San Jose Workers' Compensation Blog

Construction work can be lucrative and provide hard working people with regular employment. With the amount of building and maintenance throughout California, it is no surprise that there are so many people who work in the construction industry. Still, despite the benefits of the work, there are still natural dangers that workers and their employers must be cognizant of. When there is a work accident on a construction site, there can be serious injuries and fatalities. For injuries, workers' compensation is important. If there is death, understanding how to recover survivor benefits is key and legal help is often needed.

A trench collapse led to a construction worker's death. The accident occurred as the crew worked on a residential project. He was in the front yard of the residence when he became stuck in a hole. It is not known if he was in the trench or if he fell in and was then buried. He was around 10 feet in the hole when dirt wedged him inside. Emergency crews were called. After approximately 40 minutes, emergency personnel determined that the man's life could not be saved due to the weight on the victim. Being caught under dirt can cause serious internal damage and inhibit breathing. Eventually, the man's body was freed. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) is investigating the accident.

The California workers' compensation system settles the medical bills for work-related injuries and illnesses. If your injury causes temporary disability, the program pays a portion of lost wages after three to seven days. However, if your on-the-job injury or illness causes an impairment or disability with lasting consequences, wage replacement for permanent total or permanent partial disability will form part of your benefits.

Current workers' compensation laws require employers to accommodate workers with permanent disabilities by offering alternative or modified duties. However, if that is not possible, you might receive a supplemental job displacement benefit (SJDB) to provide the means to learn new skills that will enable you to return to work.

For some jobs in California and throughout the U.S., there is a natural risk with the duties workers must perform. Any job can result in workers being injured, but some types of employment is riskier than others. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is tasked with ensuring workplaces maintain as safe an atmosphere as possible. When there are workplace accidents, OSHA conducts investigations into how and why they happened. Employers can be cited for lapses. OSHA recently released the most common violations of workplace safety protocol in 2018. This information is important for workers as is considering a legal filing after they have been hurt.

Workers should be protected from the possibility of falling. Often, this is linked to construction work, but other types of workers need to climb too. A ladder fall can cause severe injuries and death. For those who are on roofs or are on platforms, it is important that there are guardrails and other protective devices. Hazard communication involves making certain there is safety information regarding chemicals and it is readily available to workers. A scaffolding is commonly needed for various tasks and a scaffolding fall can lead to major injuries.

California workers who have been injured on the job will often need workers' compensation benefits to provide them with various benefits as they recuperate. However, not all cases are clear and there are frequently disputes between the employer, the insurance company and the worker. For many, the determination as to whether there should be an approval for workers' compensation benefits will need to be made via a comprehensive medical evaluation. Understanding what the law says about this is key when preparing for the case. This law applies when the employee has legal representation.

Either side can ask for the medical evaluation, completed by a three-member panel of qualified medical evaluators. They will evaluate the person's injuries to determine how to settle the dispute. It is up to the party that requests the evaluation to designate the medical evaluator's specialty, the specialty of the medical evaluator the other party has requested if it is known to the submitting party, and the treating physician's specialty.