Boston Workers' Compensation Law Blog

Residents in the Boston area may be interested to hear of a lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court that intends to hold Walmart accountable for the bad safety practices of contractors and subcontractors the retail corporation hired to build and renovate stores. The plaintiffs seek $5 million in damages for the electrocution death of an immigrant worker from Brazil.

The fatal workplace injury happened at a demolition job in Walpole. A crew of Brazilian immigrant workers had been hired to tear down store walls, and it was the first night on the job for the man who was electrocuted. The lawsuit in Middlesex claims that the workers, who worked into the night, were not made aware of live electrical wires on the job. As the men worked, all the lights suddenly went out, and sparks began to fly.

An oil company worker recently suffered burns in nearby Weston and had to be rushed to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston for treatment. A spokesperson for the man's employer said the accident happened at a construction site at Weston High School, where the man was apparently fueling up temporary heaters when the equipment he was using caught fire.

Though the fire was soon contained and did not spread to other occupied parts of the school, the building was evacuated for about 30 minutes as a safety precaution. Officials said the worker was the only person injured.

Many types of jobs require Boston workers to put themselves in situations that most people would regard as dangerous. Still, if workers weren't willing and able to do these jobs to the best of their ability, perhaps even risking injury, then the jobs might not get done. But just because a particular line of work may at times be more dangerous than others, that doesn't mean injured employees don't have a right to workers' compensation benefits. On the contrary, some situations arise that could result in both a third-party personal injury claim and a workers' compensation claim. With these issues in mind, readers in Massachusetts may be interested in a recent incident involving the injury of a supermarket security worker.

According to a local news report, police are still searching for a man in Fall River who attacked a supermarket security guard with a knife. The assailant apparently entered the grocery store, filled a backpack with food and tried to walk out without paying. The 38-year-old security worker confronted the man, who then became combative and shoved the security worker. The man with the backpack pulled a knife and stabbed the employee numerous times.

As readers in Massachusetts know, construction sites can be busy and dangerous places. A range of people -- contractors, engineers, architects, and other skilled workers -- are often coming and going, and that rolling cast of characters can sometimes pose difficulties in determining liability when a construction accident occurs. However, there are laws and regulations in Massachusetts that are specifically designed to make constructions sites as safe as possible. Sometimes, and especially when repairs are needed on a particular structure, the risk of personal injury is even greater, since the damage to be repaired may create structural dangers for the workers on the scene. In any case, workers who are injured on the job, regardless of the situation, have a right to seek workers' compensation for their injuries.

These important issues are likely on the minds of two employees who were injured today while making repairs to power lines and a bridge on Route 128. The two injured men are employees of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. At the time of the electrical accident, they were working on a section of damaged conduit. The job required some drilling, and the drill apparently hit some wires, causing a fire. Reportedly, both lanes at exit 26 on Route 128 were closed while the fire and the men's injuries were tended to.