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Many states have seen the gradual erosion of workers’ comp benefits in favor of employers and their workers’ comp insurance carriers. In Pennsylvania, one of the mechanisms available to employers or their insurance companies is to “modify;” in other words, reduce workers’ comp benefits through the Labor Market Survey (LMS), also known as the “Earning Power Assessment” (EPS). If you have suffered from an injury at work in Pennsylvania, a Lancaster workers comp lawyer will help you recover the maximum benefits allowed by law. This is particularly important as laws change or benefits are reduced, in that understanding your rights…
Continue reading Employer Responsibility for Job Availability Under Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp LawScaffolding, also known as staging, is a temporary metal structure used to provide a platform for a work crew to perform its work at heights that are too high to work on from the floor. It can be a supporting structure made of poles, frames, or platforms that are suspended from above. Because scaffolds are high up by their very nature, they are also inherently dangerous. According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 2.3 million construction workers, or 65% of the U.S. construction workforce, work on scaffolds. With numbers this high, scaffold and ladder-related accidents are, for…
Continue reading How Can I Help Prevent Scaffolding and Ladder Accidents at Work?The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHAs) regulations regarding trenching and excavations have made getting rid of potential and actual trench and excavation hazards on construction sites a top priority. Trench collapses and subsequent cave-ins pose a great risk to trench workers’ lives. That said, it is important for workers to know and understand their rights under the law. Some typical ways to prevent cave-ins include: Sloping or benching trench walls Shoring trench walls with supports Shielding trench walls with trench boxes Employers should also provide safe ways to enter and exit. Additionally, all workers should be on constant lookout…
Continue reading Trench Collapses, Excavation Accidents and How to Prevent ThemThe attorney-client relationship may refer to all manner of issues involved when a client hires an attorney for legal services. However, one particular aspect, often referred to as the attorney-client privilege, refers to a specific legal privilege that keeps confidential communications between an attorney and a client private. The privilege may be asserted in response to a legal demand for information, most commonly a discovery request, for certain communications meant to be private. The privilege may even be invoked, under certain circumstances, to potential client communications. If you have been injured at work in Pennsylvania, let a Lancaster job injury…
Continue reading How Does the Attorney-Client Relationship Affect My Claim?Generally speaking, the “burden of proof” actually encompasses two types of standards: (1) the burden of production, and (2) the burden of persuasion. The burden of production refers to a party’s obligation to provide sufficient evidence to support the party’s claim. Typically, the burden of production lies initially with plaintiffs; i.e., plaintiffs must prove their case with sufficient evidence. If plaintiffs meet this burden, then the burden of production typically shifts to defendants to rebut plaintiffs’ evidence with their own evidence. The burden of persuasion refers to how convincingly parties must be in proving their case. In civil cases, parties…
Continue reading What is the Burden of Proof and How Does it Affect My Workers’ Comp Claim?Due to the potential financial ramifications, ordinary working people in Pennsylvania often ask whether they are considered “employees” under Pennsylvania’s workers’ comp laws. This is a good and important question that our Lancaster workers’ comp lawyer will answer below. However, the answer is best given in context, and a brief overview of Pennsylvania’s workers’ comp laws can help with that. In any event, if you have suffered a work-related injury in Pennsylvania, let a Lancaster workers’ comp lawyer help you be sure you’re receiving maximum compensation for your work-related injuries. Workers’ Comp in Pennsylvania Workers’ comp in Pennsylvania can be…
Continue reading PA Workers’ Comp: Who is Considered an Employee for Purposes of Benefits?In Pennsylvania, like most states, most non-exempt employers are required to provide workers’ comp coverage for their workers so that in the event of a work-related injury or illness, the employees can recover medical expenses, lost wages, and disability. To meet this requirement, employers may either purchase workers’ comp insurance or obtain approval to self-insure. Nonetheless, the system works only if everyone does what they’re supposed to do. If the employer fails to hold up its end of the bargain, a worker may find himself unable to recover from Pennsylvania workplace injuries. This breaks the relationship between employee and employer,…
Continue reading Employer Responsibilities for Workers’ Comp in PennsylvaniaWorkers’ comp in Pennsylvania, like most states, is a double-edged sword. The good news is that if you’re hurt on the job, you don’t have to show negligence or any type of fault by the employer. If you are hurt at work, you receive the benefits. The bad news is that your compensation is strictly limited to your workers’ comp benefits; in other words, the workers’ comp benefits are your exclusive remedy. This is known as the “Exclusive Remedy Rule.” This is problematic for injured workers because workers’ comp only pays for medical expenses, lost wages, and disability. Yet, a…
Continue reading Third-Party Claims After a Work AccidentAccording to the National Library of Medicine’sNational Center for Biotechnology Information, there is a “substantial overlap between chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in individuals who sustain accidental injury.” In subsequent studies, “[m]ost participants reported chronic pain and all were receiving workers compensation. Results indicated that 34.7% and 18.2% of the sample reported symptoms consistent with PTSD and partial PTSD.” More simply speaking, evidence shows that work-related injuries can cause chronic pain, which leads to PTSD. An increasing number of states are passing new laws, rules, and regulations that allow the general workforce to receive workers’ comp benefits…
Continue reading PTSD After a Work AccidentAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of more than 1 million workers, back injuries account for nearly 20 percent of all injuries and illnesses in the workplace. Only the common cold accounts for more lost days of work. The leading causes of work-related back injuries include exerting too much force on your back, repetition of certain movements, especially those that involve twisting or rotating your spine, and inactivity. Safe lifting and load-carrying techniques are essential to preventing back injuries in the workplace. Unfortunately, most workers do not consistently use these back safety techniques, placing themselves at significant risk. Back…
Continue reading Work-Related Injuries: Exercises for Back Pain Relief