September is Suicide Prevention Month. In support of this cause, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a news release about the shockingly high rate of suicide among male construction workers as compared with employees in other industries....
Rockford Illinois Workers’ Compensation Law Blog
Can healthcare providers get workers’ comp for PTSD?
The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on doctors, nurses and other front-line medical workers. Every day, they have faced an influx of desperate patients with COVID-19. The efforts to treat those patients – and prevent them from dying – have been extraordinary but...
New conditions qualify for Compassionate Allowances in SSDI, SSI programs
People who apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) must be disabled from working to qualify for benefits, among other eligibility requirements. The definition of disability for purposes of these programs is a severe...
Chicago congressman urges SSA to focus on COVID long haulers
Eight months ago, we wrote in this space about COVID-19 long haulers – people who suffer sometimes debilitating symptoms for months after having been infected. In that post, we explained that for a person to meet the disability requirements of Social Security...
Interaction of Illinois workers’ compensation benefits and the COVID-19 vaccine, part 2
In part 1 of this post, we talked about Illinois workers’ compensation law and its potential interaction with the coronavirus-vaccine issues. Today we will talk about rare, severe side effects from the vaccine and other more tangential injuries for which employees may...
Part 1: Does workers’ compensation cover injury from a COVID-19 vaccine in Illinois?
In Illinois as of the date of this writing in August 2021, the issue falls into somewhat of a gray area. Scant legal precedent in the state exists to answer this question, but we will share some of our findings in this two-part post. Impact of state statute?...
Employers have a duty to limit dangerous chemical exposures
In light of the recent fire at the Chemtool plant in Rockton, we thought we should discuss employers’ responsibilities around chemical hazards and other toxic substances in the workplace. Employers do have a duty to mitigate these risks for their employees, and it...
A wrinkle on workers’ comp injuries: aggravation and exacerbation
Perhaps you are an Illinois worker in seemingly perfect health who suddenly begins experiencing serious shoulder and back injuries that are unquestionably related to on-the-job lifting activities. Your pain is persistent, ongoing and materially debilitating. In fact,...
Illinois summer heat and outdoor workers can be a dangerous mix
Illinoisans are no strangers to extreme weather, enduring risky outdoor conditions in the depths of winter and in the heat and humidity of summer. And it's not getting any better because of the impact of climate change, which is already apparent. According to the U.S....
Preventing falls on Illinois construction sites
According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), falls are the top cause of construction worker deaths. Nationally, 400 construction employees died from falls at work plus many others sustained severe injuries. The DOL suggests that if an employee must perform work...
