Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog

Panoke v. Reef Dev. of Hawaii, Inc. is a case from the Supreme Court of Hawaii. Claimant started working as in ironworker during the month of February 2004. He was hired to perform strenuous physical activities. His responsibilities included negotiating scaffolding, carrying buckets that weight more than 50 pounds to the scaffolding, using a jackhammer, and using pulleys to lift heavy items.

On one occasion, he was working for employer on a construction site. He was responsible for assisting with an effort to build a wall with the use of large concrete panels. During the construction, other crewmembers were using pulleys to lift large concrete panels when one of the panels partially broke free from the chains used to hold it, and it swung abruptly to one side. At this point, employee was guiding the panel with his hands from ground level. Continue reading

Multiple Injury Fund v. McCauley, a case from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, involved a claimant who filed three different claims with his employer. In his first claim, employee alleged that he had suffered a cumulative neck injury, back injury, and spinal injury. He said he was first aware of the injury in 2006.

His second claim involved an injury to his hands, shoulders, and arms, and he said he first became aware of these injuries in 1990. His third and final claim involved an injury to his knees, and he said he first became aware of this medical condition in 1990. All these claims were filed in October of 2012. In December of that same year, the plant where claimant worked shut down. This meant his date of exposure to a work-related injury was December of 2012 with respect to this same employer. Continue reading

One of the more common scenarios that results in on-the-job injuries involves objects falling on an employee. In some cases, were are dealing with merchandise or supplies placed precariously on high shelves, and, in other cases, improperly installed shelves or retail fixtures have collapsed on workers causing serious injuries, including head trauma.

According to a recent report from the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a large furniture chain store in Danvers, Massachusetts is responsible for an employee being seriously injured when boxes full of patio furniture fell on him. Continue reading