A contractor has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration which says workers were exposed to fall and scaffolding hazards at a commercial building project in Chicago. The Labor Department says that Polo Masonry Builders in Park Ridge, Illinois, also faces penalties of more than $250,000. OSHA inspectors cited the company for repeat and…
Hayden Wrecking Corporation has been named in a lawsuit filed by an employee who claims he suffered physically harmed a third-party truck driver during a job in August. Hayden hired B Garcia Trucking drivers to assist in removing materials from a property owned by Hayden. One of the drivers, Shanley Smith, was returning to commence his third hauling and was…
A woman is suing the city of Highland after she allegedly injured her hip when she tripped and fell on a curb in October. Vicki Durham has named the city of Highland as a defendant in her four-page complaint filed Aug. 26 Third Judicial Circuit Court of Madison County. The Record requested comment from Highland Mayor Joseph R. Michaelis and…
An Indiana family is suing Juul Labs Inc., accusing it of making electronic cigarettes that contain excessively high levels of nicotine without warning that they’re addictive. The McCullough family of Carmel filed the lawsuit Aug. 20 in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported. The lawsuit alleges that Juul did not include nicotine warnings on its devices,…
Employers continue to struggle with fall prevention and protection more than two years after federal regulators updated workplace safety rules in an effort to reduce fall-related fatalities, experts say. With falls killing more workers than ever in recent years, employers should place a renewed focus on reevaluating and managing the risk, they say. “I think (employers) are still getting the…
Overall workers compensation medical payments have continued to decline, according to the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California’s statewide Workers Compensation Aggregate Medical Payment Trends report, the bureau announced Tuesday. The report compares medical payment information from 2016 to 2018 and also analyzes utilization and cost of opioid prescriptions over time and by region. Medical payments for pharmaceuticals and…
A lack of effective worker participation in process safety efforts heightens the risk of employee injuries and serious safety incidents, according to a new report by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. Worker participation is an “essential element” to improve process safety and prevent chemical incidents and is required by several existing federal safety regulations, including the U.S….
Telemedicine has been touted as a trend to watch in workers compensation yet the use of technology to link medical providers and injured patients has been slow to take hold in the comp sector because of regulatory and other obstacles, experts say. But telemedicine as a way to treat minor on-the-job injuries holds promise, said Rick Sumner, director risk of…
A state agency says a northern Indiana company was partly responsible for the death of a 43-year-old employee who was killed when welding equipment fell from a forklift. The Elkhart Truth reports that the investigation by Indiana’s workplace safety agency revealed that Bravo Trailers in Bristol didn’t ensure that each forklift operator was properly trained and ensure that forklifts only…
A Chicago police officer has pleaded guilty in federal court to taking at least $10,000 in bribes from the owner of an attorney referral service in exchange for information about crash victims and their insurance carriers. The Chicago Tribune reports that 47-year-old Milot Cadichon entered his guilty plea to bribery on Aug. 22 as part of a plea agreement with…
