Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

Work or occupational hearing loss is covered by workers compensation. Its possible you can lose your hearing due to an injury to the brain or to the ear. In addition to noise level, exposure to certain types of chemicals like lead, mercury or arsenic can affect your hearing. However the most common cause of occupational hearing loss is acoustic trauma; which is vibration or noise that damages the inner ear.

Chicago work injuries like hearing loss can be detrimental and life changing not only now but even after retirement. If you feel you have been severely injured you should seek professional help.

Damage to the inner is caused by prolonged sounds above 90 decibels (dB measures the strength of a sounds vibration). In fact, Dangerous Decibels lists some common decibel levels to give us a comparison in our daily routines:

-Normal speech 50-65 dB.

-Quiet office 50-60 dB.

-Vacuum cleaner or hair dryer 70 dB.

-Diesel truck 84 dB.

-Lawnmower 85-90 dB.

-Snowmobile 105 dB.

-Rock Concert 110-140 dB.

Occupations with higher decibel levels that may require hearing tests annually are jobs like: driving a garbage truck, factory worker, police officer, firefighter, bartenders, landscapers, hairstylist, or mechanics to name a few. Construction workers are at a really high risk as most of their tools and machinery measure above 90 dB.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration reports that each year 30 million people suffer from high noise levels in the workplace. As a result programs have been developed to help provide hearing protection. It's complicated but employers are required by law to provide occupational safety and a controlled environment to its employees in the workplace.

There are steps you can take to reduce or prevent hearing loss. If you job requires you being exposed to loud noise, you need to protect your ears from loud noises with earmuffs, ear plugs or canal caps. The idea is to find what feels comfortable for you to wear, so you use them all the time. Hearing loss is a serious medical condition so do your part to prevent it. But if serious injury has occurred you should take it to the next level and seek advice.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration is making changes to its workplace safety regulations regarding noise. The government safety organization is taking comment until early next year, when new rules are expected to be announced.

Continue reading " Noise in workplace leaves Chicago workers at risk of hearing-loss injuries " »

Times are tough but we likely feel it most around the holidays when we want to be giving gifts but instead so many of us are struggling with employment issues. It certainly makes those Chicago workers who have a job feel more grateful to have a place to report to everyday. Some employees are so happy to have a job that they overlook the mistreatment by their employers when times are rough. The Chicago's workers' compensation attorneys want to remind you that you have rights and should be treated fairly.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Chicago area wages and salaries increased 2.7% from September 2009 to September 2010. While the state reported an unemployment rate of 9.8% in October, the Metropolitan areas of Illinois reported unemployment rates ranging between 7.3% and 14.4%. Chicago ranked on the low end at 8.9% according to Local Area Unemployment Statistics.

Last April Governor Quinn executed a Put Illinois to Work program. The program has been highly successful putting 26,000 people to work but it is now coming to a close. Only 23% of the people hired in conjunction with this program will be able to keep their permanent job. After putting over $100 million of state money into funding, this program has to come to an end. It was never put into place to be a permanent fix but rather to teach and train individuals on the job in order to be more marketable in getting a job as the economy recovers.

The bitter edge to this is employees knowing they are losing their jobs may do whatever it takes to keep them. Employers are in the driver's seat in the sense they have complete control and know that you are at their mercy. They may require you to work extra hours without compensation, perform the jobs of two people, deny vacation time, or perform at a high level without proper training. What the employee needs to pay particular attention to is if a company puts you in a dangerous work situation or demands you perform a task in adverse work conditions. If you don't know your rights you should contact a work injury lawyer in Chicago to help you.

The bottom line is you don't have to perform your job at all costs just to keep it. Knowing what the unemployment rates are may make you feel insecure but employers have an obligation to keep you safe while you are on the clock.

Continue reading " Tough economy leaves many thankful, others keeping jobs despite risks of Chicago work injury " »

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration has cited GSI Group, LLC for a fatal work accident in Newton, Illinois.

A Chicago workers' compensation lawyer and wrongful death attorney should be consulted when a loved one is tragically killed on the job. In some cases, a wrongful death claim may be filed seeking damages from an entity other than the employer. This may include a subcontractor, a property owner, or the manufacturer of the machine or equipment involved in the fatal accident.

GSI Group LLC, of Assumption, Illinois, was cited after a worker was killed June 7 while operating a laser cutting machine at the company's Newton facility. The company, which makes grain dryer equipment, has been issued one willful and two serious safety violations for failing to have machine guarding in place.

"GSI could have avoided this tragedy had it been following the required OSHA safety standard," said OSHA Area Director Thomas Bielema in Peoria, Ill. "A worker should never lose his or her life because an employer fails to follow safety regulations. OSHA is committed to protecting employees in the workplace."

The worker was struck within the "point of operation" zone of the machine and OSHA's investigation found that the proper safety guards were not in place. A willful violation means one that is committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

The GSI Group also received two serious violations for not using lockout/tagout procedures and for failing to properly close an electrical box opening.

The Newton facility has 215 employees. GSI has factories in Assumption, Newton, Paris and Flora, Illinois. The company has been inspected 17 times since 1976 and has previously been cited for electrical hazards, machine guarding hazards and lockout violations.

Continue reading " Newton, Illinois company cited for fatal work accident " »

An Illinois company has been fined nearly $400,000 for 28 work-safety violations after the government reports the Coffeen company willfully exposed workers to high levels of hazardous dust, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration reported.

U.S. Minerals LLC is facing $396,000 in fines for exposing employees to dangerously high levels of hazardous dust and not providing adequate breathing protection, according to the government. Our Chicago workers' compensation lawyers know the resulting injuries in such cases often occur over years and can go unlinked to workplace exposure. Proving the resulting medical conditions -- which can range from emphysema to cancer -- qualify as a Chicago work injury can be a complex process best left to an experienced law firm.

"U.S. Minerals has severely jeopardized the health and safety of its workers by exposing them to extremely high levels of hazardous dust and other dangers," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. "This is the fourth U.S. Minerals facility where very serious violations were cited in the past three months, clearly indicating these problems are widespread and systemic. This blatant disregard of workers' health and safety is not acceptable."

Breathing the hazardous dust at the facility has been linked to debilitating lung disease such as pneumoconiosis, which is characterized by symptoms including chronic cough, difficulty breathing and shortness of breath.

The investigation was conducted under the government's Severe Violators Enforcement Program. U.S. Minerals Coffeen facility was issued six willful citations with proposed fines of $336,000. A willful violation is defined as one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

"U.S. Minerals continually has failed to come into compliance on safety issues such as providing adequate breathing protection," said OSHA Area Director Thomas Bielema in Fairview Heights, Ill. "We are committed to seeing that the workers at this facility are provided a safe and healthful workplace."

The company was also issued seven repeat violations and 10 serious violations. In September, OSHA issued $466,400 in fines to the company's Baldwin, Illinois facility for 35 work health and safety violations. Company-owned facilities in Texas and Louisiana have also been cited.

Continue reading " Illinois company facing severe work-safety violations at two in-state facilities " »