Media Workers' Compensation Law Blog

Winter weather can make it harder to work safely on a Pennsylvania construction site. This is because surfaces that are coated in snow and ice can be too slick to walk or climb on safely. Ideally, scaffolding, ladders or other tools that a worker will climb on will be built from materials designed to withstand… Read More

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced its annual top 10 list of workplace safety violations reported in Pennsylvania and across the U.S. The list includes violations cited by inspectors between Oct. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2018. All but one of the violations has appeared on the list in previous years. The top… Read More

Many construction workers in Pennsylvania understand just how dangerous it can be to work in a trench or on an excavation site. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 130 deaths on such sites between 2011 and 2016. That’s why OSHA has begun a National Emphasis Program (NEP) related to excavation… Read More

Pennsylvania residents who work in places where the same people share the same space for an extended period of time should be aware that transmission of tuberculosis is a risk that they face. This includes healthcare employees and those who work in prisons, jails, homeless and social assistance shelters and emergency shelters. The risk usually… Read More

Chronic fatigue is a serious issue for many people in Pennsylvania. From trying to function at work to driving safely, being overly tired can affect every facet of your life. However, when you are working at a construction site, fatigue-related hazards can be especially dangerous. Not everyone sees eye-to-eye on this issue. Most construction employers… Read More

Pennsylvania’s construction industry is an important part of the state’s economy, but sobering statistics reveal that construction professionals are facing increasing workplace accidents, injuries and fatalities when trenching and excavating. From 2011 to 2016, 104 deaths have been attributed to cave-ins related to trenching across the United States according to figures from the Bureau of… Read More

Carpal tunnel syndrome is an occupational injury of the hands and wrists that afflicts workers in Pennsylvania who perform repetitive or forceful tasks. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified some of the industries with the highest risks for this condition that compresses the median nerve within the carpal… Read More

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is not collecting enough information on workplace deaths and injuries that occur in Pennsylvania and around the country, according to a government audit report. In addition, the agency does not always issue citations to employers that fail to report these incidents. For the report, which was released on… Read More

Many workplace injuries in Pennsylvania could potentially be prevented with better employer understanding and responses to previous incidents. The principle that most workplace accidents are actually predictable and preventable underlies the approach of OSHA. This agency refers to workplace injuries as “incidents” rather than “accidents,” because an accident is something unexpected that could not be… Read More

Workers across the state of Pennsylvania often must work in adverse weather conditions, including high outdoor temperatures. Over 130 organizations have joined a collaborative effort to request that OSHA establish a heat protection standard. The petitioners are requesting multiple protections for workers, including frequent rest breaks, availability of shade, access to water, medical monitoring and… Read More