Articles Posted in Construction Accidents

by

Each year, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents records over 60,000 workplace injuries and illnesses, highlighting the prevalence and impact of workplace accidents in the state. Workers’ compensation benefits play a huge role in aiding injured employees by covering essential costs such as medical expenses and lost wages, enabling them to focus on recovery and eventually return to work.

Suffering a work-related injury can be a distressing experience, especially when it leads to lost wages and financial instability. If you’ve been injured on the job, understanding your legal rights and how to navigate the options available to you is essential. Furthermore, you may be entitled to additional compensation if employer negligence played a role in your injury.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Massachusetts

Continue reading

by

In Massachusetts and across the United States, ensuring workplace safety is a major responsibility for employers. Workplace injuries can have devastating consequences for employees, ranging from physical harm to financial strain. As such, employers are legally obligated to create and maintain a safe working environment, adhering to both federal regulations and state-specific laws. Understanding these responsibilities is important for both employers and employees alike.

Consider a construction site where workers are required to wear protective gear such as hard hats and harnesses. The employer’s responsibility extends beyond merely providing this equipment; they must enforce its use and regularly inspect it for defects. Similarly, in an office setting, employers must ensure ergonomic workstations to prevent repetitive strain injuries. Read on for more information about employer responsibilities and how Altman & Altman, LLP can help if you’ve been injured at work.

National Employer Responsibilities

Continue reading

by

Although construction and other labor-intensive jobs have an especially high incidence of work-related accidents, injuries occur in every type of job. In Massachusetts, employees across all industries, from healthcare and education to manufacturing and technology, are typically protected by workers’ compensation insurance.

Coverage is Almost Universal

Workers’ compensation is a system designed to provide compensation for employees who suffer work-related injuries or illnesses. The beauty of this program is that it covers almost all workers in the state, whether you’re employed full-time, part-time, or seasonally. Even employees in small businesses and nonprofits are typically entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.

Continue reading

by

Of all the hazards employees face every day on the job, one regularly appears near the top of the list: falls. From defective ladders to uneven surfaces, dangerous work conditions can result in serious falls. In 2020, 805 employees in the United States died in slips, trips, and falls and 211,640 were hurt badly enough to need days off of work.

Falls are an even bigger danger in certain jobs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, slips, trips, and falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, accounting for over a third (38%) of all fatalities from 2015 to 2019. In a typical year, around 300-400 construction workers fall to their deaths.

Frequently Cited OSHA Violations

Continue reading

by

While anyone can get hurt on the job, certain professions are significantly more hazardous than others. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a total of 5,190 fatal work injuries occurred across industries and regions in the United States in 2021. The following jobs represent the 10 civilian occupations with the highest fatal work injury rates (out of 100,000 full-time equivalent workers).

Logging Workers

With a staggering fatal injury rate of 82 per 100,000, logging workers have the most dangerous job in America. Loggers tend to work on isolated sites with variable weather conditions, where they face falling debris and contact with heavy machinery. In fact, loggers died at a rate almost 23 times greater than the average across all professions in 2021 (3.6 out of 100,000).

Continue reading

by

Dangerous jobs continued to hurt and kill workers in “alarming numbers” last year, according to a report by the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. Specifically, the report found that 51 workers suffered job-related fatalities in 2022. Although this represented a drop from the Commonwealth’s 62 workplace deaths in 2021, the report noted that many such fatalities are preventable.

Workplace Injuries and Deaths in Massachusetts

Published in April, the report showed that 39 workers died of traumatic work injuries and 12 died of work-related disease in 2022. The true numbers may be much higher, however, because the data does not include all people who died after contracting COVID on the job. In addition, injuries and illnesses are not always reported or properly recorded.

Continue reading

by

Falls are a leading cause of workplace fatalities and serious injuries across industries in the US. In 2021, 850 workers died from accidents involving slips, trips, and falls, with 680 dying specifically from falls to lower elevations. In addition to being one of the most significant causes of workplace deaths, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), falls are also one of the most preventable.

As a result, OSHA recently announced a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) to reduce or eliminate injuries and fatalities associated with falls. NEPs are special temporary programs that target particular hazards or hazardous industries. To accomplish its fall prevention goals, OSHA will use a combination of enforcement, employer outreach, and compliance assistance.

Which Industries Will OSHA Target?

Continue reading

by

If you thought you missed your chance to file a Massachusetts workers’ comp claim, you may be in luck: the Commonwealth has one of the longest workers’ compensation time limits in the nation. Unlike Michigan, where claims must be filed within two years of the injury, or Arizona, which has a one-year statute of limitations, Massachusetts allows you to file within four years of the date you learned your injury was job related. In the case of a fatal work injury, eligible dependents can file workers’ compensation death benefit claims within four years of the employee’s date of death.

What Causes Delayed Filings of Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Claims?

In order to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits in Massachusetts, you must be disabled for five full or partial calendar days (not necessarily consecutive). At that point, your employer should notify the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) of your injury. If you are disabled for less than five days, your employer can file a “medical only” claim with their insurance company.

Continue reading

by

Designed to promote employee health and safety, OSHA standards aim to reduce injuries from foreseeable hazards in the workplace. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations govern over 130 million workers at 8 million worksites across the United States. While covered employers should always follow OSHA standards, inspections happen only occasionally, such as when a severe injury occurs, someone files a complaint, or a work site has high rates of injury or is part of a high-hazard industry.

Most Common Massachusetts Workplace OSHA Violations of 2021

Each year, the federal agency publishes a list of the 10 most frequently cited OSHA standards following inspections. According to OSHA, far too many preventable workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths are related to these top 10 standards.

Continue reading

by

Excavator Injuries

Between 1992 and 2000, the National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH) identified 346 deaths caused by excavators or backhoe loaders in the united states. The data found that the most common causes of injury were

  1. Being struck by the machine or parts of the machine while the machine was in motion; and
Continue reading
Contact Information
Cambridge, MA
Main Office
675 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617.492.3000Fax: 617.491.3299Toll Free: 800.481.6199
Boston, MA
1 State St
Suite 2
Boston, MA 02109
Phone: 617.547.1205Toll Free: 800.481.6199
Needham, MA
250 First Avenue 2nd Floor
Needham, MA 02494
Phone: 781.675.2329Toll Free: 800.481.6199

Some Select Cases are referred to other attorneys for principal responsibility

By publishing this information on this Website, the Boston, Massachusetts law firm of Altman & Altman LLP is not claiming to represent any clients or cases mentioned here. The content provided is designed to inform readers and is not intended as legal advice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2025, Altman & Altman LLP
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design