Workers' Compensation

February 26, 2012

Products Liability?: 13 Deaths Linked to Bathtub Refinishing Chemicals

The Centers for Disease Control says that there is a chemical in certain paint removers used to stripping bathtubs that is being linked to 13 deaths. The fatalities occurred in 10 states in residential bathrooms that didn’t have enough ventilation. The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report said the chemical, methylene chloride, is considered potentially deadly to factory workers and furniture strippers but had not been previously linked to bathtub refinishers. The federal agency is urging manufacturers, trade groups, and public health agencies to warn employers, consumers, and workers about the risks.

If you believe your loved one died from exposure to methylene chloride while on the job, you may be able to obtain Massachusetts workers’ compensation death benefits from his/her employer. While you cannot pursue civil damages from the company or person that your family member worked for, you may have grounds for a Boston wrongful death case or a Massachusetts products liability claim against the manufacturer of the product that contained the high levels of methylene chloride yet didn’t include a warning of the potential dangers or provide instructions on how to ensure proper protection.

10 products containing 60 to 100% of the chemical methylene chloride have been linked to the 13 fatalities. The products were marked to the aircraft industry or for use on metal, wood, masonry, or glass. The product labels don’t say anything about bathtub refinishing.

According to the CDC, the death toll could be higher, because the current count doesn’t factor into account self-employed workers and those believed to have died of heart disease when, actually, exposure to methylene chloride was the cause. The CDC is cautioning that it is best not to use the chemical in the bathroom, which can linger in bathtubs after it is applied. Proper ventilation and protective equipment is also recommended when one has to be exposed to methylene chloride.

CDC: Common Bathtub Refinishing Chemical Can Be Deadly, Time, February 24, 2012
New CDC Alert to Consumers: Bathtub Refinishing Products Deadly, EmaxHealth, February 25, 2012

More Blog Posts:
Judge Upholds $20M Massachusetts Products Liability Lawsuit in Woman’s Pool Slide Death, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February 22, 2012
Landlords Found Guilty in Quincy Fire that Killed a Father and Two Sons, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, January 28, 2012
Easthampton Police Officer Faces Forced Retirement After Work Injury, Boston Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog, January 17, 2012 Continue reading

December 10, 2011

Worcester Building that Collapsed During Fire, Killing One Firefighter and Injuring Another, May Have Been Poorly Maintained

by Altman & Altman

Jean S. Mui, who is the landlord of the Worcester apartment building that burned down during a three-alarm fire on Thursday, is expected in court tomorrow. Mui faces allegations that the building, at 49 Arlington St., was in violation of 30 building and sanitary codes.

Building inspectors had identified the multiple violations before this week’s blaze, which caused the structure to partially collapse. Firefighter Jon Davies was killed in the Worcester fire. Another firefighter, Brian Carroll, suffered injuries.

The two men got trapped when the back of the building caved. They were trying to rescue a missing tenant, who has still not been found.

According to neighbors, recently arson fires have been occurring in the area.

If Worcester premises liability was a factor in causing the building fire and collapse, the firefighters and their families may have grounds for suing Mui for damages. Property owners can be held accountable in civil court or arbitration if a hazard on the premise that could/should have been remedied causes someone to get hurt or die in an accident.

The three-decker on Arlington Street has also been the focus of eight city inspections and three housing complaints in the last year. There were reportedly structural defects in the building’s foundation that weren’t fixed even though months had passed since a city order was put out requiring that the repairs be made. Code violations include those for illegal heaters and rodents.

Workers injured or killed on the job are usually entitled to benefits from their employer’s insurer. This, however, does not preclude them from obtaining Worcester wrongful death or personal injury recovery.

Worcester fire landlord faces code citations, Boston Herald, December 11, 2011
Worcester firefighter dies in blaze, AP/Sentinel and Enterprise, December 9, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Springfield Man Sustains Massachusetts Burn Injuries in Leaf Blower Accident, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, November 24, 2011
Massachusetts Products Liability: $20.6M Andover Wrongful Death Verdict Awarded Against Toys “R’ Us in Fatal Swimming Pool Slide Accident, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 15, 2011
Massachusetts Premises Liability?: Most Shopping Mall Escalators Are Not Inspected Annually, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 26, 2011 Continue reading

October 18, 2011

Quincy 18-Wheeler Truck Crash Kills Worker Who is Thrown from Bucket

by Altman & Altman

A city worker died this morning after the bucket truck he was working in was hit by an 18-wheeler truck. The impact of the Quincy truck crash caused Robert DeCristofaro to fall out of the bucket and into the road.

The 58-year-old Braintree man was taken to Boston Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Police are trying to figure out which truck driver caused the Quincy tractor-trailer accident. Meantime, OSHA is also looking into the crash.

Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation
City workers and their families are entitled to Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits in the event of injury or death on the job. It is important that you file your Quincy work injury claim right away. It is also a good idea to consult with a Boston workers’ compensation law firm about your case. You want to make sure you receive all of the benefits that you are owed.

Although it would be nice to think that this is what automatically happens, this isn’t always the case. An employer’s insurer may choose to reduce, delay, or deny your benefits. Considering that employees and their families generally cannot sue the employer for Quincy personal injury, this can take a financial toll on the victim and loved ones, who may have to contend with lost wages, medical benefits, and other expenses.

Your Quincy workers’ compensation lawyer can protect your right to receive everything that you are owed.

Third Party Lawsuits
Obtaining work injury benefits from your employer doesn’t stop you from filing a third party lawsuit and vice versa. Although you cannot sue your employer, there may be third parties that are not your employer who can and should be sued. For example, right now, the facts of what happened in the Quincy work accident that killed DeCristofaro are not clear at this time. However, if it was the driver of the semi-truck that struck the bucket truck he was on, then the Braintree man’s family may have grounds for pursuing a Quincy wrongful death case against the trucker and his/her employer.

Quincy worker thrown from bucket after crash dies, Boston Herald, October 18, 2011
Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Related Web Resources:
Labor and Workforce Development, Mass.gov
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, US Department of Labor

More Blog Posts:
Repairman Loses Consciousness 14 Feet Underground in Septic Pump Chamber, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog, October 5, 2011
$7.7M Boston Personal Injury Verdict Awarded to Boiler Repairman Burned by Defective Water Heater, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 6, 2011
Boston Hospital Gives Full Face Transplant to Man Burned in Construction Accident, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, May 9, 2011 Continue reading

October 6, 2011

$7.7M Boston Personal Injury Verdict Awarded to Boiler Repairman Burned by Defective Water Heater

by Altman & Altman

In Middlesex County Superior Court, a jury awarded a boiler repairman $7.7 million for his Boston burn injuries that he sustained while on the job. The defendant in the case was the Falmouth condominium complex where the victim had been doing work on an industrial water heater.

The worker sustained burns to 50% of his body in November 2008 when the heater, which was supposed to be depressurized and empty, emanated steam and very hot water. The repairman was treated at a burn unit for a few weeks and he had to undergo four skin graft procedures. He also developed PTSD because of the work accident and was not able to go back to work.

According to the Boston personal injury complaint, the boiler had been inadequately maintained. The heater tank’s gauges indicated to him, as had the condo manager, that was empty, the pressure had been released, and it was ready to be repaired.

The condo complex had tried to settle the Falmouth personal injury lawsuit for $200,000.

Work Injuries
You may not be able to pursue damages from your employer for injuries sustained on the job, but third parties that played a role in causing your work accident can be held responsible for your Boston personal injury. In addition to receiving Boston workers’ compensation benefits from your employer, you may also be entitled to civil damages. There is no reason why you shouldn’t receive both.

It is important that you file your Massachusetts workers’ compensation claim right away so that you can start receiving benefits as soon as possible. You can also start working with a lawyer right away to start exploring other legal options.

The outcome of this Massachusetts injury case is an example of why you shouldn’t settle right away because you may be entitled to receive so much more for the harm that you suffered.

Workers’ Compensation, Massachusetts
The International Society for Burn Injuries

More Blog Posts:
Family that Obtained Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Over 2005 Plum Island Construction Accident Wants Newburyport Wrongful Death and Injury Recovery, Boston Injury Lawyer, April 11, 2011
Salem Construction Accident at Massachusetts Courthouse Last Summer Caused by Wrong Screw, Boston Injury Lawyer, January 19, 2011
Repairman Loses Consciousness 14 Feet Underground in Septic Pump Chamber, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer, October 5, 2011 Continue reading

May 9, 2011

Boston Hospital Gives Full Face Transplant to Man Burned in Construction Accident

by Altman & Altman

Two-and-a-half years after suffering severe electrical burns during a construction accident, Dallas Wiens has received a complete face transplant. Over 30 doctors, anesthesiologists, and nurses at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Boston conducted the procedure to give the 25-year-old construction worker a new face.

After the boom lift he was working struck a power line, Wiens fell into a coma for nearly three months Doctors thought he would never talk or walk again and that he would be paralyzed from the neck down. They also didn’t think he would be able to eat regular food. Wiens, who underwent 22 surgeries, lost all of his facial features, except for a lipless mouth. He is now blind.

Wiens’s transplant included the donor’s entire face and is the most complete facial transplant conducted in this country to date. He also can now smell, feel, and breathe on his own.

April 11, 2011

Family that Obtained Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Over 2005 Plum Island Construction Accident Wants Newburyport Wrongful Death and Injury Recovery

by Altman & Altman

A Plum Island construction accident lawsuit seeking Newburyport wrongful death and injury damages has made it way to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court. At issue is whether the plaintiffs, who have already received Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits, should also be able to collect civil damages.

Timothy Wentworth and his son Ezekiel Wentworth were involved in a serious Newburyport construction accident on August 2005 when, while spraying waterproofing material in a home, a pilot light went off, causing the water heater to burst into flames. The two men sustained serious burn injuries with Timothy, 51, dying and Ezekiel suffering disfigurement so serious that he has had to undergo several surgeries.

The Wentworths, who were a subcontractor on that construction job, did not carry workers’ compensation insurance. Following the Plum Island injury accident, Cheryl Wentworth filed a Massachusetts workers’ compensation claim with builder Henry C. Becker, who had hired the father and son. She also sued Becker for Plum Island wrongful death and her son’s personal injuries.

Under Massachusetts law, employers must make sure that its employees, and, in most instances, their subcontractors have workers’ compensation coverage. In her claim, Cheryl said that Becker let an insured subcontractor work. A settlement was reached between the two parties.

Becker contended that injured subcontractors cannot collect both Massachusetts injury damages and workers’ compensation benefits, and a Superior Court judge sided with him. An appeals court panel agreed with the Wentworths, whose lawyers said that the case Superior Court Judge Thomas R. Murtagh based his ruling on was flawed. The Wentworths say that since the father and son weren’t Becker’s employees, they don’t have to only receive either Massachusetts injury compensation or workers’ compensation benefits.

High Court to hear case of deadly PI accident, Newburyport News, April 5, 2011
Wentworth v. Henry C. Becker Custom Building Ltd., Masscases.com

Related Web Resources:
Workers’ Compensation, Mass.gov
Massachusetts Wrongful Death

More Blog Posts:
Department of Transportation Worker Falls Into Shaft in Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog, April 10, 2011
Massachusetts Contractor Fined for Safety Hazards at Hultman Aqueduct Project, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog, April 10, 2011
Salem Construction Accident at Massachusetts Courthouse Last Summer Caused by Wrong Screw, Boston Injury Lawyer, January 19, 2011 Continue reading

January 19, 2011

Salem Construction Accident at Massachusetts Courthouse Last Summer Caused by Wrong Screw

by Altman & Altman

According to Massachusetts’ Division of Capital Asset Management, a worker sustained serious leg and arm injuries in the Salem construction accident at the Ruane Judicial Center site last summer because a contractor used the wrong kind of screws on a limestone panel. The 500-pound panel ended up falling four feet to the ground, where it broken into piece, some of which struck Stoneham worker Vincent Leahy. Lighthouse Masonry Inc. of New Bedford is the company that allegedly used the wrong screws.

The state says that the zinc-coated screws were the “direct cause” of why the fell and were not what was “specified in the design of the fastener system.” Simpson Gumpertz & Hegerm, the national forensic engineering company that conducted the investigation into the Massachusetts work accident, also found “similarly failed fasteners” when it removed other panels. The probe concluded that the “adhesive anchor from the stone that fell” was improperly installed in a hole that hadn’t been correctly cleaned.”

Beginning January 9, 2011, the masonry company is barred from bidding on public building projects for a year. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has slapped Lighthouse Masonry with three “serious citations” over the Salem construction accident. OSHA also cited Daniel O’Connell’s Sons, which is the company that manages the construction project.

December 31, 2010

Propane Tank Involved in Deadly Norfolk Construction Blast May Have been Lacking Chemical Odorant

by Altman & Altman

According to the Boston wrongful death lawyer of William Nichols’ family, the propane tank that exploded to cause his fatal Norfolk, Massachusetts construction accident last summer did not have ethyl mercaptan, a chemical odorant used to warn when there is a propane leak. Nichols, a 48-year-old Blackstone electrician, was working on the air conditioning and heading system of a duplex under construction on July 30 when the tank explosion occurred. He ended up buried in debris for over 90 minutes.

Nichols’s family reportedly plans to file Boston wrongful death complaints against Smolinksy Brothers Plumbing and Heating Service, the company that installed the heating system and EnergyUSA, which was responsible for installing the gas tank. The reports, issued by State Police and the state fire marshall, appear to clear DCP Midstream LLC, which delivered the gas.

Injured in the Norfolk propane blast were 72-year-old Foxboro resident David Bethel and 43-year-old Franklin local Robert Dena, who were both working for Deno Electric, Inc., 25-year-old Norfolk resident and Prevett Heating and Cooling employee William Prevett, 17-year-old Wrentham resident Thomas DiPlacido, and 58-year-old Norfolk local Mary Jackson, who lived in the adjacent condo. Firefighters John Zajac and David Payne were also injured.

July 16, 2010

Construction Worker Injured During Massachusetts Slip and Fall Accident Through Roof

by Altman & Altman

A construction worker hurt his back and fractured his ribs on Monday during what is being described as a Shrewsbury slip and fall accident through the roof of an AutoZone that is under construction. The victim is employed by M&M Drywall of Georgia, a subcontractor for this job.

The worker fell 15 feet during the Massachusetts construction accident. According to Shrewsbury Fire Chief James M. Vuona, who is quoted on Telegram.com, the man fell after lifting a piece of plywood that was covering one of the openings of the auto parts store’s unfinished roof.

Vuona says that the Massachusetts fall accident may have happened because the surface that the worker was standing on was wet-either from dew or rain. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into the Shrewsbury construction accident.

Boston, Massachusetts Construction Fall Accidents
Fall accidents from roofs, skylights, cranes, scaffolds, and other elevated heights are a common cause of serious injuries to construction workers. Construction falls can lead to traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, coma, and even death. While an employer is supposed to pay Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits for work injuries and deaths, disputes sometimes can arise, and this is where an experienced Boston workers’ compensation law firm can help you. There also may be third parties who should be held liable.

There are safety measures that must be in place to protect construction workers from getting hurt in a fall accident. For example, the roof of a structure under construction must be finished to a degree where it is safe enough for workers to go on it. Also, workers must be equipped with the proper protection and safety procedures must be abided by.

Man injured in job accident, News Telegram.com, July 13, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Falls, OSHA
Construction Safety, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Continue reading

August 6, 2009

Scaffold Malfunction Leaves Two Boston Window Washers Dangling 37 Floors

by Altman & Altman

In Boston, the lives of two window washers were left hanging 37 floors above a street in the Financial District when the scaffold they were standing on collapsed. Julio Ortiz and Kyle Redmond banged on the windows of the skyscraper they were working on, calling for help.

Firefighters broke the windows, working carefully to pull the two window washers back into the building. The two men managed to stay tethered to rigging connected to the roof while they stood on the now slanted platform.

Redmond was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital for non-life threatening injuries and later released from the emergency room. Ortiz did not sustain serious injuries.

The two window washers are employed by Harvard Maintenance Company.

Scaffolding Accidents
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 88 workers died in scaffolding accidents in 2007. 72% of the workers that got hurt in scaffold accidents say the work accident happened because the support or planking gave way or because the worker was hit by a falling object or slipped. These kinds of scaffold accidents are preventable.

Scaffolds are often used by window washers, construction workers, and others whose jobs require them to work from great heights outside buildings and other large structures. A scaffolding that collapses can result in fatal fall accidents, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other catastrophic injuries.

Window washers, construction workers, and others injured in Boston work accidents are likely entitled to Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits. They may also be able to sue a negligent third party for personal injury or wrongful death. For example, if a scaffold collapsed because it was defective or malfunction and its manufacturer could have prevented the accident from happening, then the injured party may have grounds for a Boston products liability lawsuit.

A lurch and a lifeline 37 floors up, Boston.com, August 6, 2009
Window washers rescued from 37-story plunge as platform collapses, Boston Herald, August 6, 2009
Scaffolding, US Dept. of Labor

Related Web Resources:
High Risk: Despite Regulations, Scaffold Accidents Continue, Safety.com
OSHA
Continue reading