Recently, the AFL-CIO released the 2011 edition of its annual report on American workers’ safety and health. Entitled “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect,” the report compiles statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and presents the findings in terms of lives lost, numbers of illnesses and injuries, as well as the… Read more
In June 2007, cook and housekeeper Jeffrey Smith voluntarily jumped down a flight of 12 stairs on his lunch break at work at Penn State University, breaking both legs. After surgery in which screws were implanted in his ankles, Smith applied for workers’ compensation benefits for these injuries, claiming that they were work related. He… Read more
A series of flawed provisions in the current Occupational Safety and Health Act prevents the accurate calculation of work-related deaths. The system does represent a fairly accurate tally of on-the-job fatal injuries, but does not include work-related illnesses and occupational diseased like silicosis, asbestosis or hepatitis (sometimes seen in health care workers who have been… Read more
Are you an employee, or an independent contractor? Chances are the company you work for has an answer to that question. But are they right? Misclassification of workers is a widespread problem: Pennsylvania even has a new law specifically targeting improper mislabeling of construction workers. If they get away with it, calling employees “independent contractors”… Read more
Technology has spurred growth in telecommuting across the country, giving employers and employees options they never had before. For employees, for example, the ability to work from home eases the burden of child care and also eliminates the need to travel to and from work. For employers, having home-based employees can open office space during… Read more
When the U.S. Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced its preliminary report of the top 10 most-frequent workplace safety violations in 2009 at the annual National Safety Council’s (NSC) Congress and Expo, the report revealed that the top violations had risen almost 30 percent. For four decades, OSHA has struggled to enforce… Read more
Many families that suffer the loss of a parent due to a work-related incident find themselves in financial need. Buying the basics, such as food, becomes problematic. Never mind finding the resources to pay for the educational needs of the children. A non-profit organization, Kids’ Chance of Pennsylvania, is devoted to helping children in the… Read more
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