Author Archives: Rod Rehm

Top 10 OSHA Citations of 2016: A Starting Point for Workplace Safety

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Rod Rehm

Today’s blog post comes from the U.S. Labor Department’s blog at blog.dol.gov and was written by the director of enforcement programs at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The article below is a good big-picture reminder of workplace hazards that are documented “safety and health violations” through OSHA. There are some important quotes in the blog post, but instead of choosing a couple, you are encouraged to read and think about the entire relatively short article. A special focus should be to consider the top 10 citations list and see if you are exposed to any of these hazards at your job. Or if you’re in a position to influence others within the workplace, I would encourage you to make sure your co-workers know about whatever safety efforts you have in place to avoid and prevent at-work injuries so you don’t have your business’s citation on the list in the future.

If you have concerns about workplace safety at your job, OSHA’s website has a lot of informative resources. If you or a loved one have been hurt on the job, please contact an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer for advice and help.

a worker climbs a piece of scaffolding wearing proper fall protection

Every October, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration releases a preliminary list of the 10 most frequently cited safety and health violations for the fiscal year, compiled from nearly 32,000 inspections of workplaces by federal OSHA staff.

One remarkable thing about the list is that it rarely changes. Year after year, our inspectors see thousands of the same on-the-job hazards, any one of which could result in a fatality or severe injury.

More than 4,500 workers are killed on the job every year, and approximately 3 million are injured, despite the fact that by law, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their workers. If all employers simply corrected the top 10 hazards, we are confident the number of deaths, amputations and hospitalizations would drastically decline.

Consider this list a starting point for workplace safety:

Fall protection
Hazard communication
Scaffolds
Respiratory protection
Lockout/tagout
Powered industrial trucks
Ladders
Machine guarding
Electrical wiring
Electrical, general requirements

It’s no coincidence that falls are among the leading causes of worker deaths, particularly in construction, and our top 10 list features lack of fall protection as well as ladder and scaffold safety issues. We know how to protect workers from falls, and have an ongoing campaign to inform employers and workers about…

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Drinks, Dinners, Junkets and Jobs: How The Insurance Industry Courts State Commissioners

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Rod Rehm

Today’s blog post comes from Michael J. Mishak’s article in The Center for Public Integrity, which is located at publicintegrity.org.

The headline says a lot about the article. Though it’s a lengthy read, the article is worth the time it takes to digest it.

Nebraska and Iowa are the two states that we are most concerned with, as that’s where our lawyers are licensed to practice. In addition, these two states are important nationally because many insurance companies have their corporate headquarters in Nebraska and Iowa. I found it very illuminating that there are stories about both states regarding relationships and experiences that government officials who are insurance regulators have with insurance industry executives. Iowa also seems to be a mixed bag, with the same person asking for “more funding to buoy regulators” but at another time, splitting hairs on the state’s definition of lobbying.

I have written on how the “Workers’ Comp Industrial Complex” harms workers, which was based on an expose in ProPublica. It may be time for media coverage that looks into the overlap, favors and cozy ties that insurance companies have with the government regulators who are supposed to hold them accountable.

“The stakes are enormous,” Mishak writes in the CPI article.

“Because Congress has long left regulation of the insurance industry to the states, these little-known regulators, one per state, wield immense power over one of the largest segments of the U.S. economy. Charged chiefly with protecting consumers, commissioners review rate changes, investigate complaints and make sure insurers have enough money to pay claims.”

Consumers who rely on their insurance to protect them need to be able to trust that insurance commissioners with so much power and so little transparency will still have consumers’ best interests at heart, instead of prioritizing the interests of commissions’ friends in the insurance industry.

Who’s Calling the Shots in State Politics?

Drinks, dinners, junkets and jobs: how the insurance industry courts state commissioners

Center probe reveals cozy relationships, revolving doors and shady financial ties

By Michael J. Mishak

When the Arkansas insurance commissioner weighed the merits of a hospital’s billing complaint against United Healthcare, her interactions with one of the nation’s largest health insurers extended far beyond her department’s hearing room.

During months of deliberations, Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman met repeatedly with United Healthcare lawyers and lobbyists over lunch and drinks at venues such as the Country Club of Little Rock.

“I had a blast with you Monday night,” Benafield emailed United Healthcare lawyer Bill Woodyard, himself a former state insurance commissioner. “Thank you so much for entertaining us.”

Commissioner Benafield ultimately decided the case in United Healthcare’s favor — a 2008 ruling that stood to save the company millions of dollars. Nearly two years later, by the time a judge vacated the commissioner’s orders because there was “an appearance of impropriety in the proceedings,” Benafield had moved on: She was working for United Healthcare, having joined at least three of her predecessors representing insurers in Arkansas.

Read more at The Center for Public Integrity.

How to File a Safety and Health Complaint

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Rod Rehm

Today’s post was shared by the U.S. Department of Labor and comes from www.osha.gov

If you suspect an OSHA violation has happened at work, it’s important to report it by following the steps listed at the website below. If you have questions about reporting a violation, please contact us, and we can help point you in the right direction. In addition, many of OSHA’s inspections occur because of injuries, so if you or a loved one is injured at work, please contact an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer who can make sure the appropriate OSHA reports, as applicable, are considered in your case.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 gives employees and their representatives the right to file a complaint and request an OSHA inspection of their workplace if they believe there is a serious hazard or their employer is not following OSHA standards. Workers do not have to know whether a specific OSHA standard has been violated in order to file a complaint.

Complaints from workers or their representatives are taken seriously by OSHA. OSHA will keep your information confidential.

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New Intermediaries Will Help Scale U.S. Apprenticeships

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Rod Rehm

Today’s post was shared by US Dept. of Labor and comes from blog.dol.gov

What do you know, and what are you assumptions, about apprenticeships? Is it possible that what a person learns in an apprenticeship can be transferred to another job or even another industry?

We have promoted blog posts about apprenticeships before like this one: Companies Must Understand: Labor is About More Than Just Jobs and this one: The Largest Apprenticeship Investment in U.S. History.

The best description of the results of holding an apprenticeship that I have seen lately is directly from this post:

“In a labor market that increasingly favors and rewards skilled workers, apprenticeships offer intensive skills training, a credential and middle-class wages.”

The U.S. Department of Labor is working to expand the idea of apprenticeships programs to two key groups:

“…expanding apprenticeships in new industries, and

increasing opportunities for underrepresented groups to participate in apprenticeship programs.”

Though there is some jargon in the blog post, I greatly enjoyed the word cloud that is the illustration. I also enjoyed the information that since 2014, “the Department of Labor has made unprecedented investments to support the development and expansion of new and existing apprenticeship programs, announcing or awarding $265 million in funding, thanks, in part, to a historic, bipartisan agreement made by Congress and based on the president’s 2016 budget.” Because making sure an effort is funded is a very important step in the process.

And making sure the two groups above know the “how” of the process is also important, as evidenced by this quote:

“… other high-growth industries – such as advanced manufacturing, energy, health care, homeland security, hospitality, and transportation – are less experienced with the apprenticeship model, and often lack the expertise needed to develop high-quality programs, and engage employers and other key stakeholders.”

This blog will continue to monitor federal, state and local efforts to provide training and apprenticeships to workers, celebrate those accomplishments, and point out the need for training improvements that benefit workers. Have a safe, productive week.

A word cloud shaped like the United States includes words related to apprenticeship, including #ApprenticeshipWorks, learn, on-the-job training, earn, dol.gov/apprenticeship, workforce and ApprenticeshipUSA.

Apprenticeships, paid training programs that combine on-the-job training and classroom instruction, are an effective yet underused strategy for training workers for in-demand jobs. In 2014, in an effort to increase the use of apprenticeship as a pathway to middle-class employment, President Obama set a national goal to double the number of U.S. apprenticeships within five years.

Since then, the Department of Labor has made unprecedented investments to support the development and expansion of new and existing apprenticeship programs, announcing or awarding $265 million in funding, thanks, in part, to a historic, bipartisan agreement made by Congress and based on the president’s 2016 budget.

As part of that initiative, the Department of Labor is awarding 14 contracts to industry and workforce intermediaries to advance two major goals for expanding apprenticeship programs in the United States:

expanding apprenticeships in new industries, and
increasing opportunities for underrepresented groups to participate in apprenticeship programs.

According to the department, the majority of apprenticeship programs are in the construction industry. In 2015, 47 percent of active apprentices were construction apprentices. After construction, the next most popular industries…

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Keep Ag Worker Safety in Mind this Harvest Season

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Rod Rehm

As harvest kicks off on the Great Plains, please take the time to be safe and make sure you understand the safety policies of your business, whether you’re a worker, a supervisor, or the employer.

The information and resources below are a sometimes-stark reminder of the need for safety all year when it comes to agricultural jobs, especially at harvest, when long hours and the urgency of the time available all affect a person’s decision-making abilities.

First, here’s a summary of a news release from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation that was the result of an elevator supervisor’s death in a soybean bin in March of this year. Sympathies go to the “41-year-old elevator superintendent’s” loved ones. This person’s death is especially tragic because Cooperative Producers Inc. has been cited seven times since 2011 for grain handling safety violations. This most recent violation resulted in a proposed fine of $411,540 and also earned the Hastings, Nebraska-based company a spot in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

In this most recent incident, the worker was with two others in a soybean bin, and he “suffocated when his lifeline tangled in an unguarded and rotating auger,” according to the news release.

“OSHA investigators determined three workers, including the elevator superintendent, had been standing over the unguarded auger using a pole in an attempt to dislodge soybean debris in a grain bin that contained more than 50,000 bushels of soybeans sloped 12 to 20 feet up its walls.

“During its investigation, the agency found CPI failed to:

Disconnect a subfloor auger before allowing workers to enter.
Test atmospheric conditions in grain bins before allowing workers to enter.
Implement procedures to prevent sudden machine start-up or unintentional operation, a process known as lockout/tagout.
Install adequate machine guarding to avoid contact with moving parts.”

The Nebraska State Patrol on Twitter at @NEStatePatrol recently shared a news release that focused on being even more careful and aware of other vehicles than usual, which was the other motivation for today’s blog post.

Harvest is really ramping up just in time for the days to get shorter and machinery operators to be traveling to and from the fields at hard-to-see hours, especially dawn, dusk and at night. In addition, with the school year starting recently, more inexperienced drivers are driving with school permits on rural roads and might not be able to react as quickly as other drivers would anticipate.

“Combines, grain carts, tractors, and other agricultural implements typically travel at slower speeds,” according to the patrol’s news release. “Due to their dimensions and loads, operator visibility is often reduced. Motorists are reminded to be aware and utilize caution when approaching, following or passing farm vehicles.

“‘Harvest time means tall crops and often limited visibility at rural intersections,’” said Colonel Brad Rice, superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol in the news release. “‘Motorists should also be aware of the possibility of wildlife moving around due to the increased activity in the fields.’”

Here are some of the firm’s previous blog posts with additional resources about agricultural jobs and workers’ compensation, grain-handling safety, and harvest.

Please take the time during harvest, and all of the time, to know and follow safety policies and procedures in agricultural jobs. If you’re an employer or manager, it is essential that workers are trained in and implement safety efforts, regardless of the hustle and bustle of the season, harvest or otherwise.

Make sure to contact an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer if you or a loved one has questions about a work-related incident or injury.

Honor Workers this Labor Day by Supporting Corrections’ Employees

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Rod Rehm

Labor Day is to honor workers. We must never forget that. Labor unions have worked long and hard to improve the lives of workers. Safety and reduction of injury is one area that directly benefits all workers.

Most workplaces are safer than they were a decade ago. In Nebraska, correction workers are experiencing dramatic and frightening increases in violence and injury.

The stories of riots and inmates assaulting workers are all too frequent. The root cause is simple. We don’t have enough corrections workers. This also seems to be the case in Iowa.

The Nebraska Association of Public Employees/American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is fighting hard to get the governor of Nebraska to get more hands on deck and hire more workers to protect all corrections officers.

Wouldn’t it be great as Labor Day approaches if the governor decided to add more corrections officers and make that workplace safer? I don’t think we should hold our breaths for that to happen, but one can hope.

We can all lend our voices to support NAPE/AFSCME in its efforts. Keep up the good work!

Trouble Flexing Your Foot Up? You May Have Foot Drop.

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Rod Rehm

Today’s blog post was written by Anthony L. Lucas from The Jernigan Law Firm in North Carolina. I think that consumers and those who have loved ones with this condition will find this information useful. Just like in a previous blog post that Mr. Lucas wrote, it is helpful to have more details about a medical concern, so a person can have the knowledge to ask questions for greater understanding of a person’s individual situation.

Though each case’s details are different, in general, if foot drop is a result of you or your loved one’s work-related injury, it is more than likely covered by a state’s workers’ compensation laws. There are some exceptions in Nebraska, so please contact a lawyer who is familiar with your state’s workers’ compensation system for more information and with your specific details.

Foot drop describes the inability of a person to lift his or her foot at the ankle due to weakness or paralysis of the muscles that lift the foot. Foot drop can be caused by several things including: an injury to the spinal cord, an injury to the nerve that controls the muscles involved in lifting the foot during hip or knee replacement surgery or during intramuscular injections, ALS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or muscular dystrophy.

Symptoms of foot drop include dragging your foot on the floor when you walk, walking like you are climbing stairs to prevent your foot from dragging, and numbness on the top of your foot and toes. Treatment options depend on the cause and severity of a person’s drop foot and include orthotics such as braces or foot splints, physical therapy, or surgery including decompression, nerve sutures, nerve grafting, nerve transfer, or tendon transfer.

Depending on the cause of a person’s foot drop, it may not be a lifelong disability. If the underlying cause is trauma or nerve damage it is possible for a person’s foot drop to improve or go away completely; however, if the underlying cause is a progressive neurological disorder, foot drop will likely continue as a lifelong disability.

Cutting Corners in Construction Costs Lives

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Rod Rehm

Today’s blog post was shared by the U.S. Labor Department and comes from blog.dol.gov

This is quite the article that looks at the journey of keeping one Florida construction company accountable for workers’ safety. The original incident sadly resulted in one worker’s death and 20 workers’ injuries. The company, Southern Pan, when faced with a $125,000 fine, went through the appeals process to try to avoid paying the full fine. The company’s lawyers were successful, so the Labor Department’s lawyers appealed, and after eight years of the process, this happened: “… an administrative law judge affirmed OSHA’s citations and ordered the company to pay the full penalty of $125,000.”

Although this situation happened in Florida, deaths because construction businesses took shortcuts in safety are all too common. Here’s a link to a blog post from 2015 that was a follow up to an OSHA investigation in Nebraska where one worker died and another was seriously injured when their employer didn’t provide any fall protection and the workers fell 16 feet off a roof.

“According to OSHA rules, employers have the responsibility to provide a safe workplace.”

This thought was highlighted in a previous blog post from a guest author Catherine Stanton, who works at a New York City law firm. In her blog post, she wrote about the need for safety enforcement in construction and other industries.

As I wrote in a recent blog post, violating safety codes are unlawful acts.

“As a representative of injured workers, I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of work injuries or deaths caused by gross disregard of safety codes and regulations by employers.”

If a business follows OSHA regulations – many of these construction deaths, whether in trenches, as a result of falls, or when a company completely disregards the safety of its workers like in Florida – should be preventable.

It would take a much longer discussion to debate how to make these businesses understand even part of the loss that the loved ones of the workers who died feel, and you can read a few thoughts on this topic at this recent blog post. Because everyone should be able to return home to their loved ones after an honest day’s work.

an image of the collapsed parking garage

In the construction industry, precision matters – corners need to be square, lines have to be level and plans must be followed. Following the rules keeps buildings and people safe. But when construction companies cut corners, workers often pay the price.

That is exactly what happened in Jacksonville, Florida, in December 2007. A construction company called Southern Pan thought eliminating basic safety procedures would save time and money. The result? A six-story parking garage came crashing down, killing one worker and injuring 20 others. The worker who was killed, Willie Edwards, was only there that day because he decided to pick up an extra shift to buy Christmas presents for his children.

This horrific tragedy could have been easily avoided.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforces construction standards designed to keep workers safe from building collapses like this. To keep a building from collapsing during construction, a process called “shoring” is used, which involves wood or steel beams to help support the weight of concrete and other construction loads.

In violation of OSHA’s construction standards, Southern Pan chose to remove most of the shores from the first two floors of the parking garage, ignoring blueprints that required all shoring to remain from top to bottom until the building was completed. The company then knowingly permitted workers, including Edwards, to work in the…[Click here to see the rest of this post]

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Author Archives: Rod Rehm

Top 10 OSHA Citations of 2016: A Starting Point for Workplace Safety

Drinks, Dinners, Junkets and Jobs: How The Insurance Industry Courts State Commissioners

Who’s Calling the Shots in State Politics?

Drinks, dinners, junkets and jobs: how the insurance industry courts state commissioners

Center probe reveals cozy relationships, revolving doors and shady financial ties

How to File a Safety and Health Complaint

New Intermediaries Will Help Scale U.S. Apprenticeships

Keep Ag Worker Safety in Mind this Harvest Season

Honor Workers this Labor Day by Supporting Corrections’ Employees

Trouble Flexing Your Foot Up? You May Have Foot Drop.

Cutting Corners in Construction Costs Lives

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Who’s Calling the Shots in State Politics?

Center probe reveals cozy relationships, revolving doors and shady financial ties

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