Kansas City Injury Lawyer Blog

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=20016

A Missouri poultry company has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for a number of violations after a worker was killed in a trucking accident inside the facility. According to the agency, this tragedy occurred because the company failed to identify and eliminate hazards in the workplace.

The company, Marshall Durbin Companies in Hattiesburg was the site of a worker death in December 2010. Close to 1,000 people work in the Hattiesburg facility. The victim was working at the entrance of the facility, when he was struck by a tractor-trailer.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration began an investigation into the accident. The agency has now cited the company, for at least 12 violations. These include

• Exposing workers to pedestrian accident hazards by not requiring them to
wear brightly colored clothing
• Failure to implement traffic control measures
• Lack of illumination for stairs and exits
• Missing rails on stairs
• Lack of machine guarding
• Failure to label electric circuit breaker panels
• Exposing workers to corrosive materials without providing them protection for
their eyes
• Failure to provide clean bathrooms, and failing to label hazardous chemicals.
The Occupational Safety And Health Administration has proposed total penalties of $120,000.

It shouldn't be so hard to provide a safe workplace for American workers. Unfortunately, every year, dozens of people are killed or seriously injured in accidents in Missouri that can be traced to employer's negligence. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration lays down strict standards for safety and health for almost every industry. Missouri work accident lawyers know that meeting these standards and improving safety conditions in the workplace require investments in time, effort and money. Employers often scrimp on safety measures, resulting in injuries and fatalities.

Local police are investigating a deadly Kansas City pedestrian accident that took place last week on Interstate 29 at Tiffany Springs Parkway, according to KCTV 5.

The fatal accident happened shortly after 4:00 a.m. According to police reports, a 23-year-old woman attempted to run across I-29 and was hit by a vehicle before making it to the other side. After the first strike, she was hit by a number of vehicles afterwards.

Our Kansas City personal injury attorneys understand that pedestrians face an increase risk of injury when traveling near busy roads with speeding traffic. Motorists are urged to keep an eye out for our on-foot travelers as they don't stand much of a chance against motor-vehicles. A recent report, released by Transportation for America, illustrates the need for safer roadways and more driver awareness to help prevent these fatal incidents. According to this report, roughly 47,000 pedestrians died on our nation's roadways during 2000 to 2009.

The first driver to strike the Topeka pedestrian stopped and has reportedly cooperated with the local police's investigation.

After the accident, the northbound lanes of the Interstate were shut down and didn't open again until nearly 6:30 a.m.

There are no reports as to why the pedestrian was on the highway.

The recent pedestrian report takes a look back at the fatal pedestrian accidents that occurred between 2000 and 2009. This is the most recent data available. Transportation For America also reports that more than 688,000 pedestrians were injured while walking on our roadways during these ten years. Now, Dangerous by Design 2011 will take the reports and examine the problem in an attempt to create possible solutions to help reduce these serious and fatal accidents.

This new report provides a plethora of features, including a state-specific factsheet for each of the states and interactive maps that allow you to see these occurrences in your community.

These interactive maps illustrate that most of these fatal pedestrian accidents happen along busy arterial roads. These are the roads that are dangerous by design as federal funding coordinates their construction. These streets are designed to make the flow of traffic smoother and faster -- construction occurs with little consideration for pedestrian travel.

It is our tax dollars that fund the design and construction of these roadways. These funds account for less than 1.5 percent of the current federal transportation outlay. Currently, Congress is contemplating eliminating even this small contribution to pedestrian safety; apparently Congress thinks there are more important issues to spend this money on than pedestrian safety.

According to the Dangerous by Design analysis, there were more than 800 pedestrians killed in Missouri alone between 2000 and 2009. These fatalities cost the state more than $344 million. According to the Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI), our state ranks 17th out of 50 states.

The most dangerous areas is Missouri for pedestrians are as follows:

area/pedestrian deaths

-Kansas City, 234

-Springfield, 49

-Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, 46

-Columbia, 19

-Joplin, 19

-St. Joseph, 16

-Jefferson City, 10

If you'd like to contact Congress to urge them to keep the federal funding to help reduce the number of fatal pedestrian accidents, you are urged to speak up to make a difference.

Continue reading "Female Struck by Several Cars on Interstate in Kansas City Pedestrian Accident" »

http://www.safetyphoto.co.uk/blog/osha-slide-presentation-shows-employers-how-to-protect-residential-construction-workers-from-falls/

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has designed a presentation aimed at educating employers about the prevention of fall accidents in the residential construction sector. The presentation is available on the OSHA website, and Missouri construction accident lawyers would encourage construction companies to access the website and make the presentation mandatory viewing for their employees.

Fall accidents are one of the leading causes of injuries and fatalities for residential construction workers. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in the year 2009, there were approximately 8.3 million workers in the construction industry, and out of these, 816 workers were killed in workplace accidents. That works out to about 9.8 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Out of the fatalities in 2009, 277 were caused by fall accidents. There were a total of 42 fatal falls in residential construction in 2009. That same year, there were also a total of 17 fatalities in falls from roofs.

According to Dr. David Michaels who is the assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, the fact that workers continue to be injured in falls in residential construction when the means to prevent such accidents are easily available, is unacceptable.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration presentation outlines a number of methods that employers can use in order to prevent such falls. Covers can be used to prevent workers falling through open holes. Workers can use positioning devices while they're working on framework. Barricades and fences can be erected when workers are working on elevations to prevent them from falls. Equipment guards can be used to prevent the danger of workers falling into open equipment.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also focuses heavily on worker training. Many fall accidents occur because of lack of training. Workers must not only be provided fall protection systems, but must also be trained to use them. They must also be trained about identifying fall hazards in the workplace.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-05-26-swimming-pool-drain-recall_n.htm

Commercial pool owners around Missouri must begin inspecting their drain covers as quickly as possible to prevent the risk of entrapment accidents. Last week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a massive recall of drain covers from around the country. The CPSC recall is linked to shoddy laboratory tests that do not confirm the safety of the drain covers. Missouri premises liability lawyers have been outraged at the poor implementation of a law that is meant to protect children from horrific entrapment accidents.

The law requiring drain covers for all pools, hot tubs and spas in the country is contained in the Virginia Graham Baker Spa Safety Act. The Act is named for Virginia Baker, the granddaughter of former secretary of state James Baker. Virginia died at age 7 in a horrific pool accident in which she was sucked down by the drain of the spa, and pinned to the bottom. Her family spearheaded efforts to prevent repeats of Virginia's death, and their efforts resulted in the passing of the Act which was signed into law by President Bush in 2008. Among other things, the law required the installation of drain covers that would prevent suction entrapment accidents.

However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission now says that many of the drain covers that were installed after the law was passed, were tested by labs that used faulty procedures. Therefore, the agency has announced a recall of the new drain covers.
Entrapment accidents involving pools and spas are rare, but when these occur, they end in serious injuries or death. A young child who is being sucked down by the tremendous power exerted by a pool drain can be pinned to the bottom of the pool, and drowned. Even in those cases where children have survived such horrific entrapment accidents, they have suffered excruciating injuries that have left them disabled.

This summer, across Missouri and Kansas, children will be using commercial pools including those at hotels, vacation facilities and vacation rentals. Owners of these pools and spas must be aware of the CPSC action, and take steps to ensure that pool drains are safe from entrapment hazards. A property owner who fails to ensure the safety of the pool could be held liable in a premises liability lawsuit.

http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=73563

Research by the Department Of Transportation confirms to Missouri truck accident attorneys that a truck driver's risk of being involved in an accident increases substantially when he has a history of accidents. That isn't exactly a surprise, but it does confirm that employers need to be very careful about screening potential drivers before hiring them.

The research relied on truck driver accident data involving more than 582,772 truck drivers. The data was gathered over a two-year period, and only involved those convictions that increased a driver's accident risk by more than 50%. Some of the interesting findings from the study:

Signal failure, including failure to use signals or improper signals were the leading convictions linked to a truck driver's accident risks, increasing a driver's risk by as much as 96%.

Being involved in accidents increased the risk by as much as 88%. A similar increase was seen for improper passing violation convictions.

Besides these, there were also increased crash risks for drivers with improper turn convictions (84%), improper lane change convictions (80%), improper lane/location convictions (68 %), convictions for failure to obey traffic signs (60%), speeding convictions (67 %), and reckless driving convictions (64 %). Overall, there was an increased risk of accidents by as much as 64% for any conviction. However, the new research contrasted with estimates found in the 2005 report. In that report, there were as many as three convictions that actually doubled crash risks.

One of the criteria by which truck drivers can be categorized is a look at their accident safety history. That includes violations for a range of traffic safety offenses. Trucking companies need to take a closer look at the crash history of potential job applicants, before hiring them.

Eight people were taken to area hospitals earlier this week after two Kansas City car accidents happened just minutes apart from each other at the same site, according to LJ World. Both of the accidents happened on Interstate 35 near Ottawa.

Summer months lure drivers from across the country to our roadways. The increased amount of traffic comes with a higher risk for serious car accidents. Our Kansas City car accident attorneys ask that all motorists practice safe and cautious driving habits to help prevent these potentially fatal accidents.

The first accident, according to an Ottawa police spokesman, happened at 2:40 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. The driver of a southbound pickup truck reportedly lost control of his vehicle and rolled off the right side of the shoulder near Eisenhower Road.

The pickup truck carried four people - a male driver, a male passenger, a female passenger and a 3-year-old passenger. The female and the child, who were in the backseat, were ejected from the vehicle. The driver had to be extricated from the vehicle after the accident. Officers report that the child was in a booster seat. Officers are still investigating the cause of that crash.

The 3-year-old passenger was taken to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and the two adults were taken to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

Just minutes after this accident, a second accident occurred. In this accident, a teen driver crashed into a parked vehicle that was attempting to assist the victims of the first accident. In the teen driver's vehicle was a 9-year-old, a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old. All vehicle occupants were taken to area hospitals.

"It would not appear at this point that there were life-threatening injuries," said Lt. Adam Weingartner, an Ottawa police spokesman.

Investigators do not believe alcohol contributed to either accident, but officials are still investigating other factors.

Follow these safety tips to help keep you and your passengers safe in the event of a disabled vehicle:

-Make sure that you always pull completely off the roadway. Stay as far on the side as possible.

-Activate your emergency flashers to warn other vehicles and law enforcement of your location.

-Call 911, a friend, a family member or a motor club for assistance.

-Remember to be patient for assistance as they may be forced to wait through traffic delays that your vehicle has caused.

-Vehicle occupants are to step out of the vehicle during the day and move away from the roadway and the vehicle until help arrives.

-Be prepared for these types of incidents. Keep a stash of nonperishable snacks, flashlights, emergency flares, blankets and jackets in your vehicle.

-Never accept a ride from a stranger, or even an emergency responder, without asking for identification beforehand.

Continue reading "Eight People Injured in Two Kansas City Car Accidents Just Minutes Apart" »

In spite of the federal administration's recent moves towards bus safety, Missouri personal injury lawyers continue to find far too many accidents caused by unsafe operators. A bus driver involved in a tour bus accident in Virginia last week that killed four people is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter. In the aftermath of the deadly accident, it has emerged that the bus had been cited several times by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for safety violations.

In fact, the bus company Sky Express should have been ordered to park its vehicles for the safety violations, but the federal agency decided to grant it an extension to appeal. During this extension period, a tour bus belonging to Sky Express flipped over on Interstate 95 in Virginia, killing four people and injuring at least 50 passengers. The driver of the bus has confirmed that he had been driving while tired.

Over the past two years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has cited the Sky Express for speeding, driving in excess of 10 hours without a break and other violations. In over 100 roadside inspections over a two-year period, the company had performed worse than more than 99.7% of bus operators. The company has failed time and again on driver fitness standards and work hour rule violations.

On April 12, the agency announced that it would order the company's buses off the road, giving the company a 45-day waiting period. The agency gave the company 10 more days to analyze evidence and appeal. That decision proved deadly with one tour bus belonging to Sky Express crashing in Virginia. Soon after that accident, the FMCSA finally took the decision to order Sky Express to cease operations.

The federal agency is now being rebuked for its decision to allow an extension of Sky Express' operations, instead of simply ordering those buses off the roads. Four innocent lives have been lost while the agency procrastinated. Hopefully lessons have been learned here, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will get tougher on unsafe bus companies.