workers’ compensation

Reading about the recent death of two men from Massachusetts is very distressing and leaves many people wondering about the circumstances of those left behind. Two families are likely facing financial difficulties, along with grief, after the tragic workplace accident. They will have to settle the high costs of funerals and burials, and in addition, they will have to do without the income of the loved one who died. The employer stated that the men were engaged in routine maintenance. In order to reach the high-tension transmission lines, they were lifted in a mechanical bucket to a height of 100 feet.…

Repairing a broken water line can be a fairly common duty for someone who works for the Department of Public Works. Although it is not an easy job, it is not one that is typically considered to be life-threatening or excessively dangerous. Sadly, for two Massachusetts men who were recently victims of a workplace accident, it was both. One man was killed and another man was injured in the early evening accident. The two were part of a crew of city employees that was fixing a break in one of the city's water lines. During the repair, a piece of heavy…

Responsible employers in Massachusetts want to provide a safe work environment for their employees. They offer safety training and have programs in place to ensure their workers are as safe as they can possibly be. Sometimes, however, despite all their precautions, a workplace accident occurs that forever changes the lives of the people affected. A Massachusetts man working at Logan Airport was killed recently when he was hit by a truck. The man was with a coworker in the cargo area early one evening. The coworker was driving a truck and began to back up. He ran over the man, who was…

Emergency personnel worked diligently to extricate a Massachusetts construction worker who was unable to free himself from a trench in which he had been working. The workplace accident happened at an area housing project that is currently being built. Officials are still investigating what caused the trench to cave in and where the man was located when it happened. For nearly three hours, rescue workers attempted to clear the debris that held the man captive. The lower half of his body was encased in asphalt, sand and rock, which only hampered the efforts to set him free. Boards found nearby were used…

A workplace injury is the prerequisite for establishing the validity of workers' compensation claim for benefits. Such injury also includes diseases that can be shown to be causally related to the nature of the work. Usually a treating physician will have to testify that the injury or disease was caused by work conditions. In a state other than Massachusetts, a court recently held that a man who assisted with a rescue effort after an explosion in a mine at work was entitled to workers' compensation benefits. A workers' compensation judge had ruled that the claim was invalid because it was only for emotional and…

OSHA has instituted a push to get companies to increase efforts to protect the hearing of their workers. In Massachusetts and nationwide, workers often sustain a kind of gradual-onset workplace injury that may not rise to the level of deafness but which results in loss of clarity and a loss of understanding. Those abilities are needed in the workplace to avoid other kinds of injuries. The Department of Labor has verified that hearing loss is a major life deficit that can lead to personal isolation due to loss of communication abilities. About 22 million workers nationwide face damaging levels of noise at…

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently levied fines against William H. Glancy & Sons Inc. The fines have been issued in connection with a deadly workplace accident that happened back in March of this year. A mechanic that had been with the company at least seven years was found dead beneath one of the company's trucks. The mechanic had gone underneath the truck, presumably without telling the driver that he was going to be under it. The driver proceeded to move the truck, and the mechanic was crushed underneath it. The rigging company has been in Massachusetts for nearly 100…

Having a job that requires work outside of an office is a dream for many. Being able to enjoy varying daily sights and fresh air are just two benefits that non-office workers take pleasure in. Though there are various benefits differing from those who work indoors, there are also different risks and hazards that outdoor workers can face. Weather changes and extreme temperatures can pose serious health risks, and if an injury or death occurs on the job, employers may be responsible for workers' compensation. One type of worker who must be out in all types of weather is the mail…

A Massachusetts man who works trimming and cutting tree branches was injured on the job yesterday when he fell 25 to 30 feet from the bucket of a work truck. He was flown by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, with what were described as "very serious injuries." The accident was in Duxbury, about 30 miles south of Boston. A captain with the Duxbury Fire Department said the worker appeared to be in his twenties or thirties, but said he didn't know the man's name, exact age or what caused him to fall from the truck's extended boom. The captain said…