Articles Posted in Uncategorized

Unfortunately, accidental injuries like this occur frequently in the workplace. After an on the job accident, injured workers may be temporarily unable to work or they may become permanently disabled. Generally, state workers’ compensation laws provide the only recourse available to employees who are hurt while at work in Massachusetts. Sometimes, a third party such as the manufacturer of the nail gun may be held legally responsible for inadequate safety measures or building a dangerous or defective product. If you were hurt in the workplace, an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer can explain your options for recovery.

This incident is the type of serious accident the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) will normally investigate. OSHA was created by Congress in 1970 in an effort to reduce worker fatalities and injuries. Employers in the United States are required to follow OSHA workplace safety standards and provide a working environment that is reasonably free from health and safety hazards. The organization also investigates workplace accidents to determine whether an employer contributed to a worker’s injury by failing to adhere to established safety standards.

OSHA will normally issue a repeat violation when an employer is cited for a substantially similar violation of a regulation, standard, rule, or order within five years after an initial citation. According to OSHA’s Hartford Area Director, Paul Mangiafico, the fine was so large because Shawnlee Construction was previously cited three times in three different states for failing to protect workers from fall hazards within the last five years. The company was previously cited in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire in both 2007 and 2008.

Mangiafico stated protecting workers from fall hazards is paramount because falls are one of the most dangerous and disabling threats to construction employees. If not properly protected, workers may lose their lives or livelihoods in a matter of seconds. Mangiafico also stated effective fall hazard safeguards must be used consistently and without fail by every construction employer.

The two workers were allegedly performing maintenance inside of a drum that sorts recycling materials when the drum was set in motion and injured them. After the incident, an OSHA inspection revealed Prolerized New England Co. failed to ensure the machine was deactivated and its power source was locked out prior to allowing employees to climb inside. OSHA also found the company’s lock-out procedures were inadequate and poorly communicated. Additionally, employees were not sufficiently trained on the procedures and the company failed to ensure the procedures were understood by its workers.

According to OSHA, Prolerized New England Co. also failed to protect its employees from a fall hazard, train workers regarding how to perform maintenance in a confined space, and provide employees with a hot work permit for welding inside the machinery. A serious violation is only issued when an employer knew or should have known there was a substantial likelihood that serious physical harm or a fatality would occur. In this case, OSHA proposed the maximum fine for each of the ten violations. OSHA’s area director for Essex and Middlesex counties, Jeffrey Erskine, stated the unexpected start-up of the drum could have killed workers within seconds.

According to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the roofing company and its owners misclassified millions of dollars worth of subcontractor payroll and failed to pay workers the proper prevailing wage. The company admitted to misclassifying employees as independent contractors which resulted in fewer unemployment contributions and lower workers’ compensation premiums. Prior to entry of their plea agreement, the parties paid restitution to the underpaid employees and the Division of Unemployment Assistance.

An investigation into employment practices at Newton Contracting began in 2008 after the Governor’s Joint Enforcement Task Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification was alerted to the company’s purported misclassification of its employees. Around the same time, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office received complaints Newton Contracting misclassified roofing workers as laborers in order to pay them a lower wage on a Suffolk County Jail contract. A 2009 compliance audit by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development resulted in $52,000 in fines after it was revealed a number of Newton Contracting employees were misclassified as independent contractors. Soon after, a Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau investigation revealed the company misclassified more than $3.4 million in subcontractor payroll.

OSHA’s Braintree Area Office initially proposed to fine the building restoration and masonry contractor $235,500 for three willful, six serious, and two other-than-serious workplace safety violations. A willful violation is issued when an employer shows intentional disregard for workplace safety laws. A serious violation is issued when an employer knew or should have known a dangerous condition which was likely to result in death or serious harm to an employee existed. An other-than-serious violation is one which relates to employee safety, but is unlikely to result in serious injury or death.

As part of the settlement agreement, NER Construction was required to correct all of the safety hazards at the Wharf identified by OSHA and increase overall employee safety at each of the company’s work sites. NER Construction has agreed to perform a comprehensive safety analysis for each job, determine reasonable fall protections, and provide additional employee safety training. The company is also required to submit to OSHA a monthly report regarding safety measures utilized at all of its work sites during the next year and also provide copies of any outside safety audits performed over the next two years.