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Month: April 2013

Most Pennsylvania employers see worker’s comp rates fall

Pennsylvania has just reduced the rate that employers are required to pay for worker’s compensation. The rate decreased by 4.01 percent, effective beginning April 1. It is good news for employers in the state. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance, employers will save an estimated $110 million in annual...

Hospitals paid more for patients who suffer surgical errors

Having to put trust in other individuals – particularly when it relates to your health – can be an unnerving and challenging proposition. Unfortunately, in some cases, especially when serious medical intervention is necessary, there may be no other choice. For people who must undergo a surgical operation, a recent...

Pennsylvania school intersection endangering pedestrians?

If a trend of danger is evident, a community might want to do something to fix that danger, right? The community of and around the University of Pennsylvania is looking at a busy intersection near the school and asking whether safety improvements are needed, maybe even past-due. Yesterday, a student...

Fracking jobs may increase lung cancer risk

People in Pennsylvania have been hearing about the environmental dangers of fracking for some time, but few realize that the danger for workers is not limited to eco-damage. A dangerous type of workplace injury in fracking operations is the penetration of lung tissue by fine sand particles called silica. This...

Could closed medical malpractice cases prevent more malpractice?

Learning from our mistakes is sometimes easier said than done. A medical malpractice lawyer out of another state wants all health professionals to learn from other medical professionals’ mistakes. Is it doable? It seems like an obvious solution. If hospitals want to avoid cases of negligence on their floors, they...

Fracking industry brings silicone exposure to the forefront

One workplace safety expert recently observed fracking in person and saw huge amounts of silica dust swirling in the air around workers. The silica is a result of workers drilling into the rock with a combination of water, chemicals and sand to extract oil and gas. Sand and silica have...

Pennsylvania driving laws working to prevent teen deaths

Teens and driving bring to mind a time in most adults lives when they felt like they were invincible, that they were finally growing up. Getting one’s license to drive as a teenager really is a step toward adulthood. A license is more than just the ability to drive. It’s...

Will 2013 be safer on Pennsylvania roads than 2012?

Traffic safety advocates follow trends on the roads, always with the hope that fewer people were hurt or killed than in years before. Unfortunately, last year was not a major safety improvement for Pennsylvania motorists. More people were lost to fatal crashes than in 2011. Being that we are already...

Employer faces charges over disputed Social Security funds

The 53-year-old owner of a business headquartered in Pennsylvania faces allegations of failing to provide worker’s compensation insurance for employees after a 57-year-old employee had a finger cut off on the job. When he tried to have worker’s compensation pay for his medical expenses, he discovered that the company no...

Are shorter hospital shifts safer shifts? Part 2

The previous post began a discussion about how the change in shift durations has impacted patient safety. Though the goal behind requiring medical residents to work shorter shifts was to reduce incidents of hospital errors, research suggests that no such improvement has taken place. According to a study published in...