Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Lawyers Blog

With temperatures well below zero across much of Pennsylvania, most people are staying inside to keep warm and beat the weather. However, for many workers in PA this isn’t possible when they have to work. There are plenty of jobs that require workers to be outside, or in warehouses and factories that aren’t heated. This can lead to cold injuries for many people.

A lot of workers assume that cold injuries, such as frostbite, trench foot, and chilblains are just a part of their job and they have to simply deal with them. This is not the case. If these injuries have happened to you and you’ve been hospitalized, missed any time at work, or even lost use of any parts of your body from cold injuries, you should speak to a workers’ compensation attorney, such as the attorneys at The Law Offices of O’Connor Law.

In conditions such as these, where wind chill temperatures can be as low as negative forty degrees, frostbite can happen in a matter of minutes if skin is exposed or a person is not properly insulated against the cold.

On The Run Mart Inc., a convenience store in Mechanicsburg PA, is facing charges for operating almost two years without having any workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. The Vice President of the company, Sultan Bhatti, will be charged with 686 misdemeanor charges.

According to Pennsylvania state laws, the business was not exempt from providing workers’ compensation insurance for its employees, and each day that employees worked without insurance counts as a separate offense against the business and the vice president who operated the business without the required insurance. Employees had worked at the store from 2009-2010, and again in 2011.

In PA, every business must have workers’ compensation insurance unless they are officially exempt as a self-insurer by the Self-Insurance Division of the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Luckily for On The Run Mart, none of their employees were injured during their employment there, but that doesn’t exempt them from having to have the required insurance.

The Ashley Furniture Plant in Wisconsin has had over 1000 injuries in the last 3.5 years leading to a heavy investigation by The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The investigation has led to the company being fined $1.76 million for repeated serious safety violations.

Ashley Furniture is disputing these claims, stating that their workers’ safety is their priority, but their record says otherwise. They have the next two weeks to officially contest the findings, which they say they are planning to do.

The company claims that most of the injuries were minor injuries such as muscle sprains and many of them did not require the employees to miss any time at work. According to OSHA there have been several very serious injuries, including at least one employee losing several of his fingers.

A manager at a liquor store in Morrisville PA was recently held up at gunpoint while working. A masked robber held a gun to his head, and duct-taped him to a chair in 2008 while robbing the store. The case recently went in favor of the manager, who had to fight for his benefits.

The Liquor Control Board and it’s insurance company initially tried to deny his claim stating that robberies are a “normal working condition” and therefore his post-traumatic stress disorder would not qualify him for benefits.

His attorney stated that if the manager had been shot during the robbery, he would have received his benefits almost immediately. However, somewhat ironically, since he followed store procedures and saved himself and his coworkers, he had to fight to receive his benefits.

Many people in this country work hard to provide for themselves and their families. Millions of hard working Americans ought to feel safe and secure while they are working at their places of business. Unfortunately, not everyone is safe when they are providing for themselves and their families.

Every day, men and women become injured at work. In July 2014, a West Virginia man was injured at work when he slipped on ice on the floor of a walk-in freezer. He fractured his elbow after falling in the freezer. The injury that the man sustained required surgery for the placement of plates and screws in his elbow. The man is currently seeking compensatory damages, fees, and costs for his injury.

Similar incidents, like what happened to this West Virginia man, regularly happen to other workers. Almost every day, people are injured at work. Recovery from work injuries sometimes takes a long time. All businesses and companies should make sure that their employees are safe and secure while at work.

In a sad reminder that the economy is still struggling and that online retailers are stiff competition, Radio Shack announced this week that it will be closing nearly 20% of its locations across the U.S. — as many as 1,100 stores.

An article on CNN.com reports that sales at Radio Shack stores fell 19% in the last quarter of 2013, even including the holiday shopping season. The company admits that its stores are out of date and that competition is tough as they are up against online retailers like Amazon.com, who generally sell the same products for less.

According to the article, Radio Shack is a retailer with the largest number of locations — 5,200 in the U.S. That is compared to Walmart which has 3,700 stores and Best Buy which has 1,400.

On Monday morning, a roof collapsed at a mine just outside of Minersville, trapping 2 miners who were later rescued.

According to an article on WNEP.com, the collapse took place at the D and F Mine when part of a roof fell on the miners. The men were rescued by fellow coal miners and taken to the Schuylkill County airport. The injured miners were taken by waiting helicopters. Their injuries were not life threatening.

Federal and state government inspectors are investigating the incident. According to state inspectors, there have been previous violations of mine roof regulations at the D and F Mine. But any violations were always immediately remedied.

The news that workers at Kraft Foods in Hanover Township would be working for a contractor, Genpact, has caused mixed emotions at the facility, according to an article on WNEP.com.

A bid form that was made public revealed there are plans to move some of the Kraft operations to a facility in India in 2015. But in the article, a company spokesperson said that the business is growing. There are plans to renovate the Hanover Township facility so they can employ up to approximately 600 jobs. The current facility has 350 workers.

In the article, Genpact said that except for a management team, it would offer work to rest of the 350 workers currently employed by Kraft. But current employees are still skeptical. In addition, they say doesn’t offer the same vacation and retirement plans as they have with Kraft. They are also concerned about the benefits and the work environment that Genpact will offer.