The Lombardi Law Firm Blog

Are widows and OTR truckers from other states, entitled to Iowa workers’ compensation benefits?

Is your injury while working covered under workers’ comp a third-party suit?

Workers who are injured while working may have more than a workers' compensation claim to consider. Those who say this is wrong to sue don't understand the law and what is required of those injured and receiving benefits under Iowa's Workers' Compensation statute. Iowa law allows the workers' compensation insurance company to recover benefits it pays to injured workers. The law gives the paying company a lien on third-party benefits and they can require the injured worker to sue the at-fault third party or else the workers compensation carrier can do the suing.

People who don't understand the law often times draw conclusions that aren't supported by the law. So if you're injured in a work related accident you simply need some good legal advice to know your rights. It's your choice, but the law may require you do something to protect yourself and if you don't those rights may ... for lack of a better term... run out.

Dozer Operator Killed While On-the-Job

Is the wife entitled to receive workers' compensation benefits?

Did the Sioux City Sewer Pipe Workers Receive Confined Space Training?

What is a confined space death in the workplace?

Construction Site Deaths Bring Life-time Benefits to the Widow or Widower

Is this a work related injury?

If my husband is murdered at work can I collect Iowa workers' compensation?

What is a machine operator's pinch point?

Forgiveness Has Little to Do with What’s Wrong with Bad Behavior by Police Officers

Anderson Erickson Accident Claims Life of Long-Time Employee Manager

11 Iowa City Workers Treated for Anhydrous Ammonia Inhalation

Let's Look At The Top Ten OSHA Fines

From the Iowa No-Snooze-News Desk

Does fault matter in a workers' compensation case in Iowa?

Workers Compensation Injuries in Iowa

Is your workplace safe?

Train vs Semi-Truck, Leads to Workers' Compensation Claim

Wisconsin plant explosion may have been caused by static electricity

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.

Oxford, Iowa I-80 Road Construction Crew Semi-Truck Collision

We don’t have much information this morning but it’s being reported by Radio Iowa and the Des Moines Register that a road construction crew on I-80 near Oxford, Iowa were injured with a semi-truck collided with one of the cement or concrete barriers in a construction zone. Oxford is about nine miles west of Coralville, Iowa.  The collision occurred late yesterday morning. You have to wonder if the semi-truck driver was texting or talking on a cell phone.

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)

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.

Tractor overturns killing man in Tama County, Iowa

On August 23, 2009 Ronald Perrin was driving his tractor when the brakes, “locked up as Perrin drove along the edge of a road”. The tractor than went into the ditch where it rolled killing Perrin. One has to wonder was this a faulty part on the tractor that should have been recalled? Did a shop where he might have taken it into for work make a mistake? 

More details would help us to understand more about this incident that lead to the brakes allegedly locking up. The make, model and year and manufacture would tell us more about the aging of the braking system. Also maintenance issues are bound to play a part in determining how it may have affected the braking. Did the brakes actually lock up? With the information provided by the Tama County sheriff’s investigators, there is no way of knowing.