Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation

Over a year after it closed, 84 former employees of Saint Catherine Medical Center in Fountain Springs received 60-day severance checks totally $400,000. The employees are members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union.

According to an article on the RepublicanHerald.com, the severance checks represents money that was owed to the employees through the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. According to the website for the U.S. Department of Labor, the WARN Act requires employers with 100 or more employees to notify workers 60 calendar days before plant closings or layoffs.

Saint Catherine closed in April 2012 without any warning to employees, due to financial problems as well as violations of state and federal laws. Nearly 150 employees were left out of work. As a result of the closing, employees were entitled to 2 month’s salary.

If you’re a Pennsylvanian who has a debit card for receiving your workers’ comp benefits or unemployment benefits, your information may have been accessed by hackers.

According to an article on NBCPhiladelphia.com, the Pennsylvania Treasury Department said that hackers accessed the personal information of nearly 26,000 people who use debit cards to get their WC and unemployment benefits. Only those who used the JPMorgan Chase UCard Center website between mid-July and mid-September are affected. A spokesman for JP Morgan said they found no evidence that any information was used improperly.

Personal information that may have been viewed includes card numbers, dates of birth, user IDs, and email addresses. Those cardholders who are affected by the breach will be contacted by letter by JP Morgan. Those who see transactions they don’t recognize should contact the toll free number on the back of their card.

Carneys Point Care Center in Carneys Point Township, NJ, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for serious violations involving workplace hazards.

According to an article on NJ.com, the nursing home underwent an OSHA inspection in May. Now they are facing ten serious violations and up to $50,000 in penalties.

One violation involved laundry department employees being exposed to excessive levels of heat. The penalty for that violation alone is over $6,000. Other violations include ensuring easy access to sharps containers; correcting exposed wires from an industrial washer; and providing suitable eyewash facilities, bloodborn pathogen training, Hepatitis B vaccines, and effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in the workplace.

A recent article on Finance.Yahoo.com listed the 14 most stressful jobs in America according to a career information expert. He developed this list by comparing the stress levels of over 700 occupations listed by the U.S. Department of Labor. Factors include how often an employee faces stressful situations, the consequences of their errors, as well as deadlines faced by employees.

1. First Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives: They supervise and coordinate the activities of the police force.

2. Mental Health Counselors: They work with individuals and groups to promote mental and emotional health.

Last week, federal workplace regulators said that “deliberate neglect” by 2 Philadelphia contractors caused the collapse of a building in Center City that killed 6 people in June.

According to an article on Philly.com, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) brought fines of nearly $400,000 against the two companies. In the article, the assistant U.S. secretary of labor for occupational safety and health is quoted as saying that the contractors “sacrificed worker and public safety through the deliberate neglect of demolition safety fundamentals. This tragic incident could and should have been prevented.”

The accident took place on June 5, when the 4-story building was going to be demolished. After most of the flooring inside the building had been removed, a brick wall located on the west side of the building collapsed onto a Salvation Army thrift store. The thrift store was located next to the building that was being demolished, and remained open during the demolition. There were 6 people inside the store that were killed and 14 others that were injured.

A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has found that nursing homes had the highest rate of workplace injury and illness in 2012.

The percentages are really very surprising. According to an article on McKnights.com, the BLS report shows that the illness and injury rate for private nursing homes and residential care facilities was 7.3%. Compare that to the rate for miners (except oil and gas), which was 2.7% and the rate for construction, which was 3.6%.

Nursing homes that are state-run had the only double-digit statistic, with a 14% rate of illness and injury.

Over a 7-year period, more than 5,000 workers in Ohio suffered amputation injuries, according to statistics from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

In an article by the Associated Press, statistics show that there were 5,405 compensation claims for amputation injuries in Ohio from 2006 through 2012.

Although amputations may not be life-threatening, officials say they can be some of the most debilitation injuries for a worker. They involve losing part of a fingertip or thumbs.

In early October, the Hazleton Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication, located in Hazle Township, was closed by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. According to the deputy press secretary for the department, the closing was done in an effort to balance workloads and assure more efficient adjudication.

As of the close of business on October 11, the office has been permanently closed. Cases will be heard in either the Wilkes-Barre, Pottsville, or Bloomsburg offices. Injured workers who previously went to the Hazleton office should direct any questions to the Pottsville Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication at:

112 South Claude A. Lord Blvd.