. We are dedicated to preventing these accidents and helping victims and their families recover in the event of an injury or death.

Any workers who are exposed to humidity and hot weather could be at risk of heat illness. Workers who work with heavy machinery or who exert an extreme amount of physical energy in hot climates are at additional risk. If you are a worker who does heavy lifting, wears heavy protective clothing, or you work with equipment that projects heat, you should take extra precaution to prevent heat illness. While some workers can build up a tolerance to heat stroke over time, new workers should be especially aware of the risk of how heat may affect their body and remain particularly wary of heat illness symptoms.

What is heat illness? Under extreme heat conditions, sweating is not sufficient to cool down the human body. Workers who are wearing heavy protective gear are unable to effectively cool down. Even workers who are wearing light clothing may not be able to reduce body temperature from dangerous levels.

Heat illnesses can range in severity from heat rash and heat cramps to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Some cases can cause permanent brain damage and the most severe heat illnesses can result in death. If you suspect that you are suffering from a heat illness you should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Similarly, if you suspect that a fellow co-worker is suffering from heat illness, you should take immediate action and call 9-1-1.

There are a number of precautions you can take to prevent heat stroke. OSHA advises the simple formula of water, rest, and shade. Employees and employers should be aware of the dangers of heat illness and take necessary steps to prevent illness and injury. This may include drinking water, taking breaks, and limiting time out in direct sunlight. Employers should implement these prevention tips during training if workers are going to be in the heat for long periods of time.

Since the 2011 launch of the campaign, OSHA has disseminated information to more than 7 million workers and employers. The information has come in the form of posters, cards, and training guides. OSHA aims to prevent these illnesses as well as give employees and employers the information they need to react quickly in the event of heat illness. OSHA has also partnered with other state agencies and organizations to create more awareness around heat illness.
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Dangerous working conditions continue to threaten the health and safety of employees. While work-related injury or disease could affect any worker, some industries and individuals are at a higher risk.

Recent studies and reports indicate that minorities and immigrant workers in construction, maintenance and other hazardous industries are at greater risk of accidents, injury, and fatality. Our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys are experienced in representing victims of injury and death, including minorities, immigrants and their families impacted by workplace accidents.

The Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) is the agency charged with regulating workplace injury and creating safe working conditions to protect workers. OSHA has the authority to create laws and regulations and to enforce these regulations by assigning penalties when a company or organization is in violation of OSHA standards. OSHA is responsible for overseeing workplace conditions, including equipment, training, and safety policies. When a company fails to meet guidelines or violates a regulation, OSHA can fine that agency, even if no accident or injury occurred.

Foreign-born workers in the United States constitute 16% of the labor market. These workers have a higher likelihood of working in service occupations including production, transportation, moving occupations, natural resources development industries, maintenance, and construction. Nearly half of this foreign-born labor force market is Hispanic.

As we mentioned in a previous post, more blacks and Hispanics are injured on the job. This may because they make up a higher portion of workers in dangerous industries. Undocumented workers in these industries may also be less likely to speak up about OSHA violations or other known dangerous working conditions. Many undocumented workers are worried about deportation. They may also not realize that they are also protected by OSHA and can file civil actions against negligent individuals or entities when they suffer an injury.

While some critics of OSHA suggest that its standards limit hiring capabilities, the agency has saved lives and prevented injury to millions of American workers. Despite this suggestion, it has been proven that OSHA inspections can also save companies billions of dollars in fees and costs for workers’ compensation, lost hours and the lost productivity that can occur after a workplace injury or fatality.

Workers who are in fishing, logging, construction and the oil industries are at the greatest risk of fatality. In any industry, companies must be held to high standards to protect the interests of employees. Worksites that remain unexamined or fall below OSHA standards could create a serious hazard for workers resulting in permanent injury or wrongful death. Though occupational fatality rates have declined since the establishment of OSHA, there is some evidence that safety conditions are in decline. According to data collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) there are about 13 deaths per day caused by work-accidents.

Greater workplace danger can put additional minorities and immigrants at a greater risk.
If you or someone you love was injured in a workplace accident, it is critical to involve an experienced advocate as soon as possible. Independent and OSHA investigations can be critical to proving negligence in a case involving workplace injury.
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Factory workers have faced struggles for a safe workplace for generations. Early abysmal conditions in factories highlighted in works like Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle led to the rise of unions and to the passage of many workplace safety laws in the United States. Yet, even today, factory workers still continue to work in unsafe conditions, in old and dangerous buildings, doing repetitive tasks that put stress on their joints and the soft tissues of their bodies, year in and year out.

Our Boston work injury attorneys know that there is little oversight of factory conditions due to understaffing of OSHA workers that results in inspections of workplaces being far too infrequent. While conditions are better in the United States than in other parts of the world, conditions are still far from optimal and workers are still at risk of being hurt or killed on the job. More needs to be done to make factories safe and one MIT Political Science Professor has offered some suggestions on what could be done to improve conditions.

Improving Conditions for Workers in Factories

According to MIT’s website, MIT political scientist Richard Locke has studied the question of factory safety issues for more than a decade. Locke has worked with a team of researchers, which collected information from companies worldwide and has explored different options for improving workplace safety conditions.

Locke had long believed that the best solution would involve multi-national firms auditing factories where suppliers worked to produce goods. These audits would focus on safety violations and the corporations could threaten to withhold business from suppliers that did not maintain safe factory conditions.

Unfortunately, Locke now believes that private oversight and the free market system may not be enough to keep workers safe. Locke cites dangerous conditions, excessive hours, poor wages and child labor as major concerns for many factories. While some of these problems aren’t major issues in the United States due to tough child labor laws and reasonably effective enforcement of wage and hour laws, other problems are serious concerns locally including the risk of dangerous conditions. All of these problems are major issues throughout the world, however, and lives are being lost as the recent factory collapse in Bangladesh so tragically illustrated.

Now, Locke believes that the best and perhaps only way to combat these problems is for governments to protect certain fundamental rights including the freedom to bargain collectively. Locke suggests that the best solution may be to consider factories as part of a global supply chain and to facilitate active collaboration between the private sector, states and nongovernmental organizations to set and maintain standards for acceptable working conditions that will help to protect workers.

In the United States, of course, we already have government oversight. However, it is questionable whether that oversight is effective in light of the recent AFL-CIO report indicating that workplace inspections are rare and that fines are too low to actually encourage employers to follow safety rules.

If Locke’s position is correct and the only fix for workers is a partnership between the private sector and government, then his advice is not just important for people in countries like Bangladesh but is also important here in the United States where we have a long way to go yet to make factories as safe as possible for employees.
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In the United States, the goal is to be a society where people of all races are treated equally and enjoy equal protections under the law. Unfortunately, this is too often not the reality. Recent data shows that there is a significantly higher rate of workplace deaths among Hispanics and African Americans as compared to people of other races. While this most recent report confirms this fact, this is not new information and the statistics for years have shown that minority employees have a higher death rate on the job.

Our Boston work injury attorneys know that employers have an obligation to all employees, regardless of race, color, religion, class or national origin. Every employee deserves a safe workplace and it is the job of employers to provide the protections that are necessary to reduce the number of deaths on the job.

African Americans and Latinos More Likely to Die At Work

According to ABC News, a recent report indicated that Hispanics make up approximately 15 percent of the total labor market in the United States. However, a total of 20 percent of workplace fatalities involve Hispanics, which means that a disproportionate number of Hispanics in the labor market are suffering fatal work injuries. In fact, Hispanics have the highest rate of workplace deaths of all workers.

The number of Hispanics who are killed as a result of workplace injuries also seems to be growing. In 2011, for example, there was a three percent increase in the number of Latino workers who were killed on he job as compared with the prior year. This increase occurred at a time when the overall rate of workplace fatalities has been on a steady decline from a record 6,600 deaths in 1994.

In 2011, 729 of the 4,600 workers killed on the job were Latino workers. This was 22 more deaths than the 707 Latino workers who were killed in 2010. This was the first increase in the number of Hispanic workers killed on the job since 2006. African Americans also saw an increase in the number of on-the-job injuries.

While the number of deaths among both African and American Latino workers rose from 2010 to 2011, the number of fatalities among white workers declined by three percent. This makes the discrepancy between the number of white workers killed on the job and the number of workers of other races killed on the job even larger since the number of deaths among whites has declined while the number of deaths among African Americans and Latinos continues to rise.

Many of the Latino workers who were killed were foreign born workers and most were from Mexico. An estimated 500 of the 729 Latino workers were said to be foreign-born. These workers may not have enjoyed the full protections of the U.S. worker safety laws, especially if some of the workers were low-wage undocumented workers. Employers tend to take advantage of the fact that undocumented immigrants may not be able to pursue workplace safety claims against them, which is one of the reasons why people are calling for immigration reform. It is likely also one of the reasons why more Hispanic workers died as a result of workplace injuries than white workers did over the course of the year.

Unfortunately, these figures are nothing new; Latinos have had a higher workplace fatality rate for the past 15 years. Something needs to change and employers need to start taking the rights of all workers of all races much more seriously.
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In this second of our two-part series detailing worker deaths and injuries in Massachusetts, our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys want to focus on the specific dangers, as well as what kinds of measures might be implemented to curb future tragedies.

The report, Dying for Work in Massachusetts, reveals that of the 32 worker deaths reported last year, falls accounted for a huge portion – particularly in the construction industry.

One of those described was a a 49-year-old painter from Lowell. He had hoisted a 2.5-gallon bucket of paint as he stood two stories above the ground on a ladder. The ladder shifted. He plummeted 20 feet to the ground and died.

Falls accounted for six worker deaths in Massachusetts last year, and since 2008, they have been the cause of more than half of all construction industry injuries and deaths.

Cancer was another major workplace danger, with firefighters in particular at risk. The carcinogens released from toxic, burning material undoubtedly contributed. We are also continuing to see diagnoses handed down for mesothelioma, resulting from asbestos exposure suffered years ago by shipfitters, electricians, auto manufacturers, construction crews and others.

Drowning and/or being lost at sea continues to be a big problem in Massachusetts, as the area relies so heavily on the fishing and marine industry. This resulted in four deaths last year.

Tree care also is an extremely dangerous occupation, resulting in three deaths in 2012. One of those was the owner of a Christmas tree fall, who was killed while taking down a maple tree on his own property. The tree reportedly fell the wrong way at the base, and he was unable to escape the impact. Often, the cause of arbor-related deaths are falls, but dangerous or malfunctioning equipment has also been a significant concern for those in this industry.

One occupation for which we saw a sudden spike in danger was school crossing guard. The report indicated that over the last four years, two Massachusetts school crossing guards have been killed and nine others injured, after being struck by vehicles. Part of the problem is that crosswalks reportedly aren’t well-maintained, but also, motorists have a general disregard for the authority of these individuals carrying out this essential function to ensure our children come home safely.

The bigger problem, which could be applied to all workplaces, is that the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, is underfunded and understaffed and is bound by an outdated law that slows their findings and caps their penalties.

For example, the report indicates that if each regional OSHA were to inspect every workplace in its district, it would take 140 years – just in Massachusetts.

What’s more, the average fine for employers whose negligence resulted in worker death was just $9,500.

Out of those 32 worker deaths, just five of those investigations have thus far been closed with a penalty. All except one of those resulted in a fine that was $12,000 or less.

Many workplaces calculate that it’s cheaper to pay the fines resulting from worker injuries or deaths than to comply with appropriate safety standards to prevent these scenarios from happening in the first place.

Sadly, they’re right.
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People in Boston are “Dying for Work” according to a new report released by a coalition of union organizations and employee advocates, detailing the various dangers posing a threat to worker safety throughout Massachusetts.

In the first of this two-part series, Boston workers’ compensation attorneys will be exploring some of the more serious risks outlined in the report.

The report, “2013 Dying for Work in Massachusetts: The Loss of Life and Limb in Massachusetts Workplaces,” was compiled by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, which is the umbrella organization that represents some 750 local unions, as well as the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) and the Western Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (Western MassCOSH). The goal was to highlight the fact that work continues to be a hazardous place for the people of Massachusetts.

In 2012, there were 32 people killed in this state on the job. Most of those suffered fatal injuries while at work, but there were also seven firefighters who died from heart disease and cancer that has been traced back to work.

While we often hear so much about work dangers that cause immediate maiming or injury, we tend to talk less about a more prevalent problem: occupational disease. An estimated 320 workers in Massachusetts last year died of an occupational disease. Further, the authors of this study say that conservatively, another 1,800 workers were diagnosed with a form of cancer that was caused by exposure to some toxin at work. Another 50,000 Massachusetts workers were believed to have suffered serious injury last year as a result of workplace toxin exposure.

Over the past 25 years, the number of worker deaths throughout the state has seen a marked fluctuation. For example, there were 91 fatalities reported in 1999. Then in 2002, there were 49 worker deaths. The following year, there were 81. Then there were 58 in 2011 and 32 last year.

While we tend to think of young workers as being the most vulnerable on the job, the average age of Massachusetts workers killed last year was 50, though it ranged from those as young as 19 to those as old as 73. More than half of workplace fatalities involved someone 50 or older. Another 30 percent were between the ages of 40 and 49.

Unsurprisingly, one of the most dangerous occupations in the state was construction. It accounted for 6 of the 32 job fatalities, or 19 percent. Another dangerous job was fisher and boat captain, four of whom died at work last year, accounting for 13 percent. It’s worth noting that over the last dozen years, fishermen and lobstermen have suffered the most work-related deaths of any other occupation in the state, with nearly 60 dying over the course of the last 12 years. Firefighters suffered the highest portion of fatalities last year, with 7 suffering line of duty deaths, accounting for 22 percent of the total. All of those deaths were attributable to heart disease or cancer.

The causes of death varied, but generally, it could be broken down into one of five categories: Cancers/illnesses, transportation and motor vehicle incidents, falls, commercial fishing and workplace violence.

Part 2 of our series will delve a bit deeper into the exact circumstances surrounding these tragedies, and what might be done in the future to promote prevention.
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Recently, Zywave completed its 2013 P&C Workers’ Compensation & Safety Survey. More than 3,100 participants responded to the survey, which asked employers what their primary concerns were about workers’ compensation issues. These results showed that employers are primarily focused on cost control after accidents.

Unfortunately, our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys know that cost-control efforts can sometimes come at the expense of workers. When an employer or insurer is primarily focused on keeping costs down, this means that the employer or insurer wants to pay the minimum in benefits. Workers who are injured on the job, on the other hand, want to ensure that they get the full compensation possible so they can have their bills and losses covered and be able to receive sufficient income if their work injuries have left them disabled.

Employers Primarily Concerned About Cost Control

According to Zywave, employers were asked to rate their level of concern about many different issues related to workers’ compensation matter. The study revealed that:

• 53 percent of employers described cost control after accidents as something they were either “very” or “somewhat” concerned about. More employers expressed strong concern for cost control than about any other topics.
• 50 percent of employers indicated that risk control is something they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about. Risk control is the insurance industry term used here to describe accident prevention. In other words, fewer employers expressed strong concern about accident prevention than about cost containment.
• Only 23 percent of employers indicated they were very or somewhat concerned about workplace violence.

While this could mean that employers simply don’t see workplace violence or accident prevention as big issues within their industry, the fact is that workers are at risk from accidents and assaults in almost every profession. Employers should be very or somewhat concerned about these issues and should focus seriously on keeping workers safe.

Ensuring Workers’ Get the Benefits They Need

The high percentage of employers who expressed concerns about cost control underscores the need to ensure that workers are getting the benefits that they deserve. Although employers can and should focus on the bottom line, this focus should never come at the expense of protecting employees who are hurt on the job. Employers buy workers’ compensation insurance specifically to ensure that costs and losses are covered and insurance should pay out the full benefits a worker needs and is entitled to receive.

If you were injured at work and you believe that your benefits are being unfairly limited or stopped too early, it is important to get help from a work injury lawyer to protect your rights. Employers, on the other hand, should remember that the very best way to control work injury costs is to prevent work injuries from happening in the first place.
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When the tragic bombing occurred at the Boston Marathon, the news was full of the carnage that the bombs wrought on victims. The serious injuries sustained by spectators and runners were highlighted in many reports and everyone rightfully rallied around those who had been hurt, donating blood and setting up funds to raise money.

These actions were the actions of a city coming together to restore hope and they reflect everything that is right about America. What wasn’t widely reported, however, is that injuries similar to those suffered by victims of the bomb blast happen every day in the world. Our Boston injury attorneys know that injuries of these types are common in industrial accidents, which tend to happen quietly behind the scenes often with minimal press attention.

Industrial Accident Injuries Similar to Bombing Injuries

One news station, NBC Philadelphia, did take note of the unspoken truth that industrial workers suffer grave harm on a routine basis as a result of accidents that occur in chemical plans and other dangerous workplaces.

As reported by NBC Philadelphia, the force of the blasts caused by the bombs at the Boston Marathon is very similar to the force of a blast when there is an explosion at a chemical plant. In chemical plant explosions, the workers who are doing gas work or who are doing work on high pressure piping are often seriously injured or killed as a result of the tremendous force. Like those victimized by the Boston bombers, these workers may lose their limbs or lose their lives as a result.

The Consequences of Injuries from High-Velocity Explosions
When an amputation occurs as a result of a high-velocity explosion, whether from a bomb or from an industrial accident, there is a very lengthy recovery period. Doctors first need to stabilize the person who suffered the injuries and need to clean and close the wound in order to prevent an infection from developing.

The wounds must then be given time to heal before any further rehabilitation interventions are possible. Those who receive prosthetic limbs to replace the limbs that are lost will typically have to wait for at least three weeks before the wound is healed enough to begin fittings for the prosthesis. After this, adjustments must be made to ensure that the prosthesis is comfortable and that it fits well.

The process of learning to use the prosthesis is also a lengthy one. In many cases, rehabilitation becomes necessary and can last for six months or longer. Ideally, at the end of this process, the injured individual will be able to use the prosthetic limb just as he or she would use a natural limb. Over time, however, the prosthesis may need to be replaced with repeat surgeries and additional medical interventions.

Industrial Accident Victims Recover in Silence
Tragically, the victims of the Boston marathon will now need to endure the recovery process. The press and public are likely to focus on the aftermath and the recovery of those who were injured in this horrific event, which is a type of follow-up coverage that industrial accidents rarely get.

When an industrial accident quietly happens behind the scenes, only those affected will usually know about what occurred. The injured workers will need to turn to workers’ compensation benefits to have their costs covered and they will go through the arduous recovery process with little attention or support from strangers. The industrial accident is just another workplace accident that will be forgotten by all except those whose lives are changed by the injuries they endured.
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On April 17, the fertilizer plant owned by West Fertilizer Company exploded in a fiery ball of flames. The plant was destroyed, along with 75 homes nearby, which were also demolished by the force of the blast. A nursing home, an apartment complex and a nearby school were also damaged. The property loss, however, was not the worst consequence of the accident. At least 14 people were killed, including a plant employee and several firefighters. Hundreds more sustained serious injury.

Following the deadly explosion, many questions were raised about just how such a tragedy could have occurred. Our Boston industrial accident attorneys know there are strict regulations in place for fertilizer plants to ensure that the plants are safe and the risk of explosion is minimized. However, as the New York Times pointed out in a recent article, this fertilizer plant fell through the cracks of regulatory oversight with devastating consequences.

Absence of Oversight Leads to Deadly Explosion

Fertilizer plants are inherently dangerous places. Fertilizer is largely made up of ammonium nitrate, a nitrogen-rich chemical that resembles table salt and that is popular with farmers for fertilizing crops. Unfortunately, ammonium nitrate is extremely combustible. In fact, Timothy McVeigh used ammonium nitrate in the Oklahoma City bombing that took place in 1995.

The West Fertilizer Company plant had this ammonium nitrate present in the plant and it was the ammonium nitrate that caused the serious explosion to occur. However, although more than a week has passed since the explosion, the New York Times points out that investigators did not know how much ammonium nitrate had been stored at the plant nor whether the nitrate had been stored in a safe manner. While there is supposed to be some regulation of ammonium nitrate, it also remains unclear which state, federal or local agencies may have been informed of the presence of the ammonium nitrate.

With the government agencies unsure of who was supposed to be regulating the plant, it is pretty clear that no one was actually monitoring it. Thus, although there were laws on the local level, the state level and the federal level to ensure safety, no one was enforcing those laws and the plant owners were likely not living up to them. As one federal official quoted in the Times said: “The whole thing may have fallen through a number of regulatory cracks.”

The fact that a dangerous fertilizer plant with an explosive chemical fell through the cracks is something that should be worrying to every consumer and every business owner alike. If even this dangerous business with highly explosive materials could fall through the cracks, there is no telling how many other potential dangerous worksites are out there just waiting for something to go wrong.

A lack of regulatory oversight and guidance could lead to another disaster, like the explosion in West Texas. A failure to enforce safety laws could also do damage on a smaller but no less severe scale as individual workers at dangerous workplaces throughout the country fall victim to injury due to unsafe working conditions.

Avoiding this unfortunate fate is essential. Not only should government authorities vow to do better when it comes to enforcing regulations in the future, but employers should also take it upon themselves to ensure that they are not putting their workers or the community at large in a dangerous situation.
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