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...
Work Accidents
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...
3 remote worker injuries people don’t talk about
Remote work has seen a dramatic rise in the past several years. Many employees find that their quality of life has greatly improved since working from home. But just because people are in the safety of their own homes doesn’t mean they’re safe from work-related...
Lemont truck repair company cited after fatal chemical exposure
Federal and state workplace safety laws are meant to ensure that every workplace is reasonably safe. Nevertheless, many workers face unreasonable hazards in their workplaces, and many are injured and even killed every year in Illinois. One man, 48, was inspecting a...
OSHA cites two contractors after fatal fall in Mapleton
Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). To help prevent them, OSHA engages in regular information campaigns about fall safety. It also inspects workplaces and issues...
