Our Atlanta workers' compensation attorneys understand that there are simple safety steps that employers can take to help to keep workers safe and to prevent heat-related injuries. Each year, there are thousands of employees across the U.S. who are injured on the job by the summer heat. If these injuries are not quickly recognized and addressed, heat exhaustion can quickly turn to heat stroke, which can kill a person. Each year, about 30 workers have died because of these injuries since 2003. There are a number of job positions that can be affected by the summer's heat. Everyone is warned!

Labor-intensive jobs face some of the most serious risks. When the body temperature rises beyond normal temps, sweating just won't cut it. Heat illness can start as heat cramps or even heat rash, but within no time it can turn into heat exhaustion and then into heat stroke if no one around knows how to spot and treat the illness.

Some of the most common occupations affected by heat-related work injuries include landscapers, baggage handlers, farmers, construction workers, roadside workers, roofers, utility workers, etc. Employees are urged to drink plenty of water throughout the job and to take frequent breaks in the shade to stay cool and to avoid one of these injuries.

OSHA is releasing heat illness materials in both Spanish and English to help to spread the word. The Administration is also releasing materials to help employers to properly train employees on how to spot and deal with these kinds of accidents.

How to Prevent Heat-Related Illness:

-Three words: Water. Rest. Shade.

-Drink plenty of water during your shift.

-Take plenty of breaks.

-Take your breaks in the shade and work in the shade when possible.

-Start heavy work in the morning when it's cooler out.

-Employers should share precautions with all employees prior to the summer season.

-Workers should be acclimated to the weather. Never throw a new worker right into the heat.

-Train employees to spot symptoms of heat-related illnesses as well as what do when these symptoms are spotted.

-Plan for an emergency and know what to do. Acting quickly can save lives!

Our Atlanta workers' compensation lawyers understand that employers have a responsibility to help protect employees on the job. To help in this protection, protective equipment and preventative measures must be executed and work-related hazards must be corrected when identified. When a company fails to offer these measures and fails to correct dangers to help to make work sites safe and to protect workers, work-related injuries and even death can result. That's why OSHA is here, to help make sure that companies are doing their best to provide safe work places for employees across the nation. When an injury results because of negligent care, compensation may be provided to the injured.

The inspection of the Jackson facility also landed Eagle United Truck Wash LLC with an additional repeat violation, this one just like the one that it received back in 2009 for letting workers perform maintenance on dangerous equipment without the proper energy control program in place.

The company was also cited with seven serious safety violations, issued as a result of the most recent inspection. These violations included failing to identify permit-required confined spaces when workers were inside tanks, for failing to make sure there was hazard communication training to employees, for failing to cover and minimize exposure to dangerous and corrosive chemicals, for exposing employees to slip hazards, for large holes in the wash bay grates, for various tripping hazards, for various electrical problems, among other issues.

Lastly, the company was cited for neglecting to cover wiring on the wall on the heater and boiler and for neglecting to create and enact a respirator protection program. Neither of these two violations came with any monetary fines, but they are to be corrected to help to ensure worker safety. These were both violations pertaining to dangers that would most likely not cause serious physical harm or death but were ultimately still a threat to workers.

"The very same chemicals that do a great job cleaning metal can be dangerous to workers if used without the proper protections," said William Fulcher, with OSHA's Area Office.

Nationwide, the Environmental Protection Agency reports Americans compost or recycle 82 million tons each year -- or about one-third of the nation's waste.

But with industry growth has come an increased risk of accidents. Recently the Occupational Safety & Health Administration cited Olde Atlanta Recycling with 23 safety and health violations. The citations are the result of numerous safety violations that OSHA alleges occurred at the company's Cumming facility.

Safety investigators conducted an inspection in November, based on a complaint. Proposed penalties total $69,200.

Among the allegations: failure to provide a program aimed at preventing machine startup during service; not requiring workers to wear seat belts on industrial trucks; transporting compressed air in PVC; inadequate exit signage; and electrical deficiencies.

The government also accuses the company of not doing enough to implement a noise-monitoring program; of not having enough respirator training, and of failure to do enough to prevent laceration hazards.

"This inspection has identified several safety and health deficiencies that need to be addressed by Olde Atlanta Recycling in order to protect its workers," said Bill Fulcher, director of OSHA's Atlanta-East Area Office. "It is the employer's responsibility to provide a safe and healthful workplace."

OSHA is working across the green jobs industry to promote safety.

Most people instinctively see green jobs as safe, said Assistant Secretary of Labor David Michaels at a recent green jobs workshop. However, that's just not the case. New chemicals, new manufacturing processes and new technology all combine to present unknown dangers.

OSHA is primarily working green job safety in three core areas: Prevention through design of safe technology, creating standards and procedures, and giving voice to a green generation of employees.

One of the latest issues has been the rise in popularity of green roofs in urban areas throughout the United States. Some of these projects are designed and installed by companies with specific experience in green roof technologies. However, landscapers, roofers and other contractors are leaping into the fray. Workers dealing with green-roof technology face risks of accidents associated with falls; lack or proper personal protective equipment; exposure to silica dust; issues involving cranes, derricks and hoists; powered industrial truck accidents; electric injuries and injuries do to heat/cold stress.

Designing standards and implementing best practices will be critical as the advent and implementation of this technology moves through the 21st Century. As these companies continue to grow, and these manufacturing processes begin to dominate the economic landscape, the safety of tomorrow's workers will be at least in part be decided by what we are doing to ensure the safety of today's workforce.

According to a release from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (or OSHA), the agency had dedicated a large number of resources to preventing falls within the residential construction industry.

As our Atlanta workers compensation attorneys understand, construction site falls are among the leading causes of work-related injuries in Georgia and throughout the U.S.
That's why in September of last year, OSHA pumped up its enforcement efforts regarding fall hazards on construction sites, particularly residential projects, such as houses, condos and nursing homes.

Essentially, what it meant for a number of construction companies was that the agency would provide free assistance on-site to help each employer make sure it was meeting OSHA's updated standards.

It also offered a reduction on fines and penalties if the company was making a good faith effort to update its safety policies and conditions. In fact, companies were specifically given 30 days to fix fall hazards. If there was a serious injury or fatality that happened during those 30 days, the company wouldn't be off the hook, but the whole idea was to give companies time to come into compliance, and ultimately keep workers safer in the long run.

The effort also implemented certain guidelines that would make it easier for companies to be more consistent in matters of safety, and particularly in preventing fall hazards.

This increased enforcement effort was intended to run through the middle of March. Now, OSHA says they are extending the efforts through the middle of September - so the program will run for a year total.

Within the last several months, OSHA said it has held more than 1,000 outreach session across the country, with the goal of helping employers comply with more stringent safety rules.

OSHA has a long list of rules that dictate what measures a construction company has to take in order to keep its workers safe from a fall. Those include the requirement that for any worker who is engaging in work more than 15 feet off the ground has to be protected by a guardrail, safety net or some other fall restraint device. For construction workers who are doing their job on multi-story buildings, there must be safety cables installed around the interior and exteriors of the floors, as soon as metal decking has been laid down. Plus, employees working with connectors (which they should be if the structure is more than two stories high), need to be trained in how to use them.

Training for employees is also key in preventing construction falls in Atlanta. Employers are required to organize the training for their workers. That training has to cover the following areas:

1. Identifying fall hazards.
2. Using guardrail systems.
3. The correct way to put up, maintain and inspect all fall protection systems.
4. Procedures to prevent lower-level falls.
5. Proper safety gear.

Our Atlanta workers compensation attorneys understand that trench-related work accidents can be some of the most catastrophic of any industry. For this reason, there are a number of standards that trenching and excavating companies must meet to help ensure the safety of its employees. K.M. Davis Contracting Co. Inc. was busted for violating these national standards.

In the violation discovered by OSHA, employees were allowed to work in a trench that was nearly 10 feet deep that didn't have cave-in protection. This violation was categorized as a willful violation, meaning that the employer knew about it or should have known about it and disregarded the law.

In other words, the management was aware of the potential hazards to employees in the trench, but flagrantly ignored those hazards.

Under the current standards laid out by OSHA, employers are required to make sure all excavation and trenching projects which are done at a level of 5 feet or deeper be protected against cave-ins or collapses.

According to the Trenching and Excavating page on OSHA's website, excavating and trenching is easily one of the most dangerous and hazardous of construction operations. The safety standards were recently revised to help to make it easier for employers to understand and to protect workers in this field.

The top danger for workers in trenching and excavating projects is collapse. To help reduce the risks of a cave-in or a collapse, employers are required to conduct an analysis on the soil to figure out shoring, benching and sloping.

It's also important to keep an eye on the placement of heavy machinery, work materials and work-related traffic near the work site. Employers and employees also want to be cautious of natural gases and various electrical hazards stemming from power lines located underground.

K.M. Davis Contracting Co. Inc. can either pay the proposed penalties, request a conference with the area director or contest the investigation's findings. Regardless, they have 15 business days to do so.

There's even a page on the Safety and Health topics page regarding Respiratory Protection on OSHA's website. This page offers the information on the hazards associated with these industries, various training materials and details on the Respiratory Protection Standard.

Every year, there are about 5 million employees who have to wear respirators on the job. These workers occupy nearly 1.5 million work areas in the country. These respirators are used to protect employees against insufficient oxygen levels, gases, mists, smoke, harmful dusts, sprays and vapors. Some of these work environment hazards can potentially cause lung impairment, cancer, a number of other diseases and even death.

Employers are required to comply with OSHA's respiratory Protection Standard. Officials believe that this standard helps to reduce the risk of hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries and illnesses every year.

Respirators are specially designed to provide clean and filtered air to workers. The respirators work by filtering out the dangerous particles from the air that a worker might inhale.

Employees who have beards should be careful when using a respirator. If there is any chance your facial hair could somehow break the seal and allow unfiltered air into your lungs, there's a problem. Beards and sideburns can cause outside air to make it to the employee before being filtered correctly, increasing the injury risk.

If you're required to wear a respirator on the job, trim your facial hair so that it doesn't interfere with the seal.

You also want to make sure your mask isn't loose. You want a tight-fitting face mask to ensure outside air is making its way in.

Employees are urged to review the new videos and material that was recently released by OSHA. This information can help you stay safe on the job and avoid any unnecessary injuries or death. If you feel that there's a problem with work safety at your job, speak up! Point out hazards you observe to help to reduce the risks of an accident.

Oftentimes, inspections are conducted after OSHA catches wind of an irresponsible employer who fails to keep the work place safe for all employees. These types of reported tips can be provided to officials from concerned workers. If you feel that your safety is at jeopardy on the job, you are urged to report your concerns to your regional OSHA office.

Coleman Natural Foods Citations:

-Neglecting to install machine guards on equipment in which employees could be injured by moving parts.

-Failing to seal off electrical enclosures to help to avoid any type of corrosion.

-Failing to offer adequate strain relief on electrical components.

-Not providing an ammonia detector to sniff out gas unsafe amounts of gas that has been released into in the air.

-Not providing the proper training to employees who work among hazardous materials.

-Not fixing hydraulic fluid leaks that were started by slippery floors.

-Machine guards were not provided.

-The fire extinguishers on the premise were not regularly inspected.

The second inspection of unsafe Georgia workplaces was of the Newnan facility of NuTech Powder Coaters LLC. This company was issued 20 citations by OSHA for failing to keep work places safe for all employees. These various citations came with a combined proposed fine of more than $55,000. The inspection in which OSHA officials discovered these violations happened after a previous inspection in August.

NuTech Powder Coaters LLC Citations:

-Neglecting to ensure employees were provided with and using the proper protective clothing for working in dangerous conditions.

-Failing to provide workers with the proper eyewash/shower unit for those who had been exposed to corrosive materials.

-Neglecting to create and implement a confined space program.

-Failing to post permit-required confined space signage.

-Letting powder coating material to gather.

-Exposing employees to electronic, fall and other combustible dust hazards.

-Failing to create a respiratory protection program.

"Companies of all sizes must take their responsibilities seriously when it comes to workers' safety and health, and implement controls that ensure all employees are protected from hazards," said Andre Richards, director of OSHA.

Our Atlanta workers' compensation attorneys understand the risks. In fact, many Georgia employees and residents may be at higher risk, even at milder temperatures. Many work crews lack the proper equipment to work in the cold, are not accustomed to freezing temperatures, and lack the knowledge necessary to stay safe in frigid weather.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports cold stress may set in at temperatures above freezing, particularly in warmer clients where employees may be unaccustomed to dealing with frigid temperatures. Near freezing temperature and increasing wind speeds can cause rapid heat depletion from the body. Those most at risk are employees without shelter, outdoor workers and those working in buildings without proper insulation, such as metal fabricated shops, barns or warehouses.

Hypothermia can occur when the body loses heat faster than it can be reproduced. Prolonged exposure to cold saps the body of energy stores and the ability to maintain core body temperature. Hypothermia sets in when low body temperature begins to affect the brain. Thinking and movement begin to slow. And the risk of external injury increases as well as the health consequences associated with hypothermia.

Symptoms include shivering and loss of concentration and coordination. Ultimately, slowed pulse, breathing and loss of consciousness may result.

Frostbite is caused by freezing; symptoms include a loss of color to the affected area. Ears, nose, fingers and toes are most often affected. Severe cases can require amputation.

Trench foot occurs with lengthy exposure to cold and wet conditions. It can occur in temperatures as high as 60 degrees in wet conditions, which exacerbate heat loss.

Employers can do their part to help prevent injury to workers due to cold-weather working conditions.

-Schedule outdoor tasks for the warmer parts of the day, or year.

-Reduce the demands on workers by using relief workers, reducing workload, etc.

-Provide plenty of liquids and plenty of rest.

-Monitor workers for fatigue or other adverse symptoms.

-Provide proper training, first aid and preventive measures.

Employees should wear proper clothing, dress in layers and avoid tight-fitting clothing, which can reduce blood flow and circulation. Particular attention should be paid to protecting ears, face, hands and feet. Waterproof and insulated boots are ideal.

Workers should also take plenty of breaks in a warm location, limit the amount of time spent outdoors and drink plenty of liquids.

In situations where employees end up with a major injury due to chemical spills, it may be necessary for our Atlanta workers' compensation lawyers to assist you in your time of need. Major injuries typically require medical attention, which may be extremely expensive, especially given our nation's rising healthcare costs.

In cases like this, employers may attempt to cut corners in order to save money. This is unacceptable. Corporations are required to have insurance to cover for such accidents and yet they will attempt to fight a workers' compensation claim with the employee.

Every employee has the right to work in a safe environment and certainly one where precautions are taken to avoid major chemical accidents at work. And if accidents do happen, a workers' compensation claim may be necessary in order to prevent these accidents.

The Thomaston Times reminded us recently that emergency crews are among the type of employees who are at constant risk of being exposed to a chemical accident. Firefighters respond every day to traffic accidents where car batteries explode or fluids are leaking from a vehicle that has just been mangled. And in some cases, the cars are ready to explode when the liquids and heat from a running engine combine.

Emergency crews recently put together a scenario that helps train emergency crews how to handle a chemical disaster. Law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical responders, medical personnel and emergency management officials participated in the recent training.

The scenario involved a private vehicle crashing with a tanker that was carrying highly toxic hydrogen peroxide. Hospital staffers were tested on their ability to properly respond to a flood of patients in a short time. Emergency crews were required to respond to and treat patients at the scene by diagnosing their injuries and keeping them and themselves safe from the chemicals.

In another story, a Georgia college student was severely injured last April when the airbags in her vehicle deployed without a crash and flying metal severed her neck artery. The injuries required surgeries and caused her to suffer strokes, USA Today reports. This reminds us that those in the manufacturing fields, where chemicals are used every day, are especially at risk.

Chemicals may be used in that worker's profession or they may simply be in the office for other reasons. Either way, they can cause problems. A splash in the face can cause major eye trauma or blindness, while exposure to skin or breathing in certain chemicals can cause employees to have other forms of medical problems.

Companies must adhere to safety protocols and give employees proper training to prevent accidents. Many cases of at-work injuries happen because untrained workers cause accidents. With proper training, more workplace injuries in Georgia could be prevented.

A person who loses his or her eyesight in a Georgia workplace accident can have their lives altered forever. This type of catastrophic work injury can require the need for a workers' compensation claim in Georgia in order for the worker to get the care they need to recover from such an ailment.

Our Georgia workers' compensation lawyers can't help but cringe when we hear about workers in our community who are injured and lose their eyesight. It is one of our five perhaps we most rely upon for survival, but we take it for granted.

For those who have had it and lost it, they know how important being able to see is. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 2,000 people each day in the United States suffer from a work-related eye injury.

Nearly one in three of these eye injuries require hospital emergency room visits and nearly five percent result in time lost at work. Most of these injuries are a result of airborne particles that cause major irritation or cuts that can cause permanent injuries. The most common are metal slivers, wood chips, cement chips and dust that break off from the use of power tools.

Critically important to preventing these injuries are the use of eye protection, including goggles or sturdy masks that cover the entire face, such as those used by welders. The eyes can also be exposed to catching infectious diseases, especially those working in laboratories, with animals and in health care settings. The eyes are particularly susceptible to catching illnesses.

Here are some tips to keeping your eyes safe at work:

• Create a safe work environment by minimizing debris, ensuring tools work correctly and workers know how to use them. Keep non-workers outside of the area.
• Look over safety hazards and identify where improvements can be made.
• Make sure the correct eye and face protection is used for the job at hand. Determine that the protection is in good condition and not susceptible to breaking while a power tool is in use.
• Take the right approach to keeping your eyes safe by cleaning off eye protection, the face, hair and forehead before removing the protection to ensure debris don't fall down; don't rub your eyes with dirty clothing and take steps to clean the eyewear regularly.
• Make sure there's an eye wash station nearby and available to all workers in case of emergency.

While work emergencies such as eye injuries are typically considered risks that construction workers take, these can happen at any business. Every office probably has some type of hazardous chemicals that can lead to injuries, so take proper precautions.

Georgia workers are entitled to work in a safe environment and their companies are required to make that happen. There are local, state and federal regulations they must follow in setting up work sites throughout the state. Failure to adhere to these rules can lead to major fines, as in this case.

But for some workers, their company's failure to adhere to these rules can not only cost fines, but lead to serious work injuries that can result in Georgia workers' compensation claims. Our Georgia work injury lawyers recognize that workers are injured on the job because their companies fail to properly keep them safe, exposing them to potentially deadly outcomes in the wrong situation.

In this case, Hutchinson Stucco Inc. of Brunswick, Georgia, was cited for 11 safety violations after OSHA officials inspected a work site. Workers were exposed to potential fall hazards, the government agency states, while they worked on a three-story building. The agency has proposed penalties of $62,200 for the alleged violations.

At issue in this case is an allegation that the company required workers to use a scaffolding system that officials said wasn't fully planked, had missing base plates and guardrails, was built by a person who wasn't fully trained or prepared to do it and which had no safety net.

OSHA officials allege that these offenses were repeat violations that resulted in $54,000 in fines to the company. On top of the violation regarding the scaffolding, authorities allege company officials didn't have a safety data sheet available to workers who were mixing and applying stucco cement. Workers were allowed to opt out of using head protection and employees who mixed chemicals weren't trained in hazardous chemicals.

OSHA officials cited the company for similar violations in April 2008, meaning they qualify as repeat violations. Two serious violations alleged by the agency relate to failing to have a ladder on the scaffolding to act as an exit and allowing their employees to work on scaffolding with planks directly attached to the roof without a fall protection system set up.

Workers were constructing a three-story building on St. Simons Island, the agency reports. The company has two weeks to comply, request a conference with OSHA's regional director or contest the findings before a panel.

These are serious violations because fall accidents from faulty scaffolding are fairly common. Construction workers are acutely aware that working on an unstable platform while trying to perform detail-oriented work is a bad combination. Scaffolding that can collapse can lead not only to serious injuries, but possible death. This is unacceptable. Companies must ensure their workers are protected from fall hazards on Georgia work sites.

Our Georgia workers' compensation attorneys understand that solid waste collection continues to rank as the fifth most dangerous job in the state. This occupation produces an alarmingly high rate of fatalities every year. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 60 workers die in this field every year. Every year, the industry experienced more and more fatalities.

"NSWMA will be exploring the reasons for the increase in reported fatalities. NSWMA will redouble its efforts to prevent fatal accidents, including the release of an updated Safety Manual in 2012," said David Biderman, the Safety Director for the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA).

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offers these tips to workers who work in solid waste management and on garbage trucks:

-Employees should ride only in the vehicle's cab or on the steps that have been specifically designed for riding.

-Employees should only ride on the steps when making short trips and when riding at a speed under 10 miles per hour.

-Stay in or on the vehicle until it has come to a complete stop.

-Drivers should make sure that there are no riders on the back of the truck when the vehicle is reversing, driving over 10 miles an hour or traveling farther than 0.2 miles.

-All riding steps should be slip-resistant surfaces.

-Riders should be provided with handles that can withstand 500 pounds.

-All vehicles should have warnings posted above or on the riding steps that remind riders of the safety rules.

-All vehicles should come with an audible warning device that sounds off when the vehicle is operating in reverse.

Additional safety tips from the National Solid Waste Management Association's (NSWMA) Manual of Recommended Safety Practices:

-Drivers and workers should keep visual contact with one another at all times, especially when backing up.

-Drivers should continuously check mirrors when reversing.

-Drivers should use the assistance of a spotter when backing up for help with blind spots.

-Drivers should use hand signals when reversing.

-Stop the truck if the spotter needs to move.

-Stop moving the vehicle if the spotter is lost.

-All workers should move away from the vehicle when it's backing up.

Motorists are asked to be cautious when driving near these vehicles. Solid waste management workers face high risks for traffic-related accidents and passing motorists need to practice extreme caution when driving near.

ROC-United, founded in 2008, has over 7,500 members and is a national organization focused on improving work conditions in the restaurant industry. The Alliance with OSHA will be geared towards presenting case studies so that employers and workers in the industry can learn lessons from previous dangerous situations. Fact sheets, health and safety booklets and suggestions for proper training will be provided to workers and employers to create awareness about burns, falls, cuts and other potential injuries.

It isn't abnormal for parents to fear when their child goes out into the workforce, especially at a young age. Up to this point the power to keep children safe has been in the hands of the parents but now you are relying on someone else. Employers have an obligation to provide a safe work environment for your child but the more knowledge your child can gain the better it will be for their own safety.

OSHA has developed an online tool to help parents and teens gain more knowledge about the dangers leading to severe injury or illness while working in the restaurant industry. Young workers are exposed regularly to electrocution, violence, strains or sprains, toxic chemicals among other hazards. A teen may take a job serving, working the drive-thru window, preparing food or in clean-up but what they need to be aware of is there are dangers in every facet of the job.

The following are potential dangers associated with specific job responsibilities in the restaurant industry:

Serving
-Strains or sprains from carrying heavy dishes or trays stacked full of food orders.
-Trips or falls from not seeing an object in your path or slipping on ice dispersed from a bin.
-Burns from touching hot plates or spilling hot drinks.
-Workplace violence exhibited by customers or employers making vocal complaints or belligerent comments.

Drive-thru window
-Hearing loss initiated by loud background noise from headsets.
-Inhalation of dangerous fumes from a car's exhaust system.
-Back and foot pain from standing on feet for prolong periods of time.

Cooking
-Eye or face injuries caused by oil splashes from scalding fryers.
-Fire hazards from working around open flames or grease traps that aren't emptied.
-Heat exhaustion or heat illness from working in extreme hot temperatures for long periods of time.

Clean-up
-Slip and fall injuries from walking in freshly mopped wet areas or grease spills left on the floor.
-Electrocution from open wires or worn electrical cords.
-Exposure to hazardous chemicals often found in cleaning products like ammonia, detergents, or soaps.

Young workers are at risk of so many potentially dangerous injuries so help keep them safe by teaching them to be responsible and ensuring their employer trains them properly.

One area that needs improvement by all employers nationwide is recordkeeping. In a recent U.S. Department of Labor statement, Secretary Hilda L. Solis indicated that accurate records of employee injuries and illnesses can not only help identify and fix systematic issues in the workplace but it can also help employees not to fear consequences of losing their job if they report an incident at work. In this economy when jobs are hard to find, employees may be keeping their lips sealed for fear of being let go from their duties.

Georgia employees need not fear losing their job when reporting an accident at work. Getting sound advice from an experienced workers' compensation attorney may ease the stress if you are injured at work or come into contact with a hazardous chemical or substance while on the employer's watch.

We are also aware of the 2010 occupational injury and illness summary recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the numbers aren't good. As a matter of fact, they virtually remained unchanged from 2009 reporting more than 3 million nonfatal illnesses and injuries in the private industry sector.

Some interesting findings from the 2010 summary:

-Injuries are much more predominant in the private industry sector workplace than illnesses with a 95 to 5 percent ratio of occurrences.

-More than 1.5 million of the nearly 3.1 million private industry illness and injury cases reported were critical enough to require a job transfer, restricted duties or missed time from work.

-DART cases (those requiring lost time from work, a job transfer or limited duties at work) occurred at a rate of 1.8 cases per 100 full-time equivalent employees in 2010, which was the same as those reported the previous year.

-Non-DART cases in 2010 (those considered less severe and not requiring one of the three scenarios listed above) occurred at a rate of 1.7 cases per 100 full-time employees, which was slightly less than the 1.8 reported in 2009.

-Small work establishments are classified as 10 employees or less and mid-size establishments employ anywhere from 50 to 249 employees at a time. When comparing private industry work sites that reported the most cases of illnesses and injuries, mid-size establishments reported the most cases in the private industry sector and small establishment reported the fewest number of cases.

-The service-providing industry reported 2.2 million occupational injuries, which equates to roughly a little more than 75 percent of the injuries in the private sector for 2010. The goods-producing industry reported the next highest number of recordable injury cases in 2010.

-The goods-producing industry reported 29.1 illness cases per 10,000 full-time workers in 2009. In 2010, the incidence rate grew to 31.8 and accounted for 36 percent of all illness cases recorded at work in any industry.

-Of all the goods-producing industries, the manufacturing industry was the highest sub-sector to report illness cases in 2010. The 2010 incidence rate was 41.9 illness cases per 10,000 full-time equivalent workers.

-Local and state government employees reported 5.7 illness and injury cases per 100 full-time workers or approximately 820,300 cases overall in 2010.

-Approximately 4 out of every 5 illnesses and injuries in the public sector in 2010 were local government workers. The incidence rate was significantly higher for local government workers in 2010 than state government workers at 6.1 cases to 4.6 cases per 100 full-time employees respectively.

Our Atlanta workers compensation lawyers hope that this new guidance will help employers make some much needed changes to help to ensure the safety of all employees. Nail gun-related injuries are preventable. Employers are asked to take all of the proper safety precautions to keep workers safe on the job. Accidents can happen when we let our guard down. It's important for employers to stay one step ahead of the game and to remove all potential hazards before they're able to harm workers.

Many construction workers, especially those working within residential construction, use nail guns daily. These tools are vital on many work sites. While they're extremely easy to use and speed up productivity on every site, we have seen numerous reports of both internal and external bodily injuries from these devices.

Common causes of nail gun-related injuries:

-Unintended nail discharge.

-Ricocheting nails that bounce off hard surfaces.

-Missing work pieces altogether and being shot into the air.

-Disabling a nail gun's safety feature.

A recent study concluded that roughly two out of five residential carpenter apprentices have experienced at least one nail gun-related injury in the last four years. Many times, when these types of accidents happen, they are not reported or given the proper medical treatment.

Research has concluded that the risk of an injury from a multi-shot contact trigger is twice as high as when a worker is using a single-shot sequential trigger nailer.

All supervisors, builders, subcontractors and construction contractors are urged to review the new guidance to help reduce the risks of these types of accidents.

Consider these six practical steps that can help all contractors to avoid a nail gun-related accident:

-Be sure to use full sequential trigger nail guns.

-Make sure all workers are provided with the proper training.

-Make sure that all work sites and work crews understand nail gun procedures.

-Make sure all workers have personal protective equipment (PPE).

-Set up a system to ensure injuries, accidents and close calls are reported.

-Be sure that all injuries are treated with first aid care or medical treatment.

Since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted in 1970, employers have been held responsible for making sure that all work sites are healthful and safe for employees. Some of the most routine and simple activities can turn deadly if simple safety steps are not taken.