US Workers Compensation Centennial Commission

This  10-minute video was created for the National History Day contest by students at Nimitz High School in Houston, Texas.

The Workers’ Compensation Centennial Commission was formed to celebrate the first constitutional workers’ compensation law in the United States which was signed on May 3, 1911 and took full effect on Sept. 1, 1911.  It was a recognition of society’s responsibility to the workplace, establishing workers compensation as the first form of social insurance in American history.  Today, workers’ compensation stands as a pillar within our economic system that benefits all Americans.

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered work related accident and injuries.

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The Trend to Exclude Distracted Driving From Workers' Compensation Coverage

The trend nationally is to prohibit the use of cell phones in motor vehicles. Such a ban would make use of a cellphone while working a deviation from employment and accidents involving cell phone use at work would then be considered a deviation from employment and excluded from workers' compensation coverage,

Citing cell phone usage while driving, the Federal Government is making a major initiative to get workers off cell phone while at work. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced the agenda for the second national Distracted Driving Summit to be held on September 21st , 2010 in Washington, DC.

Building on the success of last year’s summit, Secretary LaHood will convene leading transportation officials, safety advocates, law enforcement, industry representatives, researchers and victims affected by distraction-related crashes to address challenges and identify opportunities for national anti-distracted driving efforts. U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar will also speak at the summit. 

“Thousands of people are killed or injured every year in accidents caused by distracted drivers,” said Secretary LaHood. “One year after our first national Distracted Driving Summit, we will reconvene to take stock of our progress and reassess the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. I look forward to hearing insights from our distinguished panelists and guests, and know that by working together, we will save lives.”

The 2010 Distracted Driving Summit will be live webcast at www.distraction.gov, enabling the participation of people around the country. US employers are urged to set policies to prohibit the use of cell phones at work. "Use a variety of organizational channels to communicate with employees the company's commitment to safety and health and specifically to the nonuse of cell phones and texting. Make it clear to your employees that the expectation is that they will NOT talk or text on their cell phones while driving on company time or in company vehicles. Have employees sign a contract that says they will not violate the organization’s ban on texting and driving."

Many State Laws already ban the use of cell phones while driving. Sample legislation to be used as a starting point for states crafting new laws to prohibit texting while driving has been encouraged. 

Making the workplace safer is a major purpose of workers' compensation law. Public policy will certainly support the effort to end distracted driving. The trend to exclude coverage for distracted driving is a signifiant move in the right direction to help workers steer clear of accidents.

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered work related accident and injuries.

Related Articles

• Working While Texting: The New Workers Compensation Defense
• Are Driving Distractions Within the Course of the Employment?
• Cell Phone Use and Occupational Cancer: The Jury is Still Out
• Employee Cell Chat Results in $5.2 Million Payment to Widow by Employer
• LaHood accuses lobbying campaign of undermining efforts to fight distracted driving (taragana.com)
• Lobbyists Try to Reframe Distracted Driving Issue (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)
• No Matter Who is on the Phone, Cell Phones are a Distraction in the Car (psychologytoday.com)

National Mesothelioma Awareness Day September 26

A "National Mesothelioma  Awareness Day" will be commemorated on September 26, 2010. Nearly 3,000 individuals are afflicted yearly with this fatal disease associated with exposure to asbestos fiber. 

Last year, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced Senate Resolution 288 to commemorate September 26th as "National Mesothelioma  Awareness Day. " A similar resolution is now pending in the US House of Representatives. It was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 

• Whereas mesothelioma is a terminal cancer related to exposure to asbestos that affects the lining of the lungs, abdomen, heart, or testicles;
• Whereas workers who are exposed to asbestos on a daily basis over a long period of time are most at risk, but even short-term exposures to asbestos can cause the disease;
• Whereas exposure to asbestos for as little as 1 month can cause mesothelioma 20 to 50 years later;
• Whereas asbestos was used in the construction of virtually all office buildings, public schools, and homes built before 1975, and more than 3,000 products sold in the United States contain asbestos;
• Whereas there is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos;
• Whereas millions of workers in the United States have been, and continue to be, exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos;
• Whereas the National Institutes of Health reported to Congress in 2006 that mesothelioma is a difficult disease to detect, diagnose, and treat;
• Whereas the National Cancer Institute recognizes a clear need for new treatments to improve the outlook for patients with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases;
• Whereas the need to develop treatments for mesothelioma was overlooked for decades;
• Whereas even the best available treatments for mesothelioma typically have only a very limited effect, and a person diagnosed with mesothelioma is expected to survive between 8 and 14 months;
• Whereas mesothelioma has claimed the lives of such heroes and public servants as Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr., and Congressman Bruce F. Vento;
• Whereas many mesothelioma victims were exposed to asbestos while serving in the Navy;
• Whereas it is believed that many of the firefighters, police officers, and rescue workers who served at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, may be at increased risk of contracting mesothelioma in the future; and
• Whereas cities and localities throughout the United States will recognize September 26, 2009, as `Mesothelioma Awareness Day'

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman  1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered asbestos related disease.

Victory for an Aircrew for Breathing Contaminated Aircraft Air

A major global legal precedent has been established with an Australian flight attendant winning damages for injury from exposure to aircraft air contaminated by oil fumes and smoke.

The problem of aircraft cabin air becoming contaminated by synthetic jet engine oils containing organophosphates (such as Tricresyl Phosphate, TCP) and a wide range of chemicals has been ongoing sin

The aviation industry has known about the potential for exposure to oil fumes in the cabin and flight deck during normal commercial flights for more than 50 years. Instead of mandating air contaminant filters and monitors, the industry denies the problem and allows aircrew and passengers to breathe oil fumes that contaminate the aircraft air supply since the 1950s.

On  September 3, 2010 a former Australian flight attendant became the first person in the world to win a civil case resulting from breathing oil smoke and fumes in the aircraft cabin on a BAe 146 in Australia in 1992.

The legal precedent Joanne Turner v. Eastwest Airlines was made in the High Court of Australia. Ms Turner a former flight attendant with Australia’s Ansett and Eastwest Airlines, was exposed to smoke and fumes resulting from a failed oil seal on a BAe 146 flight between Sydney and Brisbane on 4 March 1992, while 5 months pregnant.

The court found that Ms Turner was exposed to oil fumes and smoke generated from engine oil that had leaked into a component of the aircraft air supply system called the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU -engine).

The failure of the APU oil seal was found to be foreseeable, as was the risk that smoke from the leaking oil would enter the aircraft cabin.

Cabin smells from oil were noted to be an ongoing problem acknowledged by the defendant, with numerous complaints about the cabin air prior to the incident on 4 March 1992, including an entry 10 days prior to the incident stating: ‘APU AIR NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.’

Ms Turner was found to have been exposed to Mobil Jet Oil II on 4 March 1992 with the court finding that ‘pyrolysed effects of Mobil Jet Oil II are harmful to the lungs.’ As such Ms Turner suffered from a pathological condition to the lungs caused by exposure to the smoke and that condition has continued for more than eighteen years and is expected to be life-long. As such Ms Turner was awarded $138,757 Australian dollars.

The defendant appealed the decision to the New South Wales Court of Appeal and then the High Court of Australia, however subsequently lost both appeals on 1 April 2010 and 3 September 2010 respectively.

It is well documented that synthetic jet engine oil leaks into aircraft cabin air (as a feature of using air supplied through the engines) and that such exposures are a flight safety and health concern, for both aircrew and passengers. Contaminated air exposures are now known to be a normal regular occurrence, an expected occurrence and regrettably an accepted occurrence within the aviation industry.

This court verdict supports the long held Global Cabinet Air Quality Executive (GCAQE) view that industry actions currently being undertaken to address the issue of exposure to aircraft bleed air are inadequate. The court verdict clearly demonstrates that the call by the industry for further research to determine what chemicals are present when engine oil leaks and how often this occurs is unwarranted. There is already enough evidence available to satisfy the duty of care requirements.

The benchmark has now been set supporting that exposure to oil leaking into the aircraft air supply is harmful to people, both aircrew and passengers.

The supply air for the cabin and flight deck is taken from either the engine or APU and is not filtered for engine oil fumes before people breathe it. Commercial aircraft are not equipped with detection equipment to alert the crew that the air is contaminated, creating an unacceptable flight safety and public health issue. The aviation industry inaction ignores the fact that aircrew and passengers are owed a duty of care and there is, without doubt, enough evidence to apply the precautionary principle and prevent oil contaminating the air supply with proactive maintenance and bleed air cleaners and monitors.

The GCAQE calls for all future aircraft to be designed using bleed free technology such as that used by the Boeing 787, for all current aircraft to be fitted with suitable filters and detection systems, and for airlines to service their fleets with less toxic oils. This court verdict supports that 60 years of unfiltered bleed air is no longer acceptable.

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For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900
 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational illnesses. Author NJ Workers Compensation Law (West).

Related articles:

• Joanne Turner, Sick Flight Attendant, Finally Gets Compensation For Breating 'Toxic' Cabin Air (huffingtonpost.com)
• Medical crew takes flight, injured out of fight (waronterrornews.typepad.com)
• 'Toxic' cabin air: legal victory for sick flight attendant (telegraph.co.uk)
• Development of Diagnostics in the Search for an Explanation of Aerotoxic Syndrome University of NE 4.9.10
• The Areotoxic Association

UN Agency Urges Worldwide Asbestos Ban

The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) has called for a worldwide ban on asbestos production citing that there is an asbestos related death every 5 minute and asbestos already claims 107,000 lives each year. The ILO has warned that asbestos industry lobbyists must not claim support of the ILO in its effort to continue asbestos production.

Asbestos, for decades, has been linked to asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma remains an incurable and fatal disease. While asbestos use has been banned in many countries, Canada and the United States have yet to ban is use. 

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered asbestos related disease.

Related Stories:

• ILO deals the "death knoll for asbestos" Independent News 9.15.2010
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• Asbestos industry still strong in Russia (bbc.co.uk)
• Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization Responds to Potential Canadian Efforts to Revive Jeffrey Mine (eon.businesswire.com)
• Global asbestos trade (bbc.co.uk)

Facebook Makes an Appearance in Workers' Compensation Court

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, have now become informational sources that workers' compensation lawyers are now utilizing for evidentiary purposes. The question that remains unanswered is how information obtained through social networking sites can be admitted and utilized as evidence.

In a recently published article, Law School Professor Gregory M. Duhl and attorney Jaclyn S. Millner, focus on the issues of professional responsibility, discovery, privacy and evidence when social networking factors integrate with a workers's compensation proceeding. Since the compensation system is theoretically no-fault and the evidentiary system is informal, the authors theorize that the workers' compensation arena will act as a fertile ground for experimentation in the legal application of this new technology. 

Social networking site have experienced a surge in use. Web users spend more time on Facebook now than on Google.  Workers' Compensation judges are  also increasing their use of social networking sites.

Text, photos and commentary, shared among the social network, will provide a new avenue of factual discovery that may assist the decision maker in reaching an evaluation of the claim. The authors review the professional responsibilities of attorneys to their clients in advising them of the potential benefits and hazards of social networking, as well as  their  strategy for preparing text and photographic material into evidence. They conclude that lawyers handling workers' compensation matters need to be educated on how to properly utilize facts and opinions gathered from the social networking system.

Duhl, Gregory M. and Millner, Jaclyn S., Social Networking and Workers’ Compensation Law at the Crossroads (September 2010). Pace Law Review, Vol. 31; William Mitchell Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-16. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1675026

...

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900
 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational illnesses. Author NJ Workers Compensation Law (West).

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Fraud Unit DA in California Admits to Knowing Zero About Employee Rights

"I don't really know about what employees' rights are when it comes to workers' comp," he said.  "I know what fraud is, I can talk about that all day long.  But in terms of what their rights are, I will admit to Yolo County I am neglectful of that."


Lt. Stroski continues,  "So if anyone wants to help me out with that I would be glad to take that advice and run with it and include it in our outreach program. Bottom line is I have been remiss in doing that because I don't feel I'm qualified.  If you are going to ask me that, the answer is zero, I don't feel qualified."


Complete Article:  http://tinyurl.com/28avsla


For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational illnesses. Author NJ Workers Compensation Law (West).