According to a report coauthored by the Western Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, 66 Massachusetts workers died last year while at work or because of illnesses they sustained while doing their jobs. Last year’s fatality figure is less than for 2008, when 80 Massachusetts…
Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation
Following Deadly Boston Fire Truck Accident Caused by Brake Failure, City Fire Department Criticized for Poor Fleet Maintenance
An outside inspection of the Boston Fire Department’s 44 fire trucks found that the department practices shoddy fleet maintenance across the board. Some of the deficiencies noted by the report: • Not enough driver training. • Vehicle abuse or misuse. • Weak vehicle specification when determining how to handle and…
Boston Crane Collapse Kills One Massachusetts Construction Worker and Injures Another
In Boston, one worker has died and another suffered serious injuries when a crane fell at Suffolk University on Saturday morning. The crane was being used to inspect the roof of a seven-story dorm building when it tipped over, causing its 110-foot arm to crash into a building and barely…
Massachusetts Man Awarded $2 Million for Wrongful Death of Wife Due to Medication Error During Cesarean Delivery
In Salem Superior Court, a jury awarded the family of Priscilla Jardine $2 million for her wrongful death. Jardine died on February 26, 2004 soon after giving birth to a baby girl during an emergency cesarean section. The jury issued its Massachusetts wrongful death verdict after finding that Jardine’s obstetrician,…
Deadly Boston Fire Truck Accident May Have Been Caused By Brake Failure, Says Survivors
Investigators looking into the deadly accident involving a Boston Fire Department ladder truck driving through an intersection and ramming into a high-rise apartment building are examining the vehicle’s brakes. The focus on catastrophic brake failure as a possible cause for the fatal crash comes after reports from survivors that the…
Marlborough Worker’s Widow to Receive $1.2 Million for Massachusetts Wrongful Death
The widow of a worker who died after he was crushed by 2,500 pounds of granite has settled her Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit with a company for $1.2 million. As part of the agreement, the name of the company that settled the lawsuit will remain confidential. Valdecir Rodrigues died after…
Wal-Mart Employee Trampled During Black Friday Shopping Sale Died From Positional Asphyxia
The attorney for the family of Jdimytai Damour, a seasonal Wal-Mart maintenance employee who died after being trampled by shoppers that were scrambling to enter the store during last week’s Black Friday sale, says that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. could have done more to prevent the 34-year-old’s death. Damour died of…
One Massachusetts Construction Worker is Dead and Another is Injured in Fall Accident From Lift at a Waltham Job Site
In Massachusetts, a construction accident on the AstraZeneca campus in Waltham on Sunday has left one worker, 40, dead and another, age 30, with serious injuries. According to Waltham Police, the work accident occurred at around 11 in the morning while the men were installing aluminum panels to the side…
OSHA Says Owners of Salem Harbor Power Station in Massachusetts Did Not Protect Workers that Died in 2007 Boiler Blast
The Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration says that the owners of the Salem Harbor Power Station failed to protect three workers that died when a faulty boiler ruptured at the plant on November 6, 2007. Following its investigation into the deadly work accident, OSHA says that it found 10 serious…
80 Massachusetts Workers Died From Job-Related Injuries in 2007
A report coauthored by the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO found that 80 Massachusetts workers died in 2007 because of injuries sustained while at work or because of work-related illnesses. The report is called “Dying for Work in Massachusetts.” The most dangerous industry for…