Woodbury County Iowa Tower Worker Falls as Safety Cable “Broke”.

Several news sources describe this water tower worker’s fall at the Pierson work-site being caused by a safety cable breaking. He is said to have fallen.

Which insurance applies, workers' compensation or disability insurance?

Iowa's work comp laws disability payments could go on for your life, although that would depend on your age, education, work experience, and many other factors

Wind Power Workers Have A Special Risk for Workers' Compensation Injuries

We represent wind farm workers and their families for accidents and accidental death claims concerning the workers' compensation benefits program in Iowa.

2011 Summary of Wind Turbine Accident Data UK

Summary of Wind Turbine Accident data to 31 December 2011 -

Auger Accidental Deaths are Rare

Radio Iowa reported “Auger accident claims the life of Dubuque County farmer” on September 29, 2011, Janelle Tucker, KMCH, Manchester. They don’t say exactly how the accidental entanglement occurred and I’d be interested to know more about it. Shields have taken a front row with grain auger safety.

Construction Zone Accidents Can Be Deadly

A construction crane collapsed at the Raccoon River Bridge over I-35 putting construction project on hold while the matter is investigated. Jensen Construction

Another Iowa worker injured from fall while on the job

Workers falling from heights and working without fall protection are asking for trouble and for OSHA to hand them a nice big fine. Steve Lombardi 515-222-1110

Chemicals and Personal Injury Law

Iowa Legal Analysis and Commentary contact Steve Lombardi at 515-222-1110 or sdlombardi@aol.com. A lawyer with 30 years experience. Chemical injuries.

Fire in La Porte City, Iowa is very strange

Iowa Workers Compensation - Benefits - Fire - Convenience Store - Exit - Escape

Your Worker's Comp Case takes Patience and Skepticism

Questions about your Iowa workers' compensation case? Call Steve Lombard, attorney at 515-222-1110 or 515-360-7583.

Ask a lawyer: Iowa Workers’ Compensation Claims

Do you know what you’re doing handling your own workers’ comp claim or are you guessing. If you want some help call Steve Lombardi @ 515-222-1110 or sdlombardi@aol.com.

Iowa Workers’ Compensation – The Power of the Written Doctor’s Report

Know this: To get work comp benefits you need a doctor’s opinion that you’re injury is work related. That means a doctor has to say your reason for needing medical treatment and care is related to a work event. Get that opinion in writing and it’s like gas in your truck’s tank. If you don’t have a written opinion then the benefit engine won’t turn over.

Lightning Strikes and Youth Sport Teams - Early Warning System

A working evnironment can place you at a greater risk for being struck by lightning. Here is a solution, an early warning system that uses the United States Precision Lightning Network, (USPLN)

Workers' Compensation involving electrocutions and ladders

Ladder safety involving electricity and electrocutions is something all line workers need to be aware. How not get injured or killed from electricity is the first step in avoiding a workers' compensation claim. If you are injured or your spouse killed call us for assistance.

Workers Compensation Injuries in Iowa

This is an interesting workers’ compensation case that may or may not have a third-party case attached. When different companies cause injury in your workplace it's probably a reason to consider a third-party case. Property managers refer to them as vendors, workers probably call them subcontractors and employers probably refer to them in both ways. When you consider that workers have no say in who comes into their place of employment while putting them at risk of injury or death it’s a good idea to hear the opinion of a lawyer to say if there should be an investigation.

Is your workplace safe?

How can a work related death, such as this one occur? Perhaps there are a lot of reasons, none which seem very satisfying and none are definitive.

Another Collapsed Construction Site Ditch Death, This One in Texas

It’s basic safety when doing tunnel or ditch work on a construction site to support the walls. Another question is why weren’t they using a trench box? Look at the linked articles below. Here is one on point: Construction Site Safety - A trench box would have saved the Georgian tunnel worker. And after you read the article, this being a Texas case, call Brooks Schuelke at Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP.

Bulldozer slips off jacks and kills operator, widow's benefits at stake

What caused a bulldozer to slip off the jacks and kill 60 year old Patrick O’Shaughnessy? That will be the question his family is asking after an accident at a construction equipment company in Ossian in northeast Iowa on October 14^th 2009. His co-workers tried to save him by using a crane to life the bulldozer, however it was too late and Mr. O’Shaughnessy was pronounced dead at the scene. Workplace accidents happen every day and most are avoidable; could this accident have been avoided?

Hopefully, if he's married she is covered under a workers' compensation policy of insurance. That should pay her a lifetime benefit. She can commute the amount and should seek a consult with an attorney to determine her rights under Iowa's workers' compensation laws. What widows and widowers of workers killed while doing their jobs, need to know is that the workers' compensation carrier isn't your friend. You are in an adversarial relationship. That means they have no duty to advise. Heed the warning and see an attorney; we are happy to assist when asked.

We wish the family well.

Iowa Highway Patrol and Iowa's Policemen and Women Have A Dangerous Job

What do you get when you take 250,851,833 registered passenger vehicles, 46,876 miles of highway, and a man with a badge? This is not the opening line of a clever joke with a cute punch line. In this scenario, it's pretty clear that in a confrontation between two ton vehicles traveling more than a mile a minute and a patrolman on the highway battlefield, man loses to machine. When a 3,000 pound car hits someone on foot there is no contest.

Unfortunately for those who work on the highway, there is no way to protect against cars on the road. The safety of any construction worker, tollbooth operator, or police officer rests on the margin of human error. The only thing standing between a patrol worker and disaster is a driver's safe operation of his or her vehicle. Distracted drivers are a major hindrance to a State Highway Patrol Officer being safe in his working environment.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving an inattentive driver. On a given day in 2008, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by drivers talking or texting on cell phones. Distracted drivers are one of the leading causes of highway fatalities, and the risk is even greater for those who work on the nation's highways regularly.

The NHTSA has taken certain measures to ensure the safety of road workers. For example, when you drive through a construction zone, you probably notice a litany of bright orange signs warning you to drop your speed on pain of doubled speeding fines. Some states enforce a minimum penalty of $375.00 for speeding in a work zone, regardless of the base fine, regardless of whether workers were present or not. The penalty for hitting a worker is usually around $10,000 and jail time, depending on the state and extent of the worker's injuries. Work zones are also secured (in the loosest sense of the word) with temporary fences, flashing lights, light board signs, cones, and barrels, offering at least a visual alert to approaching. However, common sense dictates that if a car suddenly swerves out of its lane, the power of the Mighty Plastic Orange Cone isn't going to do much to protect Joe the Construction Worker from injury or even death.

Even so, construction workers are better protected than state troopers and patrolmen on duty on the nation's highways. While workers have zones blocked off and marked, officers have to pull onto the shoulder of the road to write a ticket, regardless of visibility or weather conditions. There are no threats of fine's posted in patrol zones, no blocked lanes, and most of the time, vehicles barely change speeds when passing a pulled over car. With no fluorescent vests or signs warning drivers to be careful two miles in advance, officers have no reliable protection against stray vehicles on the highway as this video demonstrates:

Take for example the case of Des Moines Police Sgt. Larina Blad. On August 15, Sgt. Blad was struck by a 4,800 pound Dodge Durango driven by a man with three prior OWI convictions. The driver, who later tested at more than two times the legal blood alcohol limit, dragged her more than a block and a half before stopping. The radio dispatch as reported by Radio Iowa indicates just how tough is this officer.

"What happened?" the dispatcher asked. "I’ve been run over," Blad replied. "I’ve been run over." The dispatcher sent "all units" to the scene. "I’ve got medics rolling already," the dispatcher told a policeman who had arrived at Blad’s side. "Is it a hit and run?" the officer asked.

The dispatcher replied: "It definitely sounds that way, yes." The suspect, 24-year-old Irving Cartagena, was allegedly driving drunk and his license had been revoked. Cops caught up with the suspect who was driving a white Chevy Tahoe. "Subject in custody?" the dispatcher asked.

Sgt. Blad, who vowed to return to work by the end of the week, was lucky not to have suffered more severe injuries in the accident. However, the same cannot be said for the roughly 70 officers who are killed in traffic related incidents each year while in the line of duty. According to the National Law Officers Memorial Fund, the majority of officer deaths for the past 11 years have been traffic related.

We can all help prevent these tragedies by driving safely and remaining alert for the sake of Iowa Highway Patrol officers, workers, passengers, other drivers, and ourselves. Leave your cell phone in your purse or pocket until you are safely parked. Avoid driving while tired or intoxicated, and always exercise caution when you see highway workers of any kind. Beyond that, it may be time to petition lawmakers to instate harsher penalties for repeat offense OWIs so that the roads are safer for everyone.

What do you get when you take 250,851,833 registered passenger vehicles, 46,876 miles of highway, and a man with a badge? The answer depends on how safely we drive. Do your part to protect the safety of highway patrol workers.

Highway Patrol Work is Dangerous

(go to 1:10 of the video)

Newton, Iowa Construction Site Wall Collapse Injures Three Workers

Three construction workers were injured on a job site in Newton, Iowa as a wall collapsed and causing the scaffolding to do the same. KCCI news reporters watched a videotape taken by a security camera from across the street at Dave’s Wholesale. The security camera footage shows the collapse, to what degree isn’t known or disclosed. The men worked for Boucher Masonry Co. from Boone, Iowa. IOSH is investigating the incident.

The End of the Mowing Season

I love the fall season for the cooler weather, but just before fall starts, there is the end of summer blues.

With the end of the mowing season fall cleanup can’t be far behind. Getting all the summer equipment winterized and stored for winter is a signal that winter can’t be far off.

Robert Uhler died in early September while working on a utility tractor. Whatever happened pinned him underneath it. The local Sheriff concluded Mr. Uhler tried to start the tractor while not on it, the tractor lurched forward and he was killed. We wish his family well.

Mr. Uhler’s incident should remind us all that safety never takes a vacation. With the cold weather coming on it’s easy to get in a hurry or to rush to get jobs completed. As you can surely see we have to keep our heads about us while getting the season-ending work done. Stay safe, watch out, think and avoid unnecessary risk.

Illinois Highway Construction Worker Backed Over

A highway construction worker was struck and killed in Morrison, Illinois. The worker was identified by the Quad City Times as Michael S. Holloway, 44 or Rock Falls, Illinois. The worker killed was working as the flagger. He was run over by a dump truck backing up. The dump truck driver is 75 years old.

This is a situation I’ve blogged on several times on The Verdict. Just today we posted on older drivers and how old is too old to be driving.

Hit and Run that kills Bicyclist spurs debate on the impact of age on driving privileges

In other posts I’ve talked about road construction worker safety and traffic risks.

The Verdict, Construction Site Accidents

Highway Workers are at risk of being killed while repairing the nations roads - be careful

And in other posts I’ve discussed backing-up accidents that kill workers and pedestrians.

Truck Accident Prevention: Garbage truck backing over woman may be an accident but it is preventable.

Construction Accidents - Backing up and rear warning devices.

Safety should never go on break.

Worker Safety Never Takes a Holiday, Chock the Wheels

Chocking the wheels and setting the parking brake would probably have saved the life of this liquid asphalt truck driver. OSHA fined a trucking company $9,100 for failing to use precautionary measures that allowed a truck loaded with liquid asphalt to roll, crushing the worker between two trucks. The driver was 62-year-old Brian Cellar.

If married at the time or if he had dependent children they would be provided with workers’ compensation benefits in Iowa. What most people don’t appreciate is even if the worker is from another state they can sometimes get Iowa benefits if the accident occurred in Iowa or they normally live and work in Iowa but the accident happens in another state.

Chocking the wheels is a simple thing, setting the parking brake even simpler. Sometimes we forget the little things that make a big difference. There are no holidays from safety. Be smart and go back to the basics. Shortcuts may lead to a disaster. General IOSH or OSHA safety rules are covered under Chapter 10 in Iowa.

Construction site photographs of the utility pole may be necessary to prove the case or why it fell over when struck by the Bobcat

In what can only be described as a tragedy, a construction worker today was killed after a utility pole was knocked over striking and killing him. The utility pole was backed into by a fellow worker operating a Bobcat with a bucket on it. The worker that died was 32 years-old and his fellow worker was 57. The accident occurred at 10:15 a.m., just south of S.W. 26^th Street and Watrous Avenue in Des Moines. The younger man was pronounced dead at the hospital.

There are several interesting legal points to this story. First, the younger man leaves two young children behind. Hopefully this young man’s employer had workers’ compensation coverage that will pay these children benefits through college or at least through high school (age 18). It’s not unusual that smaller contractors don’t have coverage; that’s not legal, but lawyers see it often in the construction industry.

Second, the dependents of this young man would have a claim for the workers’ compensation benefits and also may have a claim against the owner of the pole. The Des Moines Register article includes a reference to a spokesperson from MidAmerican Energy Co who said the pole was not one of theirs and did not carry electrical lines. Mediacom said they commonly rent poles and Qwest hadn’t yet commented. So who owned that pole? This pole is interesting in that it was caused to fall down when the Bobcat backed into it; a scenario unlikely to normally happen. It should take a lot of pressure to cause a utility pole to fall down. Normally they snap. And that’s the rub, as I like to say, of this case investigation.  Why did it fall down so easily?

Which leads me to the third and final point; the case investigation to preserve valuable evidence. I remember driving towards Des Moines on Grand Avenue one day many years ago when I noticed a pole that had been struck by a car. The power company had a truck on location and was in the process of setting up to take the pole down and set it father away from the street. A client lived at that location so I pulled in to talk with him; he was standing on the sidewalk watching. Immediately I took out a camera and began taking photographs, which later were sent to the attorney representing the man whose legs were apparently pinned between the pole and a car bumper in the accident. Had I not taken photographs the pole would have been removed taking with it any chance of knowing what it looked like. It’s important to gather and preserve the key evidence in the case; in this case the pole. Someone needs to take photographs of the pole and the accident investigation site. Whoever is in charge of the dependent children needs to hire someone to get in there and photograph the location before the owner removes and destroys the pole. How that pole was seated in the ground may be a very important fact and pictures a sometimes worth a thousand words.

Owners don’t sit around waiting for injured people to complete their investigation. Owners need to get busy cleaning up the mess to make sure someone else isn’t injured or killed. Justice waits for no one.

So act, don’t sit around wondering. If you know Andrew Clark’s guardian tell them to get some legal advice and quickly; their future may depend upon it.  

Iowa Workers Compensation for Electrical Workers

Today, it's about three workers who get electrocuted from an overhead power line while doing work on a college campus with a boom truck. It reminded me of my family and the work I grew up listening to them discuss. My grandfather, father, brother and brother-in-law all worked, at one time or another, for the Narragansett Electric Company in Providence, Rhode Island. Narragansett Electric is now National Grid. The company mascot for Narragansett Electric was during my childhood, Mr. Reddy Kilowatt. Reddy was a guy whose head was a light bulb, he was always talking about safety. Injury by electrocution is a major concern for families that work around electricity. So we learned that Reddy was our friend. As a family we always worried about line work due in part to injury by electrocution. Today is about just that, workers getting electrocuted while working around energized power lines.

Reddy Kilowatt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PznxZ3zmL00

You’ve got three workers for Midwest Glass and Glazing on the Creighton Campus Universityusing a boom truck when the boom comes into contact with an electrical line that was energized. Could this have been avoided?

Let’s start our quick analysis by saying the workers are all alive and expected to live. The news articles indicate only one was seriously injured and that’s terrific. For those who don’t know what happens when the human body is electrocuted, you should know the electricity travels through the human body seeking out weak points. Those weak points are under the upper arms, inside the thighs, for guys their penis and sometimes parts of the head. Those parts blow out – yes it’s a terrible injury. So if only one worker was burned the other two are quite lucky.

The one suffering the worst burns was 46-years-of-age, not sure if he’s married or with dependent children, but injury to any worker is significant when electricity is involved with causing the injury. Rehabilitation is long and hard and may never be complete or bring you back to normal. Just think for a second about your brain being short circuited by an extremely high electrical charge and how the gray matter would be affected. And take a moment to think about the effect of electricity on the human nervous system. The effects are very serious indeed.

Narragansett Electric PSA with Ben Franklin

How do workers protect themselves? Well, they can first make sure that all lines they are working around are de-energized. Never assume any line is not energized, assume just the opposite. Demand that all lines be de-energized by the power or electrical company that owns them before any work is performed. If the boom is being used near a power line, stay away from it. If your supervisor calls you a wimp call his supervisor.

Make sure the guy running the boom is properly trained. Before taking one of these jobs learn the ins and outs of using one safely. Read the owner's manual that comes with the boom truck.

All three workers that were injured are entitled to workers' compensation benefits. They will first receive medical coverage, then weekly indemnity benefits (a pay check) and after that permanency benefits, if they have permanent impairment or restrictions.

Well, that's all for today. I'm just getting back from vacation and there's too much to do around here today.