Amputations and Loss of Limbs: Catastrophic Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Injuries

Amputations and loss of limbs are among the most catastrophic and debilitating injuries that can occur in the workplace. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10,000 workers suffer from amputations each year. The most common type of amputation injury involves partial or full fingers, thumbs, and toes. About 3% involve the loss of hands or arms, and another 3% involve the loss of feet or legs. The manufacturing and construction industries are responsible for about 2/3 of workplace amputation injuries.

Traumatic amputations and loss of limbs can occur in almost any type of work environment, but these type of accidents most often involve improperly or inadequately guarded machinery, including:

• Band saws 
• Circular saws 
• Grinding machines 
• Conveyor belts 
• Drill presses 
• Punch presses 
• Food slicers 
• Metal shears 
• CNC milling equipment 
• Forklifts 
• Meat grinders 
• Printing presses 
• Milling machines 
• Power presses 
• Roll-forming machines 
• Roll-bending machines 
• Trash compactors 

Amputations can also occur surgically. For example, if a body part is too damaged to repair, it may be surgically amputated after an accident. Or, after an injury, if a body part fails to heal, and develops serious infection, surgical amputation may be necessary to prevent a deadly systemic infection.

Amputation injuries usually require extensive medical care and rehabilitation. Workers who have suffered amputation injuries often have significant difficulty returning back to work after an injury, and may incur substantial wage loss. An injured worker may also require modifications to their homes or vehicles to make them more accessible. There are a variety of Minnesota workers’ compensation benefits available to workers who have suffered amputations injuries, including medical expense benefits, wage loss benefits, permanent partial disability benefits, and/or vocational rehabilitation benefits.

Tragically, dozens of catastrophic amputation work injuries happen in Minnesota every year. A knowledgeable and experienced Minnesota workers’ compensation lawyer can assist you in obtaining the benefits you’re entitled to. For a free, no-obligation case consultation, call Meuser & Associate at 877-746-5680 or click here to send us an email to learn more about your rights. 

OSHA’s 2010 List of Top Ten Most Common Violations

According to Risk & Insurance Online, OSHA has released its Top 10 list of most frequently cited violations. These violations are cited by OSHA because of the significant dangers they pose to workers.

1. Scaffolding - general requirements. Scaffolding regulations aim to protect construction workers from falls and falling objects while working on or near scaffolding at heights of 10 feet or more.
2. Fall protection - general requirements. Fall protection regulations are designed to protect employees on a walking/working surface with an unprotected side or edge above 6 feet.
3. Hazard communication – Thee guidelines address chemical hazards and the communication of them to workers.
4. Respiratory protection – Respiratory regulations direct employers in establishing/maintaining a respiratory protection program.
5. Ladders - general requirements for all ladders. These requirements protect workers from fall dangers.
6. Lockout/tagout – These regulations addresses the control of hazardous energy during servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment.
7. Electrical - wiring methods. These guidelines deal with the grounding of electrical equipment, wiring, and insulation.
8. Powered industrial trucks –These rules cover the design, maintenance, and operation of powered industrial trucks.
9. Electrical - general requirements. These requirements deal with general safety requirements for designing electrical systems.
10. Machine guarding - general requirements. These rules cover guarding of machinery to protect operators and other employees from hazards.

If you’ve sustained a work-related injury either as a result of OSHA violations, or otherwise, you may be entitled to Minnesota workers’ compensation benefits, including wage loss benefits, medical expense benefits, permanent partial disability benefits and/or rehabilitation benefits.

For a free, no-obligation consultation to learn about your Minnesota workers’ compensation rights, call us at 877-746-5680 or click here to send us an email to speak with one of our workers’ compensation lawyers.

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Top Ten OSHA Safety Violations – MN Workers’ Compensation

According to Risk & Insurance Online, during 2008, the number of top ten OSHA safety violations increased nearly 30 percent.

The top ten OSHA safety violations in 2008 included:

1. Scaffolding (9,093 violations): According to OSHA, scaffold injuries occur most often when planking or support gives away, from an employee slipping, or when an employee is struck by a falling object.
2. Fall protection (6,771 violations): OSHA requires fall safety precautions anytime a worker is at a height of four feet or more in general industry, five feet in maritime work environments, and six feet in construction.
3. Hazard communication (6,378 violations): Employees working with hazardous or toxic chemicals must be provided with material safety data sheets.
4. Respiratory protection (3,803 violations): Respirators protect workers from harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, gasses, vapors, and sprays, which may cause cancer, lung disorders, or other diseases.
5. Lockout/tagout (3,321 violations): Lockout/tagout procedures are practices that safeguard employees from an unexpected startup of machines or the release of hazardous energy during maintenance.
6. Electrical/wiring (3,079 violations): Many employees, including engineers, electricians, and other professionals directly work with electricity, including overhead lines, cable harnesses, and circuit assemblies.
7. Ladders (3,072 violations): According to the Department of Labor, falls are one of the leading causes of work-related deaths.
8. Powered industrial trucks (2,993 violations). Workers can be injured when trucks are inadvertently driven off loading docks, trucks fall between a dock and a trailer, workers are struck by a truck, or when they fall from trucks.
9. Electrical (2,556 violations). Almost all employee are indirectly exposed to electricity and may be exposed to electrical hazards.
10. Machine guarding (2,364 violations). Inadequate machine guarding can lead to catastrophic injury or death.

If you are injured in the course and scope of your employment, you may be entitled to Minnesota workers’ compensation benefits, including medical expense benefits, wage loss benefits, permanency benefits, and rehabilitation benefits.

For a free, no-obligation consultation to learn about your rights under Minnesota workers’ compensation law, contact Meuser & Associates at  877-746-5680 or click here to send us an email.

Machine Guards -- Keeping Minnesota Manufacturing Workers Safe

Machines that bend, form, or cut metal or wood, such as punch presses, brake presses, metal stamps, lathes, saws, or drill presses, are obviously powerful enough to cause serious damage to human flesh and bone.

Manufacturing workers who sustain serious injuries in machine accidents most commonly suffer amputations, lacerations, crush injuries, fractures, or de-gloving injuries.

OSHA requires that guarding must be provided to protect operators and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by the point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips, and sparks. OSHA specifically requires that shears, power presses, milling machines, and power saws have guarding at the point of operation, or the area where work is performed on the material being processed. These kinds of machines are most often involved in amputation injuries.

Machine injuries are usually caused by:

• Contact or entanglement with machinery
• Being trapped between the machine and material or fixed structure
• Contact with material in motion
• Being struck by ejected parts of machinery
• Being struck by material ejected from machine
• Release of potential energy
  

Safeguards should meet the following five minimum requirements:

Prevent contact: The safeguard must prevent hands, arms, and any other part of a operator's body from making contact with dangerous moving parts. A good safeguarding system eliminates the possibility of the operator or another worker placing parts of their bodies near hazardous moving parts.

Secure: Operators should not be able to easily remove or tamper with the safeguard, because a safeguard that can easily be made ineffective is no safeguard at all. Guards and safety devices should be made of durable material that will withstand the conditions of normal use. They must be firmly secured to the machine.

Protect from falling objects: The safeguard should ensure that no objects can fall into moving parts. A small tool dropped into a cycling machine could easily become a projectile that could strike and injure someone.

Create no new hazards: A safeguard defeats its own purpose if it creates a hazard such as a shear point, a jagged edge, or an unfinished surface that could cause a laceration. The edges of guards, for instance, should be rolled or bolted in such a way to eliminate sharp edges.
Create no interference: Any safeguard that impedes an operator from performing the job quickly and comfortably might soon be overridden or disregarded. Proper safeguarding may actually enhance efficiency since it relieves the operator's apprehensions about injury.

Allow safe lubrication: If possible, workers should be able to lubricate the machine without removing the safeguards. Locating oil reservoirs outside the guard, with a line leading to the lubrication point, will reduce the need for the operator or maintenance operator to enter the hazardous area.

To avoid catastrophic injury, keep these general guidelines in mind:

• Check that guards are in place at all points where you could contact moving parts before turning the machine on.
• Report any missing or malfunctioning guards. Never use a machine with a missing or malfunctioning guard. Shut the machine down and tag it out. Do not use it again until the problem is fixed.
• Use lockout/tagout procedures when guards must be removed to repair or service a machine.
• Check machines after repair or maintenance to be sure guards are back in place and working properly.

If you’re a Minnesota worker who’s been injured due to a machine accident, you are most likely entitled to Minnesota workers’ compensation benefits, including medical expense benefits, wage loss benefits, permanent partial disability benefits, and/or rehabilitation benefits.

Make sure you protect your rights if you are injured on the job. For a free, no-obligation consultation to learn more about your Minnesota workers’ compensation rights contact Meuser & Associates toll free at 877-746-5680 or click here to send us an email.