Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

February's unemployment rate was 8.9%, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics This matches the lowest rate reported since the 8.9% unemployment rate in April 2009.

As the unemployment rate drops, our Chicago workers' compensation attorneys warn new hires to get proper safety training to avoid a Chicago work injury. Not all employers promote safety in the workplace so workers may need to remain proactive in ensuring their safety, as well as the safety of those around them.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Established in 1971, OSHA has helped reduce the number of workplace fatalities from 14,000 in 1970 to 4,340 in 2009. Since the passage of the OSH Act, serious workplace illnesses and injuries have dropped from 11 to 3.6 per 100 workers, over the last 40 years.

Here are some of OSHA's safety standards enacted over the years:

Falls in General Industry, Crane and Derrick, Protecting Healthcare Workers, Steel Erection, Fire Protection for Shipyard Employment, Payment for Safety Equipment, Blood borne Pathogens, Confined Spaces, Stronger Asbestos Standard, Fatal Falls in Construction, Laboratory Safety, Logging, fatal falls in construction, an estimated 130 million employees are working at Construction Scaffold Safety, Hearing Conservation, Farm workers, Protecting Meatpacking Workers, Testing Laboratories Regulations, Excavation & Trenching, Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, Protecting Grain Workers, Benzene, 14 Carcinogens, Diving, Lead, Protecting Textile Workers, Asbestos and Construction Safety.

Some members of Congress, as reported by the Workers' Comp Gazette, feel that over regulating can lead to job loss, and that OSHA needs to concentrate on promoting safety, not punishing employers.

In response to this concern Assistant Secretary of OSHA Dr. David Michaels commented, "Despite concerns about the effect of regulation on American business, there is clear evidence that OSHA's common sense regulations have made working conditions in this country today far safer than 40 years ago when the agency was created, while at the same time protecting American jobs. The truth is that OSHA standards don't kill jobs. They stop jobs from killing workers. OSHA standards don't just prevent worker injuries and illnesses. They also drive technological innovation, making industries more competitive."

Continue reading " OSHA milestone celebrated but risks of Chicago work accidents remain " »

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued 46 citations, with fines totaling $465,500, to Gavilon Grain LLC in Morral, Ohio for failing to provide safe working conditions to its workers.

Our Chicago work injury attorneys wrote about the tragic death of two teenagers in a grain silo in a prior post to our Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog.

The investigations came after the death of a 20-year-old worker, at the Morral facility, who was killed when caught in a discharge auger while cleaning a grain bin.

"This tragic death could have been prevented had the grain bin owner and operators followed occupational safety standards and learned from the tragedies that have occurred at other grain bins," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. "Grain elevator owners and operators must implement well-known safety practices to prevent workers from being hurt or killed in a grain bin."

According to research from Purdue University, at least 25 U.S. workers perished as a result of grain entrapments last year. The university has been keeping statistics since 1978 and the number of deaths continue to climb -- in fact 2010 recorded the highest number of deaths since 1978.

The Morral facility was fined $175,000 for the following:

-Failing to have lock out measures for the discharge and sweep auger.

-Lacking grain bin entry permit to perform work.

-Lack of training for workers regarding safety precautions and bin entry procedures.

-Not having a lookout during bin entry.

-Failing to provide rescue equipment.

-Failing to test air quality.

-Not providing deflagration controls for combustible dust.

-Not displaying signs warning of combustible dust.

The West Jefferson facility was fined $171,000 for the following:

-Permitting workers to walk working surfaces without proper guarding in place.

-Failing to safeguard employees from electrical and machine guarding hazards.

-Not having safe grain handling and electrical procedures.

-Not having signage and hazard communication procedures.

The Harpster facility was fined $119,500 for the following:
-Not evaluating work spaces to know if confined space entry permits are required.

-Not having a confined space program.

-Lacking a non-entry retrieval system.

-Failing to provide personal protective equipment for employees.

-Failing to provide electrical training.

-Not having combustible dust controls.

-Not training employees in the hazard of combustible grain dust.

-Not displaying signs warning of combustible dust.

Grain operators in Illinois, Colorado, South Dakota and Wisconsin have been fined by OSHA following comparable preventable fatalities. As summer season begins, agricultural workers and employers are reminded to review the proper procedures for the safe operation of grain bins, conveyors, augers and silos.

Continue reading " Spring requires review of grain silo safety to prevent Illinois work accidents " »

New guidelines for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) went into effect early last month to assist Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors and help ensure workplace safety.

Our Chicago workers' compensation attorneys know the importance of personal protective equipment in the workplace, in order to prevent a Chicago work injury from occurring.

Several years ago a final rule was issued by OSHA regarding 'Employer Payment for Personal Protective Equipment'. Employers in the following areas would be required to provide most types of personal protective equipment, at no cost to their workers:
-General industry
-Marine terminals
-Construction
-Long shoring
-Shipyard

Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in General Industry, will replace the outdated directive (June 1995), Inspection Guidelines for 29 CFR 1910 Subpart I, the revised Personal Protective Equipment Standards for General Industry.

The new directive helps to clarify the type of PPE the employer must provide and under what circumstances the employer has to pay for it.

Employers need to provide to employees, at no cost to them, items including but not limited to: goggles, face shields, respirators, gloves, foot protection, ladder safety belts, hard hats, hearing protection, fall protections.

Employers do not need to provide back belts, rain gear, cold weather gear, hairnet & gloves, or uniforms for identification purposes only.

A full list of items that employers have to pay for and those they don't have to pay for can be found in the Enforcement Guidance for Personal Protective Equipment in General Industry directive.

Employers must provide adequate information, instruction and/or training on the use of any personal protective equipment.

Instruction and information should cover:
-Why is PPE needed, what is the risk?
-The operation, limitations and performance of the equipment.
-How to use the equipment and how to store it.
-Does the equipment require any testing?
-How to clean the equipment.
-Do any factors affect the performance of the equipment?
-How to report defective equipment and how to arrange and obtain new equipment.

Refresher training should be provided periodically and employers should make sure employees are using the equipment that is being provided.

Continue reading " Employers typically required to provide protective equipment to reduce risk of Chicago work injury " »

Two Illinois companies are being fined by OSHA for not protecting workers from potential Illinois work accidents.

Our Chicago workers' compensation lawyers represent many victims of construction accidents and know how to fight for employee rights.

The Doherty, Giannini & Rietz Construction Inc., an underground contractor, failed a U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection and was cited for one willful and one repeat safety citation regarding cave-in protection at a Chicago, Ill., jobsite. Proposed fines to the company are $60,600.

"Cave-ins are a leading cause of worker fatalities during excavations," said Gary Anderson, OSHA's area director in Calumet City, Ill. "This is the fourth time in recent months that OSHA has issued citations to this contractor related to the cave-in protection standard. Workers' safety should be paramount on a jobsite, and OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so."

Employees of Doherty, Giannini & Rietz Construction were observed during a December 2010 inspection working in a trench that was deeper than 6 feet without cave-in protection. A trench box was on the jobsite but was not being used in the trench.

The employer clearly knew a trench box should have been used, evident by the fact that the box was on site. There is no excuse for willful disregard of employee safety.

Failing to establish a safe work zone as regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, caused the company to be issued a repeat citation, they have been cited previously for this within the last five years. Since 1988, this company has been inspected 27 times by OSHA, resulting in 16 prior citations for lacking cave-in protection.

The U.S. Minerals LLC facility in Baldwin, after a September 2010 inspection, was issued 7 citations for allegedly failing to maintain equipment, not installing guard rails and failing to develop and implement procedures to control hazardous energy. The company faces fines totaling $83,000.

We recently reported on our Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog regarding this company's poor compliance of OSHA standards.

"U.S. Minerals' failure to develop and implement plans to control hazardous energy and prevent injuries to workers is simply unacceptable," said Thomas Bielema, OSHA's area director in Peoria. "U.S. Minerals repeatedly has been cited at this facility and others for failing to follow OSHA safety and health standards to protect workers. OSHA is committed to ensuring employers abide by the law, which requires commonsense safety practices."

Inspectors issued 1 willful citation for failing to develop and document procedures to control potentially hazardous energy. Workers need to be protected when working with electricity so that an un-energized source doesn't become energized, causing serious or fatal injuries. Equipment needs to be isolated from the energy source or made inoperable.

Three repeat citations were issued for failing to install guarding on a material dump hopper, lack of guardrails on an open-sided platform that was 17 feet high, and failing to provide and use lockout/tagout hardware devices for locking or blocking machines from becoming energized.

Three serious citations were issued for lacking maintenance and inspection documents for a Caterpillar 980G Loader, using an unguarded conveyer tail pulley, and having unauthorized employees attach lockout/tagout equipment to energy isolation devices.

Following a June 2010 inspection, U.S. Minerals LLC was cited for 35 health and safety violations for failing to provide adequate breathing protection and exposing workers to dangerously high levels of hazardous dust. The company manufactures abrasive blasting and roofing materials.

Due to the horrible conditions found during the June inspection, OSHA inspected the companies 3 other facilities at:
-Coffeen, Illinois resulted in 28 citations with proposed penalties of $396,000.
-Harvey, Louisiana resulted in 30 violations with proposed penalties of $110,400.
-Galveston, Texas had 38 citations with proposed fines of $273,000.

In December 2010, U.S. Minerals was placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program for repeated violations that endanger workers health and safety.

Continue reading " Companies fined for Illinois work safety violations " »