La Administración de Salud y Seguridad Ocupacional (“OSHA”) y el Departamento de Trabajo federal ampliaron recientemente las protecciones para los trabajadores indocumentados que denuncian malas condiciones de trabajo, lesiones en el lugar de trabajo, e infracciones reglamentarias. La Legislatura de Illinois también está considerando la “Ley de Trabajo sin Miedo,” que brinda más protecciones a los trabajadores indocumentados que presentan quejas laborales.

¿Qué derechos tienen los trabajadores cuando se lesionan en el trabajo?

• Todo trabajador ...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the federal Department of Labor recently expanded protections for undocumented workers who whistleblow on working conditions, workplace injuries, and regulatory violations. The Illinois Legislature is also considering The Work Without Fear Act, which gives more protections to undocumented workers filing complaints. 

What rights do workers have when injured on the job?

• Every worker, regardless of their residency or citizenship status, has the right to work in a safe environment that does not cause illnesses or ...

On June 5, 2020, Governor Pritzker signed into law the COVID-19 Presumption Bill which stated that for purposes of the Illinois Workers Compensation Act or Occupational Disease Act, for front-line Workers and first responders who were exposed to and contracted COVID-19, there will be a rebuttable presumption that the exposure and contraction of the virus arose out of and was in the course of their employment, and that the disease was causally related to their employment – meaning it will be presumed that it was contracted at work, and no further proof will be necessary. This ...

Workplace injuries are commonplace in our country, regardless of industry or occupation. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there were over 2.8 million workplace injuries reported in the United States in 2019. Included in that number are over 5,000 fatal injuries and over 850,000 nonfatal injuries that caused a worker to miss at least one day of work. The most common types of workplace injuries are overexertion, falls/slips/trips, contact with objects or machinery, workplace violence, and transportation accidents.

Workplace injuries can happen for a number of reasons ...

The Third Dist. IL Appellate court decision, Armstead v. National Freight, Inc. (2020 IL App (3d) 170777), may have significant ramifications for Workers’ Compensation (WC)practitioners (and Pro Se claimants) because the court held that Plaintiff’s personal injury (3rd party) claim was barred by collateral estoppel based on the description of the injuries in the Pennsylvania WC settlement contract.

Here, the Plaintiff agreed that his injury was a “right knee strain” and did not list all other claimed injuries that he may claim in the Personal Injury case. To my ...

I write to let you know about a positive development for many workers who have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and have contracted the virus. For many of those COVID-19 first responders and front-line workers, there is the real possibility that they could have been exposed to the virus in the course of their work, and now the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission has acknowledged that risk and will allow those workers to more easily obtain benefits under the IL Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act). It’s important to note that during this pandemic, the ...

When we think of life on the farm, our thoughts typically go to green pastures, grazing animals, and crops being harvested for market. But those green acres can also be scenes of deadly accidents.

Lest you think that farms are disappearing, think again. Illinois’ 76,000 farms cover more than 28 million acres -- nearly 80 percent of the state’s total land area. The average size of an Illinois farm is 368 acres, most of which is devoted to grain, mainly corn and soybeans. Nearly 10 percent have swine, with beef cows on about 23 percent of farms, and 3 percent have dairy cows.

Stop for a minute ...

A construction worker is injured on the job. His back pain prevents him from returning to work. Because his employer provides excellent health insurance, the worker is quickly seen by a physician. So far, so good. But when the doctor continues to prescribe a narcotic painkiller, or opioid, the worker may actually be delayed in returning to his job. The insurer is likely to balk at the rising costs incurred by this worker and others like him who do not return to work for months, if ever.

According to a June 3 story in the New York Times, “Workplace insurers spend an estimated $1.4 billion ...

On May 25, a 15-year-old Chicago girl was swept by a wave into Lake Michigan and drowned. Two days later, a 10-year-old boy died after rescue divers pulled him from Jericho Lake in Montgomery. These two tragedies remind us all that lakes, rivers, and beaches, combined with a lack of swimming skills, present a fatal danger of drowning accidents -- particularly to children and teens.

The most recent statistics from the State of Illinois were compiled in 2006, and it’s likely they haven’t improved significantly. The study found that drowning is the leading cause of accidental death ...

A 55-year-old man from Itasca, IL, was killed May 22 in Arlington Heights and 17 others were injured when an explosion in a factory tore through a testing area. The blast also sent potassium hydroxide fumes into the air and launched rocks from the roof to the parking lot, where 20 cars were damaged.

Initial examinations by the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have called the blast “probably accidental.” The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has now taken over the investigation.

The ...

We agree with child safety advocates who have called for a stronger federal law to make agricultural jobs for youths safer. But sadly, strengthened laws are too late to protect the two Whiteside County 14-year-old girls who suffered a wrongful death in a Whiteside County, Illinois, cornfield last week when they were electrocuted while detasseling corn.

The Child Labor Coalition, based in Washington, D.C., announced in June 2011 that it supported a bill introduced in the House to amend the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act). Currently, the law permits young teens ...

We at Romanucci & Blandin know from our many years of handling cases involving construction site accidents that management often fails to take adequate steps to prevent injuries. A new study suggests that employers should consider the hazards involved in switching to daylight saving time. Its drawbacks for workers may not have received enough attention.

According to a study by Christopher M. Barnes and David T. Wagner at Michigan State University, an increase in job-related injuries on Mondays immediately following the switch to Daylight Saving Time can affect sleep patterns and ...

The Illinois Legislature is considering a Workers’ Compensation reform bill that, if passed, would severely limit injured workers’ rights to fair compensation. Our Chicago injury firm has written to all State Senators and Representatives, urging them to make any changes through the “agreed bill process,” a historically successful approach that has allowed business and labor to sit down together and negotiate, with detailed analysis and review of all proposals.

Workers’ Compensation is far too complex to make quick, sweeping changes in just a few weeks. Even the ...

A new study of 1,543 Marines who are returning war veterans shows that those whose deployments were marked by boredom, lack of privacy, and days off, as well as those with mild TBI, were three times more likely to engage in antisocial behavior upon their return.

Conducted by researchers at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, the findings take on added significance, given that fewer troops in Afghanistan will see active combat.

The NFL helped fund a study that has led scientists to make a connection between head injuries in athletes and Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). In research conducted on the bodies of former athletes, the study results indicate that the new disease is similar to but not the same as ALS.

Dr. Ann McKee, a neurology professor at Boston University, who conducted the study, calls the new disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTEM). She says it is likely caused by repetitive head trauma that athletes can be exposed to in sports.

To reach her conclusions, she studied the brains and spinal cords ...

Ronald Kuiper, who was being treated at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Sioux City and had less than 30 percent breathing capacity, was felled by flavoring commonly found on microwave popcorn. Kuiper died of the so-called ’popcorn lung disease.’

The key to Kuiper’s demise is a chemical known as diacetyl. While it is generally felt that the chemical poses little threat to consumers, the fumes from diacetyl used in flavoring manufacturing are said to be harmful to factory workers exposed to large quantities in the workplace.