Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

An Attleboro man has been indicted on charges that he fraudulently collected more than $53,000 in workers' compensation benefits while continuing to work. A fifty-seven year old male is charged with workers' compensation fraud and larceny over $250.

Attorney General Martha Coakley stated, "We allege the defendant collected workers' compensation benefits while working in violation of the law. These benefits are essential to helping individuals that are unable to work as the result of work-related injuries."

This man suffered a work-related injury in 2005, while he was working on a construction site, and he was eligible to receive temporary total disability benefits from his employer's insurance company from June 2007 through February 2009.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Man Indicted on Workers' Compensation Fraud Charges" »

A man was sent to the hospital with first-degree burns to his face after a propane tank exploded at a glass-bottling plant in Milford. The worker was filling up a forklift's tank just outside Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc. plant when the propane tank exploded.

The employee is in stable condition, and he was the only person near the tank when it exploded. The Milford Fire Lieutenant said that firefighters took nearly an hour to control the blaze because the propane tank holds about one thousand gallons of fuel.

He said, "It took a while because the main tank was still on. We had to get the fire down small enough to shut the tank off and stop the fuel."

Continue reading "Employee Suffers Burns after Propane Tank Explosion" »

A steelworker was rushed to the hospital after falling twenty feet from the roof decking of the new high school under construction in Duxbury.

Chief Kevin Nord stated that the worker was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries to his neck, back and torso. He also said that the Braintree office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were on their way to investigate the site.

Nord said two men fell from the roof decking, but one was caught by a safety harness and uninjured. The other was wearing a harness, but the cable snapped and the worker fell to the gravel below.

Continue reading "Steelworker Falls from Duxbury High School Roof" »

A Framingham Public Works employee was Med-Flighted to a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston after he was injured by a 14 inch circular blade chop saw. The water department employee, who is in his 20s, suffered a left shoulder injury, but he was conscious and talking at the work site.

The employee severely cut an artery in his arm while in the trenches. While working on a sewer issue, a gas-powered saw he was using kicked back and cut him in the shoulder. DPW co-workers used a belt as a tourniquet until first responders arrived on the scene. The Framingham Town manager stated, "They basically saved his life."

The director of communications for the Massachusetts Office of Labor and Workforce Development stated, "Framingham Police Department notified the (Massachusetts) Department of Labor Standards that a worker for the Framingham Water Authority received serious injuries while working in a trench with a circular saw."

Continue reading "Framingham DPW Employee Severed Artery in Saw Mishap" »

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited J.R. Resources, a natural gas producer and operator, with eight safety and health violations at its Ringgold gas well site. OSHA began its inspection in August of 2012 after a worker died from sustaining injuries during a flash fire because he was not required or provided with flame-resistant clothing.

The seven serious violations cited at this work site included failing to require and provide flame-resistant clothing to be work when working near natural gas, failing to provide fall protection from stairs on brine tanks, failing to provide a written hazard communication program and training, and failing to properly label tanks, and prevent workers from riding in the bucket of a backhoe.

J.R. Resources was also cited for using an electric pump in the presence of flammable materials. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer new, or should have known, of the hazard.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Employer Failed to Require Flame-Resistant Clothing for Natural Gas Work" »

A truck weighing approximately 140,000 pounds slid backwards and crushed the legs of a worker beneath its rear tires at a commuter rail work site. The man in his 40s works for J.F. White Contracting Co., which is currently working on the commuter rail tracks rehabilitating the Shawsheen River bridges off Lupine Road.

At the time of the injury, the worker was trying to attach a heavy equipment trailer to the truck. Police and firefighters arrived to find the man pinned under and between two of the rear tires on the left side of the tractor-trailer.

The trailer was carrying an earth-mover and low-drill attachment that was being taken to another construction site. The fire chief stated that while connecting the trailer to the tractor, the truck operator's lower extremities became pinned under the rear wheels of the tractor.

Continue reading "Contractor Seriously Injured at Stoughton Work Site" »

A construction worker fell 30 feet off of a building in Alston, but escaped serious injury because he landed a bubble wrap, stated a Boston Fire Department spokesman. A 38 year old man lost his balance while working on a building on Commonwealth Avenue and fell through the wooden planking of the scaffolding.

Firefighters had to cut him free from the bubble wrap, and he went to the hospital to be treated for back and shoulder injuries.

The building is covered in bubble wrap during construction to keep the heat and dust in and to black any winds. The Boston Fire Department spokesperson said, "The plastic was covering the entire side of the building and engulfed him. We had to slice the plastic away so the medics could treat him."

Continue reading "Construction Worker Saved by Bubble Wrap" »

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Amilicar Samper Perez, under the name Roof Systems, for alleged repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards while its workers were installing a roof. The contractor faces a total of $44,880 in fines for fall hazards.

OSHA observed workers unprotected from falls up to eleven feet two inches while installing roofing without any use of fall protection. Workers had not been trained to acknowledge these hazards, and workers using pneumatic nail guns were not wearing any eye protection. OSHA previously cited Perez in 2008 and 2009 for similar hazards.

Because of the recidivism, OSHA issued the employer three repeat citations carrying fines of $37,400. A repeat violation exists when an employer was previously cited for the same or similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule, or order at any other facility within the past five years.

Continue reading "OSHA Cites Connecticut Roofing Contractor for Fall Hazards" »

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited DeFelice, Inc for alleged willful and serious safety violations at a Nashua, N.H. work site. The contractor faces a total of $55,660 in proposed fines for excavation and other hazards.

OSHA inspectors watched an employee working in an inadequately guarded excavation that was more than eight feet deep. OSHA standards require that trenches or excavations five feet or deeper must be protected against collapse.

This resulted in a willful citation carrying a fine of $38,500. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

Continue reading "OSHA Proposes $55,660 in fines for Dracut Contractor" »

Norfolk Southern Railway Co. has been ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to pay $1,121,099 to three workers after finding that the company violated the whistleblower provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act.

Two investigations found that three employees were wrongfully fired for reporting workplace injuries. In addition to monetary remedies, the company has been ordered to erase the disciplinary records of the three workers, post a sign regarding employees' whistleblower protection rights, and train workers regarding these rights.

Secretary of Labor stated, "The Labor Department continues to find serious whistleblower violations at Norfolk Southern, and we will be steadfast in our defense of a worker's right to a safe job - including his or her right to report injuries. When workers can't report safety concerns on the job without fear of retaliation, worker safety and health suffer, which costs working families and businesses alike."

Continue reading "OSHA Orders Norfolk Southern Railway Co. to Pay $1.1 Million " »

A Nantucket business owner has pleaded guilty to charges that he failed to accurately report his total payroll and number of employees. He also misclassified his business to avoid paying thousands of dollars in insurance premiums.

Attorney General Martha Coakley said "Premium avoidance is a serious crime that undermines the insurance system and puts lawful employers at a disadvantage. The prosecution of these schemes prevents the increase in insurance premiums that often result from these crimes."

James Lydon pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court to the charge of five counts of workers' compensation fraud. After the plea, Lydon was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered him to pay a lump sum of $42,000 in restitution.

Continue reading "Nantucket Business to Pay $42,000 for Workers' Compensation Avoidance" »

Progressive Gourmet Inc. was cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for repeated and serious safety violations at its Wilmington production facility. The wholesale manufacturer and distributor faces a total of $73,400 in fines after an inspection in response to employees' complaints.

OSHA found that the facility lacked satisfactory procedures to prevent the inadvertent startup of machinery while employees performed service and maintenance to the equipment. The company also failed to provide employees with adequate information and training on how to power down and lock the power sources before performing maintenance on the machines.

Because of these conditions, the company was cited for $55,000 for two repeat violations. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation within the last five years within the last five years. Similar violations were cited in 2008 at this same location.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Food Distributor Cited by OSHA" »

P. Gioioso & Sons Inc., a Hyde Park contractor has a long history of violating excavation safety standards. They have agreed to pay $200,000 for exposing its employees to cave-in hazards. The contractor has also agreed to renovate its safety practices to minimize trenching hazards and enhance worker safety.

P. Gioioso & Sons Inc. works mainly on underground water and sewer mains. They have been cited nine times since 2000 by the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for violations of OSHA's trenching and excavation safety standards.

OSHA recently found employees working in unprotected trenches in both Cambridge and Framingham. It then issued citations worth $354,000 in proposed fines. Gioioso opposed the citations, and the OSHA regional solicitor drafted a settlement agreement that would require Gioioso to increase safety standards to protect its workers.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Contractor Agreed to Pay Fine of $200,000" »

The cost for each workers' compensation claim in Massachusetts fell six percent in 2010. Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) states this is the largest decrease among the sixteen states that it reviewed in its study.

The decrease in total costs per claim reflects the state's recovery from the Great Recession costs of 2009. Previously, total costs per workers' compensation claim rose ten percent per year during the recession period of 2007 to 2009.

The WCRI study analyzed claims involving workplace injuries that cause an employee to miss more than seven days of work. The study found that because the rise in unemployment was less severe in Massachusetts than that of the United States, injured workers may have had more opportunities to return to work with their employers or find new jobs in states with higher unemployment rates.

Continue reading "Study Shows Costs of Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Claims Decreased in 2010" »

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited a Nashua, NH contractor for repeat and serious safety violations at a Massachusetts utility installation work site. Newport Construction faces $30,310 in proposed fines for trenching hazards at the site. OSHA standards require that trenches, or excavation, five feet or deeper be protected against collapse.

Inspectors from OSHA were driving by the intersection on the border of Bedford and Burlington to another work site when they observed the employees working in an unprotected excavation. Immediately, an inspection was opened and the trench was found to lack cave-in protection, as well as a way for workers to exit the trench safely and swiftly in the event of an emergency.

OSHA issued Newport Construction $28,000 in fines for two repeat violations. A repeat violation exists when an employer has previously been cited for the same or similar violation at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Newport was previously cited in October of 2008 for similar violations.

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