Bergen County, New Jersey Workers' Compensation Law Blog

One would think that a first responder injured or sickened at the workplace would not have to face obstacles when it comes to receiving benefits after being exposed to hazardous materials. However, in New Jersey emergency responders still need to provide proof that diseases they suffer have resulted from some hazardous event.

A new proposal made by a New Jersey legislative committee apparently has the purpose of changing this situation. The legislation would create a presumption that the illness of an emergency responder was work-related for worker’s compensation purposes, and that an employer would have to challenge this presumption before payments could be suspended.

On the job, injuries that result in workers' compensation claims often are painful. Back injuries, falls and broken bones typically leave workers with potentially long-lasting pain control needs. At the same time, insurers are becoming increasingly vigilant over claims that become what they consider as too expensive. While this is frequently couched in terms of concern over workers health and as a way of preventing prescription drug addictions from developing, it is as much a way of controlling the increasing costs of workers' compensation claims.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the growth of a number of companies that specialize in analyzing doctors and their patients and flagging those that are out of alignment with their proprietary actuarial programs that forecast the expected duration of a drug treatment. If a patient is receiving a longer treatment for their workers' compensation injury, the companies will contact the doctor and provide them with a treatment "roadmap" using evidence-based guidelines.

Another New Jersey roofing company has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for violations involving fall hazards, including one incident where a roofer fell and suffered a broken neck in October 2012. The Ridgefield, New Jersey based roofing company was charged with six violations at a job site in Moonachie.

The fines of for the violations were $57,300. According to an OSHA news release, the company was cited for four serious violations, which are issued when there is hazard that the employer should be aware of and it presents workers with a "substantial probability that death or serious physical harm" could occur. These types of injuries often result in a workers' compensation claim.

Construction work is remarkably dangerous in New Jersey and everywhere in the U.S., from heavy machinery moving on job sites, to cranes lifting concrete and steel beams high in air, to workers in trenches, pits and tunnels being at constant risk of cave-ins, collapses and flooding. Workers are injured and sometimes killed in a variety of accidents on a daily basis across the country.

Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) reports that of the 4,114 workers killed on the job from 2011, 721 or 17.5% were construction-related. The most dangerous aspect of construction work, as measured by fatalities, is the risk of falling. The other three causes, that together OSHA calls the "Fatal Four," were electrocutions, being struck by object, and being caught-in/between something. These four worksite dangers account for nearly 60 percent of all workplace fatalities.