Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation

About 8.6 million American workers do some form of shift work as part of their job, either by taking on night work or by having rotating shifts that involve some work outside of regular 9 to 5 hours.

According to a recent study, this type of work can lead to an increased risk of work injuries in Hollywood and other communities. The study, out of the University at Buffalo Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, examined the injury rates and work shifts of 400 police officers working between 1994 and 2009. According to researchers, about 10% of police officers working between 11 at night and 8 in the morning suffered serious injury. In fact, officers on the night shift had a three times higher rate of serious injury when compared with day shift workers and twice the serious injury rate of officers working the afternoon shift. Researchers concluded that a break in circadian rhythms and the nature of police work – which can mean that many crimes occur in the evening and at night – lead to the higher rate of accidents.

It’s not just police officers. A number of studies have shown that shift workers in many industries may face a higher rate of injury. Unfortunately, many shift workers also tend to have dangerous jobs. They work as emergency room physicians, fire fighters, factory workers, truck drivers, and other workers with higher-risk positions. Their jobs are already dangerous but when they don’t sleep at night, experts say that circadian disruptions can cause delayed response times, fatigue, and poor decision making, which can make some of these jobs even more dangerous.

And shift work does not just increase the risk of personal injury in Hollywood and other cities. It can also wreak havoc with workers’ health, as well. Studies have shown that shift work can cause an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, ulcers, depression, and stomach problems. Even those workers who don’t suffer a serious injury such as a head injury in their Hollywood workplace may still find themselves affected by health concerns.

According to experts, part of the problem is simply biology and part of the problem is the lifestyle changes that shift work requires. In terms of biology, our bodies are regulated by an internal clock that in turn is regulated by darkness and light. This internal clock can affect everything from metabolism to the immune system, according to doctors, and disrupting this can lead to serious health consequences.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, part of the risks with shift work may have to do with lifestyle. Someone who works various shifts, for example, may struggle with sleep disorders if their shifts change. These workers may also face isolation because they sleep during the day, when other workers are awake. Finally, it can be hard to exercise and eat right when working outside of traditional work hours.

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Heavy equipment failure in Hollywood and other communities is a major cause of on-the-job accidents and injuries in blue-collar jobs. Many construction site accidents in Hollywood and across Florida as well as many other industrial jobs are cause by machinery failure each year. While some of these accidents by manufacturing or machinery defects, many are caused by preventable error. Safety experts agree that there are a number of ways to help prevent these types of workplace accidents in Hollywood and Florida:

1) When working with heavy equipment, be prepared to deal with hazards. Your workplace should provide you with instruction as well as any personal protective equipment and protection systems you may need to work with heavy machinery. Speak with the person responsible for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance to review the site analysis and any hazards for the job. In addition, keep in mind that work conditions and hazards can change during the course of work, so be prepared for new hazards.

2) Watch for moving parts. Keep in mind that any machinery with rotating shafts, belts, pulleys, gears, and other moving parts can trap or catch you. Make sure that any moving parts are correctly guarded and avoid wearing loose clothing or dangling accessories or hair when working with this type of machinery.

3) Keep your distance. Keep your distance from any moving parts of the machine you are operating at work. Also, keep a good distance from machines being used by other operators. If you must approach a forklift or other heavy piece of machinery, make eye contact with the operator and ensure that he or she can see you if you need to approach or move around the equipment. This will help prevent you from being crushed or trapped by the machine if it moves without the operator seeing you. Keep in mind that operators may not expect you to approach or be away from your own station. Avoid surprising other workers who are operating heavy machinery.

4) Use the technology available to you. There are many types of safety systems and technology in place to prevent workplace accidents in Hollywood and other communities. For example, some machinery has warning lights or alarm systems to warn workers when moving parts will be starting up. Be sure to use this type of technology if it is available and respect warning systems on any machinery in the workplace. There is also an exciting new app known as the VRPETERS (Vehicle Rollover Prevention Education Training Emergency Reporting System) which can detect a rollover and can send out an alert and emergency email to send medical help at once to the workplace. Although the app is still new, this and other technology could help accident victims in the future.

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According to ProPublica, temp work agreements are a growing trend since 2008. There are approximately 2.8 million temp workers across the U.S., many of them working in blue collar jobs, such as at construction sites and in factories. For employers, temp workers offer many benefits. They can be hired without having to pay for workers compensation, unemployment tax, and other benefits. They can also be hired and fired very easily, often through temp agencies that can hire teams of workers at a time. In fact, according to ProPublica, some employers are replacing full-time jobs with teams of temps who can be ferried into the workplace each day.

The problem, however, is that these workers are not protected by workers compensation and other benefits – even though there is evidence to suggest that temp workers are more at risk of work injuries in Hollywood and other communities when compared to full-time workers.

According to ProPublica, temp workers in Florida and California had a 50% greater chance of workplace injuries compared to non-temp workers. In Minnesota, temp workers faced a 72% higher risk of on the job injury. What’s worse is that in many cases temp workers are being hired in risky industries such as warehousing and manufacturing, where their risk of injury is even higher. In Florida blue-collar industries, temps were six time more likely to be injured in a workplace accident when compared with full-time workers in similar populations. ProPublica reports that Florida temp workers in these types of jobs were twice as likely to suffer from severe injuries such as punctures, dislocations, crushing injuries, lacerations, and fractures when compared with permanent workers. Temp workers in the state also had three times the risk of sustaining an amputation at work when compared with permanent workers.

According to ProPublica and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), part of the problem is that temp workers in blue-collar jobs are often not given the same safety training as permanent employees, and this puts them at risk. Temp work is also not highly regulated, even in dangerous jobs. This makes it easier for these workers to be involved in dangerous situations that lead to injury. In addition, when injuries do occur temp workers are not covered by workers compensation in Homestead or other benefits, so sometimes insurance disputes in Homestead and other communities occur when temp workers are injured. The company may say the temp agency is responsible while the temp agency may blame the company. In some cases, these disputes can even delay medical treatment for the patient who has sustained a serious injury such as a brain injury in a Homestead or Florida workplace.

In many cases, temp agencies end up paying for workers compensation for tem workers and this creates another problem: according to some safety experts, it places less pressure on companies to provide a safe workplace. If a number of permanent workers are injured in a construction site accident in Homestead, the company responsible for the construction site will face higher insurance premiums and may be held liable. This ensures that employers are pressured into providing safe workplaces. Even with multiple temp worker injuries, however, companies may not face increased costs and insurance premiums, so there is little financial incentive to change.

In the past five years, there are reports that the number of temp workers filing claims in Florida and other states have been on the rise, even as the workplace injury rates overall have been falling. As non-traditional jobs become more important, lawmakers have been trying to pass laws to protect these employees, but so far traditional workers have the most protection.

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A recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) has found that the average cost per claim for injured workers in Florida has been increasing. The costs for outpatient hospital care have been growing in a way that increases medical payments in the average claim. Between 2005 and 2010, the report found, the costs for average payment per service for outpatient care for injured workers in the state increased by an average of ten percent annually.

While many states have fixed amount fee schedules, the WCRI found that Florida uses a percent-of-charge-based fee structure, which may be partly responsible for the rise in costs. However, due to the steadying of other medical costs the medical payments per claim in injured worker cases actually remained stable after 2008, despite the increase in costs for outpatient care.

The WCRI study further found that Florida had a very high speed when it came to reporting on-the-job injuries and that wage replacement benefits did not increase significantly between 2008 and 2011. One interesting factor that the WCRI found is that attorneys more were often involved in Florida workers’ compensation claims. Florida workers’ compensation claims also tended to have higher payments per claim when compared with other states that the WCRI looked at. According to the organization, the study is intended to help Florida’s workers’ compensation system.

What does the study mean for people who are injured on the job in Homestead and other communities? Rising costs are not news for patients in the state. Employees who have sustained a serious injury, such as a head injury in Homestead, can expect to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs. In fact, a serious, permanent head injury or spinal cord injury in Homestead or another Florida city can cost more than $100 000 in medical care alone in the first year of treatment. Patients who have sustained this type of serious injury often cannot return to work and may require at-home care for the rest of their lives. This care combined with loss of income could end up costing more than a million dollars over the course of a lifetime, in some cases.

All too often, workers’ compensation in Homestead and other communities does not cover these full costs for workers who have suffered a serious and permanent injury. These cases can lead to insurance disputes in Homestead as well as a lot of distress for injured employees.

The lack of support is one reason why many injured workers turn to personal injury attorneys in Homestead or their cities. A good lawyer can help with the insurance claims process and can help a worker find other legal options for pursuing fair compensation. If negligence played a role in the injury, pursuing a personal injury claim against a third party can help an injured worker get compensation for lost wages, medical costs, long-term medical bills, incidental injury costs, pain and suffering, and more.

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OSHA (United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is a government agency and part of the United States Department of Labor. Created in 1970, the agency’s role is to provide safe workplaces across the country by setting workplace standards, enforcing those standards, and providing a variety of resources to both employees and employers. OSHA helps whistleblowers, inspects workplaces, and works to improve safety in the workplace.

However, does the agency do enough to help prevent workplace injuries in Homestead and across the country? Many experts claim it does not.

OSHA is limited by budget cuts and by laws which prevent some workplaces from being part of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The following workers, for example, are not protected by OSHA inspections and other OSHA services:

•Self-employed and contract workers
•Quarry and mine workers
•Flight crews
•Domestic workers
•Employees in the public sector
•Workers on small and family-owned farms
In addition to these exemptions, experts claim that OSHA has not always managed to secure convictions in cases where employers have violated workplace rules. In fact, there have been only 12 criminal convictions secured by the agency since 1970 and in many cases the maximum penalties for violations of OSHA rules amount to jail time of only a few months.

Budget cuts are also a key concern for OSHA (and for anyone who has had to claim workers compensation in Homestead or another community due to a preventable injury). According to a recent article in Think Progress, the statistics and numbers regarding OSHA are not very promising:

•The average workplace covered by OSHA rules can expect an inspection every 99 years, largely due to staffing and budget problems.

•Between 1981 and 2011, the number of workplaces doubled but the ratio of inspectors to places of work was slashed in half, so that there were fewer inspections in 2011 when compared with 1981.

•In 2011, over 4500 employees were killed in the workplace, or an average of 13 workers each day across the US.

•In 2104, it is expected that OSHA’s budget will be slashed from $576 million (in 2012) to $531 million or even as low as $443 million. This would make the budget the lowest the agency has seen since the early 1990s and would make it difficult to hire new workers and inspectors or to conduct more inspections.

This is bad news to Florida residents, where construction site injuries in Homestead as well as many other workplace-related injuries claim lives each year and cause terrible suffering as well as catastrophic injury. According to Think Progress, state regulation agencies have also been seeing budget cuts, meaning that there are fewer people and authorities cracking down on unsafe work conditions.

OSHA remains committed to workplace safety and their website (https://www.osha.gov/) is still a powerful resource for workers and employers. However, more obviously needs to be done to prevent injuries in the workplace.

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Employees who are injured on the job in Miami and other Florida cities face a huge range of injuries, from head injuries to spinal cord injuries, amputations, burns, fractures, and many other injuries. Workers compensation in Miami and other cities is intended to help these workers as they face medical costs and lost wages. The idea behind workers compensation benefits is that they are supposed to give injured employees quick access to compensation for on-the-job injuries, without the need for lengthy legal disputes.

Unfortunately, many injured workers in Miami and across Florida find that workers compensation claims can present a number of challenges, such as:

1) There is a short window of time during which employees must file a claim. Any claims filed beyond this date may be rejected.

2) Some workers face delays or rejections when seeking workers compensation benefits as insurance carriers crack down on insurance fraud.

3) Workers compensation does not always cover the full cost of a serious on-the-job injury, such as a spinal cord injury in Miami, and this leaves employees having to pay substantial costs out-of-pocket.

For all these reasons, it is still a good idea to at least consult with a personal injury attorney in Miami or your community to get legal advice. In some cases, you may be able to file a legal claim if a third party was liable for your injuries. For example, if you were in a job-related car accident in Miami, the car manufacturer may be held partly liable if there was a car defect that led to some of your injuries. An experienced attorney can help you explore any such options available to you. A good personal injury lawyer in Miami or your community can also negotiate with insurance carriers to get you the fairest compensation possible.

With compensations secured, employees can focus on healing rather than on the financial distress caused by an injury. With compensation, they are often able to afford quality medical care, increasing their chances in some cases of making a fuller recovery. Pursuing a legal claim also helps employees get information about their injuries. A personal injury attorney will often investigate what has caused a construction site accident, workplace car accident, or other workplace injury. This can help workers get closure for their accident. Finally, pursuing a legal claim helps hold liable parties responsible. If an employer has been negligent in providing a safe workplace, a legal claim is often an impetus to ensure that the employer makes safety changes that protect other workers as well.

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According to OSHA, in fiscal year 2012, 33 workers were fatally injured in the workplace in South Florida, an increase from 25 workers killed the year before. The vast majority of those killed on the job were men involved in roofing, construction, and landscaping industries. Falls, electrocutions, equipment accidents, and car accidents in Miami and across the region were some of the more common reasons for job-related fatalities last year.
OSHA also reported that across Florida 227 workers were killed in the workplace in fiscal year 2013. This is an increase of two workers compared to the year before. Safety experts say that it is a worrying trend because over the past three years the number of job-related fatalities was actually decreasing steadily.

In fiscal year 2012, construction site accidents in Miami and across the state were associated with the highest number of job-related fatalities. That year, 41 workers in the construction industry were killed on the job. Of these, 12 deaths were caused by transportation accidents and 15 were caused by falls. That same year, the warehousing industries and transportation industries reported 36 job-related fatalities together, which made them the second-most dangerous occupations in the state.

OSHA oversees safety at public workplaces and makes unannounced visits to ensure that workplaces are safe. However, safety experts say that budget cuts and reduced staff at OSHA have meant that the agency most often only visits after an accident or safety violation. In fiscal year 2012, the agency made 74 investigations across Florida, levying $521,475 in fines and penalties against employers who violated safety rules. Some safety experts question why only an average of $7000 per incident was levied in penalties. According to OSHA, limits on penalties and other enforcement actions are set by the government.

According to safety experts, everyone has a role to play in preventing on-the-job injuries in Miami and across Florida. Employers can help by instituting safety measures and raising awareness about common workplace dangers. For example, a few years ago OSHA reported a number of drowning fatalities among landscapers. Once employers increased awareness of the problem and installed additional safety devices on mowers, the numbers of these instances dropped. In fiscal year 2012, there was only one such fatality.

Employees also have a role to play. Obeying safety rules helps address issues which are not easily legislated. For example, workers can make the workplace safer for everyone by staying focused on the job and avoiding on-the-job distractions such as mobile devices (which can be especially dangerous in higher-risk occupations such as construction and transportation).

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According to Sarah Paoletti of the University of Pennsylvania’s Transnational Law Center, seasonal, migrant, and temporary workers are more vulnerable to injuries on the job when compared with permanent, traditional employees. Due to the precarious position that temporary workers have in the workplace, Paoletti has found that they are also less likely than permanent workers to get adequate medical help or to report unsafe work conditions. In some cases, according to Paoletti and a 2005 Human Rights Watch study, the problem is that temporary or migrant workers are undocumented residents in the country, and they fear criminal proceedings or immigration issues if they step forward.

Even documented temporary workers, however, are at risk. One issue is that in many cases they are hired through companies such as staffing agencies. In the event of an accident at work – such as an on-the-job slip and fall accident in Coral Gables or another community, for example – the employer can claim that the staffing company did not screen the employee correctly or did not provide adequate safety precautions or training.

Another issue is that temporary and migrant workers often do not have a strong support system within a workplace and may feel less able to speak out about safety situations. Since the temporary worker may be less familiar with a workplace than someone who has been there for some time, this can also cause problems. If someone sustains a head injury in Coral Gables or another community, for example, they may not have strong support systems in the workplace to turn to and may not know who to report the injury to. The company may even blame the injury on the worker’s lack of familiarity with the workplace.

In many cases, migrant workers and temporary workers are hired in higher-risk industries – including on construction sites, in agricultural settings, in factories, and in other settings where injuries are common. Yet, if a migrant or temporary worker is injured in a construction site in Coral Gables or another setting, they may not necessarily qualify or be able to collect workers compensation claims in Coral Gables or their communities. They may have a hard time collecting compensation for their injuries if the company blames the staffing agencies or if there are underlying immigration issues.

Even the federal agency looking out for workplace safety — the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) – cannot always intervene. The organization has no powers of prosecution. They can visit companies that violate safety standards, they can educate workers about their rights, they can issue fines and citations, but they have little additional recourse to stop companies known for endangering workers. Even OSHA citations and fines can be – and often are — challenged by companies violating safety standards.

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Teens are often excited to get their first summer job or first part-time job. In addition to getting some spending money, teens also get some independence from work – and experience that can help them secure future employment. Unfortunately, each year minors are seriously injured or even killed on the job. According to some experts, teens may be more at risk of injuries on the job because they have less work experience than adults and may be less willing to speak up about unsafe work conditions. If your teen has a part-time job, make sure that you:

1) Talk to your teen about their job options and workplace safety. Before your teen is injured and has to file a workers compensation claim in Hallandale or your community, discuss workplace safety with your teen. Some jobs simply come with more risk. Construction site accidents in Hallandale and other cities, for example, are more common than office workplace related accidents. Construction site accidents can also be more serious. Discuss job safety with your teen and make sure that your teen understands how they can stay safe on the job.

2) Ask your teen about workplace safety at their place of work. Have your teen discuss possible safety issues and problems at the workplace. In many cases, teens simply don’t realize that inadequate security claims in Hallandale or their community can occur if an employer does not take certain precautions. Make sure your teen is aware of worker safety laws and understands their rights in terms staying safe at work.

3) Check the employer. Consider visiting your teen at work or visit the workplace when your teen is not there in order to assess the safety of the workplace. Do most of the employees seem satisfied and happy? Does the workplace seem reasonably safe? Is it in a safe area or adequately secured against safety issues? Is the place of employment tidy? Keep in mind that even minor workplace accidents, such as slip and fall accidents in Hallandale or your community, can lead to serious head injuries and other serious injuries. Make sure that your teen works at the safest place possible.

4) Make sure your teen understands how to stay safe on the job and how to report unsafe conditions. Make sure that your teen gets on-the-job training for safety and understands all safety rules. Make sure that your teen has been told exactly how to report unsafe conditions. The more your teen knows about on-the-job safety, the more likely it is that they can stay safe while working.

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Workers compensation claims in North Miami Beach and other South Florida communities occur every day because workers are injured on the job. On-the-job injuries can result from incorrect security in North Miami Beach, incorrect management or supervision, poor employee screening, and a variety of other causes. Work-related accidents and injuries not only cause legal hassles and pain and suffering, but they can also reduce productivity and can affect a worker’s ability to earn an income. There are many ways that employees and employers can help prevent workplace injuries in North Miami Beach and across South Florida:

1) Proper training. Proper training of employees is important in preventing workplace injuries and accidents. Correctly trained workers know how to stay safe on the job and know how to operate machinery in the workplace. Training should occur when new employees are hired, but regular review of safety procedures is also important. When work methodologies change or when a workplace gets new equipment, additional training is often needed to help employees learn how to stay safe in the workplace.

2) Employee screening. Unfortunately, workplace violence is a real concern. When employers are negligent and incorrectly screen employees, inadequate security or premises liability cases in North Miami Beach can be the result. Employers should be careful to screen employees for safety to ensure that all team members stay safe. If an employee starts acting erratically or in a potentially dangerous manner, employers should have a policy for dealing with that in a way that keeps the workplace safe.

3) Written safety rules that are reviewed often. Even with proper training, employees can easily forget about safety rules and procedures. Having written rules posted around the workplace and written down in the company manual can help employees review and refresh their memory of safety rules. Regular reviewing of these safety rules is also important to ensure that everyone knows how to stay safe in the workplace.

4) Proper security. Security should keep both employees and customers safe. Poor security measures can result in inadequate security claims in North Miami Beach. Good security can mean installing security cameras, ensuring that doors and windows are correctly secured, hiring security guards or other security personnel, and taking other precautions to keep everyone at work safe.

5) Regular safety reviews and checks. Even if proper safety procedures and training systems are set up, workplaces can become unsafe. It is important to have regular reviews and checks to make sure that the workplace remains safe. Regular checks can help detect a spill, for example, that can lead to a slip and fall accident, or a broken window that can put the business at risk of a security breach. Regular checks can help prevent these issues from becoming a real threat.

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