SkittleBrew
Veteran XV
this is what i did yesterday
- Thread starter SkittleBrew
- Start date
go to doctor for updates/progress more routinely to document the current severity of your disability and its progression. DO NOT just ride it out. document every worsening with your doc. you should be able to extend WC benefits, days off for rehab, etc. due to worsening. prob have to file additional claims but dont just ignore the pain or whatever. it will get worse and you will get fucked over by WC if you don' have anything to show for it.
how'd you get a picture of Validuz's best girl?
SkittleBrew
Veteran XV
Good advice, thanks.
SkittleBrew
Veteran XV
OSHA made a surprise visit to my place of work today. They went through the company records of the last 3 years of work-related accidents and saw my accident in the books from last year. This is the first they are hearing about it. Which is illegal, from what I hear. They were supposed to report any hospitalizations within 24 hours.
So I'm sure they got fined for that.
On top of that, they wanted to know why Lockout/Tagout policy wasn't in place to prevent such an injury.
They got fined for that also.
Now I think that the owner/CEO is in panic mode. After the OSHA inspection I got suspicious questions from the shop foreman asking me about LO/TO. Like if I followed procedure or should have. I think he is trying to cover his own ass and present it to the owner like even though there is no formal procedure, we still are supposed to follow an unwritten informal policy.
Anyway... I don't know how hefty the fines are, but I doubt they are so large to warrant management to stealthily try to get a feel for my position on the matter. I think the owner is worried that I might realize that I have the opportunity to lawyer up and sue the hell out of the company.
...like I didn't already know this...
Probably doesn't help that they know I got the 15K from insurance. I'm sure he's probably thinking that 15K is only like a month of his income and for a moment put himself in my shoes... freaked out about what he'd do in the same position.
So I'm sure they got fined for that.
On top of that, they wanted to know why Lockout/Tagout policy wasn't in place to prevent such an injury.
They got fined for that also.
Now I think that the owner/CEO is in panic mode. After the OSHA inspection I got suspicious questions from the shop foreman asking me about LO/TO. Like if I followed procedure or should have. I think he is trying to cover his own ass and present it to the owner like even though there is no formal procedure, we still are supposed to follow an unwritten informal policy.
Anyway... I don't know how hefty the fines are, but I doubt they are so large to warrant management to stealthily try to get a feel for my position on the matter. I think the owner is worried that I might realize that I have the opportunity to lawyer up and sue the hell out of the company.
...like I didn't already know this...
Probably doesn't help that they know I got the 15K from insurance. I'm sure he's probably thinking that 15K is only like a month of his income and for a moment put himself in my shoes... freaked out about what he'd do in the same position.
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SkittleBrew
Veteran XV
It won't surprise me if OSHA ends up doing a deeper investigation of the incident. They were taking photographs of the drill and under the table where the accident occured.
I don't know your jurisdiction. It's likely that even if they had a LO procedure I doubt they would have evidence of monitoring that workers are following process, and/or taking action where a breach is identified. Likely the fine would come with instruction on improvement.
SkittleBrew
Veteran XV
Yeah, Foreman asked me if I would have or should have followed LO/TO. I told him that the accident happened 2 years and months since I had been hired on and during that time the topic of Lockout/Tagout had never once been brought up.
When OSHA showed up we basically had 10 minutes, while they waited in the office doing the formalities, for everyone in the shop to run around and police the area for anything that might get us fined. All work stopped. We were basically on break for 2 hours. During that time, the guy says "Everyone know that a lock is on top of the power box to the cranes if anyone asks you about lockout/tagout."
I was like... no shit? 3 years and 3 months on the job, a devastating hand accident involving the lack of LO/TO, and this is the first I'm hearing about the existence of a lock.
When OSHA showed up we basically had 10 minutes, while they waited in the office doing the formalities, for everyone in the shop to run around and police the area for anything that might get us fined. All work stopped. We were basically on break for 2 hours. During that time, the guy says "Everyone know that a lock is on top of the power box to the cranes if anyone asks you about lockout/tagout."
I was like... no shit? 3 years and 3 months on the job, a devastating hand accident involving the lack of LO/TO, and this is the first I'm hearing about the existence of a lock.
I can see in Canada that it's slightly similar to here. Far more than a single padlock sitting on the crane power box. I don't know about US.
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/etools/08-003/P08-00301B.pdf
This is the kind of gear you typically see for LO:
It's sometimes supported by a LOLO register and training records with a policy of 'breach of lockout is instant dismissal' like violence and theft. Depends on local laws.
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/etools/08-003/P08-00301B.pdf
This is the kind of gear you typically see for LO:
It's sometimes supported by a LOLO register and training records with a policy of 'breach of lockout is instant dismissal' like violence and theft. Depends on local laws.
ArakAtak
Veteran XX
As long as you maintain you never had any official induction or training on LO/TO you should be OK. You can play dumb and say you didn't realise there was any risk (obviously you didn't think there was or you wouldn't have stuck your stupid hand in there). A sensible company (or an ISO9001 certified) must maintain signed records of everyone who has completed the training and they must ensure it is current for any equipment in the shop.
Yes, any sensible tradesman should know to isolate and remove any power/stored energy before attempting any maintenance work but considering there were no guards and no training then they are the ones who are liable. Soon you will see guards and locks all over the place and that is how it should be. The downside once that is implemented is it can be a real pain in the ass and anyone caught not following LO/TO gets an immediate official warning or termination. Although it is far better than someone being injured, no one wants to call an employees family with that sort of news.
Yes, any sensible tradesman should know to isolate and remove any power/stored energy before attempting any maintenance work but considering there were no guards and no training then they are the ones who are liable. Soon you will see guards and locks all over the place and that is how it should be. The downside once that is implemented is it can be a real pain in the ass and anyone caught not following LO/TO gets an immediate official warning or termination. Although it is far better than someone being injured, no one wants to call an employees family with that sort of news.
Good thing OSHA is coming in there and fining your company for these things, that way he can lay off a couple people to make up for it, then not give out raises, force the remaining people to pick up the newly created slack, and all of that so money can go into the coffers of OSHA and morons can possibly lose their employment because they don't know the common sense rules of not sticking your body parts in the way of moving machines...
Oh lord. We are so fucked in the long term.
Oh lord. We are so fucked in the long term.
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