Category Archives: Workplace Safety

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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New Employees Face Higher Risk, Harder Consequences for Work Injuries

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Jon Rehm

As the holiday season approaches, many people will take on second or holiday jobs. Workers taking on such jobs will be taking on a heightened risk of injury. One academic study showed that temporary employees are two to three times more likely to be injured. An Omaha-based construction company found that 65 percent of lost-time injuries took place in the first 90 days of employment (this link is a downloadable presentation). This blog post will describe some causes of injury and then talk about some particular challenges faced by new employees who are injured.

Slips, trips and falls are the most common cause of work injury. This hazard can be particularly acute during the winter in retail and restaurant jobs because customers will track in snow and other moisture. Strain from lifting is also a common injury. Warehouse work is in high demand over the holiday season, and one risk particular to such work is the risk of falling pallets or boxes.

One challenge that new employees face when they get hurt is how to calculate their disability benefits. A worker may not have been employed long enough for an employer and/or insurer to accurately determine how much the employee should be paid in benefits after getting hurt. One approach may to be base this benefit rate on pay of similarly situated co-workers. If you believe you are getting shortchanged on benefits because you were a new employee when you were hurt, you should contact a lawyer.

Workers’ compensation is supposed to pay you benefits regardless of your fault in the injury. But fault can still play a role in work-injury claims. If your injury was the fault of someone other than your employer or a co-worker, then you might be able to pursue a negligence case against that party. Unfortunately, some employers have tried to reintroduce fault into the workers’ compensation system, to the detriment of newer employees. Some employers will fire or discipline employees who have preventable or lost-time accidents during the beginning of their employment. In my view, such policies amount to employers almost admitting that they are retaliating against employees who get hurt at work. If you have been disciplined under such a policy, you should contact an attorney.

What Happens If I Get Hurt at My Second Job?

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Jon Rehm

An estimated 7 million Americans work at least two jobs. As the holidays approach, many people will take on holiday jobs as well. Getting hurt at a second job or a holiday job can also create problems at your full-time or regular job. This post will help you navigate some of those issues:

What benefits are you entitled to when you are hurt at a second or holiday job?Your benefits are limited by the wages you are receiving at your second job. You might be able to increase this amount with tips or other perks, but you cannot be paid for wage loss from your first job. If you do have permanent disability, that will be paid based off of a 40-hour week even if you worked part time.
Receipt of workers’ compensation benefits assumes that you are an actual employee and not an independent contractor. For most relatively low-wage part-time work, this is a fair assumption. But since I wrote my holiday job post back in 2013, there has been the emergence of ride-hailing companies like Uber and other sharing-economy companies that have blurred the lines between employee and independent contractor. If you get hurt working for one of these companies, you should contact an attorney, as the distinction between an employee and independent contractor is very fact specific.
How does a work injury at a second job affect your benefits at your regular job?

Health insurance

Assuming your other job’s workers’ compensation insurance company picks up your medical benefits, your health insurance from your regular job would not be affected. But in a disputed case, you may have to use health insurance from your regular job to pay for your workers’ compensation injury at your second job. In that case, you should list workers’ compensation from the company where you were hurt as the primary insurance and your private health insurance as your secondary insurance. Also be aware that if you settle your workers’ compensation claim, you may have to pay back your private health insurance. If you go to trial and win an award of medical benefits, your medical providers should refund the private health insurance and reimburse you for out-of-pocket expenses. In a disputed case, you should contact an attorney not only to get benefits but also to health navigate reimbursement.

Short-term and long-term disability

Larger employers will often have short-term and long-term disability policies to help employees make up for lost income. These are a mixed bag. Some won’t let you collect benefits for work injuries, some may allow you to double collect workers’ compensation and disability, while others may require you reduce benefits. These policies often have repayment policies if a workers’ compensation case is settled as well. It is helpful to have a lawyer to help you with this process as well.
How does a work injury at a second job affect your employment at your regular job?

Assuming your injury requires you to miss time from work, you can claim the Family and Medical Leave Act, assuming your employer has 50 employees, you have worked there for a year, and you have worked there for at least 1,250 hours over the last year. Assuming your employer has 15 employees, your employer would be required to make some reasonable accommodations for your injury under the Americans with Disabilities Act. You should reach out to a lawyer if either employer requires you to return to work without restrictions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has stated in final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 that policies that force employee to return to work without restrictions are unlawful. Ironically, if you are hurt at your second job, that employer is probably more likely to return you to work at light duty so that they can avoid or reduce what you are owed in temporary benefits. The new ADA regulations were intended in part to end how work-caused and non-work-caused disabilities are treated.

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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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.

College Football Programs Aim to Decrease Concussions

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Brody Ockander

With the start of college football, this state, like many others around the country, is abuzz with excitement. The start of this year’s college football season comes on the heels of a recent approval of a $75 million settlement of a class-action concussions case against the NCAA.

Some of this settlement money is earmarked for research and prevention of concussions. Before this settlement, however, the NCAA had already taken a step in the direction of trying to prevent concussions and head injuries by implementing new and stricter penalties for targeting – hitting defenseless players – and using one’s helmet as a weapon to hit another player.

Whether motivated by litigation or simply to prevent more injuries, some teams have also taken steps to minimize head injuries while playing football. The Nebraska Cornhuskers, for example, have implemented rugby-style tackling techniques in order to minimize head injuries. While the push for the new style of tackling is mentioned as a way to minimize targeting penalties, perhaps the greater reason is that the big-time football programs of the country, like Nebraska, are feeling the pressure to be proactive as a team in actually reducing concussions and the long-term effects of head injuries.

But do the sacrifices that individual players make outweigh the financial rewards to the universities and governing bodies for which they play?

The Big 10 Conference alone earned $448 million in television revenue in 2015 and paid its commissioner $2.3 million. Meanwhile, college football players risk limb and sometimes even their lives without any compensation for the risks they take for their schools. Leaving it all on the field should refer to competition and effort, not the sacrifice of a player’s future.

Summer Jobs for Teens: Be Aware

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Todd Bennett

As summer has hit in full force, many teens are excited to have their first real jobs. Unfortunately, some will be hurt, possibly seriously. Young workers have a higher rate of getting hurt on the job than older adults. Teens new to the workforce feel that they have to say yes to every task they’re assigned. Often, they just aren’t trained to do what they have been asked to do.

Teens’ parents should make sure young workers get the training they need but also be aware and know their rights, especially for those teens who have entered the workforce for the first time or have taken on new responsibilities as they have gotten older. Parents and teens should always ask questions, especially when they’re concerned for safety.

A common theme for parents of kids who have been injured is to find out what your child has been assigned to do, and sit down with your child and find out if there are dangers involved. Ask your teen about the equipment used on the job and whether he or she has been asked to do anything unsafe. Tell your children that no job is worth their life.

All workers have a right to appropriate training and can refuse work assignments that are unsafe.

In Nebraska …

Federal hour restrictions for children 14 and 15 years old are: not over 3 hours on a school day; not over 18 hours in a school week; not over 8 hours on a non-school day; not over 40 hours in a non-school week; and not before 7 a.m. nor after 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day). For more federal regulations, click here.

Children under 16 years old may not be employed in any work that is dangerous to life or limb, or in which the child’s health may be injured or their morals depraved.

The law allows 14- and 15-year-olds to perform tasks such as office work, cashiering and stocking shelves, but they can’t cook, bake or use power equipment.

Youth ages 16 and 17 may do more at work, but there are still restrictions. They can’t operate or work around heavy, moving equipment. They’re also not allowed to use equipment like meat slicers or meat grinders.

Employers must have a minor work permit endorsement on their business license to legally hire teens.

The Department of Labor may issue a special permit to allow the employment of 14- and 15-year-old children before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. provided there is no school scheduled these days and after an inspection of the working conditions at the business location. Special permits may be issued for up to 90 days and may be renewed.

Be excited for your children as they enter young adulthood, but know of the dangers that can be presented, and do not fear asking tough questions and researching your child’s employment tasks. Their life and limb may depend on it.

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]

Workers' Compensation Watch

Published by Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm

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Category Archives: Workplace Safety

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

New Employees Face Higher Risk, Harder Consequences for Work Injuries

What Happens If I Get Hurt at My Second Job?

How to File a Safety and Health Complaint

Keep Ag Worker Safety in Mind this Harvest Season

College Football Programs Aim to Decrease Concussions

Summer Jobs for Teens: Be Aware

Cutting Corners in Construction Costs Lives

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