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Maryland State Trooper Injured During Investigation

On Saturday night, December 24, a Maryland State Police trooper, was injured while in the course of his duties.

The police trooper from the North East barracks was investigating a fatal accident in Cecil County, Maryland, where a two vehicle crash on Pulaski Highway, resulted in the death of 74 year old Estel Privett, of Cecil County.

Also present at the scene were Maryland State Police and the Maryland State Highway Administration who closed the roadway in order that the investigators could work the scene.

As the investigators were doing their job, about 90 minutes after the original accident took place, 56 year old Kevin Roberts of Cecil County drove through the closed area, ran over several cones and flares and hit a State Highway Administration Vehicle.

He then continued and hit a Police cruiser which was pushed into the investigator.

The investigator and Roberts were transported to Christiana Hospital in Delaware.

Police said impairment by alcohol and controlled dangerous substance were contributing factors to the second collision.

No charges have yet been filed in either collision.

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.

Two Bus Drivers Died During Horrific Crash

Two bus drivers were killed in Baltimore along with five other people during a horrific crash.

The accident happened when a school bus first hit a silver Ford Mustang, crushing its rear and forcing its nose into the pavement. Then it hit a pillar at a cemetery entrance hundreds of feet down the street. Veering across the center line, the yellow school bus slammed into the front driver side of the MTA bus, ending about 100 yards from the pillar.

According to Baltimore police, the school bus driver was killed, along with at least five people on the Maryland Transit Administration bus including the driver. Several others were injured.

The accident is being investigated, by the National Transportation Safety Board and in addition it is hoped that survivors, witnesses and the autopsy report on the school bus driver will help to ascertain the cause of the accident.

Investigators say that the lack of skid marks at the site, is leading them to believe that the school bus driver suffered a medical emergency.

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.

Is Automatic Drug Testing in the Event of Employee Accidents Illegal?

Workers’ compensation laws require automatic drug testing following workplace accidents but according to the Occupation Health and Safety Administration, employers must establish reasonable procedures for employees to report work-related injuries and illnesses in a manner that must not “deter or discourage” employees from making such reports. Obviously if employees have to undertake mandatory drug testing it may deter them from reporting any illness or injury.

However, most employers insist on such testing in the event of work place injuries to ensure the workers’ compensation coverage.

It appears that the way to reconcile it is that, according to OSHA the new Rule only prohibits drug testing of employees if they report work-related injuries or illnesses without an objectively reasonable basis for doing so. In other words there needs to be a reasonable basis for testing for drugs and if the employer had a reasonable basis for believing that drug use by the reporting employee could have contributed to the injury or illness. If so, it would be objectively reasonable to subject the employee to a drug test.

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.

What is Maryland Occupational Safety and Health?

Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) is an organization which works to improve the safety and health of Maryland’s working men and women in both the public and private sector.

It provides consultation services, outreach and educational programs, and sets and enforces standards, as well as encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. MOSH develops and proposes rules and regulations which are designed to prevent accidents and occupational diseases in every occupation or place of employment in Maryland.

Across the country there are 28 OSHA (Occupational safety and Health) approved State Plans and MOSH is one of these. State Plans are OSHA approved job safety and health programs operated by individual states instead of federal OSHA and MOSH is funded with federal and special funds.

MOSH has jurisdiction over all public and private sector workplaces in Maryland with the exception of federal employees as well as the United States Postal Service; most private sector maritime activities which includes shipyard employment and marine terminals, and military bases which are covered under OSHA jurisdiction.

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.

Nurse Fell from Maryland Bridge Helping Accident Victim

A nurse fell 75 feet from a Maryland bridge while helping an accident victim.

The accident happened on August 3 on the I 70 bridge over the Monocacy River when 47 year old Angela Weir was traveling to the gym with her husband. As they crossed the bridge early in the morning ahead of them was a major accident between a tractor trailer and a dump truck.

Husband Chris stopped the car to call 911 while Angela ran to try and help the victims. The tanker was burning fiercely and she was concerned it may be carrying fuel and explode so she did not want to get too close, but the dump truck was upside down and thinking the driver may be trapped, she ran towards that. She wanted to stay away from the flames so went to the other side of the Jersey barrier, but forgot she was on a bridge and fell 75 feet.

Although the area has trees and rocks she missed them all and fell into 12 feet of water. She then began to swim but being concerned about a possible spinal injury she decided to remain still and called for help.

Her husband thought she was still helping the crash victims or in one of the ambulances assisting until a another person heard her in the water. Maryland State police were informed and eventually she was rescued and taken by helicopter to the shock trauma center where she was shortly due to start her shift as a nurse, where she was found to only be suffering from cuts and bruises

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.

Work Related Accidents Around the World

Throughout the world a worker dies from a work related accident or disease every 15 seconds. In addition, 153 workers have non fatal work related accident every 15 seconds.

These figures translate to 6,300 people dying every day as a result of occupational accidents or work-related diseases which is more than 2.3 million deaths per year. Every year there are 317 million accidents which occur on the job and many of these mean that workers have to have a long period of time away from their job leading to a major economic burden on the worker as well as the company.

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and health Administration was created over 40 years ago to try and reduce the number of work related accidents and injuries. Before its creation it is estimated that 14,000 workers were killed at work each year but nowadays instead of 38 fatal injuries a day there are 12. While this is a major decrease there is still much work to be done to ensure that less workers are killed or injured on the job.

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.

Corporal Seriously Injured at Work

A Corporal from the Carroll County Sheriff Office was seriously injured while at work back in January and is still unable to return to his post.

Corporal Brant Webb was on patrol when his cruiser was hit head on by a speeding car traveling at 95 miles a hour. The crash resulted in him suffering broken ribs, bruised lungs, destroyed leg ligaments, broken feet and toes and split his head open. It took three months before he could walk again and he now needs further surgeries to his foot as he still uses a wheelchair much of the time.

The investigation is still ongoing and charges are being considered against the other driver.

However, not only is Webb unable to work at his job at the Sheriff’s office, he also lost his second job working in security for Safe Haven Shelter in Westminster. It is still not known if he will ever be well enough to work as he did before, but the Sheriff has said he will try and find him some role which would be suitable for him when he is well enough to return to work.

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.

Workman Improving Following Accident With Pickup Truck

On Monday, May 2, it was announced that the condition of a man who was injured on April 21 when a pickup truck rolled on top of him near a work zone on Interstate 70 east of Hagerstown has been upgraded.

According to Maryland State Police the accident happened at about 1:30 a.m., when workers were repairing a guardrail on I-70 east at the U.S. 40 interchange. Troopers said a 2007 Chevrolet Colorado being driven by James P. Hill III of Bolivar, Ohio, attempted to change lanes and pulled into the path of a 2014 Ford F350. The impact forced the Chevrolet into the median, where it rolled several times and struck 39 year old Jamey Kamp, of Confluence, Pa.

Kamp was listed as being in critical condition but according to a hospital spokeswoman, he is now listed in good condition Monday at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Neither Hill nor the driver of the Ford, Brian Steven Debusk of Elkton, Md., was injured.

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.

Report on Midair Crash Has Been Issued

A new National Transportation Safety Board report has been issued concerning the fatal midair crash between a small plane and a helicopter near Frederick Municipal Airport in October 2014.

This is the second report out of three, with the first one issued in November 2014 and the final report is still awaited.

The accident happened when the Cirrus single engine plane, which had been cleared for landing, collided with a Robinson R44 helicopter near the airport and all three of those on board the helicopter died. They were 29-year old Christopher D. Parsons, of Westminster who was the instructor; 47-year old William Jenkins, of Morrison, Colorado, the pilot; and 35-year old Breandan J. MacFawn, of Cumberland.

The pilot of the plane who was 56-year old Scott V. Graeves, of Brookeville, and his only passenger, 76-year old Gilbert L. Porter, of Sandy Spring both survived with only minor injuries.

It appears that the cause of the accident was that the helicopter was taking off as the plane was landing and did not see the plane. The air traffic controller involved stressed that there was no radar at the airport and she had not heard a comment from the helicopter as another helicopter pilot was talking at the same time.

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.

How to Stay Safe When Welding

There is no question that welding can be a dangerous activity, but with the right safety precautions, the chances of being injured can be dramatically reduced.

First workers should always wear protective equipment which includes a face protector, along with protective goggles and heavy duty gloves. Also the welder must be aware of the environment and remove any potential combustible objects from the area. Another issue can be vapors in the air so you should always check for any open gas lines, oxygen tanks or fuels lines as it is easy to cause a fire when welding near inflammable vapors.

The welder should also be careful not to get too hot, as heat exhaustion can result and those who are exposed to toxic fumes or materials such as asbestos over a period of time can go on to develop lung and breathing issues.

To learn more about your rights and potential compensation after a work-related accident, please call the Cumberland work accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online today.