Construction is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. Many deadly accidents result from preventable safety violations.
There are many industries in America that are considered to be far more dangerous than others. Despite safety standards being set in place and protecting countless workers every day, there are still accidents that injure or claim the lives of workers, especially in jobs that are hazardous. One of the most dangerous jobs in Pennsylvania and across the country is construction. Many people take construction for granted, but those who make buildings and roads safer and more convenient for everyone put their lives on the line almost every day.
If you are injured on the job (or develop an illness because of your job), you may not be aware of the compensation available to pay for your medical bills, loss of wages and other losses you suffer as a result. As a Pennsylvania worker, you may recover workers' compensation benefits to help with these expenses.
Health care workers face a number of hazards in the workplace, but they may avoid suffering work-related injuries by taking certain precautions.
While it may come as a surprise to many people throughout the Media area, occupational injuries are all too common for health care workers. In fact, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported that there were more than 253,000 work-related injuries recorded by hospitals across the country in 2011. Some of the dangers that those in the health care industry face are inherent to the jobs they perform and the environments they work in. However, hospital workers may avoid other injury risks by taking certain precautions.
Employees who are involved in workplace accidents or develop occupational conditions may be entitled to workers’ compensation.
Although many Pennsylvania employers work hard to provide a safe working environment for their employees, a number of workers are injured in on-the-job accidents. Some workers may develop medical conditions or chronic illnesses, such as lung cancer, back problems, carpal tunnel syndrome or asthma, due to consistent exposure of occupational conditions
A liquor store manager in Pennsylvania will finally receive workers’ compensation benefits after a robbery occurred at his place of employment.
In 2008, a liquor store manager in Pennsylvania was robbed at gun point and then duct-taped to a chair while he was at work. Since this work-related accident, the man was unable to go back to work and began collecting Social Security disability benefits because he developed a post-traumatic stress disorder. Nearly seven years later, the man will finally be able to receive workers' compensation benefits retroactively for the robbery.
The National Safety Council recently released some interesting statistics on the lifetime odds of fatality in various employment arenas. The results were fascinating.
Present estimates reveal that between 4500-6500 workplace fatalities occur annually in the United States. The types of workplace injuries and deaths, however, will always vary on the industry; some jobs pose a much higher risk of injury or death than others.
Injured workers are typically limited to recovery under workers’ compensation laws. But there are exceptions to this general rule. In some cases, employees can seek legal recourse in civil court.
The workers' compensation system is a system that benefits both workers and employers. Essentially, an employee is barred from going outside the workers' comp system and suing for injuries or illnesses sustained (regardless of fault) while working in the scope of employment. In exchange, the employee receives necessary workers' compensation benefits if he or she is injured or suffers a work-related illness.
A Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision from the end of 2013 sets some important rules that apply to something an employer can do to try to reduce the benefits of an injured worker.
An employer can use something called a labor market survey ("LMS") to ask a judge to cut off or decrease the money being paid to an employee who is out of work due to a work-related injury. A labor market survey looks at jobs that are supposedly hiring and that the employee supposedly can do. Based on those jobs, it talks about how much the worker should be earning. If the judge accepts the opinions of the labor market survey, the employee's benefits get cut.