What to do if Hurt at Work

Posted by admin on February 12, 2010  |  No Comments

• Report the injury or exposure immediately to a supervisor or HR employee who is authorized to take an injury report, not a coworker or team leader.
• If necessary, seek immediate medical care. If you are still at work, ask your employer to provide the transportation.
• If immediate medical care is not needed, consult with one of your employer’s panel physicians as soon as possible. Panel physicians are frequently referred to as “company doctors.”
• Be certain to give to the physician a complete and accurate description of how the injury or exposure occurred and what injuries you have suffered.
• Do not use your private or employer-provided health insurance. Tell the health care providers to bill your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance. If possible, get a claim number from the compensation carrier to provide if insurance information is needed.
• Get the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all eye-witnesses who saw what caused your injury.
• Preserve physical evidence whenever possible, especially if a defective piece of machinery or equipment is involved. If you can, take photographs of the scene of the accident.
• Write down the details of the event as soon as possible, while they are still fresh in your mind. Be thorough and accurate. This will help you to recall the event at a later date if necessary.
• DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING except your witness or accident statement until you have consulted with your attorney.
  And the most important advice that we can give you is this…
• Be safety conscious. Keep alert for dangerous conditions around the workplace. When you discover a potentially dangerous condition, report it to your supervisor. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Remember, the only good injury is the one that never happens.

Preventing Playground Accidents

Posted by admin on January 25, 2010  |  No Comments

Kids love playgrounds where they can climb, slide, swing, and have fun. But U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission data show that more than 200,000 playground accidents occur annually, with many requiring emergency room treatment for injured children. Safe Kids USA has reported falls are responsible for most non-fatal playground injuries, while the leading cause of death related to playground equipment is strangulation. Playground injuries can occur at home or at a public playground.

The National Program for Playground Safety suggests precautions parents can take to make sure their children are as safe as possible at home and at public playgrounds.

-An adult should supervise all play and assist in emergencies.

-Encourage children to play on equipment designed for their ages.

-Safety-inspect ground surfaces for hardness or hazards such as broken glass or other sharp objects.

-Monitor ladders, steps, platforms, handrails, ropes, barriers, and swings, slides, seesaws, and merry-go-rounds for condition, looking for sharp edges, loose connections, missing parts, and other dangers.

-Report and repair all hazards.

Despite all precautions, child injuries may occur – but parents have legal remedies. A three-year-old in a Headstart program suffered head, neck, and brain damage from a fall off a jungle gym. The child’s parents received a structured settlement after their attorney demonstrated that the preschool operators were negligent for failing to provide adequate adult supervision of children at play.

Children and Supermarkets: Preventing Accidents and Injuries

Posted by admin on December 30, 2009  |  1 Comment

For a busy parent with a child in tow, shopping at a supermarket can be a challenge.

Here are suggestions to keep your shopping safer.

Hold children’s hands when walking near automatic doors, which can knock little ones off their feet.

Avoid gumball machines. Goodies can choke small children.

Buckle your child in a car seat. No one should ride in the basket or hang on an end. Carts can tip and fall on children.

Watch for just-washed floors, broken glass merchandise, or slippery produce on aisle floors.

Pay attention to aisle displays and other potential obstructions.

One Shopper’s Bombshell:

A woman shopping at a department store was struck on the head by a seven-pound box knocked from a 15-foot high shelf by a store employee. The blow triggered severe headaches, which were only partially relieved by surgery and medications. Her lawyer sued, and a jury awarded her compensation after it found that the store’s stacking practices negligently endangered customers.