Firefighters Required to Stop Smoking On And Off Duty

In many jurisdictions firefighters are allowed a presumption under the law that their pulmonary disability is causally related to their employment under workers' compensation. Now firefighters hired after January 1, 2010 in St. Louis County will be told that they must not smoke on or off duty.

"We felt we owed it to our taxpayers to be in the best shape we possibly could," said Rich Minda, West County fire captain and a vice president of the local firefighters' union. "We just don't feel that it's proper to be doing something so bad for yourself when you're viewed as a role model."

Ordinances allowing presumptions have unique interpretations. A local ordinance provided for an irrefutable presumption that an illness suffered by a firefighter was related to his employment was not deemed to be a payment under the "Workman's Compensation Act" within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code. Therefore the payments received by the firefighter were not excluded from income tax. Take v. Commission of Internal Revenue, 804 F.2d 553 (9th Cir.1986).

Also, firefighters are also entitled to benefits under the Public Safety Officers Benefit Program (PSOB), administered by the Department of Justice. The death of a volunteer firefighter who died of heart failure in the course of his duties while responding to a house fire was not deemed compensable. There was a lack of evidence as to smoke or carbon monoxide inhalation that would have triggered the heart attack. The volunteer firefighter was 70 years of age and had a history of heart trouble including prior hospitalizations for coronary insufficiency and for congestive heart failure. North v. United States, 1 Cl.Ct. 93, 555 F.Supp. 382 (1982).

Following the World Trade Center attack, many firefighters who were involved in the event and rescue were killed and those who survived suffer from respiratory conditions. The World Trade Center attack created an acute environmental disaster of incredible magnitude. It has been reported that the WTC dust was found to consist predominantly (95%) of coarse particles composed of cement, glass fiber, asbestos, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyl and polychlorinated furans and dioxins. Due to potential latent disease consequences, the population's greatest risk of exposure, including firefighters, police, paramedics an other first responders as well as construction workers and volunteers who initially aided in the rescue and recovery and then for many months thereafter cleaned the rubble at Ground Zero, are considered to have an elevated risk and should be studied. Philip J. Lendrigan, et. al., "Health and Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Disaster," 112 Environmental Health perspectives 6 (May, 2004).

OSHA Adds Hexavalent Chromium to Shipyards Standards

Hexavalent chromium [Chromium (VI) [hexavalent chromium or Cr(VI)]”means chromium with a valence of positive six, inany form and in any compound.] has been added to the list of air contaminants whose concentrations should not exceed stated exposure levels in the OSHA guidance document Shipyard Industry Standards.

"The Maritime Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health recommended that OSHA update and republish the shipyard and longshoring industry digests," said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. "The revised document is now up-to-date with current standards and will continue to serve as another resource for protecting the safety and health of shipyard workers."

Shipyard Industry Standards revises the existing Shipyard Industry Digest and incorporates new shipyard employment requirements that have been developed and finalized since the booklet was last published in 1998. It lists the guidelines for safety and health programs in the industry and incorporates topics such as management commitment; employee participation; hazard identification, assessment and control; and program evaluation.

NCCI Reports Workers Compensation Claims Continue to Decline

A report issued by a national workers' compensation rating organization, NCCI Holdings, Inc (NCCI) disclosed that workers' compensation claims frequency is declining.

"Preliminary results indicate a decline of 4.0% for 2008. This is on the heels of a 2.6% drop in claim frequency in 2007 and it extends a trend that started in the 1990s. While the overall decline is widespread .... high-cost Permanent Total claims have emerged recently as a noticeable exception to this decline."

The key finding of their analysis were:

• Over the last five years, there were significant declines in total lost-time claims frequency for all industries, geographic regions, and employer sizes
• The number and frequency of Permanent Total claims have increased significantly over the last four years, with all major causes of injury contributing to the rise
• The rise in Permanent Total claims appears to be driven primarily by workers age 50 or under
  
• While claim frequency generally decreases as risk size increases, single-state risks in some classes have higher claim frequency at the higher payroll sizes than at lower payroll sizes

EPA Warns of Asbestos Exposures From Attic Insulation

Asbestos exposures in attics has become a major area of concern of the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Loose vermiculite was commonly used in attics to insulate home. Asbestos is a known carcinogen.

Recently the US EPA declared asbestos in Libby Montana as a public health emergency. EPA is launching a public awareness campaign to notify the public, including individuals whose jobs routinely put them in attic spaces, about the potential for vermiculite insulation to be contaminated with asbestos fibers. A new EPA guidance document, targeted for the general public, is available athttp://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/verm.html.

Additional information concerning asbestos exposures and asbestos claims is avialable at: http://www.gelmans.com

e-mail Communications of Employee Are Privileged

Emails that were exchanged by employee and her attorney through her personal, password-protected web-based email account were protected by the attorney-client privilege, even though emails were sent on the employer's computer and a version of employer's handbook purported to transform private emails into company property.

"Finding that the policies undergirding the attorney-client privilege substantially outweigh the employer's interest in enforcement of its unilaterally imposed regulation, we reject the employer's claimed right to rummage through and retain the employee's emails to her attorney."

Stengart v. Loving Care Agency, Inc., --- A.2d ----, 2009 WL 1811064(N.J. App. Div. 2009)

Bill Introduced in US Senate to Expand Rights of Injured Service Members

The Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act (S. 1347 / H.R. 1478), sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) has been introduced in the US Senate. The legislation would permit members of the US armed services to file claims for medical malpractice.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence ?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had twocsons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Remember this 4th of July: Freedom is never free!