Workplace Injuries

• Protecting immigrant labor from injuries growing concern

  Staff Writer | February 07, 2007 11:35 AM | 0 CommentsMobile, AL

  An Associated Press story last week addresses the growing problem of workplace injuries among immigrant workers who may speak little or no English. With more immigrant labor entering the construction and landscaping business, proper safety training is becoming an issue. A number of companies are failing to adequately train their non-English speaking workers, and injuries among them are on the...

• OSHA requires employers to post injuries

  Staff Writer | January 24, 2007 3:36 PM | 0 CommentsMobile, AL

  Each year on Feb. 1, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to post the total number of work-related injuries and illnesses their employees experienced during the previous year. Employers are required to post OSHA Form 300A from Feb. 1 through April 30, 2007, with a summary of all the worksite injuries and illnesses their exployees had during 2006. A...

• Physical Therapy groups offer employment screens

  Staff Writer | January 15, 2007 2:51 PM | 0 CommentsMobile, AL

  Many Physical Therapy groups offer services to employers to screen potential employees for their physical abilities to perform certain jobs or tasks. This service can help prevent worksite injuries and save the companies money. An article about First Choice Physical Therapy in North Dakota provides a good example of this. The give post-offer employee tests for jobs that have certain lifting or...

• U.S. Capitol now a smoke-free workplace

  Staff Writer | January 11, 2007 9:07 AM | 0 CommentsMobile, AL

  New House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday a new smoke-free policy for the Speaker's Lobby, a meeting area near the Floor of the House of Representatives. Speaker Pelosi's historic action follows a nation-wide trend toward making workplaces smoke-free.Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights (ANR) and newpapers across the nation reported on this story:"As Members of Congress, we must be held to...

• Hotel construction site injuries

  Staff Writer | January 02, 2007 2:54 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  A story out of New Jersey on Trentonian.com reported a Friday construction site accident in which two workers fell four stories in a scaffolding collapse.The two workers were rushed to the hospital to be treated for internal injuries. The story says that the scaffolding was makeshift, without safety standards in mind:"They had made homemade scaffolding," Kostoplis said. "In fact, they put a...

• OSHA fines companies for fall hazards

  Staff Writer | December 22, 2006 4:18 PM | 0 CommentsMobile, AL

  A report today on OccupationalHazards.com said that OSHA fined two contractors in Massachusetts for exposing their employees to fall hazards at residential construction sites. Many worksite fatalities in the construction industry occur because of falls. "Falls are the No. 1 killer in construction," said Francis Pagliuca, OSHA's area director for Middlesex and Essex counties. "Workers' lives are...

• Disability insurance gaining popularity

  Staff Writer | December 21, 2006 6:38 AM | 0 CommentsMobile, AL

  An interesting article from The Wall Street Journal highlights increasing consumer interest in disability insurance. This is attributed in part to lower prices for these insurance policies and to more people recovering and living longer after accidents or serious diseases such as cancer. The article reports:The renewed interest in disability insurance comes as disability rates are rising....

• Crane accidents in Washington point to neglect

  Staff Writer | December 07, 2006 8:42 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  The latest news about the Washington state crane accidents point to neglect, says a report by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. During the past three weeks, four cranes have been reported to have serious safety problems. It's most likely that the required maintenance and inspections that are standard for construction cranes have been insufficiently performed. The article reports:Besides a crane...

• Coal mine layoffs linked to accident

  Staff Writer | December 06, 2006 12:47 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Officials from Birmingham-based Drummond Company announced Monday that they would lay off 455 workers at the Shoal Creek Mine in western Jefferson County. Since October, the mine has been closed after extensive damage resulting from an underground blast 10 months ago. Though no one was killed in the February accident, there was so much damage that the mine was forced to shut down. Shoals Creek...

• Coal mining accidents spur safety recommendations

  Staff Writer | December 05, 2006 9:39 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  The Mine Safety Technology and Training Commission just came out with more than 70 documented safety recommendations for miners. The goal is to prevent more deaths and injuries resulting from mining accidents. The mining industry has just experienced its worst year in many decades, with more deaths and injuries than most people can remember. An interesting article on insurancejournal.com details...