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Whistleblowers Given New Online Protection by OSHA

July 21st, 2010 by admin

Whistleblowers are employees and workers who “blow the whistle” on wrongdoing in the workplace: they are witnesses to all sorts of unlawful practices, but especially important are those who come forward about dangerous safety and health code violations. These men and women undertake great risk to speak up about wrongs being done.

Whistleblowers are vital to the safety of any workplace, but especially the dangerous work environments found in steel mills, auto manufacturing plants, construction sites, and the like. Whistleblowers can save lives – often at the risk of their own.

This month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) added online support to its whistleblower protection program, by creating a new whistleblower web site, www.whistleblowers.gov. According to OSHA, the new site is designed “…to provide workers, employers, and the public with easily accessible information about the 18 federal whistleblower protection statutes that OSHA currently administers.”

Whistleblowers.org – Information Hub for Workers Blowing the Whistle on Wrongdoing

At Whistleblowers.org, visitors can find current information regarding all the various statutes and agency regulations established under federal law to protect workers coming forward with evidence of employer wrongdoing (“whistleblower laws”). State laws are not covered by the new site.

According to the agency’s news release, “OSHA doesn’t work unless workers feel secure in exercising their rights,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels. “This Web page is part of OSHA’s promise to stand by those workers who have the courage to come forward when they know their employer is cutting corners on safety and health.”

The Federal Whistleblower Laws

Indiana, Illinois, and other states have their own set of laws protecting whistleblowers. However, the federal government has been proactive in protecting these workers and the following federal laws are in place to protect whistleblowers today (click here for links to the particular provision):

• Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. §660
• Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA), 49 U.S.C. §31105
• Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), 15 U.S.C. §2651
• International Safe Container Act (ISCA), 46 App U.S.C. §1506
• Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), 42 U.S.C. §300j-9(i)
• Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), 33 U.S.C. §1367
• Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), 15 U.S.C. §2622
• Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), 42 U.S.C. §6971
• Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. §7622
• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §9610
• Energy Reorganization Act (ERA), 42 U.S.C. §5851
• Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR21), 49 U.S.C. §42121
• Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act, Title VIII of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX), 18 U.S.C. §1514A
• Pipeline Safety Improvement Act (PSIA), 49 U.S.C. §60129
• Federal Rail Safety Act (FRSA), 49 U.S.C. §20109
• National Transit Systems Security Act (NTSSA), 6 U.S.C. §1142
• Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), 15 U.S.C. §2087
• Section 1558 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), P.L. 111-148
• 29 CFR Part 1977 – Discrimination Against Employees Exercising Rights under the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act
• 29 CFR Part 1978 – Rules for Implementing Section 405 of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982
• 29 CFR Part 1979 – Procedures for the Handling of Discrimination Complaints under Section 519 of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century
• 29 CFR Part 1980 – Procedures for the Handling of Discrimination Complaints under Section 806 of the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002
• 29 CFR Part 1981 – Procedures for the Handling of Discrimination Complaints under Section 6 of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002
• 29 CFR Part 24 – Interim Final Rule, Procedures for the Handling of Retaliation Complaints under the Employee Protection Provisions of Six Federal Environmental Statutes and Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended

Here at Kenneth J. Allen & Associates Law Firm, we commend those who have the courage and integrity to risk their jobs and livelihoods, and even their physical safety, to come forward and speak the truth about dangers in the workplace. If there is any way that we can be of help, please feel free to call.

Posted in Construction Injuries, Electrocution, Equipment and Machine Malfunction, Explosions & Fires, Falls, Job Site Injury, Longshoremen & Maritime, Mill Accidents, Railroad Workers (FELA), Work Related, Workers’ Compensation | No Comments »

U.S. Steel Worker Seriously Injured on Tracks After Their Repair Was Cancelled

July 16th, 2010 by admin

Shortly after midnight last Wednesday morning, a U.S. Steel Gary Works employee was seriously injured when the transfer car he was operating – moving coke and lime to the blast furnaces — left the tracks. The car plummeted 25 feet into the ore yard below in what steel workers call a “crush.”

The steel worker was seriously injured – so much so, he was airlifted to Loyola Hospital from the injury site. He’s known to have suffered multiple broken bones as well as a serious injury to his hip.

The Tracks Suffered “Catastrophic Failure” – Repair Had Been Cancelled

Union representatives are blaming a failure of a girder under the transfer car as the reason for the accident. Furthermore, the Union is reporting that the support girder under the tracks shows evidence of a “catastrophic failure,” and that repair work was scheduled – but had been cancelled. Which means that U.S. Steel Gary Works knew that the track was dangerous and let workmen access it anyway.

Investigations Begin into U.S. Steel Workplace

U.S. Steel reports that the company is investigating the accident. (Read that as their defense attorneys are on the job.) A complaint has also been filed with the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which will conduct its own independent inquiry into what happened on that track last Wednesday.

How Safe Are the Steel Mills Today? The Statistics Aren’t to be Trusted

If you read the statistics, industrial workers overall are purportedly working in a much safer environment – rates of injury have been cut almost in half (46%) over the past ten years.

However, in March 2010, Business Week published an expose of those numbers, reporting that the Department of Labor is suspicious of the numbers that have been reported by employers. The GAO has found that employers underreport injuries to keep insurance premiums down. A Johns Hopkins professor and noted scholar in occupational injury doesn’t believe that the numbers are correct – this big of a decrease just isn’t realistic in her opinion.

At least one steel company has come back fighting: AK Steel had its rebuttal to the Business Week article published in the national magazine, refuting any subterfuge on its part and denying fudging of numbers to keep costs down.

Statistics versus Reality

Meanwhile, here is one concrete example of a steel worker who has been seriously injured in a work environment that is notoriously dangerous. And from the information that was provided by the Union to the media, it was an accident that would not have happened if the repairs had taken place.

Repairs cost money. Insurance premiums cost money. Money chosen over safety: who is going to explain that reality to the U.S. Steel Gary Works’ injured worker and his loved ones?

Posted in Equipment and Machine Malfunction, Falls, Job Site Injury, Mill Accidents, Serious Personal Injury, Work Related | 1 Comment »

Employers Not Fazed by Increased OSHA Fines

June 21st, 2010 by admin

On May 27, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its second fine over $1 million within the last month. The South Dakota Wheat Growers Association of Aberdeen, South Dakota was fined $1.6 million for 23 willful violations after the December 2009 death of a worker at one of the company’s grain handling operations. The worker suffocated to death after being engulfed by grain in one of the facility’s storage bins.

Hilda L. Solis, Secretary of Labor, spoke about the Department’s investigation and stated that “The S.D Wheat Growers Association ignored long-established standards addressing safety in grain handling operations.” Solis also stated that “The company’s intentional disregard for its safety…led to an unnecessary loss of a life.”

The company’s utter disregard for the safety of its employees is even more troubling given the fact that just last year Tempel Grain Company, one state over in Haswell, Colorado, was fined more than $1.5 million for 22 similar OSHA violations.

This came after a 17-year old employee of Tempel suffocated to death in a bin after being engulfed by grain.

This inexcusable ignorance to OSHA citations and fines can also be seen closer to home. Just last year, the Indiana Occupational Health and Safety Administration issued fines totaling more than $400,000 to two Indiana Companies for repeated workplace safety violations. Steel Dynamics, based in Fort Wayne, was cited and fined $240,000 when one employee was injured and another was killed by nitrogen fumes released by a furnace.

Many of the violations were repeat violations, meaning that they company had already been cited for the violation and was aware of the dangerous condition that existed. Similarly, Noblesville based company King Systems Corp., which manufactures anesthesia and respiratory care products, was cited for repeat violations and fined for $191,000.

The violations resulted from the company’s ongoing failure to minimize employee exposure to harmful gases.

At first blush, one might assume that increased fines have lead to a safer working environment. However, this is not always the case. All too often, these repeat violations and increased fines provide little deterrent to employers primarily concerned with the bottom line: profits. Rather than addressing the safety hazards and unsafe conditions, employers wait until one of its employees is seriously injured or killed, before taking the proper corrective measures prescribed by OSHA. Unfortunately, the tragic incidents described above demonstrate this all too well.

Posted in Construction Injuries, Defective Products, Equipment and Machine Malfunction, Explosions & Fires, Falls, Job Site Injury, Mill Accidents, Product Liability, Serious Personal Injury, Slip & Falls, Work Related, Wrongful Death | No Comments »

Younger Workers More Likely to Be Injured or Killed On the Job Says CDC In New Report

April 23rd, 2010 by admin

Workers between 15 and 24 years old are TWICE as likely to be seriously injured on the job in this country, reports the Center for Disease Control in a new study, released this week.  And, lots of them are dying from on the job injuries, as well.

The Most Dangerous Jobs for Young Workers

According to the CDC, young workers are at the biggest risk of on the job work injury or death if they are working within the services industry (32%), doing construction work (28%), working wholesale and retail trade jobs (10%), or doing agriculture work (10%). They faced the highest risk of dying when working in in mining (36.5 per 100,000 FTE), agriculture (21.3 per 100,000 FTE), and construction (10.9 per 100,000 FTE).

Employers Told by Feds — Do More to Protect Young Workers

The federal agency warns employers that they need to take heed to this study, and do more to protect these young workers.

Specifically, the Report states:

The primary responsibility for workplace safety lies with employers (8). Thus, reductions in younger worker injuries and deaths will require employers to make changes in work environments and workplace practices….

Employers should assess injury hazards in their workplaces, take steps to remove or reduce the injury potential, and ensure their workers have the requisite training and personal protective equipment to perform their jobs safely. Employers should be aided by health and safety practitioners, as well as others, in providing better guidance and tools to improve young worker safety.

Reality Check: Will Employers Comply With the CDC Report?

What that warning to employers means to most companies today is allotting more money towards workplace safety.  Entering into the second quarter of 2010, does anyone really expect employers — especially in the most dangerous injuries — to revamp their budgets to protect their youngest employees?

Companies are looking for ways to cut costs, not add to them.  So, while this report is helpful and it would be wise to take heed of its warning, odds are high that nothing much is going to happen here. And young workers will continue to be seriously injured — and die — when on the job, just doing their work.

Bottom line?  Perhaps the best use of this report will be as an injured plaintiff’s exhibit in a personal injury trial.

The CDC Report is online and available for viewing as part of its April 23, 2010, edition of the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Posted in Construction Injuries, Electrocution, Equipment and Machine Malfunction, Explosions & Fires, Falls, Job Site Injury, Longshoremen & Maritime, Mill Accidents, Railroad Workers (FELA), Serious Personal Injury, Work Related, Workers’ Compensation, Wrongful Death | No Comments »

Advocates for safety deserve praise

March 16th, 2010 by Donald G. Asher

Originally posted March 16, 2010 at donaldasher.blogspot.com

Safety should always come first in the workplace.

But yet day in and day out we read or hear about workers being severely injured or killed while working.

Today was another unfortunate example of workplace dangers. This time it was on the Borman Expressway ( I-80/94 ) when a construction worker for Walsh Construction from Gary was hit and killed in a construction zone by a car at 1:30 in the morning.

The driver of the vehicle fled, and police are searching for him this morning.

Unfortunately most of us will forget about this in a day or so. We’ll feel sad for the victim’s family for a minute or two.

It won’t be long before we’ll read or hear about another worker killed in a tragic workplace accident. It could be a highway worker, such as this morning, or a steelworker, or a carpenter, or electrician, or just about anyone who has a job doing anything.

The only ones not at risk of workplace injury are people who are unemployed. Even office workers face some risk, albeit probably minimal.

And yet we also read or hear about jury verdicts to some poor soul who was somehow severely and permanently injured, or killed, in a workplace accident. Often these verdicts are in the millions of dollars. Often the public is outraged at the amounts of damages jury award to victims and/or their families. Unless of course it’s you, or your family member.

More often than not that perception spills over into negative perceptions of personal injury attorneys. They’re called ambulance chasers by some.

The connection people fail to make is that without personal injury attorneys, large penalties in the form of jury verdicts in the millions, companies would have no incentive to make a safer workplace.

For example, why should a company spend $5,000 or $10,000 for a railing around a catwalk? Sure, it would make it safer but they have a good safety record and no OSHA violations.

Boom! Next thing you know your husband, or father, or son just slipped and fell 30 feet and broken several bones. Or worse. Maybe paralyzed, or even killed.

What now?

One thing I’ve learned since my time working with Kenneth J. Allen is that a personal injury law practice is not about how much money can an attorney make, but rather incentivizing employers to routinely scrutinize its practices and equipment from a safety standpoint.

Without those PI attorneys out there to advocate for workers and safer workplaces, that poor soul who just fell 30 feet has little, if any recourse short of worker’s compensation.

So the next time you read or hear about a $10 million or $20 million injury verdict, think about the company that may have been negligent about workers’ safety, and not about that PI attorney, who rightfully should be commended not dissimilar to a physician who just saved the life of someone.

Posted in Auto Accidents, Construction Injuries, Electrocution, Equipment and Machine Malfunction, Explosions & Fires, Falls, Job Site Injury, Longshoremen & Maritime, Mill Accidents, Pedestrian Accidents, Railroad Workers (FELA), Semi-Truck Crashes, Serious Personal Injury, Slip & Falls, Spinal Injuries, Transportation, Work Related, Workers’ Compensation, Wrongful Death | No Comments »

New Website! PaperStreet launches KenAllenLaw.com re-design!

January 15th, 2010 by admin

PaperStreet Web Design’s development team just wrapped up the brand new re-design of KenAllenLaw.com.   The new site not only has a modern design but is using the latest web technologies, JavaScript libraries, and web standards.

Along with a new look the new site provides visitors state of the art lawyer resources in the form of videos, graphics, and a blog that is updated with the latest news and developments in the firm.

Posted in Airplane & Train Crashes, Auto Accidents, Bus Crashes, Construction Injuries, Defective Products, Electrocution, Equipment and Machine Malfunction, Explosions & Fires, Falls, Illinois Wrongful Death, Indiana Wrongful Death, Insurance Claims, Job Site Injury, Longshoremen & Maritime, Medical Malpractice, Mill Accidents, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Jurisdictions, Pedestrian Accidents, Product Liability, Railroad Workers (FELA), School & Playground Injuries, Semi-Truck Crashes, Serious Personal Injury, Slip & Falls, Spinal Injuries, Sports & Boating Accidents, Transportation, Work Related, Workers’ Compensation, Wrongful Death | 1 Comment »

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