OSHA is aware of the safety problems plaguing the nation's workplaces. But its already insufficient budget keeps getting slashed. Just days before the plant explosion, OSHA announced that due to its latest round of budget cuts it would be inspecting far fewer workplaces in 2014.
]]> Many public criticisms of OSHA’s performance are fairly well founded. However, OSHA’s efforts have continually been successful in reducing accident rates when it has the resources to get the job done. Recent statistics strongly suggest that it is OSHA’s limited capacity and not its focus or commitment level that is contributing to ongoing high rates of workplace accidents, injuries and fatalities.It is sometimes difficult to understand just how budgets impact operations on a practical scale. But OSHA’s budget is not difficult to parse. OSHA’s current budget allows it to inspect each American workplace once every 131 years, according to the New York Times. OSHA focuses its inspection capacity on the most potentially dangerous workplaces, but as the Texas fertilizer plant tragedy has proven, this agency requires additional resources in order to do its work effectively for the benefit of Americans everywhere.
Source: New York Times, “A Big Job, on a Tiny Budget,” Randy Rabinowitz, Apr. 29, 2013
]]>Some of these workers died during the storm, while others perished during rescue and cleanup efforts. In each case, workers were on the job when they sustained fatal injuries. Some drowned, while others were struck by either trees or other objects. Still others fell to their deaths while completing roof work and other repairs.
]]> Natural disaster response and relief requires the efforts of countless workers. Tragically, 16 in New York and New Jersey alone were taken as a result of SuperStorm Sandy. What state and federal regulators owe these individuals now is a complete assessment of what transpired in each accident and how future disaster relief workers can be spared the same fate.To date, OSHA has determined that over 3,000 dangerous work condition violations have occurred in Sandy cleanup sites. Despite that overwhelming number, only 32 related citations have been written. It is not enough to simply say that OSHA is committed to worker safety. It is time to back up that promise with action, if only to honor those who perished in some of those truly dangerous working conditions in Sandy’s wake.
Source: New York Daily News, “Sandy work toll 16 in N.Y. & N.J. were killed on the job, say feds,” Vera Chinese and Greg B. Smith, Apr. 30, 2013
]]>The New York City Department of Buildings is a governmental agency that "ensures the safe and lawful use of over 975,000 buildings and properties" in the city. The agency frequently conducts inspections of buildings and construction sites in the city, and they recently announced during Construction Safety Week that many may not be as safe as we think.
]]> The agency recently reported that somewhere near 900 citations were written these past two months involving violations of safety regulations and laws. The citations all involved low-rise building construction sites and meant over $950,000 in fines for the companies responsible for the violations.The two-month long inspection involved agency officials traveling to more than 920 low-rise building construction sites around the city. In this inspection, the defintion of a low-rise building included structures that had nine or fewer stories.
So what were these violations? Many of them included sites that forced construction workers to do their jobs without the proper safety equipment such as adequate guardrails or fences or fire extinguishers -- something that has remained especially important in wake of the fatal explosion in West, Texas, that started with a small fire.
The construction sites that were deemed too unsafe to continue to allow workers on the premises were issued full Stop Work orders and some received partial orders until the violations could be cleared.
Source: Claims Journal, "New York City Inspects More Than 900 Construction Sites," May 1, 2013 NYC.gov, "About the Buildings Department," May 2, 2013
]]>These workers tend to suffer greater accident and injury rates because they face proportionally higher hazard rates in the workplace than other populations do. The director of University of Pennsylvania's Transnational Law Center recently explained that the hazards these workers face are systemic in nature, which is why their accident and injury rates remain both consistently and proportionally high.
]]> In addition, she has explained that undocumented, migrant and temporary workers are frequently denied their rights in the workplace which makes for an unsafe work environment in and of itself. When workers are not permitted access to proper equipment, sick time, breaks and other critical safety measures, their accident rates skyrocket.All American workers are entitled to safe work environments, whether or not they possess proper documentation. Unfortunately, the contentious nature of immigration as a broader issue in the country is contributing to the systemic inadequacies related to safety in many industries that employ undocumented, migrant and other temporary workers. As the immigration debate moves forward nationwide, worker safety must be placed at the heart of it. Because ultimately, failure to keep all American workers safe is a disservice to every last one of us.
Source: The Raw Story, "Temporary and migrant workers face 'systemic' problem of workplace dangers," David Ferguson, Mar. 28, 2013
]]>The New York Times recently profiled the story of a woman who worked in a furniture factory for approximately five years. She was unaware that the yellow haze that defined the air inside the plant was produced as a result of toxic fumes from the furniture glue she came in contact with each day. Her exposure resulted in severely damaged nerve endings and tissue damage that causes her severe pain and an inability to work and live normally. Her medical care costs and lost wages have devastated her both emotionally and financially.
]]> Too often workplace accident stories grab the attention of the public in their immediate aftermath and quickly fade away. However, many of the injuries and occupational illnesses borne from these accidents and toxic exposure never fade for the victims.Like brain, spinal cord and other catastrophic injuries resulting from car accidents or medical malpractice, workplace injuries often require intensive medical care for the remainder of a patient's life. As a result, it is critical that workers hold negligent employers accountable for these injuries and illnesses. Senses of loyalty, compassion and forgiveness are often values worth pursuing. But not at the expense of one's medical care. Holding employers accountable can help injured and ill workers pay for the care they will need now and into the future.
Source: The New York Times, "As OSHA Emphasizes Safety, Long-Term Health Risks Fester," Ian Urbina, Mar. 30, 2013
]]>The National Patient Safety Foundation's Lucian Leape Institute released its report on the link between dangerous and stressful working conditions and quality of patient care last month. The report's findings clearly indicate that hazardous working conditions for healthcare workers directly impact patient safety and patient care.
]]> The roots of this link are numerous. Among them is the simple fact that if healthcare providers are unduly stressed or suffering from occupational illness and injury, they have decreased capacity with which to focus on their patients. In addition, overworking healthcare providers also limits their ability to care for each patient adequately.The Institute's chair Dr. Leape explained that "One of the ways you show respect for people working health care is by paying attention to the basic safety of the workplace. It's really horrendous that the delivery of health care, in hospitals specifically, is one of the most hazardous places to work in the country." The report highlights the fact that the occupational injury rate for healthcare providers is more than 30 percent higher than the average private industry injury rate in America.
This report underscores the importance of keeping healthcare employees safe for the benefit of both workers and patients. Until more urgent attention is paid to this issue, both groups will suffer needlessly.
Source: amednews, "Warning sounded on demoralized health care work force," Kevin B. O'Reilly, Mar. 18, 2013
]]>It appears that the worker was buried alive and that he died of massive head injuries. The accident occurred in 2010 while a $1,140,000 home construction project was going on.
]]> The employee's death is an example of a disturbing trend where immigrant workers are injured or killed in construction accidents due to employers failing to provide safety measures that would have prevented these accidents from occurring.A recent study found that 21 of 29 workplace fatalities at New York construction sites involved immigrant workers. For example, in 2007 two Ecuadorian brothers were washing windows in New York when a scaffolding collapse caused for them to fall 47 stories. Often these workers did not have a good understanding of the English language, and we can also assume that many such employees received inadequate training to perform their job duties safely.
Shortsightedness on the part of employers sometimes results in these construction accidents. Supervisors may decide certain safety measures are too costly to implement, but they fail to take into account the costs that can be associated with workers' injuries or deaths.
Though OSHA or other safety violation fines may provide an incentive for workplaces to improve safety, such fines do little to help the worker after an accident has already occurred. Workers' Compensation laws are implemented to help workers and their families, but these laws are intricate and often require an attorney to interpret what these mean.
Construction workers are engaged in tasks that few of us are willing or able to perform. We owe a duty to keep our construction workers safe by providing safe working conditions, equipment that operates properly, and procedures that are in place that will prevent workers from being injured by others.
We also need to adequately compensate such workers when they are injured.
Source: Greenwich-Post, "Immigrant worker's death prompts lawsuit," by Kait Shea, March 6, 2013
Specifically, the court ruled that if an issue is definitively ruled on in a workers' compensation proceeding, it may not be litigated in a personal injury case. This means that personal injury claims related to worker injury may only be pursued in relation to issues not decided during workers' compensation proceedings.
]]> The case that inspired the court's ruling involved a man who had pursued a workers' compensation claim in which the judge ruled that he was no longer technically disabled. Because finding of fact had informed this decision, the man could pursue an appeal, but could not retry the finding of fact in a personal injury suit. Rather, the binding nature of the workers' compensation proceeding informs the possibility of a personal injury proceeding.This area of law is particularly complex, given that injured workers must navigate both the rules of workers' compensation law as well as personal injury law. For this reason, it is particularly critical that injured workers seek experienced counsel. Failure to successfully navigate one kind of proceeding may impact the ability of workers to pursue another.
Source: Thomson Reuters News & Insight, "Workers' compensation ruling binding in personal injury case," Daniel Wiessner, Feb. 14, 2013
]]>In 2007, an unexpected combustible dust explosion at a Georgia sugar factory injured dozens of workers and took the lives of 14 others. Since that time, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) estimates that 50 similar combustible dust fires or explosions have caused the death of at least 15 American workers and injured more than 125. H.R. 691 would mandate that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) take steps to reduce the likelihood of these kinds of accidents.
]]> Specifically, OSHA would be tasked with issuing standards and protections at both the interim and final stages aimed at reducing combustible dust explosions and fires. These protections would apply to workplaces in which sugar, coal, metal and wood dusts accumulate and pose a risk to workers. The final standard would be more expansive than immediate interim requirements.The bill's sponsors are particularly concerned that special interests within the business community have limited OSHA's ability to prevent these kinds of potentially fatal accidents. By mandating that OSHA act, Congress can help to prioritize worker safety in certain industries most in need of protection. Concerned citizens should contact their Congressional representatives to voice their support.
Source: Woodworking Network, "Combustible Dust Bill Re-Introduced in House," Rich Christianson, Feb. 17, 2013
]]>One industry that the public may not recognize as particularly hazardous is that of scientific laboratory operations. However, lab researchers and technical workers regularly come in contact with truly hazardous substances that leave them at risk for occupational illness contraction and serious injury.
]]> Unfortunately, scientists and support staff may not be fully aware of how dangerous their industry truly is. The results of a recent international survey indicate that these workers may have an uninformed sense of security when it comes to their workplace safety status. Though studies suggest that roughly half of these workers will be affected by occupational injury or illness, more than 85 percent of the workers surveyed believe that the laboratories they research in are safe work spaces.The head of environmental health and safety at UCLA responded to these results quite correctly when he noted recently that "Understanding this disparity will be key to positively changing safety culture." Failure to understand the unique risks that these workers are exposed to each day will likely result in continued high rates of injury within the industry. However, highlighting this problem may inspire much needed changes within labs nationwide.
Source: Nature, "Safety survey reveals lab risks," Richard Van Noorden, Jan. 2, 2013
]]>In short, the researchers were curious about any link that might exist between safe workplaces and customer satisfaction. In order to explore this potential link, they studied various employee groups with distinct functions at a Midwestern electric utility company. Each employee group, including those involved in emergency services, billing, installation and meter reading were defined by different employee injury rates.
]]> The researchers discovered that employee groups with lower worker injury rates had customers who were more satisfied with the good or service that they received from that group. Granted, many variables might have influenced this outcome, which is why additional studies are needed to verify this result. However, the hundreds of employees involved in this study seemed to illustrate a direct link between worker safety rates and client satisfaction.In the opinion of the study's authors, it was the concept of a positive safety climate that fostered this link. Specifically, they noted that prioritizing safety at work likely influences any given employee's quality of work. By allowing employees to remain safe, the work quality of the studied employees improved along with customer satisfaction rates related to that work.
Source: EHS Today, "Can Worker Safety Impact Customer Satisfaction?" Laura Walter, Jan. 30, 2013
]]>Two weeks after the city buildings department cited a company for failing to require workers to wear safety gear, a 69-year-old construction worker was killed when a floor in a building the company was demolishing collapsed on him. There was a known crack that could be seen in a steel beam that was holding the floor up while that same floor was "visibly sagging." The contracting company never reported the issue and made no effort to stop work as it was under pressure from the property's owner to demolish the building on schedule.
]]> The latest figures available from the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics show that construction site fatalities rose from 28 to 40 from 2010 to 2011. Accidents include workers falling from multi-story heights or are hit by falling building materials or equipment. Scaffolds often collapse as do floors or entire buildings in some instances. Earlier this month an almost 400-foot crane collapsed on construction workers in Queens with three workers being seriously injured.Along with the reduction in worksite inspections there has been a decrease in the number of notices of violations issued by the buildings department as well. There were 6,600 fewer notices issued between 2011 and 2012. The contractor involved in the death of the 69-year-old worker was cited by OSHA for failing to protect workers when it ignored clear evidence that disaster was about to strike. The maximum penalty allowed for such an offense is just under $10,000.
The construction worker's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Columbia University. When an employer is negligent and that negligence results in a fatal accident, it can be held accountable through litigation when necessary. The property where the demolition project was under way is owned by Columbia University which plans to build student housing there in time for the next semester.
Source: New York Daily News, "Jobsite accidents in New York City jumped 31 percent from 2011 to 2012, while injuries up 46% in same period," Greg B. Smith, Jan. 13, 2013
]]>So how do you know if you are developing a repetitive stress injury or have already developed one? The signs are slightly different for various types of injuries. A back injury due to improper lifting technique will manifest differently than a wrist injury resulting from taking groceries out of hand baskets all day. However, the signs of carpal tunnel syndrome, which is a condition that plagues many office workers, can give you a glimpse at what the developing signs of any repetitive stress injury may look like.
]]> According to the Mayo Clinic, carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms often begin with a vague aching in the affected area. This ache can then radiate in multiple directions from the original site. Though in carpal tunnel the site of origin is usually the wrist and pain radiates to the hand or up the arm, other repetitive stress injuries may manifest from alternate sites of origin.It can be somewhat difficult to diagnose and treat repetitive stress injuries on your own. As a result, it is best to consult a physician if your discomfort either begins to impair your normal activities, your range of motion or impairs your sleep. Once you obtain a repetitive stress injury diagnosis, you and your employer can work to ensure that the condition does not worsen over time.
Source: Mayo Clinic, "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome"
]]>Currently, none of the sites surveyed by OSHA have toxic exposure limits that exceed ordinary workplace standards set by the agency. That means that at this time, post-Sandy cleanup sites are free from dangerous levels of toxins, as far as OSHA is aware. It is worth noting however, that certain sites like public roads, parks, private businesses and private homes are still in the process of being tested and thus statistics about toxic exposure limits at these sites have yet to be released.
]]> Granted, toxic substances were indeed present in either the air, water or both at many of the dozens of landfills, public gathering areas and beaches that OSHA tested. These found substances included asbestos, silica, carbon monoxide, mold and lead. However, none of the substances found exceeded acceptable limits.Of course, certain toxins develop over time and mold exposure in particular may become more of a significant danger as semi-frozen worksites thaw out. But for now, workers are most likely in a fairly safe position with regards to post-Sandy toxic exposure.
However, OSHA's New York regional administrator recently explained the most important aspect of the findings as follows, "These initial results should not be taken by employers as an "all clear" signal regarding potential exposure to health hazards. It is important that each employer continually ensure that workers are not overexposed."
Source: Star Tribune, "Tests at NY, NJ Sandy cleanup sites show contaminant levels below federal exposure limits," Katie Zezima, Jan. 9, 2013
]]>Both men were seriously injured and were transported to Erie County Medical Center. They survived, but suffered multiple injuries, including broken bones, according to authorities.
The truck driver was accompanied by a woman and a child and was on his way back to Syracuse. Press reports do not indicate whether he was considered at fault in the accident,
One woman, whose second-floor office was eye-level with the men's work platform lifted her head to the sound of the semi-truck striking the platform truck and saw the fallen men below, just before emergency workers arrived. She was relieved to see one of them move his leg and arm.
]]> The two men worked for the Town of Amherst's signal division. While compensation for injured workers employed by municipalities is somewhat different than the workers' compensation system for private employers, they likely received benefits through that program.However, they have now filed third-party claims against the Village of Williamsville and the Town of Amherst for failing to provide a safe work environment.
In workers' compensation cases, there are many situations in which third parties -- parties other than the employer -- are partially responsible for the accident. In such cases, it is often possible to file third-party liability claims to hold parties such as subcontractors, vendors, municipalities and landowners to account for their negligence.
Not only does this allow injured workers to seek appropriate compensation, but it also allows society to hold financially responsible those whose negligence or wrongdoing causes injury to others.
Sources:
Our law firm helps injured people file workers' compensation claims along with third-party liability claims against those responsible for accidents and injuries. For more information, please see our website.
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