Sauk Rapids Workers' Compensation Law Blog

The end of the year is a time for many to take stock of the events of the previous 12 months to try to identify patterns, both good and bad, to replicate successes and to learn from mistakes. While statistics from 2018 are not yet available, a report recently released by the Department of Labor and Industry indicates that 101 people in Minnesota died from work-related accidents in 2017. 

According to the report, twelve of the 101 workplace fatalities in 2017 were women, while the rest were men. Most of the accidents involved workers age 55 and older, while nearly half involved transportation. Statistics from the last three years indicate that fatal workplace accidents are on the rise, with 92 workplace fatalities in 2016 and 74 in 2015. 

If you have broken an arm or a leg in a workplace injury in Minnesota, you need to be on your guard for possible complications that can be at least as serious as the initial injury. Acute compartment syndrome is a potentially dangerous complication of a broken bone in the upper or lower extremities that may require emergency surgery to correct. According to WebMD, acute compartment syndrome can develop within days or even hours of the initial injury. The most common sites for compartment syndrome to develop are the arms, legs and abdomen.

Compartment syndrome gets its name from the compartments within the body containing organs or muscles grouped together and surrounded by connective tissue called fascia that form strong webs around the compartments, holding the structures within them in place. Compartment syndrome occurs when fluid such as blood accumulates in a compartment after an injury, increasing pressure within the compartment and inhibiting blood flow to the tissues.

Sauk Rapids residents do not need to be told that Minnesota's winters can become extremely cold. You feel this every day during the winter season, especially if you labor in a profession that involves a lot of work outdoors (such as the construction industry). With the winter fast approaching, it is important to know not only how to protect yourself from the cold, but also what obligations your employer has to do so, as well. Many come to us here at Lindberg Law, P.C. after having suffered an injury from exposure while at work thinking that they have no legal recourse. That may not be case. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not have any set standards in place addressing cold weather working conditions. This does not mean, however, that your employer is allowed to leave you and your coworkers literally "out in the cold." Federal law requires that your employer protects you from recognized hazards; exposure to extreme cold may certainly fall into that category. 

If you work construction in Minnesota, no one need tell you that your various job sites are full of power tools and other electrical equipment. What you may not realize, however, is that being surrounded by electricity on a day-to-day basis puts you at high risk for receiving electrocution injuries.

Per Construction Connect, work site electrocutions constitute the second highest of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s “Fatal Four” list of construction deaths. In order of frequency, these four rank as follows:

1. Falls
2. Electrocutions
3. Struck-by-object accidents
4. Caught-in-between-object accidents