Denver Workers' Compensation Law Blog

The first of May calls to mind worker's rights for many in Denver and around the world. This year there is special interest in workplace safety as reports continue to come in regarding serious hazards such as the fertilizer plan explosion in Texas or the building collapse that buried dozens of workers in Bangladesh. Those concerned with the safety of employees and their rights to workers' compensation point to lax federal standards that allow businesses to continue to operate in a manner unsafe for workers.

Even the U. S. Senate has become involved as it begins to investigate the Texas fertilizer plant catastrophe. While events like this one tend to grab headlines, many do not realize that more than 4,600 American workers die in workplace accidents every year. However, experts do not look for an early change on the part of the federal government's regulatory agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in making the situation better.

Health care workers face several hazards on the job but a new study found that surgeons have a high risk of being exposed to infectious diseases. Surgeons are more likely to be injured or be exposed to an infectious disease due to their frequent use of needs and sharp objects, according to a study by the University of Michigan Health System.

The study said that surgeons have the highest risk of suffering a sharps injury and that almost all surgeons will have a sharps injury at some point during their career. They reported that there are roughly 400,000 injuries caused by sharps every year in the U.S., and 25 percent of workers injured are surgeons.

As much as workers in the health care industry do for patients, many would think that their employers would make sure these workers were protected from injuries and accidents. Unfortunately, workers in the health care industry have taken a back seat to patient safety and have a higher risk of being injured on the job.

OSHA has already established that the health care industry needs to improve workplace safety in the U.S. Nurses are the most likely to suffer a workplace injury, with patient handling and slipping or falling at work being the most common causes for workplace injuries in the health care industry.

Health care workers are very important for providing safe and proper care for hospital patients. While many hospitals have been focusing on improving patient safety, they have not created a safe working environment for their health care workers.

New studies have shown that hospitals are one of the most dangerous places to work in the U.S. The workplace injury rate for health care works is 33 percent higher than the injury rate for workers in private industries, showing just how hazardous the health care industry has become.