Reasons Why You Should Always Report An Injury You Get At Work
An industrial manufacturing business failed to report injuries sustained to its workers on the job, and subsequently was in danger of having $525,000 in fines levied against them. An investigation revealed a pattern of injuries not being reported on a timely basis. Companies are required by law to report on-the-job injuries within 10 days of the incident.
This company was ordered to appear in court and show evidence they had reported the injuries, as required by the law, to the Worker’s Compensation Board. The report showed that a large percentage of the unreported injury cases dated back a year or more. According to record, there were no prior cases of employers being brought up on these charges. You may be looking for personal injury solicitor information, in which case you should visit that site.
During their investigation, attorneys working for the Workers Compensation Board was unable to find another case involving a company being fined for failure to report or for under reporting instances of job-related injuries since the law was created in 1944. Even the lawyers of the manufacturer could find no other similar cases. This was a lawyer who actually specialized in Worker’s Compensation Law.
As yet, there have been no statements by any of the board members regarding the allegations. A human resources official for the company, however, commented the firm looked forward to attending the appointed hearing, hoping to bring closure to the unsavory issue. The hearing will allow the information to be reviewed and evaluated and a discussion to be had relating to these types of matters.
Accusations by the unions representing the workers are that the company intentionally withheld the injury reports from both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Workers’ Compensation Board. Others admittedly view the company’s actions as a deliberate attempt to defraud the system in order to minimize financial losses. The plastic manufacturing company would simply reimburse an employee for medical costs and any time they were unable to work due to their injury. To get a closer look on workers compensation lawyers melbourne visit this site.
One attorney working for the United Steelworkers of America commented that keeping a significant number of workplace injuries quiet avoids alerting the proper authorities to conducting wide-scale inspections; it also significantly cuts losses due to damages paid employees whose injuries become chronic even as far as 30 years into the future. Sixty additional claims of non-reported injuries came forward to the Workers’ Compensation Board after initial charges were levied, with some of the claims originating in 1994. The accused company maintained that their understanding of the law had been incorrect, and that even though these cases ought to have been filed previously, they didn’t realize it.
The possibility remains that fines in the amount of $2,500 could be levied for each and every case that wasn’t reported within ten days of injury, as required by law. The company may even have charges brought against them. The Criminal Fraud Unit of the Attorney General’s office was notified by the Workers’ Compensation Board on the pending charges.
There is ongoing research into the allegations being made about the under-reporting, including four recent instances where workers had significant parts of their fingers cut off while working at the plant.
Accusations were made of the company accepting payments made on a particular worker’s health insurance plan, even though they canceled her plan after her injury.
A corporate-wide investigation is being demanded by the director of the United Steelworkers of America due to the allegations that have been brought to light at this particular plant. The company reportedly owns four additional mills in both Illinois and Indiana.