Yes. Whether they’re professional drivers or occasionally run errands for work, a lot of people wonder whether their car accident is covered by workers’ compensation. In cases where an employee was driving for work or to benefit the company, car wrecks are indeed...
Work Accidents
OSHA, industry leaders launch Midwest campaign about excavation safety
Last year, four Illinois workers died during trench or excavation work. They were among 39 who died nationwide in 2022 doing this hazardous type of work. Unfortunately, that’s way up since before the pandemic. Between 2011 and 2018, 166 U.S. workers died in trench...
OSHA: Dollar General is a ‘severe violator’ of workplace safety rules
Last fall, OSHA initiated a “severe violators” list. It includes companies who chronically expose employees to workplace safety and health risks. Dollar General was the first company OSHA put on the list. According to CNBC, Tennessee-based Dollar General grew rapidly...
Grain bin operator allows worker to fall into equipment and be injured
When you work around machines, you always have to be careful. Most important, perhaps, is taking the proper precautions to prevent foreseeable injuries. Employers are supposed to identify hazards and take reasonable steps to mitigate those hazards. This is especially...
Survey: far fewer restaurants performing workplace hazard assessments
The pandemic, inflation, supply chain issues and worker shortages have combined to make it harder to get many things done. That may be the reason for a sharp drop in restaurant companies performing workplace hazard assessments recently. According to a 2022 survey by...
Work injuries from cold stress are covered by workers’ comp
Sometimes it seems as if winter will last forever. Most of us don’t get to stay home when the weather is bad – and some workers have to work out in that bad weather. When the temperature falls below freezing (or lower), outdoor workers risk cold stress. According to...
OSHA: Illinois Dollar Tree store continues to put workers at risk
All workplaces must be reasonably safe. That includes preventing ordinary hazards that may not garner our full attention. When OSHA finds that an employer hasn’t taken reasonable steps to keep employees safe, it can fine that employer. Unfortunately, some may see...
OSHA cites Illinois’ A. Lamp Concrete for repeat trench safety hazards
"In mere seconds, thousands of pounds of soil can trap a worker in a trench collapse and lead to serious and often fatal injuries.” That’s what’s at stake when construction companies fail to follow the federal safety regulations on preventing trench collapses and...
Can industrial robots improve workplace safety? What’s the cost?
Robots are becoming increasingly integrated into our lives, and that includes our workplaces – especially industrial workplaces. That might mean robots taking on the riskiest work, reducing the hazards to human workers. Automation could also mean exposing human...
Tragedy at the Mapleton Caterpillar foundry brings $145,027 fine
Foundries are among the most dangerous places anyone could work. The Mapleton, Illinois, foundry for Caterpillar of Irving, Texas, makes cast-iron engine components. Among the potentially deadly machines at the foundry were 11-foot-deep pots of molten iron that had...
