Personal Injury News & Developments
Underpaid Nursing Home Workers Caring For Most Vulnerable Patients = Danger
For years, a crisis has been brewing in the nursing home industry where certified nursing assistants have received low wages and poor/no benefits while providing care to their residents. Many of these nursing assistant jobs require the employee to work erratic hourly schedules for poor benefits, little pay, and usually no opportunity to advance in their career. These jobs have been associated with high injury rates and high turnover.
Approximately 50% of all nursing assistants in the United States live well below the federal poverty level. Low pay often results in the need to work longer hours, which could cause fatigue and place the resident’s health in danger. The problem with underpaying and understaffing is likely to increase significantly in the years ahead, as the last of the baby boomers enter their retirement years, and the need for additional nursing home beds rises.
According to the US Bureau of Labor, the number of nursing home workers across America has doubled over the last decade with many more jobs likely available by 2024. Statistics show that the population of Americans over 85 years old will likely be doubled by 2030 where most will require some level of professional skilled nursing care at a facility or in their home.
More horrific news concerning Amazon workers has gained national attention in April 2018 since the nonprofit advocacy group National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) added Amazon warehouses to their “dirty dozen” list of America’s most dangerous workplaces. Amazon was given the title after developing a pattern of hazardous work conditions that tend to place efficiency and productivity over safety and employee livelihood. NCOSH spokesperson Marcie Goldstein-Gelb released a statement saying “this year, [we] will identify several companies who received specific warnings about safety hazards and failed to correct them. Workers paid the ultimate price for these failures.”
California is trying a bold new approach to the subject of distracted driving with the implementation of its newest law— if you are holding anything but the wheel, you will receive a ticket. Drivers no longer need to be caught in the actual act of making a call or texting and police officers can ticket them simply for having a mobile device such as a phone or tablet where it can be accessed behind the wheel. The law doesn’t just seek to reduce the number of drivers using their smartphones, but to eliminate their very presence from view.
Just how dangerous are sports when compared to some of the most dangerous occupations on the planet? It is a known fact that manual labor, construction and manufacturing jobs place workers at significant risk of injury or death, but sports can be just as deadly. Here we will take a look at the leading jobs and sports in the world in terms of the risks employees and participants take on.
College sports teams are watching what happens next, now that former football players suffering brain damage have begun suing the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) for not warning players about the associated risks of concussions that appear to be inherent in the sport. Legal experts believe new cases will be setting a precedent on the responsibility the Association holds and any potential change that might be required for college football players.
It is impossible to operate any form of machinery while you do not commit your full attention to the task at hand. This includes when you get behind the wheel of a car or truck. Distracted driving is a factor in a majority of accidents, and the epidemic has grown worse with each passing year as we continue to come up with innovative ways of taking our attention off of the road. Phones, music players, tablets and other mobile devices allow us a portable way of remaining connected to each other, but drivers need to have the patience to wait until they arrive safely at their destination before reaching for these items.
Rockford, Illinois – The quarterly report released by the IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health) in the fall of 2017 revealed that Forest City Rehab & Nursing Center was cited for multiple violations. The nursing facility is located at 321 Arnold Ave. in Rockford. The report revealed that the facility was fined $29,400 for one Type A violations and two Type B violations. Type A and AA violations are the most serious violations that could or did result in a resident’s death.
Streamwood, Illinois – A 22-year-old Gurnee construction worker Brett Morrow died while installing a fiberglass liner in a sewer pipe that prevents leaks. The worker was fatally injured after being hit by a large horizontal pipe that blocked access of others to help the victim. Immediately after the accident, the injured worker communicated with others at the scene but was found unresponsive by emergency responders when they arrived.