Chicago Workers Compensation Lawyer Blog

Electrical accidents can occur on the job, and you don’t have to be an electrician, telephone line worker, or cable installer to be at risk of getting hurt in accident involving electricity. For example, an office employee might experience electrical shock because of faulty wiring in the workplace.

Common causes of electrical accidents include faulty wiring, live wires, electrical fires, defective equipment and machinery, sagging power lines, water near light switches or appliances, defective wiring, damaged electrical outlets, cranes making contact with wiring that is high voltage, power installations that are unfenced, and outlets that are not properly grounded. Serious electrical injuries can include electrical burns, heart injury (including cardiac arrest and cardiac dysrhythmia, electrical shock, brain injury, spinal cord injury, fall accidents from contact with electrical energy, and death. A person who has suffered an electrical injury may find that he/she has to take time off work to recover.

What to Do if You Have Been Injured in an Electrical Accident at Work
Remember to file your Illinois workers’ compensation claim right away. It is important that you know that even if your employer was not responsible for causing your work accident, you are within your rights as an employee in this state to file and receive Illinois workers’ compensation for injuries suffered on the job. Your boss is not allowed to fire you for filing a claim and it doesn’t matter whether whose fault it was that the work accident happened. You also may have grounds for a Chicago injury lawsuit.

Related Web Resources:
Electrical Safety, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Continue reading " Remember to File Your Illinois Workers’ Compensation Claim if You Were Injured in an Electrical Accident While on the Job " »

Illinois slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere—in your home, on the sidewalk, at a shopping mall, in a friend’s driveway, or while at work. If the slip accident occurred on someone else’s property and it could have been avoided were it not for the premise owner’s negligence, you may have grounds for a Chicago slip and fall lawsuit.

If the work injury occurred at work or while doing your job on property that is not owned by your employer, you may also be eligible to receive Chicago injury compensation for your slip accident, in addition to Illinois workers’ compensation benefits.

Common causes of slip and fall accidents at work:
• Poor lighting
• Slippery floors
• Failure to put up signs warning of slippery conditions
• Spilt foods or drink
• Debris on the premises
• Damaged carpeting
• Uneven flooring
• Snow or ice on a walkway

Although you do have to prove negligence to obtain Chicago slip and fall injury recovery, no one has to be at fault for you to receive Illinois workers’ compensation benefits for a slip and fall. As long as you weren’t behaving in an appropriate or dangerous manner or violating company policy in any way, ideally you should be able start receiving work injury compensation soon after you file your claim.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out this way. An employer or its insurer might reject your claim, which could put you in a financial bind—especially as an injured worker generally is not allowed to sue an employer over a work injury.

If this happens, don’t despair. An experience Chicago workers’ compensation lawyer can help you pursue your work injury benefits. This may mean taking your case before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission or, if that doesn’t work, taking other legal measures to make sure you get what you are owed.

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

Illinois Workers' Compensation Act (PDF)

Slip and Fall Accidents, Nolo

The family of Brain Fuller is suing several counties for his Illinois wrongful death. Fuller, who was employed by George J. Roll & Sons, suffered fatal Cook County crush injuries last February in a Blue Island work accident. At the time, he was working the hydraulic components under an elevated dump truck when the pump released.

Now, the 48-year-old La Grange man’s loved ones are suing those involved in the repair and building of parts used in the truck. They claim that Energy Manufacturing, Inc., which constructed the pump, is liable for the pump and controls defects that caused the pump to get stuck and then release at the wrong time. The family’s Cook County wrongful death lawyer says that EMI is also responsible for the “product design issues,” which included placing the controls below the dump body rather than outside the truck’s bed frame.

Chandler Services Inc., Williams Machine and Tool Co., and Groen’s Towing and Truck Repair and Buyers Products Co are the other defendants named in this Blue Island wrongful death case. All of these companies played a role in the maintenance or manufacture of the cable that was supposed to hold the dump frame’s hydraulic lift and keep the dump body in place.

Remember, not only are injured workers and their families likely entitled to Illinois workers’ compensation benefits, but also, they may have grounds for filing a Cook County personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit against liable third parties.

In other recent work injury news, a worker died in a Will County, Illinois industrial accident on December 30 after he ended up trapped beneath three tons of granite. The victim was 23-year-old Chicago resident Emilio Gallardo. He died at the work accident site.

Suit filed over workplace death in Blue Island, Chicago Sun-Times, January 17, 2011

Chicago Man Killed in Romeoville Industrial Accident, Woodridge Patch, December 30, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Workers' Compensation Act (PDF)

Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

A 51-year-old construction worker was pronounced dead at the scene when became trapped under at least a foot of drying concrete. Zane A. Martin was working with other crew members to widen a portion of Illinois 146 when a section of the work zone collapsed. At the time, the team was installing a box culvert.

In other recent Illinois construction accident news, a worker is suing a subcontractor for his injuries. Andre S. Spencer is seeking over $50,000 in lost income, medical expenses, and court fees from Bam Contracting. Spencer was working as a cement finisher foreman for Johnson Contracting in East St. Louis last October when he says he was struck by an aluminum ladder that fell after one of the defendant’s employees left it unsecured.

Our Chicago construction accident lawyers would like to remind you that it is important to file your Illinois workers’ compensation claim with your employer as soon as possible after an injury. You also should start exploring your legal options rights away to determine whether you have grounds for an Illinois construction accident case against third parties who were involved in the incident.

Elsewhere in the US, a 52-year-old worker was killed in a construction accident at a demolition site when part of a concrete wall fell on him. At the time, William Abst was cutting rebar. Another worker, 61-year-old carpenter Joe Pike, died from injuries he sustained in a fall accident at a Harding University construction accident site. Pike was helping prepare a building for a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system when he dropped from the roof to the second floor.

Stonefort man victim in fatal construction accident, The Southern, December 22, 2010

Arkansas carpenter dies after accident at Harding University construction site, KSPR, January 7, 2011

Fountain City man killed in construction accident, PierceCountyHerald, January 5, 2011

Worker struck by ladder sues Bam Contracting, Madison Record, January 5, 2011

Alexander County, Illinois coroner identifies construction accident victim, WPSDLocal6, December 21, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Construction Accidents Overview, Justia

US Department of Labor