Staten Island Workers' Compensation Law Blog

There are some occupational injuries you might never expect. As a baker you may have to worry about bruising or cutting yourself on machinery, burning yourself on hot ovens or even getting arthritis from kneading and pressing dough. The last thing you would expect is to find yourself routinely having difficulty breathing, or to find yourself coughing and dealing with massive congestion. Yet if you are experiencing shortness of breath with increasing frequency, you may have baker's asthma.

Baker's asthma comes from inhalation of flour and other fine particulates from grains. These fine particulates can do the same sort of damage to your lungs as substances such as asbestos, given enough time and exposure. This damage comes with extensive symptoms. According to the Mayo Clinic, you may experience symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, runny nose and more. Some of these symptoms can be panic-inducing if they rise to the level of a full-on asthma attack.

Construction work is always dangerous. In spite of multiple layers of regulations and numerous agencies at the state and federal level, construction workers are always at risk of injury and death on the job. Sadly, that fact was underscored last year by the death of one worker and injuries to another. The construction company was cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the agency proposed fining the company more than a quarter of a million dollars for the safety violations that led to the workers' death and injuries.

The worker's death should not have happened. This is something that can be said after virtually every accident on the job. Because accidents are almost never "accidents." When OSHA or another agency investigates the aftermath of a incident that lead to severe injuries or a fatality, there is almost always clear negligence and too often, willful violations. As the OSHA director commented, "This incident should have been prevented...."

While workplaces overall have become much safer over the past century, some jobs remain inherently dangerous. The rate of accidents and injuries in these professions is often a good barometer for judging the culture of workplace safety overall. This may be especially true of the construction industry.

Being a construction worker comes with a higher risk of workplace injuries and fatalities, particularly in New York. While construction accidents In NYC and throughout the state have declined over the past decade (in both number and severity), recent data shows that the trend may be reversing.

When we think of workers' comp, we tend to think of accidents and injuries, such as a broken leg, a concussion, severe burns.

It also encompasses injuries acquired over extended periods of time, such as hernias, from overexertion; carpal tunnel syndrome, which many cashiers and date input workers suffer from; and deafness caused by factory noise.