Jersey City Personal Injury Lawyer - Workplace Injuries

Three Workers Killed in Indiana Mine Accident

Courtney Mills — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:11:24 GMT

Workers at a coal mine in Princeton, Indiana were mounting an air shaft in a transport when three were killed Friday morning. Although the details are still very sketchy, the transport appeared to have fallen in the shaft, and the men were killed as a result of the fall.

The coroner, the only official charged with releasing any information on the scene, was not commenting on any details pertaining to the mining accident.

Gibson County Coal, the company that owns the mine and is responsible for its safety, disclaimed any responsibility on the part of Gibson Coal for the accident. A personnel coordinator said that a statement from the company was forthcoming.

This coal mine accident has been the second serious U.S. coal mine accident in a week.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Courtney Mills

Job Caused Cancers on the Rise

Ricky Bagolie — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:23:00 GMT

According to the International Metalworkers Federation,

A new cancer prevention guide, reveals that over 600,000 deaths a year - one death every 52 seconds - are caused by occupational cancer, making up almost one-third of all work-related deaths.

Workers are exposed to many types of potential cancer causing agents. Very often the cancer may develop after the worker retires from the job. Any cancer that can be related to job exposures should be covered under workers' compensation. "These include but are not limited to lung, stomach, colon, mesothelioma, throat and leukemia" said workers' comp attorney Ricky Bagolie.

The goal is to create a zero cancer standard and the guide is avaiable on the union website at: www.imfmetal.org/cancer.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ricky Bagolie

Firefighters Heart Risk Covered By Workers' Compensation

Ricky Bagolie — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 08:01:41 GMT

According to the Houston Chronice, a recent Harvard Study finds that firefighters run a 100 times greater risk of a heart reated death whie putting out a fire than when they are not fighting fires. Thirty two percent of the heart related deaths occurred this way. Heart disease, caused by exposures to diesel fumes and carbon monoxide and heart attacks caused by the stress of fighting fires should be covered by workers' compensation even if the heart event occurs the day after fighting the fire.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ricky Bagolie

New Jersey Comp Benefits May Extend to Same Sex Couples

Ricky Bagolie — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 22:57:18 GMT

Same sex couples may be entitled to workers' compensation benefits as New Jersey has enacted a wide-ranging law recognizing same-sex civil unions. The measure puts civil unions on the same legal footing as marriages, and grants couples in civil unions the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as those in traditional marriages, but stops short of declaring the unions to be "marriages." The law, which amends New Jersey's current marriage and related statutes, became effective on February 19, 2007. The State Supreme Court directed the Legislature to act on the issue.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ricky Bagolie

Australia's Securities Regulator Sues James Hardie Over Asbestos Liability

Ricky Bagolie — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 09:39:07 GMT

According to Bloomberg News, out of Sydney, Australia's securities regulator sued James Hardie Industries, the biggest seller of home sidings in the United States, claiming the company misled investors over the cost of compensating people sickened by asbestos.

The chairman, Meredith Hellicar, the former chief executive officer, Peter MacDonald, and eight other officials face bans from running a public company and fines of more than 200,000 Australian dollars, or $160,000, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission said in an e-mailed statement. Criminal charges are still being investigated. James Hardie "isn't in a position to comment further," according to a company statement to the stock exchange.

The suit centers on an inadequate , under funded and fraudulent scheme put together by James Hardie to compensate victims of exposure to it's asbestos. The 293 million dollar fund was not "sufficient" to compensate victims of asbestos poisoning and a government inquiry later found the fund would have run out of money in three years . The company was forced to set up a new 1.6 billion dollar compensation fund. The government found that the company and its directors mislead investos about the cost to pay for the asbestos liability.

The company started using asbestos in Australia in the 1920s. The fibrous mineral, used to make brake pads and fiber cement sheets for housing, has been linked to lung cancer and mesothelioma, a form of cancer affecting the chest or abdomen.

People exposed to asbestos or who contract asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer, colon cancer or stomach cancer have rights and should speak to an attorney familiar with handling those types of cases. Bagolie Friedman Injury Lawyers offers aggressive representation and free consultations to those stricken with an asbestos condition.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ricky Bagolie

Asbestos Banned Nearly Everywhere But in the US

Ricky Bagolie — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 08:35:32 GMT

Often referred to as one of the largest killers known to man, asbestos is reasonsible for thousands of deaths every year yet incredibily it has not been banned in the US.

Around the world, when public health workers call for national bans on asbestos, one of the things they hear from the local asbestos industry is that the U.S. has not banned asbestos. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued regulations to phase out the use of almost all asbestos products in 1989, and these rules were overturned in a court challenge in 1991. Industry spokesmen accordingly emphasize that the sale of almost all asbestos products is still allowed in the U.S. and point to the existence of a 1986 International Labor Organization (ILO) convention on asbestos to assert that there are international standards in effect for "controlled use" of asbestos

Asbestos has been linked not only to the lung disease asbestosis and mesothelioma but various cancers including lung cancer, colon cancer, stomach cancer and throat cancer. Many of these diseases do not even develop until many years after the worker leaves the job where he was exposed. This creates a complicated legal question but an attorney experienced in workers' compensation dust diseases can help a worker and their family get the benefits they deserve.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ricky Bagolie

Lung Disease Covered by Workers' Comp

Ricky Bagolie — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 07:52:39 GMT

Anytime a worker is exposed to chemical fumes, dust, asbestos or other deleterious substance, there is a chance that they may develop some type of lung disease even years after leaving the job. If this occurs, it may be covered by workers compensation.

The latest problem is with the makers of Artifical Butter Flavor. Their has been an outbreak of severe lung disease caused by exposure to diacetyl, the chemical that makes food taste like artificial butter flavor. According to the California Department of Health Services, there are now eight known cases of severe obstructive lung disease among workers exposed to diacetyl, with three more reported cases under investigation.

As an ongoing health investigation of California's flavor manufacturing industry grows, there has been another six workers who have lost nearly all use of their lungs.

The six are in addition to two cases that sparked the investigation nine months ago, according to the state's occupational health chief, Barbara Materna.
"Most of these workers are severely impaired, cannot work and suffer extreme shortness of breath on exertion," Materna wrote in a Jan. 11 report updating investigation results. "At least one is reported to be on a list for lung transplantation."

Very often these problems could be avoided with proper training, proper warning and by issuing proper protective gear. Workers who suffer lung disease have rights and should consult with an attorney experienced in obtaining benefits for these types of injuries.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ricky Bagolie

Unsecured Power Line Causes Electricution Death

Ricky Bagolie — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:56:25 GMT

Firefighter Dennis Chaines of the San Enrique Fire Department was killed when he was electrocuted by an unsecured power line. According to The News Today, officer Chaines appeared to have accidentally touched a clothesline that was attached to a live wire of the main power line. A sudden spark was seen by witnesses as the fallen fire officer got thrown off to the ground.

Workplace deaths and electrocutions are preventable tragedies. The family of a worker killed at in the line of duty may be entitled to benefits under their state's workers' compensation system.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ricky Bagolie

Bagolie & Friedman Lecture to Lawyers on Workers' Compensation Practice

Ricky Bagolie — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 23:34:01 GMT

New Jersey - December 2006 - Workers' Compensation Trial Lawyers Ricky Bagolie and Alan Friedman were invited to speak to a group of lawyers interested in advanced workers' comp trial tips. The unique program took place on December 2 at Pines Manor in Edison and was sponsored by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America - New Jersey (ATLA-NJ). It featured a panel of some of the most respected workers' compensation attorneys in the state.

The program was packed with practice pointers that have proven successful in matters ranging from Using Epidemiology to Cross Examining Defense Experts, Post Settlement Enforcement Motions, Navigating the Latest Lien Issues and the Ethical Considerations in Dealing with Problem Clients. "Attendees took home new ideas that they could immediately apply to their current and future cases", said Bagolie.

Ricky Bagolie and Alan Friedman have lectured to attorneys locally, nationally as well as internationally and are the founding members of Bagolie Friedman Injury Lawyers, of Jersey City & Clifton, NJ and affiliate offices in Hollywood, Florida and Brisbane, Australia.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ricky Bagolie

Death Toll From Sago Mine Disaster Rises as 2 Workers Shoot Themselves

Ricky Bagolie — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:21:12 GMT

Deaths raise fears about emotional toll from disaster as workers forced to lie to investigators regarding their safety training. their testimony produced a broader probe of the Sago Mine management training pracitces according to The Charleston Gazette

McAteer said Sago would not be the first time that survivors of major mining accidents claimed their own lives.
Most recently, a Pennsylvania surveyor killed himself about a year after he helped to rescue nine miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine near Somerset, Pa., news articles said.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ricky Bagolie