Kansas City Injury Lawyer Blog

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-center-for-public-integrity/model-workplaces-not-alwa_b_892322.html

A report by the Center for Public Integrity indicates that even those workplaces that have been designated as model workplaces by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration may still be at risk of workplace hazards that increase the risk of an accident.
The investigation found several workplaces across the country that had been included in the agency's Voluntary Protection Program, but had still been the scene of several serious and even fatal accidents. There are more than 2400 workplaces across the country that are members of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program. This is a program that exists to benefit workplaces that the agency considers to be safe, by giving them a range of benefits, including fewer numbers of inspections.

However, according to the Center for Public Integrity report, since the year 2000, there have been at least 80 workplace accident fatalities in these model workplaces and in at least 47 of these, investigations turned up a number of serious safety violations. These are places have been the scene of crane accidents, explosions, fires and toxic exposure incidents. These are not the kind of accidents that you expect to find in a work place that has been granted special exemption from regular inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration because of their high safety standards.

Missouri Injury Lawyers find it even more shocking that these employers continue to retain membership in the Voluntary Protection Program even after serious accidents have occurred in their premises. When there is a serious accident or a preventable fatality in a "safe" workplace, it should be a sign that the workplace is not as safe as designated, and should be put through regular inspections.

http://www.thirdage.com/news/cribs-with-drop-sides-now-illegal_07-04-2011

Missouri Injury Attorneys would like to alert Missourians to a new law that effectively bans the use of drop side cribs. The law went into effect on July 5. The rule had been announced by the Consumer Productivity Commission last year. Under the new law, it is illegal to manufacture, distribute or import drop side cribs.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates, since 2009 alone, there have been at least 32 deaths involving infants and drop side cribs. Most of these accidents involved strangulation and choking when infants became lodged or trapped in a loose drop side. Other deaths were caused when infants fell through the space created when the detachable side became loose. Missouri Injury Attorneys have been calling for a ban on drop side cribs for a while now. There have been simply far too many injuries and deaths involving the use of these cribs over the past decade.

Drop side cribs became widely popular over the past few years because of the convenience they offer parents. Children are much easier to reach when you can detach one side of the crib. However, it wasn't long before Missouri product liability lawyers came across a stream of complaints about children being trapped in the gap created by the detached crib side.

Now, manufacturers are prohibited from producing these cribs, and stores are prevented from selling them. Parents are advised to throw out their drop side cribs and buy a new fixed-side crib. However, if you are a parent who already owns a drop side cribs and can't afford to buy a new one right away, you can contact the manufacturer of the crib to receive a safety device that can help immobilize the detachable side.

http://www.healthcanal.com/geriatrics-aging/18242-Older-people-less-likely-fall-they-pay-attention-their-feet.html

Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that a person's walking style as well as the direction of gaze may be important in reducing his risk of a slip and fall accident. According to the research, senior citizens who look straight ahead at the distance while they walk, could be at an increased risk of a slip and fall accident than those whose gaze is directed at obstacles in their path.

When a senior adult is looking at the far distance at looming obstacles, he is at a higher risk of failing to observe and identify immediate fall accident hazards in his path. This increases his slip and fall accident risks.

The results of the research were released in time to coincide with Falls Awareness Week in the UK last month. The research is being sponsored by an organization called Age UK, which is also launching a new initiative to reduce the number of slip and fall accidents affecting the elderly. According to Age UK, poor vision is a factor in approximately 270,000 fall accidents involving people over the age of 65 over the last couple of years. That's why the group is focusing on the link between vision failures and the risk of a slip and fall.

Missouri premises liability lawyers predict that prevention of fall accidents involving the elderly is going to be a major safety and health concern in the United States too. As the baby boomer population in the country ages, we will have more numbers of elderly citizens above the age of 65, who are independent and mobile. These people are likely to use hotels, restaurants, malls, and office spaces in larger numbers. These properties need to be designed or modified to reflect the safety concerns facing the elderly.

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/18/137258370/if-table-saws-can-be-safer-why-arent-they

Every year, thousands of people are injured from the use of table saws. Many of these injuries involve fingertip amputations that can leave a person disabled. These injuries concern not just Missouri personal injury lawyers, but also Missouri workers' compensation attorneys because table saws are used not just by people at home, but also by woodworkers. The tragedy of it all is that these injuries can be prevented through a simple safe device.

The device is called Saw Stop, and it is the brainchild of inventor Steve Gass. Gass invented the technology a few years ago, and offered to license it to manufacturers of table saws. The device is designed to detect the presence of a human finger in the path of the blade. When this happens, the blade automatically stops, thereby preventing injuries.

However, manufacturers of table saws have not been too keen on incorporating this technology. It could cost about $100 more to incorporate Saw Stop in each table saw, and manufacturers don't believe that it is a worthwhile investment. The manufacturers lobby has strongly resisted any attempts by consumer safety groups to get the federal administration to mandate these safety technologies on all table saws.

Last month, representatives of Saw Stop and the National Consumers League visited lawmakers and regulators in Washington. They are seeking to make Saw Stop mandatory on all table saws.

The technology to prevent table saw-related injuries is not just available, but it is also effective and simple. More so, installation of Saw Stop would not be that much more expensive, when you factor in the costs of treatment of fingertip amputations, as well as the long-term effects in terms of loss of wages and loss of future earnings.