Illinois updates in category: Workplace Injuries

Promoting workplace safety is as non-controversial as promoting firearm safety, safe-driving, and energy efficiency. However, when the advancement of workplace safety pits worker against...

What Do Illinois Workers’ Compensation Hearings And Social Security Hearings have in Common? During my three years of law school one of the many rules repeated over and over was, never ask a...

One would assume that safe work practices on construction sites would be the top priority of everyone involved in the industry Few occupations pose the risks and hazards of those encountered by...

When the unimaginable occurs and a family member suffers a work-related fatality, the survivors are forced to consider how the family will support itself and make ends meet. While no amount of money...

This is America, we have a freedom of choice, right?! Not in some states when it comes to choosing your medical care for an injury. In Illinois, for example, if a worker suffers a work-related...

We frequently receive phone calls from individuals asking whether a nurse retained by the workers' compensation insurance company in Illinois and Iowa workers' compensation cases has the right to...

If proper notice of an injury is not given there may be serious consequences that could jeopardize your claim.When I was 19 years old I suffered a fractured tibia playing soccer. I knew something bad had happened but the pain was not excruciating. I tried to keep playing until my leg started to collapse from under me. I would describe the pain as unique. I decided to hide my injury from my...

If you are unable to return to your job because of a permanent condition, does the employer have to provide you with an education so you can find a new job. ? Not necessarily and here's why:An injured worker sustains a serious injury that results in a permanent work restriction. The employer for whom he or she has worked for many years announces that the company will no longer be able to...

In an age of astronomical gas prices, mileage reimbursement to an injured worker is an important issue in any Illinois workers' compensation claim. When I started practicing Illinois workers' compensation law clients never made inquires concerning reimbursement for mileage to and from their own doctor or physical therapist. In 2008, with the price of a gallon of gas approaching $4, the question...

Ratings and Rating Services on workers' compensation insurers could potentially face negative pressures from the last half of 2008, into 2009. Workers' compensation rates have been declining significantly reducing the margins of insurers that write this business.In a report, the agency added that so far these declining prices have not led to weak insurer performance because state reforms have...

A construction worker, 38, of Ellis Grove was killed in a construction accident, Monday, when a ditch he was digging collapsed on him in Millstadt, Illinois.Also killed in the cave-in was another worker, 48, of Benton, Illinois. Both men were employed by Midwest Petroleum and Excavating Inc. A trench approximately eight to ten feet high collapsed on two construction workers. Emergency crews from...

A California laborer was struck in the chest when the shovel of a steam shovel came loose and landed on top of him. At the time of the accident, he was working in a trench on a construction project.The laborer suffered fatal injuries as a result of being hit by the shovel.Under Illinois law, this man's family would be entitiled to worker's compensation benefits for his death. However, those...

Two Indiana construction workers fell 40 feet to the ground when the scaffold they were working on collapsed. The scaffold had a loose pin holding in one of the members of the scaffold and when the workers went to repair the scaffold, their weight caused the scaffold to collapse.One worker survived the fall suffering chest and head injuries; the other workers suffered fatal injuries.Federal...

A contractor was hit with over $69,000 in fines by OSHA after an employee was injured when he plummeted three floors when the floor of the building he was working in collapased. The employee was involved in the demolition of a building at the time of the accident.Violations of OSHA regulations such as this put employees lives at unnecessary risk of harm.When done safely, demolition of buildings...

Two workers were lucky to survive when the trench that they were working in collapsed. The trench was being dug near a highway and did not have a proper retaining wall. Authorities believe that vibrations from the nearby highway triggered the collapse.One of the workers suffered a fractured ankle while trying to escape the trench.Working in an excavation is one of the most hazardous duties in...