Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

Can you believe it? It's almost 2012 and it's time for everyone to get cracking on their holiday shopping. This typically kicks off with Black Friday. While many hit the stores in search of some excellent deals, employees are hitting the stores in an attempt to cater to your needs. One of the most important needs on Black Friday is the need for safety. Luckily, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is here to provide us with some excellent safety information to reduce work-related injuries in Chicago and elsewhere on the biggest shopping day of the year.

Special retail events, especially Black Friday, bring out residents from around the state in an attempt to snag up these spectacular deals. With the increase in popularity of these events over recent years, the risk of injury has increased as well. Back in 2008, an employee died at the opening of a Black Friday sale.

Our Chicago workers compensation attorneys understand that employers are required to provide employees with safe workplaces. Employers are responsible for adopting safety management systems to help reduce the risks of on-the-job accidents, including on Black Friday sales events.

OSHA has stepped in to help employers to enforce safety guidelines to help avoid any holiday shopping-related accidents. These events bring out large crowds and systems need to be in place to effectively handle these cases. There should be safety procedures in place to address pre-event setup, crowd management and emergency situation management.

Planning for events:

-When a large crowd is expected, make sure that you have trained security or police officers on hand.

-Be sure to create a detailed staffing plan. Workers should be designated specific areas. Make sure there are enough workers present to handle the crowd.

-Train all workers on how to handle crowds.

-Consider using internet sales as an incentive to keep crowds at bay.

-Make sure all lines are regulated by barricades.

-Make sure that employees have an efficient way to communicate with one another.

-Before opening, remind customers of the entrance process.

-Make sure to notify all employees when the doors are about to open.

-Remember you're buildings maximum capacity. Stop customers from entering once your hit your max.

-Make sure all exits are clear an unobstructed.

-Make sure everyone knows who to contact in the event of an emergency.

-Keep first-aid kits on hand. You should also have Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and a people who are certified in AED usage and CPR.

Black Friday is an exciting time for shoppers across the country. Employers are urged to go into the holiday season with a plan. Shoppers will surely be hitting the stores the day after Thanksgiving in an attempt to get some sweet deals on first for their loved ones. Help to ensure the safety of your shoppers and your workers by carefully fine tuning every detail of the biggest shopping day of the year.

Continue reading " Employers Urged to Plan Now for Black Friday Crowds to Help Prevent Work-Related Injury in Chicago " »

A Mokena Illinois company is facing fines totaling $122,760 for exposing employees to respiratory and other hazards.

Our Illinois workers' compensation lawyers are concerned about the growing number of Illinois companies exposing workers to respiratory hazards. Earlier this year, we posted to our Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog regarding some efforts being made by the federal government to help prevent occupational lung diseases.

A U.S. Labor Department's OSHA inspection of Future Environmental yielded one willful health and nine serious safety violations. Inspectors discovered that employees cleaning waste tanks were exposed to confined space and respiratory hazards. The tanks they were cleaning, which previously had stored petroleum hydrocarbons, were at a Channahon work site.

An area OSHA spokesperson considered the employer's actions totally unacceptable for not providing suitable personal protective equipment, not recognizing a dangerous hazard and failing to monitor the workers.

The one willful health violation was for not ventilating, eliminating or controlling respiratory hazards and not providing continuous air quality monitoring in a confined space. This willful violation carries a potential $69,300 fine. There were several serious safety violations concerning personal protective equipment, confined space safety, respirator training and respiratory hazard identification training. These violations totaled $53,460 in proposed fines.

Confined spaces that require a permit may have: potentially hazardous or hazardous atmosphere's, have material that could surround an entrant, have floors and walls that taper which could trap entrants and could contain a number of other dangerous physical hazards. Employers must let workers know of the location and existence of all these potential hazards.

Workers should never enter a permit-required confined space without proper training or a permit for entry. All workers must understand and review the employer's protocols and procedures prior to entering any permit-required confined spaces. They must also know when and how to get out.

Be aware of all physical hazards you will encounter. Prior to and while inside the confined space, monitor and test the air quality for toxicity, explosive or flammability hazards as needed. Use the equipment for entry provided by your employer, which should include fall protection, air-monitoring, lighting, communication and ventilation. Keep in constant contact with your entry supervisor of any changing condition so appropriate evacuation or rescue efforts can be carried out if necessary. The entry supervisor is vital for having a safe confined space work environment. They must be knowledgeable of the dangers in the space and what effects they could have on the workers.

Entry Supervisors must:

-Confirm that the safeguards required for the job have been put into practice.

-Verify that rescue personnel are available and can be summoned immediately if needed.

-Complete appropriate paperwork including canceling the written permit and terminating the confined space entry if necessary.

-Remove any worker who is not authorized to enter the permit-required confined space.

-Periodically, check that the entry operation is going as planned in a manner consistent with the confined space permit requirements and that suitable entry conditions are being maintained.

Continue reading " Illinois Environmental Firm Cited for Willful and Serious Health Violations " »

An Arlington Heights Illinois Jiffy Lube was found to have fall hazards and other safety issues during a recent U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection.

Our Illinois workers' compensation lawyers know that slip and falls are a leading cause of workplace injuries. Any work environment where a potential spill can occur, especially lubricant or oil, should take extra precautions to ensure that slips and falls don't happen.

Heartland Automotive Services was cited for the violations with proposed fines of $52,700. They operate at least 400 Jiffy Lubes around the country and have its corporate headquarters in Irving, Texas.

The Arlington Heights facility had one repeat violation for not keeping its floors dry and free from water and oil accumulation. A Jiffy Lube in Kansas City was cited for the same violation back in January of this year, which is why a repeat violation was issued to the parent company. An OSHA area spokeswoman said employers who are cited for repeat violations show a lack of dedication to workplace safety.

Other violations found at the Arlington Heights facility:

-Failing to assess the workplace for dangers that would require the use of personal protective equipment.

-Failing to guard exposed electrical parts.

-Not having a written hazard communication program.

-Not listing and labeling hazardous chemical containers.

-Failing to train workers on safety and hazard precautions.

-Lacking proper record keeping.

-Electrical boxes had missing knockouts.

It is important that if you slip and fall at work you remember the facts surrounding the incident. This is vital information if you want to recover damages from the Illinois Workers’ Compensation system. Just because you fell at work doesn't mean you automatically have a case -- you have to link the injuries from your fall to your job. Some cases are won and lost based on the amount of details a client can provide.

Let's look at two examples:

-A slip and fall in the parking lot of your employer.

What caused you to fall? Was there anything on the ground that caused the fall? Were you carrying needed items for your job? Was anything occurring at the time you fell that put you more at risk than someone who wasn't employed by your company?

-A slip and fall in an office of your employer.

Why did you fall? Was the floor wet? Were there obstacles in your path that shouldn't have been there? How was the lighting? Were you in a hurry to get to a meeting? Were you carrying work-related objects?

It is extremely helpful to write down as much information that you can remember as soon as you have an opportunity to about your slip and fall incident. Then let an experienced workers' compensation attorney sift through the details to make your case and help you get the compensation you deserve.

Continue reading " Automotive Company Fined $52,700 for Hazards at Illinois Jiffy Lube " »

The U.S. Department of Labor has slapped another Illinois company for work hazards and safety violations in the workplace. Cook County workers' compensation lawyers are seeing more and more cases of companies that ignore employees' rights and neglect to take safety precautions that could prevent an injury or fatal accident.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced that All-Feed Processing and Packing Inc. has been cited for more than 20 health and safety violations at its Galva facility. There were several willful violations related to OSHA's hearing conservation, respiratory protection and air contaminant standards.

A previous 2009 dust explosion and fire accident at this Illinois work site shows a blatant disregard for employee safety, which is why OSHA has slapped the company for fines in excess of three-quarters of a million dollars. OSHA found the following violations of worker safety which resulted in a penalty citation.

Serious Safety Violation:
One penalty of $3,850 was issued for not being able to provide written certification that hazards had been eliminated in a permit-required confined space. The hazardous conditions present in the confined space pose a high probability that a worker could be seriously injured, physically harmed or die from the hazard.

Repeat Violations:
Three repeat safety violations were cited at All-Feed Processing & Packaging Inc. The company had previously been cited in 2009 for the same or similar hazards and failed to make corrections. The company failed to train and evaluate industrial truck operators for their skills, lifting devices failed to display the load rating, and no danger signs were posted for employees working in potentially hazardous conditions or work spaces.

One repeat health violation was issued for failing to post instructions for safety precautions when combustible dust was present.

The penalty for repeat safety and health violations totaled $50,050.

Single-Instance Willful Violations:
Four violations were cited: requiring employees to work in areas where excessive amounts of dust exist (over the permissible limits set forth by OSHA standards) and no engineering controls were established for employees that had been exposed; employees exposed to excessive noise were not provided with an effective hearing conservation program; employees were not instructed on safe use, installation and wiring of equipment in unsafe locations; and liquid propane-powered trucks were permitted to enter areas where combustible dust could be ignited.

Per-Instance Willful Violations:
Nine violations were handed to the company for not mandating that six employees exposed to excessive dust use respirators or failing to protect three dust-collection units that had an accumulation of starch, cellulose fiber, potato base and pea protein, all of which can cause a fire or explosion.

The thirteen total willful violations produced penalties adding up to $700,700.

It is important to note that since 2000, All-Feed Processing & Packaging Inc. has been inspected by OSHA investigators 10 times. On five of those occasions, the company was cited in previous inspections for 17 willful, five repeat, 44 serious, and 10 other-than-serious violations.

Continue reading " Employee Exposure to Dust and Noise at Illinois Pet Food Company Leads to Hefty Fines " »