Tag Archive for workers compensation

Jennifer Atkinson | April 4, 2012
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Long Work Hours Raise Heart Attack Risk

Employees who work more than 11 hours a day (as opposed to the standard eight) significantly increase their risk of heart disease, according to the UK’s Annals of Internal Medicine. Recent reports show that risk goes up by 67% for those who put in long hours at work.

The University College London team based findings on more than 7,000 civil service employees whose health has been monitored since 1985. They suggest that doctors should now be asking patients about working hours.

Lead researcher of the story, Professor Mika Kivimäki said: “Considering that including a measurement of working hours in a GP interview is so simple and useful, our research presents a strong case that it should become standard practice. This study might make us think twice about the old adage ‘hard work won’t kill you.’”

Professor Stephen Holgate of the Medical Research Council added that the study “could also be a wake-up call for people who overwork themselves, especially if they already have other risk factors.”

Over the course of the 11-year study, 192 of participants had a heart attack.  Those who out in 11 hours of work or more per day were more than 50% as likely to have a heart attack than those who worked shorter hours.

And factoring working hours into well-established heart risk factors (like high blood pressure), made the predictions far more accurate. Studies are now needed to see if encouraging employers to cut back on working hours (or getting employers to soften their demands) will improve heart health.

“Tackling lifestyles that are detrimental to health is a key area for the MRC, and this research reminds us that it’s not just diet and exercise we need to think about,” said Professor Holgate.

Experts suspect a number of underlying factors may be at play, such as undetected high blood pressure, stress, anxiety or depression, and being a driven, aggressive or irritable personality.

The study also raises related issues traditionally managed by employment attorneys, such as unpaid overtime hours, wage and hour violations, wrongful termination and workplace discrimination. An experienced Employment Attorney at Emery Reddy can help with any of these issues. In addition, workers who have submitted an L&I Claim with the Department of Labor and Industries, and need help with their workers compensation case, should consult an L&I Lawyer at Emery Reddy.

Category: Employment Attorney, L&I Attorney, Labor and Industries, Wage and Hour Violations, Workers Compensation Attorney | Tags: , , , , ,
Jennifer Atkinson | March 30, 2012
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Unemployment Continues to Drop

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in four years, strengthening evidence that our job market continues to improve.  The Department of Labor also confirmed that the U.S. economy grew by 3% in the fourth quarter of 2011. From December through February, businesses added an average of 245,000 jobs per month. This has caused the unemployment rate to drop to 8.3 percent, the lowest level in three years.

According to the Labor Department the number of people applying for weekly unemployment benefits fell by 5,000, to a seasonally adjusted 359,000. This marks the lowest number of applicants since April 2008.

The four-week average of jobless claims, which is a less precarious metric, declined to 365,000 — the fewest for that measure since May 2008.

When applications for unemployment benefits decrease in a consistent trend below 375,000, it is generally a sign that hiring is sufficiently robust to bring down the unemployment rate. The current decline has coincided with the best three-months of hiring in over two years.

Many economists predict yet another strong month of hiring in March.

In assessing jobless claims, Ian Shepherdson, an economist at High Frequency Economics said “The trend remains unambiguously downwards.” While he admitted that the rate of decline was slowing, he pointed out that it was “still consistent with robust, sustained payroll gains.”

In Thursday’s assessment of the October-December quarter, the Commerce Department reported no change. The 3 percent annual rate remained the highest since spring 2010. Still, economists expect growth has probably slowed to 2 percent or less in the current quarter.

Businesses have been restocking their inventories at a slower rate, and shipping a lower amount of durable manufactured goods. In addition, Europe’s debt crisis and slowed growth in Asia have dampened demand for American exports.

Yet despite promising trends overall, Washington State residents still face troubling rates of unemployment, as well as difficulties in the workplace such as wrongful termination, workplace discrimination, trouble collecting workers compensation benefits, and the complexity of handling a Labor & Industries Claim (including, for many, the need to appeal a rejected L&I claim). Since a large number of injured workers do not fully understand their rights, they are taken advantage of when they attend an L&I Independent Medical Exam. If you need help with any of these issues, contact an L&I Lawyer or a Seattle Employment Attorney at Emery Reddy today.

Category: Department of Labor, Department of Labor and Industries, Employment Attorney, Independent Medical Examination, L&I, L&I Attorney, Labor and Industries, Unemployment, Workers Compensation Attorney | Tags: , , , , ,
Jennifer Atkinson | February 23, 2012
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Labor Department Cites Wal-Mart for Repeat and Serious Safety Hazards

Wal-Mart rarely seems to get good press when it comes to workplace conditions or relations with its employees, and this past week was no exception. The United States Dept of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for a total of 24 “repeat and serious” violations of workplace safety and health standards at its supercenter store in Rochester, NY. Even more troubling, these violations show a pattern of similarity to recent citations at nine additional Wal-Mart locations across the U.S.

The Arkansas-based retailer faces up to $365,500 in proposed fines after OSHA’s Buffalo Area Office conducted inspections in response to a complaint.

“The sizable fines proposed here reflect not only the seriousness of these conditions but the fact that several of them are substantially similar to hazards identified at nine other Wal-Mart locations in New York and eight other states,” said Arthur Dube, OSHA’s director in Buffalo. “This situation is unacceptable. A corporate employer must take effective and proactive steps to assess, correct and prevent the recurrence of hazards at all of its locations.”

OSHA inspectors who visited the Rochester Wal-Mart found fall hazards; obstructed exits; an absence of lockout procedures for energy sources that would enable workers to safely perform maintenance on a compactor; an unguarded grinder; a failure to train employees on proper uses of protective equipment; a lack of eye and face protection; and insufficient information and training on hazardous chemicals in the workplace. These conditions exposed employees to serious risk of workplace injury, amounting to citations for 10 repeat violations with $288,000 in fines.

A repeat violation is issued when a place of employment has previously been cited for the same violation of a standard, regulation, or rule. In Wal-Mart’s case, OSHA had cited the retail giant for similar hazards between 2008 and 2010 at workplaces in South Mobile, Alabama; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Plant City, Florida; Rincon, Georgia; Jerseyville, Illinois; Queensbury, N.Y; Fargo, North Dakota; and Tulsa, Oklahoma.  L&I Attorneys were disappointed but hardly surprised by the news, as Wal-Mart has long been a source of a numerous injuries and workers compensation claims in Washington State.

The citations against Wal-Mart can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Walmart315502476-315502880-01-27-12.pdf.*

If you of someone you know has suffered a workplace injury and is filing an L&I claim, we encourage you to consult one of Emery Reddy’s Washington Workers’ Compensation Lawyers.

In the course of many L&I claims process, the Labor & Industries administrators may request that you complete an Independent Medical Examination; if you find yourself in this situation, we urge you to consult with an Seattle L&I lawyer immediately.

Category: Employment Attorney, L&I, L&I Attorney, Worker Injury, Workers Compensation Attorney, Workplace Safety | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Jennifer Atkinson | June 13, 2011
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Construction Accident Attorneys

Construction site jobs are among the most dangerous work in the U.S.  Each year, thousands of Washington workers are seriously injured or killed in construction site accidents.  Some of the most frequent injuries include falling, crane accidents, scaffolding accidents, hazards from compressed gases, defective machinery or equipment, nail gun mishaps, explosions, and welding or cutting accidents.  According to some industry estimates, 40% of construction site fatalities involve electrocution.

Construction accidents cause Washington workers to suffer more than just serious injury; employees also face financial hardships, the inability to support families, long-term medical complications and expenses, surgery, and sometimes life-long difficulties maintaining employment.

When the responsible party is the workers’ employer, a coworker, or even the injured worker him- or herself, claims and benefits are managed by the Department of Labor and Industries.  However, if a construction site injury is caused by the negligence of someone other than a direct employer – or if accidents occur at a location other than the place of employment – workers may have the right to additional compensation and benefits through a third-party liability claim.  In distinction from workers’ compensation benefits, there is virtually no limit to the settlement amount in a third-party liability claim. This can give injured workers access to additional medical benefits and wage-loss benefits, and further compensate them for personal pain and suffering as well as loss of services for dependents or a spouse.

From a legal perspective, construction accident claims are highly complex. Construction sites are demanding and rapidly-changing environments where projects are managed under intense time constraints, and projects often involve multiple businesses, contractors, sub-contractors, rental companies, property owners, workers, and equipment manufacturers and owners.  Simply pinpointing the party responsible for an accident can be overwhelming.  This means that victims without skillful and experienced legal representation can face an endless series of questions and criteria in assessing the viability of their construction accident claim: what personnel were present on the site when an accident occurred? What machinery or equipment was involved? Who manufactured, owned, installed, or operated it? Are there available witnesses?  A construction site attorney with comprehensive knowledge of third-party liability and workers’ compensation laws can be crucial to the success of a case. The Construction Site Accident Attorneys at Emery Reddy are experienced in maximizing compensation that workers receive from serious injury and wrongful death cases.

Our attorneys have successfully negotiated and litigated construction site accident cases involving defective products that are commonly used in commercial building projects.  Each year, poorly manufactured or improperly maintained construction equipment causes thousands of serious injuries and fatalities.  Life-altering injuries and deaths, for instance, commonly result from scaffolding that is incorrectly installed or that fails to follow L&I and OSHA safety regulations.  Rental companies that do not properly care for or install equipment may be held accountable in a third-party liability claim.

While some workers are tempted to accept a quick settlement from an insurance company, this rarely reflects the full cost of personal, medical, financial and professional damages suffered by the injured worker.  What is in the insurer’s best interest is generally not in the best interest of the victim, since insurance companies will look for every available means to pay claimants as little as they can.

Emery Reddy’s Construction Accident Attorneys can help client recover the maximum compensation to which they are entitled by Washington law. As committed advocates of Washington workers, we take pride in our successful record of securing benefits for the injured and disabled, and will guide you through every step of your personal injury, third party liability or workers’ compensation claim.  Contact one of our attorneys today for a free consultation.

Category: Worker Injury, workers compensation, Workplace Accident | Tags: , ,
Jennifer Atkinson | April 12, 2011
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Tsunami Aftermath: Disaster, Contract Labor, and Workers’ Comp

They have become known in the press around the world as the “Fukushima 50,” the 50 anonymous workers who venture into the dark, flooded depths of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the wake of the March earthquake and tsunami that sent the plant’s systems spinning perilously out of control.  Ethicists and labor rights activists wring their hands over the morality of sending in civil workers into what is certain to be a radioactive environments while editorials and politicians praise their bravery and selflessness in the face of disaster.

In the wake of their acts of bravery, labor advocates began to ask important questions about these nuclear workers’ access to health care and workers’ compensation benefits should they suffer any ill effects from their important work.  After all, a startling “88 percent” of Japanese nuclear workers are contract workers with uncertain access to benefits, according to the NYTimes.com.

The New York Times noted these workers are “emblematic of Japan’s two-tiered work force, with an elite class of highly paid employees at top companies and a subclass of laborers who work for less pay, have less security and receive fewer benefits.”  The Times reports that the medical care and benefits for these workers tends to dwindle as you work your way down the ladder from contracted worker, to subcontracted, to even sub-subcontracted.  Essentially “nuclear migrants,” these workers attempt to conceal injuries or exposure to radiation so they can retain their employment.

As the United States re-evaluates its own nuclear power industry, the spotlight has shifted to how the U.S. treats those workers who are asked to put themselves in jeopardy in what is essentially a work situation.  Just today, Scientific American reports that the U.S. nuclear safety regulator is investigating how three nuclear workers in Nebraska were exposed to radiation in a workplace setting in early April. Scientific American writes, “The three workers triggered radiation alarms by incorrectly moving a radioactive tube on April 3. They immediately set the tube down and fled the area.  Nebraska Public Power District, which operates the Cooper Nuclear Station, does not believe the workers were exposed to radiation above regulatory limits, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a release.”  There is no word if these workers were subcontractors or full-time employees.

Of course, if the United States suffered a disaster so severe that it forced not only nuclear workers, but emergency workers to enter extreme environments to save lives, the most obvious, and unfortunate parallel is 9/11.  Chris Bragg wrote as late as 2007 that “many cleanup workers who rushed to help the city in its time of need say they have developed serious physical conditions due to that work: 756 cleanup volunteers and many more paid workers have submitted claims. Many claimants say, however, the Workers’ Compensation Board has been slow in helping them get back on their feet.”  Workers employed by the city, such as firefighters and police officers, go through a tailored compensation process.  But contract workers are at the mercy of the city’s Workers’ Compensation Board, and literally hundreds of articles over the years have detailed their struggle.

Labor & Industries experts will continue to watch the drama unfolding in Japan with an eye to how workers in the U.S. would be treated in similar circumstances.  If anything, the situation reveals the need for greater protection of subcontracted workers of all stripes, especially in terms of workers’ compensation, before a disaster happens and workers must rush into the unknown.  If you have been injured and have questions about your employment status as it relates to workers’ compensation, contact an expert Washington Labor & Industries Attorney.

Category: Employment Discrimination, Uncategorized, Unfair Pay Practices, Worker Injury, Worker Rights, workers compensation | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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