Workplace Injuries | InjuryBoard Des Moines

Nick Avgerinos, from Chicago has a post today about case managers in work comp. cases. It’s a good post. I’d like to bluntly expand on it a little. Let's face facts, the Case Manager in a workers’...

Workers killed while doing their job in foreign states, states other than their residence and the normal place of business, should see a lawyer to determine in which state or states the dependents are eligible for benefits and what state offers the more generous benefits. Another worker died this past week. This one while trying to move a mobile home at the Cloverleaf Trailer Park in Moline,...

Workers can easily fall to their death if the right fall protection is not used. I've previously posted falls in plants and at construction sites. These can be very dangerous accidents. Working at heights it's easy to lose your footing or to move as your would regularly move but not remembering you're not in the correct location to move in such a direction. When falls happen it can be...

Iowa House passes House File 2542 concerning Iowa citizens who are injured working on another state. The Iowa House on Tuesday passed a significant piece of legislation to assist Iowa workers who are injured while working in a state other than Iowa. Now if the Senate will pass House File 2542 or something similar, a 2003 Iowa Supreme Court decision will be over turned. House passes change to...

What is my shoulder injury case worth with surgery? Well first I'll say this is common in my practice to be asked for a second opinion and I do give them, without charge. I do it even for lawyers and who knows maybe I have with your lawyer. That doesn't mean everyone should write to me asking for a free consultation for a second opinion. QUESTION: I am a nurse and I got hurt at work, I had...

I have a pretty good analogy that should help answer this question. Think of a car. If there isn't gas in the tank the car can't run. Workers' compensation benefits works a lot like that car engine. If you don't have a medical opinion relating your injury to a work event then the workers' compensation benefits engine won't start up. Medical opinions are the fuel of the workers' compensation...

QUESTION: I injured my shoulder on the job six months ago. I am scheduled for surgery. I would like to know what the proper procedure is for dealing with work comp. What I am entitled to in Iowa formula weekly while out? I also have been told that I probably will not be able to go back to the same work. Will I receive a settlement and how should i go about this in legal form would like to...

Medicare set-aside trusts, social security set-off language and workers' compensation benefits complicate any settlement. Know what you're doing or don't do it. There is more than what I've described, but this part of the protocol is being posted to give both attorneys unfamiliar with this area and clients who need direction in selecting a competent lawyer to see what is involved. It's...

The risks are obvious and include the adverse effects from inhalation, skin absorption, fire, joint and muscle overuse and nervous system disorders. You as the lawyer have to know everything about the workers job description, actual work order and extent to which exposure takes place. Getting the client involved in drycleaning shop education, prevention and risk management is an option that...

Before you can know about worker exposure levels you have to know the number of machines, the capacity of the machines and the age of the machinery being used. From that information you will begin to see how the drycleaning environment is working.Machine Design and Number of Machines -- Evaluation of operator exposures indicated that the most important factor affecting PERC exposure was the...

As a drycleaning worker your concerns should be how to prevent fires and then what will happen if there is one.Fire Hazards - Drycleaning with petroleum-based solvents differs significantly from drycleaning with PERC. The difference goes beyond the fact that the petroleum-based solvents are flammable and PERC is not. However, when the health and safety hazards of petroleum-based solvents are...

An employee working out of Minnesota at the ethanol plant under construction near Mona, Iowa has died. Few details are available although Iowa Occupational Safety Health are investigating. IOSH. OSHA. The employer is Fagen Engineering out of Granite Falls, Minn. The work site is Absolute Energy. We'll blawg more on this later.

Ergonomics helps us know how to avoid cumulative trauma type injuries. Remember, human capital wears out.Ergonomic Risk Factors - Doctor Stevenson is an economist I will quote. "Human capital wears out." It's that simple. If you do the same activity enough times the joints used will wear out over time. Pressing and removing wet tangled clothes puts stress on joints that can cause the affected...

If maintenance is being ignored or improperly performed the drycleaning workers exposures to PERC may be increased. Machine Maintenance - Real-time evaluation of drycleaning machine maintenance showed that exposures during maintenance were less than exposures during loading/unloading or transfer. Maintenance activities that were evaluated included cleaning the drycleaning machine's lint trap,...

This is a high risk exposure job. Obviously you have to know what personal protective equipment is used, whether maintained and if properly fitted. Look at the equipment, examine it, don't assume it all works as expected or intended. Waterproofing - Clients will know if the drycleaner where they work offers this service, if they perform waterproofing and how they do it. This same type of process...