Hackensack Workers' Compensation Law Blog

The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine has published a study that may be of interest to parents in New Jersey because it suggests that teens may be more likely to become distracted on the road the earlier that school begins. Researchers looked at the rate of car crashes involving teens during a two-year period in Fairfax County, Virginia. The county, in the fall of 2015, pushed back its school start times from 7:20 am to 8:10 am.

In the first year, the year preceding the change, researchers determined that 16- to 18-year-old licensed drivers were involved in 31.63 accidents per 1,000 drivers. In the year after that, the rate declined to 29.59 accidents. During that two-year period, the rest of the state, which did not change its school start times, saw only a steady rate of teen car crashes.

Construction contractors in New Jersey and around the country largely depend on supervisors to deliver safety programs, according to a study by Dodge Data & Analytics. In fact, the report found that nearly three-quarters of construction companies rely on supervisors and foremen to present safety information to workers.

The study found that contractors named several factors that are essential parts of an effective workplace safety program. The top four factors depended heavily on the participation of supervisors and job site workers. These factors included job site worker involvement, cited by 84% of contractors, strong safety leadership from supervisors, cited by 83%, regular safety meetings with supervisors and workers, cited by 82%, and continuing safety training for both supervisors and workers, cited by 77%. Other factors included regular safety audits, cited by 67% of contractors, having dedicated staff safety positions, cited by 61%, and regular staff safety meetings among corporate level staff, cited by 62%.

Car accidents caused by drivers running red lights take 800 lives in New Jersey and across the country each year while injuring thousands more people. In many cases, those harmed in these crashes are pedestrians, cyclists and the occupants of other vehicles who had no chance to anticipate a car speeding toward them through a red light. Because running red lights poses such a threat to highway safety, red light cameras have been adopted by many municipalities as a means to crack down on violators while increasing revenue from traffic tickets. The cameras are posted on the lights and take photos of the license plates of cars running through red signals; the drivers later receive tickets in the mail.

While red light cameras seem to have obvious benefits in cutting down on violations, some have criticized the systems. They say that cities install them only to increase revenue without caring about the effects on traffic safety. Some point to Chicago as an example where red light cameras linked to costly fines were installed throughout the city. However, the yellow light timing was also reduced to the lowest allowable by law. After the cameras were installed, rear-end car crashes became more common as drivers sped up to get through the yellow lights and avoid a ticket.

It doesn't matter if you work in an office setting, on a construction site or are in the field all day, it's critical that you take the necessary steps in protecting your safety.

Unfortunately, even if you're careful about avoiding trouble at work, there could come a point when you suffer an injury.