Articles Posted in Fall Accidents

Our Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyers have been reviewing the summary of 2010 workplace injuries and illnesses recently released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

State-specific data has yet to be released by the department, but we have some concerns about the overall statistics presented in the report. Almost 3.1 million workers were injured or became ill while working in private industry jobs in 2010, which equates to 3.5 incidents per 100 full-time or equivalent employees nationwide. This indicated very little change from 2009.

Employers have a responsibility to provide a safe work environment for their employees and keep potential hazards out of the workplace. Yet we frequently post about trench and fall accidents at Boston construction sites on our Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Blog. These severe and sometimes fatal accidents occur because employers don’t take the necessary precautions that are required by law or offer protective equipment to keep workers safe while they are working.

In reviewing the 2010 summary, we found the following to be true:

• Almost 95 percent of the private industry sector cases were injuries, compared to roughly 5 percent reported illness cases.
• More than 1.5 million reported illness or injury cases in the private industry sector were severe enough to require missed time from work, restricted duties or a job transfer. These cases are also known as DART cases.
• DART cases in 2010 occurred at a rate of 1.8 cases per 100 full-time employees which was unchanged from the previous year.
• Incidence rates for less severe cases (non-DART) occurred at a rate of 1.7 cases per 100 full-time workers which was a slight improvement from 2009 when the rate was 1.8.
• Mid-size private industry work sites reported the most cases of injury and illnesses compared to the small establishments reporting the fewest number of cases. Mid-size establishments typically employ between 50 and 249 workers compared to small establishments that only employ 10 workers or less.
• 2.2 million of the injuries recorded at work were in service-providing industries which equates to almost 76 percent of injuries in the private sector. The next highest recordable cases were in the goods-producing industries which was approximately 24 percent of injury cases.
• Goods-producing industries also accounted for over 36 percent of illness cases at work in 2010 resulting in an incidence rate of 31.8 per 10,000 full-time employees. This was an increase from the 29.1 case rate reported in 2009.
• Manufacturing industry sector was the highest subsector of goods-producing industries to report illness cases in 2010 recording the highest incidence rate among all industry sectors at 41.9 cases per 10,000 full-time employees.
• State and local government workers reported roughly 820,300 illness and injury cases in 2010, which equated to 5.7 cases per 100 full-time workers.
• Local government workers accounted for 4 out of 5 illnesses and injuries in the public sector reported in 2010. The rate of cases was significantly higher in 2010 for local government workers than state government workers at 6.1 cases per 100 full time employees to 4.6 cases respectively.

In a recent statement, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis comments that better records need to be kept so that employers know what kind of illnesses and injuries are happening at their establishment. Many employers have a poor record-keeping system or practice in place which prevents workers from reporting when an incident occurs. Knowing what the problem is and how often it occurs is the first step in resolving issues and keeping workers safe in the future.

“As our economy continues to rebound and grow, we must ensure that safety and health are a part of that growth,” says Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “Let’s all remember that no job is a good job unless it is also a safe job.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently released updated materials and new documents for worker safety and health in several industries including construction. Employers are encouraged to provide these documents to employees and refer to them regularly in order to ensure that workers remain safe while performing job duties.
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We posted previously on our Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Blog that 2010 occupational deaths occurred at a rate of 3.5 per 100,000 full-time or equivalent workers, which equals on average roughly 12 people dying on the job every single day last year.

According to recent information released by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of cases of workplace illnesses and injuries in Massachusetts and nationwide weren’t all that great either. There were more than 3 million private sector industry employers who reported an illness or injury caused by a job responsibility assigned to a laborer.

Our Boston workers’ compensation lawyers know that construction is one industry where workers are in danger of risking their lives from fall accidents, transportation accidents or being struck by an object, but the recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report indicated workers in the health care industry are also at considerable risk of illness or injury while performing duties on the clock.

In a recent statement, Secretary of Labor Hilda L Solis said “We remain concerned that more workers are injured in the health care and social assistance industry sector than in any other, including construction and manufacturing, and this group of workers had one of the highest rates of injuries and illness at 5.2 cases for every 100 workers.”

The following are key findings from the 2010 Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Summary:

• In 2010, there was an incidence rate of 3.5 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, slightly down from 3.6 in 2009.
• Incidence rates declined significantly for private industry workplaces in 2010 in total recordable cases.
• The manufacturing industry was the only private industry sector to show an increase in incidence rates of illnesses and injuries. There were 4.3 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2009 which increased to 4.4 in 2010. There is some speculation that this had more to do with less hours worked than the actual decline in cases reported.
• The private construction industry sector reported a 7 percent decrease in total recordable cases going from 4.3 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2009 to 4.0 in 2010. This decline primarily occurred due to the fact that specialty trade contractors reported a similar decrease reporting 4.3 cases per 100 full-time employees in 2010 which was down .3 from the previous year.
• Social assistance and health care workers reported an illness and injury rate of 5.2 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2010. The 2009 case per worker rate was 5.4. This was the only industry sector to report more hours worked and employment opportunities for 2010 when compared to 2009.
• Private industry workers reported 3.4 cases per 100 full-time employees which was unchanged from 2009.
• Poisoning was an illness category that showed an increase in 2010 from 2009, reporting 3 cases per 10,000 full-time employees. The rate was .2 cases in 2009. The incidence rate for illness cases overall showed minimal change from 2009 to 2010.
• National public sector incidence which included over 18 million local and state government workers occurred at a rate of 5.7 cases per 100 full-time employees in 2010.
• Illnesses and injuries occurring at work should never go unreported. Workers’ compensation or disability claims can be complex and difficult to sort out so contact an experienced attorney to help get you on the right track to receive the compensation you deserve.

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A recently released study published in the latest issue of Public Health Reports stated that the premium rates in the country have increased while interest rates on U.S. Treasury bonds and the Dow Jones Industrial Average have decreased, according to Futurity.

Our Boston workers compensation attorneys understand that companies have recently been calculating their premium rates in comparison to their company’s returns from bond markets and stocks. Unfortunately, there are a lot of companies that are no longer calculating their premiums off of the number of claims that have been filed, which most likely has dropped significantly in recent years. We understand that companies are investing to receive a nice little monetary cushion to pay for existing claims. Unfortunately, when these companies that fail to collect on the fluffy cushion, then your premiums are upped in an attempt to regain their losses.

All too often, large companies play the game this way. They lower benefits for existing employees to help maximize their profits. Oftentimes it’s the employees who are injured or disabled that are the ones that suffer in this setup. This is yet another example of how these rates are not properly adjusted in accordance to the number of claims filed or reports of work-related accidents in Massachusetts and elsewhere.

Workers compensation trends are extremely important in organizing and finalizing premium costs. Policymakers use this information so that they can create regulations that can help to protect employees and can keep costs in order. The recent data that should be examined for new policies should come from the 2009 statistics that reported that there were approximately 3.5 billion reports of work-related illness of injuries. These reports cost employers about $74 billion.

Starting back in 1992, cases that required more than 30 days off the job were reported to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since the collection of this data, many researchers have sifted through the information in search of vital information, including the correlation between severe injuries and the effect of premium costs.

Researchers have concluded that even though the number of claims has decreased every year from 1992 to 2007, the rate of premiums continued to increase. Another key finding in this information is that the increase in premiums mirrored the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Treasury bonds.

Ironically, the number of injured workers had nothing to do with the rates of these increasing premiums. Unfortunately, policy makers oftentimes point the finger at accident statistics for the high premium rate hikes and the two have nothing to do with each other.

The bottom line is that legislators and insurance commissioners should focus directly on accident reports and claim rates when calculating premiums instead of focusing on insurance companies’ returns on investments. Workers have the right to be provided with fail and quality workers’ compensation.
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Fatal work injuries in Massachusetts for 2010 were reportedly down when compared to 2009, but the final numbers won’t be posted until Spring of 2012. Preliminary results generally increase by 3 percent when the final report comes out, or at least they have each of the last three years.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Fatal Occupational Injuries Report, so far 51 fatalities have been reported on the job in Massachusetts for 2010 compared to the final count of 64 in 2009.

In a recent statement, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis said “An average 12 workers die on the job every day, and that reality continues to drive the work of the Labor Department.”
Boston workers’ compensation attorneys find it inexcusable for anyone to die on the job considering employers have the responsibility to keep work conditions safe and hazard free. Too many times, we see employers letting safety issues go undetected or unresolved resulting in transportation incidents, fall accidents, struck-by accidents, and employee exposure to harmful substances.
The 2010 Fatal Work Injury Census reported the following key findings:

• Nationwide, there were more than 4,500 fatal work injuries reported in 2010, only four less than the final tally of 4,551 reported in 2009. Given the fact that the preliminary count increases by 3 percent as it has the last 3 years, we could see as many as 4,683 work fatalities in 2010 when all is said and done.
• The most work accidents resulting in death for Massachusetts workers in 2010 were related to fall accidents (15), transportation incidents (14) and assaults or violent acts (12).
• Police officers reported the biggest increase in work fatalities on the job nationwide in 2010 at 40 percent; there were 96 deaths in 2009 compared to 134 law enforcement fatalities in 2010.
• Workers of the non-Hispanic black or African-American ethnic origin reported a 9 percent decrease in occupational fatalities compared to a 2 percent increase in fatal injuries at work for the non-Hispanic white ethnic background.
• Work fatalities by self-employed workers declined by 6 percent nationwide from 2009 to 2010, compared to an increase of 2 percent in occupational fatalities for salary and wage workers.
• Workplace homicides involving women nationwide rose 14 percent in 2010, compared to an overall decrease of 7 percent for workers involved in violent acts or assaults at work.
• Fatal fire incidents at work more than doubled in 2010 from 2009 reporting a total of 109 in 2010 compared to 53 in 2009. The total for 2010 was the highest fire-related accident death total at work reported since 2003.
• There was a decrease by 10 percent from 2009 to 2010 in private construction sector deaths. Consequently, since the peak in construction jobs in 2006, work fatalities at construction sites have declined by almost 40 percent.
• The work injury rate for mining deaths at job sites rose substantially from 12.4 per 100,000 FTE’s in 2009 to 19.9 per 100,000 in 2010. This, in large part, is due to the multiple occupational deaths reported at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and Upper Big Branch Mine incidents, which took several lives.
• As a result, workplace deaths in the private mining industry almost doubled from 2009 to 2010, reporting 99 fatal injuries and 172 fatal injuries respectively. Nationally, this was approximately a 70 percent increase overall from one year to the next.

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Workers who work on scaffolds need more protection from falls and other deadly work accidents in Boston and elsewhere. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently renewed its Alliance with the Scaffold Industry Association Inc. (SIA) to do just that.

“The materials developed through our Alliance are valuable resources for training and educating workers on the hazards they can face in their jobs and how they can be prevented,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Four of the ten most frequently cited OSHA construction standards involve scaffolding, so renewing this Alliance is a great opportunity to build on our work to better protect the men and women who work on scaffolds.”

Our Boston workers compensation attorneys understand that rules and regulations regarding workers who work on scaffolds need to be updated periodically. Workers are faced with more and more hazards and dangers as technology advances and work practices change. It is important for employers and employees to keep up with these changes and to improve safety measures to protect workers from all preventable accidents.

The initial nationwide Alliance was first put into effect back in 2008. Since then, OSHA and SIA have developed Transport Platforms and Mast Climbing Work Platforms safety materials relating to scaffold and fall hazards. They’ve also developed the American National Safety Institute (ANSI) consensus standards. A number of these documents have been translated in to Spanish and Portuguese as well to make them more available to workers of all backgrounds.

Goals of this new version of the Alliance include increasing awareness of OSHA’s rulemaking and enforcement initiatives, developing new effective training and education programs, and conducting outreach and communication activities on workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities. In the meantime, the organizations will continue to emphasize the importance scaffold safety. They’d like to raise awareness about the issues related to mast climbing scaffolding, suspended scaffolding and aerial lift equipment.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics‘ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) there were nearly 90 fatalities that happened in 2007 from scaffolds. In a recent Bureau study, more than 70 percent of workers that were injured in scaffold accidents report that the accident happened because the planking or support gave way, or the employee slipped or was struck by a falling object. All of these can be controlled by compliance with OSHA standards.
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