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(c) 2010-2024 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.

Monday, November 21, 2011

EU Restricts US Airport Scanners As Health Hazard

The European Commission has adopted today a proposal for an European Union legal framework on security scanners. This legislation allows airports and Member States that wish to use security scanners for the screening of passengers to do so under strict operational and technical conditions.
Member States have been trialling or testing security scanners, since a terrorist attempted on 25 December 2009 to blow up a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit with plastic explosives he had hidden in his underwear. Until now the use of security scanners has been done under a patchwork of different national operational procedures and standards and in a limited way. As a common EU-wide framework, the new legislation legally allows Member States and airports to replace current security systems with security scanners. It also ensures the uniform application of security rules at all airports and provides strict and mandatory safeguards to ensure compliance with fundamental rights and the protection of health.
Member States and airports do not have an obligation to deploy security scanners, but if they decide to use them, they will have to comply with the operational conditions and performance standards set at European level.
Vice-President Siim Kallas, Commissioner responsible for transport, said: "Security scanners are not a panacea but they do offer a real possibility to reinforce passenger security. Security scanners are a valuable alternative to existing screening methods and are very efficient in detecting both metallic and non-metallic objects. It is still for each Member State or airport to decide whether or not to deploy security scanners, but these new rules ensure that where this new technology is used it will be covered by EU wide standards on detection capability as well as strict safeguards to protect health and fundamental rights. Experience to date shows that passengers and staff generally see security scanners as a convenient method of screening."
Security scanners are an effective method of screening passengers as they are capable of detecting both metallic and non-metallic items carried on a person. The scanner technology is developing rapidly and has the potential to significantly reduce the need for manual searches ("pat-downs") applied to passengers, crews and airport staff.
Under the new EU legislation the use of security scanners is only allowed in accordance with minimum conditions such as for example that: security scanners shall not store, retain, copy, print or retrieve images; any unauthorized access and use of the image is prohibited and shall be prevented; the human reviewer analyzing the image shall be in a separate location and the image shall not be linked to the screened person and others. Passengers must be informed about conditions under which the security scanner control takes place. In addition, passengers are given the right to opt out from a control with scanners and be subject to an alternative method of screening.
By laying down specific operational conditions and by providing passengers with the possibility of opting out, the legislation safeguards fundamental rights and the principles recognized in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
In order not to risk jeopardizing citizens' health and safety, only security scanners which do not use X-ray technology are added to the list of authorized methods for passenger screening at EU airports. All other technologies, such as that used for mobiles phones and others, can be used provided that they comply with EU security standards.

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WHO Concludes Occupation Exposure to Bitumens Can Cause Cancer

The World Health Organization (WHO)/International Agency for Research on Cancer’s Monographs programme re-evaluated various occupations that entail exposures to bitumens and bitumen emissions, including road paving, roofing, and application of mastic asphalt.

After an 8-day comprehensive review, the Working Group concluded that:

• occupational exposures to oxidized bitumens and their emissions during roofing are ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ (Group 2A);

• occupational exposures to hard bitumens and their emissions during mastic asphalt work are ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ (Group 2B); and

• occupational exposures to straight-run bitumens and their emissions during road paving are ‘possibly  carcinogenic to humans’ (Group 2B).

Bitumens are produced by distillation of crude oil during petroleum refining, and also occur naturally. Bitumens can be  divided into broad classes according to their physical properties and specifications required for the different uses. The  major use of bitumens is in asphalt for road paving; other uses include roofing, waterproofing, and sealing and  painting.  Application of bitumens may generate hazardous emissions.

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 accidents and illnesses.
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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Bullying Shouldn't Be Taught in Schools

Schools systems are an essential source of education for our nation's future workforce. They become a farce when bullying is taught. The following is an editorial from the Star Ledger newspaper:


Wayne Hills puts bullies ahead of victims by reinstating football players

Wayne Hills coach Chris Olsen speaks during the Wayne Board of Education last night. About 60 Wayne Hills players were in attendance to support their coach and teammates.
The Record
Wayne Hills varsity football coach Chris Olsen, proving that winning games is more important to him than teaching life lessons, defended nine players charged in the brutal beating of two Wayne Valley students.
Actually, Olsen went further than that. He painted the accused rampaging juvenile delinquents as victims.
At last night’s board of education meeting, Olsen told the crowd that the accused players -- who cops say left one kid bloody and unconscious in the street -- “are guilty of playing football at Wayne Hills.”
In other words, the bullies are the victims.
That’s rich.
Let’s remind ourselves of the odds: Nine football players against two students.
And the charges: Aggravated assault.
Another point: Not once last night were the words “We’re sorry” uttered by Olsen.
And believe it or not, the spineless and morally bankrupt board of education fell for Olsen’s twisted sense of reality, and decided to reinstate the players, who had been banned by the superintendent from tonight’s playoff game against Paramus.
Olsen said the past 10 days, since the charges have come to light, have been a “nightmare.”
(Let’s pause here for a moment of silence for Olsen.)
He said his wife has been called bad names. He said e-mails have suggested that Olsen’s kid, who plays on he team, might have been involved in the beating, although Olsen says he wasn’t.
We don’t condone dragging Olsen’s wife and son into this mess, but Olsen misses the point: Times are a lot tougher for the victims. A mother of one of the victims says her son suffers from real nightmares, not the figurative one that Olsen, with a ridiculous sense of literary license, conjured last night
Why the nightmares? Because the victim recalls being kicked repeatedly as he lay on the ground.
Olsen’s next move should be to ask for a pay raise, because he is more than just a football coach. He’s now an investigator who is insisting there is evidence to indicate that some of the players charged might not have been involved
He’s a protest organizer, who paraded his players, dressed in their jerseys, into the meeting as props.
He’s a defense attorney, too. In his best Johnnie Cochran, Olsen called the process a “rush to justice.”
“Let’s say some of the boys, or all of them are found not guilty,” Olsen said. “What do we say to them? ‘We’re sorry’?”
Actually, yes. That’s exactly what we say.
We say, “We’re sorry, but there was enough evidence for police to charge you with a serious and violent crime, and to protect the integrity of the school, and to show that this issue is far more important than a football game or football season, we decided to make you sit out until the courts decided your guilt or innocence.”
The police chief says his investigators are meeting resistance because witnesses are afraid to talk. School officials should implore witnesses to come forth.
Olsen says the ordeal has made him question whether to continue coaching. With the lesson he is teaching his players here, we question it, too. He should bench the players.
Because if he doesn’t, any championship banner Wayne Hills might hang will be stained with blood.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/10/white-house-conference-bullying-prevention_n_833805.html
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Friday, November 18, 2011

Claim Permitted Against Employer For Concealment of Chemical Dangers

A Federal Court permitted a claim a claim by the estate of a former worker to advance against an his employer despite the exclusivity bar of the workers compensation act. The employer had not warned the employee of the potential deadly side effects of pesticides.


In satisfying the two prong (conduct and context) NJ test for an intentional tort against an employer, the employee's estate set forth that the employer had intentionally and fraudulently concealed information of the hazardous nature of the chemicals and substances that the employee worked with as an exterminator.


The employee, who applied pesticides for 11 years, was not furnished with adequate safety equipment and was not provided with warning materials available to the employer.


The court held that employer's conduct was substantially certain to cause injury or death. The estate filed a certification substantiating the events surrounding the exposure and death; material Safety Data Sheets; and expert reports. Where the conduct of the employer is actively misleading and illness and death were substantially certain to occur the employ can be held liable.


Where the conduct of the employer in not protecting the employee is more than a fact of industrial life and is "plainly beyond anything the Legislature intended the Workers' Compensation Act to immune," the compensation act is not an exclusive remedy against the employer.


The Court held that the employer "understood the hazardous nature of the chemicals but failed to provide the decedent with the equipment necessary to ensure his safety. ".... the employer turned a "blind eye to the risks inherent chemical in the use of the chemicals" and went as far as hiding those risks so that the employee was not aware of their existence. "Concealment is hardly an expected fact of life in industrial
employment."

Click Here For Complete Decision: Blackshear v. Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., Civ. Action No. 10-3585 (KSH) (USDCT - NJ 2011)


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 accidents and illnesses.

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The Complex World of Workers' Compensation and Pharmaceutical Benefits

The Workers’ Compensation system, designed over a century ago, was intended to provide medical benefits that were to be delivered to injured workers in an efficient and effective manner. Over the decades, the benefit program has evolved into a complex and costly system that is difficult to navigate and provides uncertain outcomes. Pharmaceutical benefits have become a serious concern and have added complexity and costs to the program.

Prescription drugs have become an increasingly important issue in workers’ compensation law. Their use in workers’ compensation claims has resulted in both a major direct financial cost to the system, and has had substantial impact on the efficiency of the administrative process. The use of prescription drugs in workers’ compensation will require further discussion in order to maintain the system as the efficient, remedial social legislative system the crafters envisioned over a century ago.

Gelman, Jon L., The Complex World of Workers' Compensation and Pharmaceutical Benefits, New Jersey Law Journal, Vol. 206, p. 5, October 2011. 


Complete Article Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1960708

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 accidents and illnesses.

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WorldDay of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims — November 20, 2011

Road traffic crashes kill nearly 1.3 million persons every year and injure or disable as many as 50 million more (1). Road trauma is the leading cause of death among persons aged 10--24 years worldwide and the leading cause of death to those aged 5--34 years in the United States. CDC has declared road traffic injuries a "winnable battle" and supports efforts at the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) to celebrate 2011--2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2). Distracted driving is a major cause of accidents.
In October 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution* calling for governments to mark the third Sunday in November each year as World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. The day was created as a means to give recognition to persons injured or killed in road traffic crashes and the plight of relatives and others who must cope with the emotional and practical consequences of these events.
WHO and the UN Road Safety Collaboration encourage governments and nongovernmental organizations worldwide to commemorate this day as a means of drawing the public's attention to road traffic crashes, their consequences and costs, and prevention measures. Additional information about the remembrance day is available at http://www.worlddayofremembrance.orgExternal Web Site Icon. Additional information about motor vehicle injuries and prevention is available at http://www.cdc.gov/winnablebattles/motorvehicleinjury.

References

  1. World Health Organization. Global status report on road safety: time for action. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2009.
  2. CDC. Launch of Decade of Action for Global Road Safety---May 11, 2011. MMWR 2011;60:554.

* Improving global road safety, Resolution 60/5, United Nations General Assembly, 60th Sess. (2005). Available at http://www.un.org/en/roadsafety/background.shtmlExternal Web Site Icon.


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 accidents and illnesses.
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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

US Supreme Court, Health Care & Workers' Compensation

The Supreme Court of the United States. Washin...Image via Wikipedia

The winds of change have brought a new health care system to the US. The US Supreme Court  will now have an opportunity to express it's opinion on the validity of the legislation. The new system, that provides additional worker protections, and a prototype of a universal medical care system ,"Libby Care," encompassing workers' compensation claims, reflects changes desperately needed.

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