Posted on May 23, 2012
Houston workplace injury attorneys note that a comparison of OSHA workplace fatality data with fatality numbers released by the government relating to the war effort in Iraq reveals that more Americans died at work just in 2009 than died during the Iraq war. OSHA data states that 4,551 Americans died on the job in 2009. Another 50,000 U.S. deaths annually are linked to illnesses and conditions contracted on the job. That’s almost 51,000 Americans who die from work injuries each year, almost twice as many as die in highway accidents.
OSHA, the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration, studies workplace injury and fatality risks and promulgates rules and regulations designed to reduce those risks for working Americans. Yet it fines employers that fail to maintain required levels of workplace safety on average less than $8,000 per lost employee life.
You should know that OSHA won’t help you with an individual work fatality claim if you lose a loved one to an on the job accident or illness. Our Houston workplace injury attorneys emphasize that OHSA lacks the manpower and financial resources to investigate specific accidents on behalf of injured employees.
On rare occasions, OSHA will respond to the scene of a specific fatal accident. OSHA responds when it perceived indications of unusual or emerging types of risks that it might need to study in order to promulgate a new rule. It also responds in cases where the agency finds indications of egregious employer failure to comply with existing regulations. The agency’s purpose in these investigations involves determining the extent of the employer sanctions to be levied and whether there might be new or unanticipated hazards behind the accident for which they need to make additional regulations.
The OSHA report following the investigation will focus on the workplace hazards and safety compliance issues it found. The report will discuss how to promote addition workplace safety and rectify discovered safety issues. What it will not do is discuss the individual employee’s accident circumstances and causes in a way that could be useful to a claim for financial compensation. OSHA does not even collect the types of specific evidence you would need to prove your work injury claim or a work fatality claim on behalf of your loved one.
You must rely on your own Houston workplace injury attorney to protect your rights and interests following an on the job accident. An experienced attorney could apply his legal knowledge and practical skill to locate and collect the specific, concrete evidence you need to prove your injury compensation claim.
Don’t wait to hire an experienced attorney to help you with your claim. Time is of the essence. Delay allows the evidence you need to disappear, degrade, or be destroyed. Our Houston workplace injury attorneys remind you that evidence rapidly fades after an accident. Witnesses leave the scene and begin to forget what they saw. Potentially liable parties might take it upon themselves to remove, destroy, or manipulate the evidence that you need to implicate them in the accident.
Obtain the reliable legal skill that you need on your side as soon as possible to prove your claim. Contact the experienced Houston workplace injury attorneys at Denena & Points right away for a free and confidential legal consultation to discuss your case and potential eligibility for financial compensation from the accident.
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