Georgia Workers Compensation Attorney Blog

Because a worker fell off of a Ferris wheel, a Georgia company is facing fines of more than $27,000, according to FOX 8.

The carnival accident happened back in May at the Greensboro carnival. According to the Greensboro News & Record, Event Coordinators Inc., which is located in Augusta, has been issued a dozen citations from the North Carolina Department of Labor. The company was also issued one non-serious violation for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina. Each fine ranges between $900 and $3,500. The company has 15 days to either appeal the citations or to pay the fines.

Companies are required to provide safe equipment and material for customers, but in doing so its required to keep workers safe and to prevent work accidents in Georgia and elsewhere. Federal law requires that all of the proper safety precautions are taken to avoid such accidents. If an injury results from a work hazard, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration will step in to investigate the scene. If hazards were failed to be addressed, companies and employers can face a number of serious violations, citations and fines.

Our Atlanta workers compensation lawyers report that the man who was killed after falling off of this Ferris wheel at the Greensboro Youth Council's yearly carnival was a 42-year-old employee from Columbus, Georgia. The carnival was held this year at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. Carnival workers are used to working under time restrictions, but must be cautious and careful when assembling and taking down equipment as this is the time when the most accidents occur.

The man was killed as he was taking apart the Ferris wheel as the carnival was packing up. A second worker was injured during the incident. According to local officials, one of the fittings on the wheel's wire cable that is used to disassemble the ride failed.

Reports indicate that the Columbus worker fell more than 40 feet to the paved ground after a portion of the wheel came free and hit a nearby walkway. The other worker who was injured in the incident reportedly fell nearly 30 feet after the loose part struck an elevated basket on the wheel.

"The penalties are in no way designed to make up for loss of life," said a spokesman for the Labor Department, Neal O'Briant, Labor Department Spokesman. He reports that the money collected from the fines will be given to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund, which provides funds to public schools in the area.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employees and representatives have the legal right to file a complaint and request that OSHA look into complaints and conduct an inspection of the work site. A complaint may be filed if an employee feels that there is a serious hazard that an employer may be neglecting to recognize or address. Under the Act, the name of the person who filed the complaint is not released to help protect their identity from employers and to encourage more people to step up and address these concerns.

Employees should not fear voicing concerns regarding a work-related hazard. It is against federal law for an employer to take any retaliating action again an employee who speaks out. Employers are prohibited from demoting, transferring, firing or discriminating against any employees who files a complaint.

Visit OSHA's complaint web page to fill out a form regarding a work-related hazard that you've witnessed. Your concern can help to prevent an injury or to save a life.

Continue reading "Carnival Company Fined After Fatal Work Accident that Killed Georgia Employee" »

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released its preliminary estimates of fatal work accidents in Georgia and elsewhere, which showed that in 2010, more than 4,500 employees died as a result of work-related injuries.

That amounts to about a fatal work injury rate of 3.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent employees for U.S. workers for the year.

Our Atlanta workers compensation attorneys understand that the final 2010 data for this information will not be released until the Spring of 2012. Until then, this is the most recent information available. It's no surprise that a number of economic factors play a role in the number of fatal work injuries sustained every year. These factors include total hours worked, which was up slightly in 2010 in comparison to both 2008 and 2009.

According to the newly released data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries:

• There was a 5 percent decrease in the number of work-related fatalities experienced by those who were self-employed. This workforce experienced nearly 1,000 fatal work injuries in 2010.
• The private mining industry experienced nearly 200 fatal work injuries in 2010. This amounts to an increase of nearly 75 percent from the previous year. The rate of fatal work injuries in this industry was nearly 20 per 100,000 FTEs in 2010.
• The private construction industry was fortunate enough to experience a 10 percent decrease in the number of fatal work injuries from 2009 to 2010. The number of these injuries is down approximately 40 percent from 2006.
• The number of work-related injuries caused by fires more than doubled from 2009 to 2010. There were more than 100 of these incidents in 2010, which is the highest number on record.
• The number of workplace homicides involving women increased by more than 10 percent from 2009 to 2010. Although this number increased for women, the number for all workers decreased by about 7 percent from the previous year, which is the lowest number ever recorded.
• Fatal work injuries among African-American and non-Hispanic workers declined by nearly 10 percent from the previous year, although the number of these incidents increased by more than 2 percent within the non-Hispanic worker category.
• Work-related deaths involving Latino or Hispanic employees has declined nearly 5 percent.
• Police officers experienced an approximate 40 percent increase in the number of fatal work accidents from 2009 to 2010. These workers experienced less than 100 fatal work accidents in 2009, but the number spiked to more than 130 in 2010.
• The total number of worked hours for those both hourly and salary employees increased in 2010. Unfortunately, these hours decreased for those who are self-employed.
• The number of fatal work injuries sustained by women increased by more than 5 percent, but decreased by only 1 percent for men.

The number of work injuries sustained by employees who were under the age of 18, workers age 25 to 34, and workers ages 55-years-old and older recorded a decrease in the number of these accidents.

There are twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia that reported to have experienced an increase in the number of fatal work injuries from 2009 to 2010. Only 23 states reported to have experienced a decrease in the number of these fatal accidents.

Continue reading "New Data Released Analyzes Work Accidents in Georgia and Elsewhere " »

Jim Boyd Construction, Piedmont Mechanical Inc. and Chevron Energy have been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for a number of safety violations that were discovered after a worker was burned as the result of a preventable electrical shock. The accident happened at the U.S. Marine Corps Logistic Base as the employee was installing a new land fill gas compression and processing facility. The companies affiliated with the construction have received eleven citations that equal more than $189,000. The OSHA inspection started back in March after the accident.

OSHA is responsible for investigating the conditions of work sites and work-related accidents in Georgia and elsewhere. Employers have a responsibility under federal law to help to protect workers from hazards and dangers that can result in injury at the work site.

Our Atlanta workers compensation attorneys understand that employees who work with electrical equipment are at an increased risk for serious work-related injuries if the proper precautionary steps are not taken by all parties involved. Workers are urged to report any signs of hazards or dangers in the workplace to a supervisor or directly to OSHA. Your report can help to prevent injury or to save someone's life if the concerns are properly handled.

The recently issued citations were the result of an accident where the boom tip of a crane made contact with a power line that was running with more than 12,000 volts. When the tip of the crane made contact, the electricity was transported through the crane and down to the employee who was located on the ground and holding the line.

Piedmont received a violation of more than a $55,000 penalty for neglecting to consider that the crane would get that close to the power line. Cranes are not allowed within 20 feet of working power lines. The other citations were received for neglecting to position the crane on an area that was sturdy enough to support it and for neglecting to inspect the crane daily.

All of the companies have been cited for excavation and trenching-related violations at that one specific work site:

-Piedmont: $125,000+.

-Jim Boyd: $58,000+.

-Chevron Energy: $6,300.

"When there are multiple companies operating together at the same site . . . it is important that all the employers take a serious interest in the safety and health of the workers," said Robert Vazzi, director of OSHA's Savannah Area Office.

Additional violations were issued to both Peidmont and Jim Boyd for allowing its employees to enter a trench in which there were a number of sections where shields were not connected properly. Both companies were also cited for letting employees work in these areas where she shields were damaged along the walls of the trench. This exposed the employees to a number of potentially serious hazards.

Continue reading "OSHA Targets Unsafe Companies Contributing to Work Accidents in Georgia, Nation" »

Each year, roughly 2 million workers report that they have been the victim of workplace violence. The truth is that a great number of cases are expected to be unreported, so the actual number is much higher.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) reports that in 2010, more than 4,500 people died because of fatal workplace injuries. More than 500 of these deaths were workplace homicides. Homicide is the number one cause of death for females in the workplace.

No one should be subjected to violent acts in the workplace and there can be compensation that can be provided to those who have been the victim of violent workplace injuries in Atlanta and elsewhere.

Our Georgia workers compensation attorneys understand how common these types of work injuries are. As a matter of fact, workplace violence is one of the top four causes of all workplace fatalities in the last 15 years. More than 3,000 workers have died from on-the-job homicide from the just 2006 to 2010. Another 15,000 workers were injured during this time because of workplace violence.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently released a new directive on its Enforcement Procedures for Investigating or Inspecting Incidents of Workplace Violence. Under the new directive, OSHA members will have to follow a new set of rules pertaining to the investigation of workplace violence reports. They will also have to conduct more frequent and more thorough inspections on industries in which workplace violence is more prominent. Some of these industries include social service and healthcare settings, and late-night retail establishments, such as convenience stores and 24-hour sit-in restaurants.

One of the most recent cases of workplace violence came after an OSHA inspection of a psychiatric hospital in Maine. The inspections revealed on-duty workers were assaulted more than 90 times by patients. These reports were collected from 2008 to 2010.

That Maine hospital has been cited for not providing those workers with efficient and adequate protection against the workplace violence. The hospital must now pay approximately $6,000 in fines. The Administration has handed over similar citations to facilities in Massachusetts and in New York where workers were killed as the result or workplace assaults.

"These incidents and others like them can be avoided or decreased if employers take appropriate precautions to protect their workers," said Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health."

How to help prevent the risks of workplace violence:

• Enact a zero-tolerance policy. Make sure that all employees, clients, patients, contractors, visitors, etc. are covered under the policy. This policy should ensure that an employer will take the proper actions if a violent act or threat is reported.


• Frequently assess worksites. Create a written Workplace Violence Prevention Program. The program should include administrative and engineering controls along with a form of training so that everyone can better understand and recognize workplace violence.


• Let all employees know about their legal right to prosecute perpetrators in the event of becoming the victim of workplace violence.


• Ensure that employees understand how to report a violent act and who to report it to. Ensure that everyone knows that these reports will be taken seriously and all of them will be both investigated and remedied immediately.


• Make sure that no employee who reports a violent act in the workplace faces reprisals.

Continue reading "Workplace Violence in Georgia and Elsewhere One of the Top Causes for Work-Related Fatalities" »