Articles Posted in Massachusetts Work Accident

In Hill v. City of Horn Lake, a case from the Supreme Court of Mississippi, two employees were working at the bottom of a trench when it collapsed without warning. The trench was 17 feet deep at its lowest point. When it collapsed, one worker was killed, and the other was seriously injured.

Following the accident, deceased worker’s estate and injured worker filed civil negligence suit against the city under a theory that their employer, construction company, had acted negligently in allowing the trench to collapse while they were inside.
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According to a recent news article from Boston.com, some disfigured employees are not being compensated for scarring caused by work-related accidents. Pursuant to Massachusetts law, employees injured on the job are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits to cover medical bills, future medical expenses, and lost wages for injuries expected to keep workers off the job for a period of more than five days. However, in some cases, additional compensation is allowed when an employee has scarring or other permanent injuries such as lost limbs.

This article discussed the story of an employee who constantly lives with severe pain. The 56-year-old worker was cleaning ventilation ducts when he lost his balance and fell into a vat of chemicals at the metal finishing factory where he worked. He was an employee for 14 years prior to his serious work-related accident.

Employee suffered severe burns, including second- and third-degree burns that ran from his thighs down to his feet. His doctors had to perform extensive skin grafts by taking skin from his back and chest and other areas his body and using it to cover the burns on his legs.
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Each year thousands of workers die as result of on-the-job injuries and illness. While these people will never be forgotten by their families, it is still important to take a day to pay our respects to those who sacrificed their own lives so the rest of society could live their lives in a way in which we have all become accustomed.

This Workers’ Memorial Day, labor officials in Massachusetts listed the names of 62 workers who died in the past 16 months while working throughout our state.

A recent news article from Mass Live says this amounts to approximately one death per week – deaths that could have been prevented if there was a greater set of safety regulations, according to the director of the National Council for Occupational Health and Safety (COSH).
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According to a recent news release from the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workers performing renovations at a now-closed dye works plant in Easthampton, Massachusetts were exposed to potentially deadly fall accidents due to employer’s failure to provide necessary protection.

OSHA reports falls are the No. 1 cause of worker deaths on construction projects, and many workers are only seconds away from a potentially deadly or disabling fall, which could easily end their careers. This not only is devastating to the injured worker, but also to his or her family, who will be left without their injured family member’s future income and may also bear the cost of a lifetime of future medical expenses.

OSHA fined these contractors over $110,000 for failing to provide adequate safety equipment. Regulators found workers on rooftops with no safety harnesses or other fall prevention devices, unguarded holes in the floor of job sites, and employees did not properly receive training to deal with these safety issues.
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L & L Enterprises v. Arellano, an appeal from the Supreme Court of Wyoming, involved claimant who was injured on the job. After submitting a workers’ compensation claim, it was determined he was an undocumented worker and, trial court ruled, not entitled to benefits. His application for workers’ compensation was denied and he appealed this decision.

On appeal, the court looked at the issue of whether he qualified as an employee under the state statute for the purposes of workers’ compensation eligibility. It should be noted in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys can explain, being an undocumented worker is not a bar to receiving an award an award for workers’ compensation benefits.

The Massachusetts case involved a construction laborer who was severely injured when he fell into a deep hole while on the job. He was an undocumented worker. When his employer denied his application for workers’ compensation benefits, he filed a claim with the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA). An administrative law judge determined injured worker was eligible for workers’ compensation, despite his immigration status, and awarded his benefits, including back pay.

Employer appealed, based upon a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court case holding undocumented workers were not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. DIA reaffirmed its earlier decision, citing U.S. Supreme Court did not preclude a Massachusetts agency from concluding employer and employee had entered into an enforceable contract, which upon an on-the-job injury, required payment of workers’ compensation benefits.
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One of the cornerstones of Massachusetts workers’ compensation law is that in order to be compensable, an injury or condition must arise out of and in the course of one’s employment.

That means there must be some causal link between one’s work and injuries.

Courts have generally held that idiopathic injuries should not be considered compensable. However, there is often dispute about what exactly it means for an injury to be “idiopathic,” and courts have struggled to reach a consensus about the exact test that should be applied. Some states consider any unexplainable injury to be idiopathic. Others, however, make the distinction that idiopathic doesn’t necessarily mean “unexplainable,” but rather an injury brought on by a purely personal condition.
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W. World Ins. Co. v. Armbruster, a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, involved claimant who worked at a farmer’s market. This farmers market offered hayrides, pony rides, and pumpkin picking. Claimant was hired to run the hayride for eight weeks.

There was a workplace accident involving the hay wagon, and claimant was seriously injured and is now a paraplegic. His spine was crushed by the wagon. Claimant filed a civil lawsuit in state court against farmer and his daughter. Claimant also filed a lawsuit the same day with farmer and his daughter against farmer’s insurance company in which they sought a declaratory judgment claimant was covered by farmer’s General Commercial Liability insurance plan. Insurance company also sought a declaratory judgment finding claimant was not covered by the insurance policy.
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An employee at a waste disposal company was killed in what appears to be an industrial accident in Peabody, Massachusetts, according to a recent news article from the Eagle Tribune.

Authorities say victim was working a Friday morning shift when he was run over by a front-loader. The accident occurred at the waste management facility just north of Route 1. After being struck, victim was not breathing and had no pulse. He died only minutes after being struck. Police declined to give more specifics about the injuries, only saying they were very serious and resulted in employee’s work-related death.

While Massachusetts police and the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) continue to investigate this fatal industrial accident, the district attorney has stated that it appears to be purely an accident and does not plan to file any criminal charges against the employer or driver of the front-loader.
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