Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog

Employees may now be better protected against chemical-related work accidents in Fitchburg and elsewhere. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently revised its Hazard Communication Standard. Now it’s aligned with the system that the United Nations’ uses to label these materials. The revisions of these standards could potentially save the lives of nearly 45 workers a year in addition to the more than $475 million it’s expected to bring in through enhanced productivity in the U.S. each year.

Our Massachusetts workers compensation lawyers understand that the new Hazard Communication Standard will help to improve the consistency, quality and clarity of the danger-related information that employees will receive. All of this new information will help to make it safer for employees to complete their jobs and will help employers to stay competitive in marketplaces around the world. It all starts with a little bit of understanding.

As we said, the Hazard Communication Standard is being revised to match the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals in the UN. The new Standard will be in full effect in 2016 and will help to reduce the confusion about the dangers of chemicals on the job, help to boost safety training as well as help to improve the understanding of hazards presented by chemicals, especially for low literacy workers. Under the new standard, chemicals will be classified according to their physical and health hazards. The new standard will also help to ensure that safety data sheets and labels are consistent for all chemicals that are produced in the U.S. as well as the ones that are imported.

In addition to the fatalities that the new standard is expected to prevent every year, it’s also expected to prevent nearly 500 illnesses and injuries annually. It’s also expected to reduce trade barriers and result in savings of more than $32 million to U.S. businesses that update labels and data sheets for dangerous chemicals.

Dr. David Michaels with the Occupational Safety and Health reminds the work force about the Hazard Communication Standard of 1983. That standard gave employers and employees the right to know about the risks associated with these dangerous chemicals. The newly-revised standard gives employers and employees the right to understand these same risks and dangers.

There were more than 400 workers killed because of harmful chemicals on the job in 2010, according to preliminary statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Officials with OSHA are hoping to significantly reduce this number by helping to better educate employees about the risks associated with dangerous chemicals. Chemicals are some of the most dangerous hazards that workers across the country are being exposed to on a daily basis. It’s important to keep workers educated about the risks associated with these materials to help to keep them safe on the job.
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One company in Massachusetts is in some big trouble with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). According to OSHA, the company’s marble and granite fabrication operation was cited with more than 10 violations of the administration’s workplace safety standards, as well as for neglecting to reduce the risks of on-the-job accidents in Woburn. All of these violations come with proposed fines totaling nearly $48,000.

International Stone Inc. was inspected by one of the OSHA Area Offices back in December after a complaint was filed regarding safety and work operations at one of the company’s facilities. OSHA inspectors witnessed workers polishing and cutting marble and granite on grinders that were not equipped with guards. Employees were also not wearing hand, face or eye protection. OSHA also concluded that the company was using electrical equipment and outlets that were unapproved and were being used in wet locations. The company was also noted for misusing extension cords, blocking access to circuit breakers, having illegible and worn out control buttons on its cranes, failing to eliminate trip and fall dangers, obstructing emergency exits and not properly marking exit doors.

Our Massachusetts workers compensation lawyers understand that these were all serious violations that were recorded by OSHA officials. These violations came with fines of nearly $40,000. Employers are required to provide safe and healthful work conditions for all employees. When companies fail to obey work safety rules, and OSHA finds out, companies typically find themselves in big trouble and ultimately will likely draw fines that could total into the tens of thousands of dollars. When a company is issued a serious violation, it means that employers should have known about the hazards and the risks for serious injury or even death that were found on the job.

International Stone Inc. was also cited by OSHA investigators with two repeat violations. This tacked on another $12,600 to the proposed fines. Included in these findings were violations that were extremely similar to the violations that were discovered back in 2008 when the company’s Marshfield location was inspected by OSHA. These violations were for failing to inspect cranes and the lifting hooks of these cranes in order to point out and fix potential defects. The second repeat violation was for using unapproved extension cords in wet areas.

“Left uncorrected, these conditions expose employees to the hazards of electrocution, lacerations, amputations, crushing by heavy objects, and eye and facial injuries,” said Robert Kowalski, an OSHA area director.

International Stone Inc. has 15 business days from the issue date of the citations to meet with their OSHA area directors, comply with the findings or contest them in front of the Independent Review Commission.
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Did you know that your mind has the ability to reduce your risks of a work-related accident in Boston or wherever you may work? It’s true, according to a recent study from the University of Georgia. A newly-released study, “Perception and Work-Life Balance are Key Factors in Workplace Safety,” concludes that when workers’ perceive a positive safety climate, their risks for work-related injuries can decrease by more than 30 percent.

According to SafetyCommunity.com, the perception of safety climate breaks down a worker’s feelings toward the importance of safety in the workplace. We’re not saying that if you just “think” you’re safe then you’re going to be. We’re saying that actions taken by safety planners, manager and company owners can help to increase a worker’s trust in a company’s safety policies and can ultimately reduce their risks for a work accident.

“We’ve known for some time that certain occupations are more dangerous than others due to a variety of physical and other hazards,” said Dave DeJoy, University of Georgia professor of health promotion and behavior.

In the last 2 decades, there have been a number of studies that have concluded that organizational and management factors play a critical work in the risks for work-related accidents. These actions oftentimes play a huge role in the risks for on-the-job injuries. Our Massachusetts injury lawyers understand that there needs to be organizational and management actions taken frequently to continue to ensure that workplaces are safe for everyone. You see, we can create safety controls and procedures, but if they’re not continuously enforced and maintained, then that falls on management. To have a safe work environment for everyone, all parties need to work together at all times. Better team efforts toward safer workplaces help to increase workers’ perception of safety and help to increase physical safety.

Another important factor in the recent study from the University of Georgia was the contributions of family-related issues to work-related accidents. The study did in fact find that workers who were dealing with family interference at the job had higher rates of injury.

DeJoy says that many like to think that family and work are two different things. We’re finding out that’s not always the case. Researchers are concluding that the balance, or unbalance, of work, family and life has the ability to affect your work, whether it is positive or negative.

Regardless of what factors may or may not be involved in a worker’s personal life, it’s important to provide them with the safest work conditions possible while they’re on the job and earning a paycheck. It’s a federal requirement for employers to do so. The concerns for injury deserve to, and have a legal right to be, a top focus of employers.

“Injury is a failure of management,” said DeJoy. “Organizations who blame individuals for injuries do not create a positive safety climate.”
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A recent two-day blackout in Back Bay not only left local businesses fearing their losses, but it also left NStar employees with some dangerous work conditions. According to NStar spokeswoman Caroline Pretyman, the company experienced mechanical failure to one of its transformers. More than 20,000 business and residential customers were left without power, according to the Boston Globe.

In addition to the outages that the mechanical failure caused, the company planned to shut off power to nearly 10,000 additional customers to help the power company’s employees to change customers “from a temporary connection to the company’s permanent underground network.” Power restoration and other duties carried out by these utility workers can place them at some serious risks for on-the-job injuries in Massachusetts.

These employees must be thoroughly trained to help minimize the risks associated with their job and with the dangers presented by electricity, working outdoors, working at height and other environmental risks. Employers and company owners are required to make sure that every employee has received adequate training for the job. Procedures need to be laid out and practiced so that everyone involved can be ready for disasters, like the recent Back Bay blackout.

Our Massachusetts workers compensation lawyers understand that in addition to training, these employees need to be provided with the necessary personal protection equipment (PPE). This PPE is actually recommended for all kinds of recovery tasks, responses and operations. It is recommended by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that these workers are provided with the following:

-A hard hat (with an appropriate ANSI rating for exposure to high voltage) to help protect them from overhead impact and electrical hazards.

-Eye protection that includes side shields.

-Hand protection (appropriately rated and tested electrician’s gloves).

-ANSI-approved protective footwear.

-Respiratory protection as necessary.

-Footwear with dielectric properties for outsole, insole and toe cap.

-Non-conductive clothing.

-Personal fall arrest system including anchor points, anchorages, connectors, lifelines, lanyards, harnesses, anchor points and anchorages.

Employees should always remember that lines could in fact be energized, despite an outage. It happens. Whenever you’re working with electricity, assume that lines are active. Workers are also urged to use live-line tools that are up-to-date in their certification, that pass visual inspection and that are properly rated. Lastly, workers dealing with electric sources in the air and from power lines need to be using the proper fall-arrest, travel-restricting or work-positioning equipment. This is required for all workers who are working more than 4 feet above the ground. Regardless of what duties may be on the agenda, it’s important to keep employees well-trained and completely protected.

“But we had never…jump-started a grid off of another grid. We were learning, to some degrees, as we went along,’ said Thomas May, top official of NStar.

From 2003 to 2007, there were nearly 15,000 workers who were injured and had to take time off of work in the U.S. because of electricity-related accidents. These kinds of accidents were in fact the 7th leading cause of death among workers during this time.
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Nearly 410 people were killed because of harmful chemicals in work-related accidents in Boston and elsewhere in 2010, according to preliminary statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). One of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration‘s (OSHA) top priorities is helping to reduce the risks of these types of accidents. Recently, OSHA teamed up with the Society for Chemical Hazard Communication (SCHC) to do just that through its new Alliance Program.

The recent partnership is being used to raise awareness and address hazard communication through the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).

Our Boston workers’ compensation lawyers understand that about 32 million workers are exposed to nearly 700,000 dangerous chemicals in the country every year. The two-year partnership between OSHA and SCHC will be working to share information regarding the Regulatory Agenda, the National Emphasis Program from OSHA and ways to get the public to join in on the rule-making process.

“Our continued Alliance…will help ensure that workers are aware of the chemical hazards to which they may be exposed, and help reduce…illnesses and injuries,” said David Michaels with OHSA.

The two administrations will soon be creating information sheets to help inform employers and employees about the dangers associated with chemicals. These chemicals can result in both health and physical harm. These sheets will also provide information regarding how to make a GHS label compliant. Through webinars, industry meetings and conferences, OSHA and the SCHC will be working to help teach workers and employers throughout the country about the best practices to help keep workers safe from on-the-job hazards with chemicals.

Right now, SCHC represents about 500 chemical hazard communication professionals who promote awareness regarding these dangers and new ways to prevent injury or illness from them.

Included in the parties that the alliance works with are trade or professional organizations, unions, community and faith-based organizations, educational institutions, businesses and consulates.

To help ensure chemical safety on the job, info must be available regarding the hazards and identities of the chemicals. OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) requires the development and dissemination of such information:

-Those who manufacture and import chemicals are required to evaluate the hazards of the chemicals they import or produce.

-Make sure that the products are properly labeled and that they are accompanied with material safety data sheets (MSDS) to report the hazard information to future customers and handlers.

-Employers who deal with hazardous chemicals in any of their work places are required to have MSDSs and labels for workers dealing with the products. Employees must also be trained appropriately to work with these chemicals.
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As we recently reported on our Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog, there were nearly 18 million young employees in the U.S. in 2010. These millions represent the young workers under the age of 24 in the country. With the summer quickly approaching, teens will be hitting the workforce looking for a gig to pick up some extra cash while they’re away from school. What they’re probably not thinking about are their risks for a work-related accident in Boston. Teens have the highest rate for on-the-job injuries than any other age group of workers.

Each year, there are more than 200,000 teenagers who are injured at work. About 70 die every year from these same accidents. In Massachusetts, more than 900 teens visit emergency rooms for work-related injuries every year. Our state sees an average of one young worker fatality every year as well, according to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of Attorney General.

Our Boston workers compensation attorneys remind all teen workers and their parents about youth employment laws. These laws are in place to help protect young workers from on-the-job dangers. They are also required to follow limits on how many hours they’re allowed to work. The Massachusetts Youth Employment Laws can be found in the Massachusetts General Laws. Within these laws, employers are required to maintain a safe work environment for all workers. As a teen worker, you have both rights and responsibilities to uphold.

Recently, Mayor Thomas Menino sent out a big “thank you” to all of the local companies that opened their doors to teens for the summer. A number of companies around Boston welcome teen workers while they’re away from school and he encourages more to do the same.

“No other city has a summer jobs program like ours. And no other city has a business community like ours. This is why Boston offers the most summer jobs per capita of any major city in America,” said the mayor.

The city also recently unveiled a new website, bostonsummerjobs.org, to help teens get a jump start on their summer job search.

Mayor Menino says that this website will be the centerpiece of the 2012 summer jobs program. Businesses are welcome to join, hire teens through the site, view user testimonials and learn more about the program.

For a teen worker, an employer must:

-Provide a safe and healthy workplace.

-Provide adequate training, including information regarding harmful chemicals that may be used in the workplace.

-Pay for medical care if you get sick or you get hurt because of your job. In many of these cases, you’re also entitled to lost wages.

-Pay you minimum wage, which in the state of Massachusetts is $8 per hour.

-Pay you for all of the hours you worked.

-Pay you 1.5 times your regular pay for each hour that you work over 40 hours in a week.

As a teen worker, you have a right to:

-Voice concerns regarding your health and safety on the job.

-File a complaint with OSHA about safety and health problems.

-Refuse to work if the job you’re requested to do is dangerous to your health or your life.

-Work without sexual or racial harassment.

-Organize or join a union.

-Keep the tips you receive, either directly or through a valid tip-pool with co-workers.
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