According to a recent news report form 7 News Boston, three construction workers were injured in an accident in Lowell, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. Lowell Police are reporting that three workers had dug a trench in the road to install a new natural gas line when a 76-year-old woman approached the construction site in her Mazda at high speed.

mYDyjiyAfter she allegedly failed to slow down or move out of the way the of the active construction site, she swerved to get around slower moving traffic and crashed into a Bobcat (small bulldozer) alongside the trench. This caused the Bobcat to spin around, throwing one construction worker high in the air. He suffered a large gash on his head. The Bobcat driver and another construction worker were injured when they tried to jump clear of the spinning piece of construction equipment. Continue reading

Recently, there has been an increasing amount of coverage about the dangers faced by workers at the psychiatric hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. This is one of a few state-run mental health facilities where inmates in the criminal justice system are sent for competency restoration and, in some cases, long-term inpatient commitment. This is a dangerous job, because healthcare workers are asked to care for patients who suffer from serious psychological illness, including schizophrenia and paranoid schizophrenia, as well as bipolar disorder and a variety of other disorders that can manifest themselves with violent tendencies. Many of the inmates are also classified into what is known as a dual diagnosis, with alcohol or drug addiction being the second diagnosis. This can amplify the psychotic behavior significantly.

mjQByzaHowever, as one could expect, Massachusetts is not the only place where this problem exists for hospital workers. According to a recent news article from Utica Observer Dispatch, a worker at central New York state psychiatric facility was recently assaulted.   Authorities say the woman assaulted was a treatment assistant at a secured hospital facility. Continue reading

Sorensen v. Harbor Bar, LLC, a case from the Supreme Court of South Dakota, involved a claimant who graduated from high school and then enrolled in culinary school. However, she dropped out of culinary school in her first year and moved back home, but found her own apartment. She took a job as server at a restaurant in 2009.

1mri-head-scan-370098-mCourt records indicate that, while she was working on New Year’s Eve as a server for her employer, there was a fight, and claimant tried to break it up. One of her co-workers saw her in the middle of the fight, and he tried to help her. At this point he saw another customer hitting a person who was lying on the floor. He pulled the customer off the person on the floor, and he discovered it was claimant who the man was attacking as he laid on the floor. Claimant managed to get up and ran to the bathroom in an attempt to clean herself up. Later on, others in the bar noticed she had two black eyes and was complaining of a headache. Continue reading

Kelly v. Blue Ribbon Linen Supply, Inc., a case from the Supreme Court of Idaho, involved a workers’ compensation claimant who was working for a linen supply company. In late 2013, she was working for employer, when a heavy cart rolled over her left foot in the course and scope of her employment, according to court records.

mgyScleFollowing her accident, claimant filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, and the workers’ compensation insurance company paid her medical bills and for time lost from work (lost wages) as result of the injury she sustained on her left foot. Continue reading

According to a recent news article in the Worcester Telegram, staff members at the Worcester Recovery Center are concerned about injuries to workers as a result of patient violence.

506099_caution_For those who are not aware, the recovery center is located next to the old Worcester State Hospital that housed the Department of Mental Health’s inpatients. Many of these inpatients were involved with the criminal justice system as well and were there pursuant to a court order. The new recovery center is considered the “jewel” of the department’s inpatient facilities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Continue reading

According to a recent news article from Mass Live, police are looking into a wall collapse that resulted in several construction workers being injured at a home in Merrimac, Massachusetts.

mjYB3LcAuthorities have said that just after noon, first responders, including police, firefighters, and EMTs were called in response to a report that second floor wall collapsed on the jobsite of home still under construction. When they arrived on the scene, they learned that the wall had fallen from the second story of the home and fell directly on top of several construction workers. Continue reading

For those not familiar with cryotherapy, clients get inside a therapy chamber, or place their head in the chamber if they are only having a facial, and then they are exposed to air that is below 240 degrees Fahrenheit for brief periods of time. This method of therapy is designed to rejuvenate the body. It is also being used more frequently these days by athletes who believe cryotherapy will help them get stronger after exercise and heal faster after an injury.   While many think of this concept as somewhat new, the spa owner of the facility where an employee was recently killed said this form of medical therapy has been around since the 1800s. The tank functions by using large amounts of liquid nitrogen and other chemicals to get the cryotherapy chamber down to temperature.

nitrogen-1484310According to a recent article from the Las Vegas Review Journal, a 24-year-old woman was working at a Las Vegas spa when she was found dead in the cryotherapy chamber. Authorities say she was last seen alive on security camera footage closing the spa for the evening. She was found dead in the chamber the following morning when employees came to open the spa for business. One of her coworkers called the family and told them what happened and expressed her condolences. She reportedly told the family it was common for employees to use the cryotherapy chamber personally without supervision. Continue reading

Working on a construction site is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. We typically see accidents involving falling debris, workers falling from heights, and accidents involving large construction equipment. According to a recent news feature from Equipment World, a worker in Florida was killed when he was backed over by a full-sized bulldozer.

bulldozer-in-action-1548988Witnesses say the 27-year-old worker was on the jobsite constructing an apartment complex when the fatal accident occurred. The employee who allegedly backed over worker was 37 years old and told the media he did not see worker during the incident. As is required in all fatal workplace accidents, the United States Department of Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has been called in to conduct a full investigation into the cause of the worker’s death. As part of their investigation, they will work with local inspectors and possibly law enforcement to conduct a series of interviews or even formal depositions to find out exactly what happened. Continue reading

In most workers’ compensation cases, we are generally dealing what would be considered an accident. This could be an industrial accident, such as person being hurt by a machine or other piece of equipment such as forklift, or we could be dealing with a car accident while driving on the job. In some cases, we are dealing with merchandise or an inventory item falling from a high shelf and injuring claimant. However, in some cases, we are dealing with an injury or death caused by what is definitely not an accident. In some cases, a worker is injured by the intentional acts of a customer, vendor, or third party. Workers’ Compensation may still be the appropriate remedy in these cases.

cheese-1178234According to a recent news article form the New York Times, a deli worker in Brooklyn was shot and killed on a Sunday morning during an argument in the deli in which he was employed. Officers say the three men in the deli got into an argument with the worker. At some point, the three men left the deli, but allegedly one of the three men came back to the deli and shot the worker in his chest before running out of the shop. This worker was rushed to a level-one trauma center in the area, but unfortunately, there was nothing doctors could do for him, and he was soon pronounced dead.   He was 45 years old at the time of his death. Continue reading

Some of the most serious on-the-job injuries result in the death of an employee. Accidents that are also very serious but do not result in death can result in the lost of an arm or leg. These types of serious accidents resulting in amputation are more likely to occur when doing jobs that involve the use of heavy machinery, though there is often heavy machinery in more types of employment than one might initially think.

mHaZEPUObviously, a factory is likely to have a lot of large machinery, and there can be serious accidents caused by these machines. All machines are supposed to have guards to prevent unnecessary injuries to employees, but we frequently see accidents caused by improperly guarded machines. Continue reading

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