For 22 years, the AFL-CIO has released an annual report detailing the status of health and safety protections for workers throughout the United States. The 2013 report has been released and shows little progress has been made in recent years to reduce the number of workers getting hurt or dying on the job. While great strides have been made since the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created in 1970, progress has stalled in recent years and worker safety risks are receiving little national attention. 

Our Providence, RI work injury lawyers know that Rhode Island is one of the better states for workers, with a fatality rate of 1.5 deaths for every 100,000 workers as compared with the national average of 3.5 deaths for every 100,000 workers. Still, there is a long way to go to improve working conditions and to help reduce the number of people who die or are seriously injured while doing their jobs.

Neglect and Lax Regulations Stall Workplace Safety Improvements

The AFL-CIO indicates that 4,693 workers died on the job in 2011, or an average of 13 workers each day. Another 50,000 workers died as a result of occupational diseases while a total of 3.8 million suffered an injury or illness as a result of work.

Unfortunately, with the high number of workers suffering injury or dying on the job, the job fatality rate has not improved from last year. In fact, the job fatality rate has been stagnant for the past three years with few improvements being made to reduce the number of people who die on the job.

The AFL-CIO suggests a number of potential reasons why worksites aren’t becoming safer and why workers continue to suffer injuries and fatalities including:

• Too few OSHA inspectors. There are an estimated 8 million workplaces in the United States that OSHA has jurisdiction over. Unfortunately, there are only 837 federal OSHA inspectors and 1,065 state inspectors to check work conditions at these eight million worksites. This means that federal inspectors would be able to visit a workplace once every 131 years and state inspectors would be able to visit once every six years.
• Fines that are too low. Even when OSHA does catch employers committing workplace violations, this is not a major deterrent. For a serious violation, the penalty imposed by federal OSHA regulators was $2,156 on average. For state OSHA, the penalty was just $974. Even when workers die as a result of workplace violations, federal OSHA only imposed a median penalty after settlement of $5,175. These fines are simply not high enough to actually force employers to take safety seriously.
• Limits on criminal penalties.  Criminal charges can be brought only in cases where a willful violation of OSHA regulations leads to worker death. Even when criminal penalties are imposed, the crime is a misdemeanor. Further, only 84 cases have been prosecuted sine 1970 and defendants who were convicted served only 89 months of jail time.

With few inspectors available and with inspectors having virtually no leverage to ensure compliance, it is no wonder that employers are not actively taking steps to make worksites safer. Unfortunately, this is why the AFL-CIO has named its 2013 report “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect.”

If you have been injured in a work accident, contact an experienced lawyer at 508-677-4900. The Law Offices of Deborah G. Kohl  serves clients in Providence, R.I., as well as Foxborough and Fall River, Mass.

Health care officials in Connecticut were puzzled when they reached for a plastic bag of magnesium sulfate solution – and spotted floating particles inside.

It was later determined to be fungus – similar to what led to a deadly meningitis outbreak late last year connected to a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy that produced injectable steroids.

Our Fall River personal injury attorneys understand that this case involves another compounding pharmacy, although this one, Med Prep Consulting, is located in New Jersey. Yet these batches of medications, used to treat a deadly pregnancy condition known as preeclampsia and also to steady the heartbeat after surgery – were shipped to at least 12 different sites throughout the country.

As a result, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has ordered all health care providers to immediately halt their use of the product, and the firm has recalled all 83 of the products it manufactures. It has further agreed to halt all operations until further inspections can be conducted.

Records show a prior inspection in November didn’t appear to indicate any significant problems with contamination.

As of yet, there have not been any reports indicating illness or injury resulting from administration of these drugs, but it could be too early yet to know for sure.

The fact is, though, even before the fungal meningitis outbreak that killed 45 people and sickened 650 more last year, compounding pharmacies have been linked to illnesses, safety failures and even deaths.

Compounding pharmacies, if you aren’t familiar, are facilities that custom make and mix certain drugs that are used in clinics, hospitals and by individual patients. Yet, the industry is not as tightly regulated as other pharmacies, and few of these facilities faced any significant consequences, even when oversights and errors resulted in deaths.

A recent investigation by The Washington Post found that both state and federal regulators appeared to have taken little action with regard to systematic inspections and following through with ultimatums for not correcting hazards.

The Post found that serious and potentially deadly problems existed in at least three of the 15 largest compounding pharmacies in the country – not including the New England Compounding Center, where the fungal meningitis outbreak was spawned. These pharmacies make untold millions of dollars with their mass production of medicine – despite the fact that they are actually supposed to be producing them for custom order based on individual patient prescriptions.

In fact, where these firms once supplied about 15 percent of all intravenous drugs about 10 years ago, compounding pharmacies are now supplying about 40 percent of all injectable drugs.

Some of the most common problems in these facilities included medication that was too potent or that was contaminated with bacteria.

Compounding pharmacies started with seemingly good intentions back in the 1990s, with hospitals seeking to outsource the mixing of some of their most dangerous drugs, as nurses had routinely made egregious and sometimes fatal errors in this regard. Compounding pharmacies seemed to be the perfect solution.

The problem is that these facilities are not held to the same regulatory standard, and as it stands can not be compelled to quality control test each batch for proper potency and sterility.

That may change, however, as a number of lawsuits have recently been filed against the NECC, following the fungal meningitis outbreak.

If you have been injured as a result of defective drugs in Massachusetts, contact The Law Offices of Deborah G. Kohl at (508) 677-4900.

In Massachusetts, there are many laws in place intended to protect workers. Some of those laws exist at the state level and others exist at the federal level. Many of the laws are enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 

Unfortunately, Massachusetts workers could find themselves facing greater risk of work injuries in upcoming months. This is because of the impact of something called the “sequester.” Our Fall River, MA work injury attorneys know that any work accident can have a devastating impact on a person’s earning potential, health and life. We urge all workers to be aware of the new potential risks that they may face.

The Sequester and MA Work Injuries

The “sequester” is a term that refers to $85 billion in cuts to the federal budget that went into effect on March 1, 2013. The cuts were arbitrary cuts to both domestic programs and to the military. They were never intended to actually go into effect, but instead were part of a game of political brinksmanship that America lost.

The cuts were put into place and set to trigger automatically if Democrats and Republicans were unable to agree on a deal to cut spending. They were intended to be so onerous that neither side would let them go into effect. However, the parties could not agree and the sequester cuts were triggered. Now, workers in Falls River, MA and throughout the state of Massachusetts could pay the price.

Departments have used the cuts as an excuse to make voters as miserable as possible, and everything from TSA agents and air traffic control towers to funding cuts at the National Weather Service have already been announced.

The sequester cuts may affect workplace safety because:

• Federal employers may need to furlough employees, both in military positions and in civilian positions. Furloughed employees means that workplaces may be left shorthanded, which increases the chances of workers getting hurt. This is especially true if workers are trying to fill in for their furloughed coworkers and do jobs they normally don’t.
• OSHA inspectors are being furloughed, and fewer workplace inspections will occur. According to the National Safety Council, the number of inspections may decrease dramatically and as many as 1,200 possibly dangerous worksites will go without being inspected. Without proper oversight, employers lose incentive to follow safety rules and workers on dangerous worksites don’t get relief from OSHA inspectors that could improve their conditions.
• Employers who are hurt by the economic implications of sequester may try to reduce their budgets by becoming more lax in obeying safety rules. Sequester is expected to result in slower economic growth so even employers not affiliated with the federal government may be forced to cut back. Some employers could chose to do this in a way that hurts their workers.

According to OSHA, more than 250,000 crane operators and a large number of other workers, as well as the general public, are at risk of suffering an injury from one of more than 125,000 cranes currently in operation. Unfortunately, crane accidents typically result in serious injuries or even death. Whether you’re working from a dockyard crane or you’re working from a crane to repair a power line, you can suddenly become a victim of a serious accident through no fault of your own.

Providence, RI workers comp attorney Deborah G. Kohl  believes that the information from the federal agency should serve as an important reminder to employers and employees about how dangerous cranes can be. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in February 2013 announced an investigation into the collapse of a construction crane in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Fortunately, no one was injured when the crane toppled over at a hotel construction site, but there may have been violations of workplace safety regulations. OSHA’s investigation is looking into any possible infractions. Crane accidents often occur when safety rules are not followed to the letter. When injuries result due to negligence in Rhode Island or Massachusetts, experienced workplace accident lawyer Deborah Kohl is ready to help victims pursue the compensation they need.

OSHA Tips on Crane Safety

Recognizing how dangerous cranes can be, OSHA has provided extensive guidelines on crane operation and maintenance. OSHA has also published some important safety tips for crane operation. Some of these tips include the following:

• Allow only authorized and trained personnel to operate cranes.
• All crane parts and crane controls must be inspected by a designated and qualified person before the crane is used for any purpose.
• When operating, cranes must be level, and they must be located on a surface that is solid and stable.
• Pins should not be removed or unlocked during either assembly or disassembly until you have made sure that all sections are stable, secure and blocked.
• Before operating a crane, survey the area to determine if there are overhead electrical power lines.  There must be a distance of no less than 10 feet from the electrical power lines and the crane in order to ensure safety.
• The load chart capacity of the crane should never be exceeded. The correct load charge must be chosen and utilized given the current setup and configuration of the crane as well as the lift path.
• Before delivering the load, it should be raised slightly by a few inches, and it should be verified that the crane will hold.
• Loads should never be moved over the heads of workers.

These are just a few of the key tips that OSHA provides to protect those who are using cranes or who work in the environment where cranes are located. Following these tips is very important to protect workers and the public.

If you have been injured in an accident, contact an experienced workers compensation lawyer. Call 508-677-4900. The Law Offices of Deborah G. Kohl  serves clients in Providence, R.I., as well as Foxborough and Fall River, Mass.