When an injured worker misses time from work, workers’ compensation laws provide a system of wage replacement. In other words, workers’ compensation insurance companies must pay the injured workers a percentage of his or her former wages. It is often said that workers’ compensation is meant to compensate injured workers for having lost the ability …
1.4M RECOVERY FOR CLOSED HEAD INJURY AFTER WORKER FELL OFF A LADDER WHILE PUTTING UP SHEETROCK IN AN OPEN STAIRWAY.
A 50-year-old carpenter was employed installing sheetrock at a construction site. Plaintiff was working in a staircase with a co-worker who was passing the sheetrock down to the Plaintiff from the floor above. The Plaintiff fell off the ladder and onto the mid-floor landing below sustaining head injuries and a fractured wrist. The precise manner …
Sole Proprietors Are Not Always Covered Under Workers Compensation Law
If you or someone you know owns their own business in Massachusetts, it is important to know several things regarding Worker’s Compensation coverage. Sole proprietors and partners in a partnership are not automatically covered under worker’s compensation insurance. A recent Department of Industrial Accidents decision denied coverage to a man who operated a home construction …
Sole Proprietors Are Not Always Covered Under Workers Compensation LawRead More
When Company Policies Deviate from OSHA, is it Safe?
Some companies may attempt to enforce safety policies that deviate from OSHA standards. Usually, these companies allege that their own standards are safer and more stringent than OSHA’s. Those deviations, however, may ignore the tremendous effort and thought that is typically given to establishing the OSHA standards and may subject workers to new dangers. For …
When Company Policies Deviate from OSHA, is it Safe?Read More
Duty to Remedy a Hazardous Condition is Based Upon Foreeseability Not On The Open and Obvious Hazard
In January of this year, the First Circuit Court of Appeals decided a Massachusetts case entitled Cracchiolo v. Eastern Fisheries, Inc., et al 740 F 3rd 64. That case involved the death of crew member of a ship that was docked in New Bedford. After a night out, the crew member was returning to the …
Excavation and Trench Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently cited a Massachusetts excavation company for willful and serious violations of excavation safety standards. The Wakefield contractor faces over $144,000 in proposed fines following an OSHA inspection of a Milton work site last August. According to OSHA’s Braintree office, the workers were installing water mains in a …
DIABETIC FOOT COMPLICATIONS
Diabetes affects blood vessels and can impair the delivery of blood to all parts of the body like the eyes, kidneys, legs, and feet. Diabetics are especially prone to develop foot complications such as neuropathy, vascular disease, and injury. Doctors caution diabetic patients to make foot care a part of the daily routine: to watch …
Informed Consent
Informed Consent is required before many medical procedures. Patients sign Informed Consent forms in doctor’s offices and hospitals. There are consents for anesthesia, surgery, certain medications, and diagnostic tests or treatments. The typical Informed Consent form provides the patient with a list of things that can go wrong ‘ ‘risks of the procedure.’ For instance, …
