Category: Workers’ Compensation

Asbestos was used in construction and manufacturing from 1940 to 1978 and it is estimated that between 2 to 10% of people who were exposed to it will develop mesothelioma. Nationally, it’s estimated that up to 11 million people were exposed to the naturally occurring mineral fibers which were used primarily in insulation products.

According to a report by the United States Department of Labor, more than three million workers in the U.S. are severely injured in the workplace every year, and approximately 4,500 more lose their lives on the job. While the number of work related injuries, illnesses and fatalities may seem extraordinarily high, studies indicate that these numbers represent only a fraction of the actual incidents.

Working in a hospital should be the last place where Illinois employees have to worry about workplace injuries, yet an alarming number of nurses and hospital workers are experiencing career-ending injuries. Nurses and orderlies are often required to perform patient lifts and transfers.

The American workforce has changed substantially during recent decades. Many people in earlier generations could expect to stay with one company for many years and enjoy an uncomplicated retirement. This pattern is now the exception rather than the rule.

Hospitals can be dangerous workplaces. According to current statistics from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 6.8 out of every 100 full-time hospital employees were hurt on the job during 2011. This rate is almost twice as high as the injury prevalence rate in private industry.

Warehousing is a physically strenuous job. Employees in warehouse facilities spend hours loading, unloading, transferring, and stacking goods. Warehouses are full of heavy and awkward items. Each time a product is moved, there is a risk of disabling injury.

According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, construction is one of the riskiest industries in America. More job-related deaths occur in this sector of industry than in any other trade or profession, as workers’ compensation lawyers in Chicago know.

Nursing can be a vibrant and rewarding career. Unfortunately, it can also cause permanent disability if a person is injured on the job. Many nurses suffer career-ending traumas every year. Nursing staff are exposed to infectious bacteria and viruses, violent patients, the possibility of contamination with dangerous substances and the ever-present risk of musculoskeletal injury.

Workplace accidents are not limited to emergency response crews or to the manufacturing sector. Desk jobs and professional endeavors carry risk as well. White collar jobs fall into two general categories: managerial and professional occupations, and technical, sales and administrative support.

A fatal shooting of a security guard made national news in 2009 when a gunman killed a guard at his post at the entrance of the U.S. Holocaust Museum. The Associated Press reported that the 39-year-old victim had worked at the museum for six years. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, security guards suffer the highest rate of death by homicide in Illinois and around the country.