The Consumer Products Safety Commission and the Environmental Agency bans many asbestos products, but it is still present in older products, such as:
This is not an exhaustive list. Exposure can occur when someone disturbs these and other products containing asbestos. Asbestos dust can be released into the air when someone sands, cuts or otherwise disturbs a product containing asbestos.
]]> Exposure to AsbestosThere are numerous health effects of asbestos exposure. Lung cancer, scarring of the lungs and cancer of the chest lining and abdominal cavity are the main risks. There are no immediate symptoms. You may not know that you have inhaled asbestos until the effects of asbestos exposure, such as cancer, develop. Some asbestos is undetectable by the naked eye; this is the most dangerous kind. The fibers can remain in a person's lungs and accumulate, causing long-term effects.
Asbestos exposure can occur in your home, but more people are exposed to asbestos on the job. There are ways to remove asbestos-containing products that avoid improper release of asbestos dust. Demolition workers, drywall removers and other construction workers must receive training in the proper ways of detecting and working with asbestos-containing materials.
If you have an asbestos-related illness, the company that caused your exposure may be liable for your medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages. This is true whether you were improperly exposed to asbestos while working on a construction / demolition job or the exposure occurred in another way.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)."
]]>Workers affected by asbestos include those in construction, manufacturing, insulation, mining, brake repair, firefighting, shipbuilding and other trades. Their family members also are at a higher risk of exposure since workers can bring asbestos dust home on their clothing.
]]> Even exposure to asbestos does not guarantee that you will have a disease caused by the exposure. For example, as long as the asbestos is part of a finished product and is not damaged, it is usually safe.Unfortunately, those that are exposed to asbestos may not know if they will develop an illness for decades. It can take 40 years for symptoms to appear. If you believe you have been exposed to asbestos fibers while working or elsewhere, contact your doctor and let him or her know about the exposure. The doctor may order chest x-rays and tests that check the function of your lungs. This is especially true if you develop one or more of the following symptoms:
If you are diagnosed with lung cancer or mesothelioma, you may be able to recover compensation through a personal injury / premises liability lawsuit. Speak with an experienced lawyer to learn more about your options.
Source: National Cancer Institute, "Asbestos Exposure and Cancer Risk," 2012.
]]>Landowners may be liable if:
In some cases, however, injured parties can hold the landowner liable even if he or she did not know of the dangerous condition. For example, if the landowner did not check the electrical wiring of a property and that wiring caused a fire, he or she can be held liable for negligence.
If you have been injured in a Pennsylvania apartment fire or have lost a loved one to a fire and believe the landowner may be liable, speak with an experienced premises liability attorney.
]]>If you are a property owner, take the time to put away garden hoses and repair holes in your lawn. Sweep up loose needles, keep your swimming pool gates locked and remove any lawn or house tools that are laying in the yard. Take steps now to prevent serious accidents.
If you were injured on someone else's property and your injury was caused by the property owner's negligence, consider speaking with a premises liability lawyer. You may be entitled to compensation from his or her insurance company.
]]>If you are a property owner, take the time to put away garden hoses and repair holes in your lawn. Sweep up loose needles, keep your swimming pool gates locked and remove any lawn or house tools that are laying in the yard. Take steps now to prevent serious accidents.
If you were injured on someone else's property and your injury was caused by the property owner's negligence, consider speaking with a premises liability lawyer. You may be entitled to compensation from his or her insurance company.
]]>While the government holds the assailant criminally responsible for what he or she did to you, a personal injury lawyer can help you bring a Pennsylvania premises liability lawsuit against the property owner.
]]> A property owner has a duty to keep the property safe and free from hazardous conditions. In order to recover compensation for negligent security, a plaintiff must show that there was a dangerous condition on the property; the property owner knew of the dangerous condition and didn't take action to remedy the condition or warn guests of the condition; and that this negligence contributed to the attack.While a property owner generally does not have a duty to ensure that people are protected from attacks by third parties, business owners have this duty when they invite guests on their property. Historically, this duty comes from the duty of hotel owners to keep their guests safe.
Some conditions that can contribute to attacks include:
A negligent security case can be bolstered by evidence of past attacks on the same property as well as evidence that the owner had been told of a security concern and had not acted to remedy the situation.
]]>While 65 percent of adult drowning happens in "natural water settings" (such as lakes), the majority of Pennsylvania drowning accidents involving young children happen in residential swimming pools. Many of these deaths, if not most of them, are preventable, caused by failure to supervise children, failure to erect fences around pools, improper warnings and other negligence.
]]> Who is responsible for pool accidents?When someone dies or is injured in a swimming pool accident, the property owner may be held liable for negligence. In fact, even trespassers may be able to hold the property owner responsible for an injury they sustained in a pool.
Depending on how the accident occurred, the manufacturer of the pool may also be responsible. For example, if there were defective pumps or drains, liability falls on the manufacturer of the pool and/or the manufacturer of the defective products.
Preventing swimming pool accidents
Property owners should take steps to prevent swimming pool accidents, such as:
Source: Consumer Affairs, "Swimming Pools - Safety Is No Accident," 2012.
]]>Generally, Pennsylvania workers' compensation covers accidents that happen at work. You are eligible for workers' compensation if you can show that you were employed at the time of your injury, that your injury occurred while you were working and that your injury was related to your employment.
]]> Can you bring a personal injury claim?Unfortunately, you will not be able to sue your employer or a coworker in addition to your workers' compensation suit, even if the employer or coworker was careless or negligent. Workers' compensation covers workplace injuries as a "no fault" benefit.
If, however, your slip-and-fall accident was caused by a third party, you can bring a third party personal injury claim against that person. For example, if your job involves walking outdoors and you slip and fall on someone else's property, you may have both a workers' compensation claim against your employer and a third party premises liability claim against the property owner. The first claim would involve the workers' compensation system, while the premises liability claim would be handled in civil court.
Causes of work-related slip-and-fall accidents
Some common causes of on-the-job slip and falls include:
No matter what the cause, you can benefit from seeking the help of a Pennsylvania attorney with experience in both personal injury and workers' compensation.
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]]>Sometimes, they don't do enough. For example, many residents are injured every day from slip and falls or trip and falls at their nursing homes.
Falls are the second cause of accidental death for individuals between 65 and 84 years of age and the leading cause for those 85 and older. Not only do falls occur more frequently to the elderly population, but older individuals are also more vulnerable to serious injuries from falls, including broken bones, hip injuries, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and even death. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nearly 16,000 elderly individuals die each year as a result of falls and many more are seriously injured.
]]> In nursing homes, more than 60 percent of residents will fall at some point. This statistic is not surprising given the number of falls that occur. For that reason, nursing homes are quick to blame the frailty of their residents and slow to accept responsibility when their actions cause a slip and fall or trip and fall.But what if the nursing home was responsible? Nursing homes can cause falls by:
Repetitive falls are also very common, caused by many of the same issues listed above.
If your elderly relative was injured in a slip and fall accident and you believe that accident was caused by a nursing home's negligence, you may be able to hold the nursing home accountable through a personal injury lawsuit.
Source: National Floor Safety Institute, "Same-Level Slip-and-Fall Statistics."
]]>While they have not admitted they were at fault for the wrongful deaths, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has said that they "could have done a better job." The Upper Big Branch mine accident was the worst mine accident in the U.S. in the last 40 years.
]]> According to a 200-page report by the MSHA, the inspectors failed to find all safety problems because:The MSHA said that the Massey Energy Co., who operated the Mine, was still to blame for the accident. Massey allegedly warned miners of inspections before they occurred and falsified safety records to prevent inspectors from finding dangerous conditions. Massey's leadership team valued profit over safety, putting the lives of miners at risk daily.
The explosion was caused by a small methane spark which grew into a much larger fire. The explosion could have been prevented with operable water sprays and proper control of explosive coal dust. According to the director of the MSHA, Joe Main, "If inspectors had walked into that section that day, that mine would have been shut down, without question."
The MSHA has made changes since the mine explosion, but the report recommends more administrative and regulatory changes, which officials will consider.
Safety in mines must be a top priority. When a mine company makes serious mistakes or a government agency fails to conduct a proper safety inspection that contributes to an accident, they must be held accountable.
Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "Hazards in W.Va. Upper Big Branch mine missed, report reveals,"Chris Togneri, Mar. 7, 2012.
]]>A February decision by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has implications for individuals facing multiple malignant diseases resulting from the same asbestos exposure.
In Daley v. A.W. Chesterton, Inc., et al., a plaintiff diagnosed with multiple cancers brought two separate lawsuits fifteen years apart to recover compensation for asbestos exposure. The plaintiff brought the first lawsuit in 1990 after he was diagnosed with pulmonary asbestosis and squamous-cell carcinoma of the right lung. This lawsuit was successful.
]]> The plaintiff filed a second lawsuit in 2005 after he was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The defendants of the second lawsuit alleged that the plaintiff was barred from bringing a second lawsuit because the first suit was successful and related to the same asbestos exposure as the second suit.Under Pennsylvania's two-disease rule, or separate disease rule, an individual may bring separate lawsuits for two different diseases related to asbestos exposure when those diseases develop at different times.
The trial court interpreted this rule to mean that a plaintiff can bring one lawsuit for nonmalignant diseases caused by the asbestos and one subsequent lawsuit for malignant diseases caused by the same exposure; however, it said that the rule did not apply to two malignant diseases. On appeal, the Superior Court vacated the trial court's order, stating that previous court decisions allow for "separate causes of action for distinct diseases due to asbestos exposure."
The defendants appealed the Superior Court ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which upheld the Superior Court decision. The Court held:
While the separate disease rule initially developed from, and has since been applied to,
cases involving a cause of action for a nonmalignant disease, followed by a cause of action
for a malignant disease, the concerns the rule was designed to address are not limited to
situations where a plaintiff suffers one nonmalignant asbestos-related disease and one
malignant asbestos-related disease.
Thus, as long as a plaintiff's subsequent lawsuit is based on "a separate and distinct disease which was not known to the plaintiff at the time of his first action," and is filed within the statute of limitations, the lawsuit is valid.
Source: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District, Daley v. A.W. Chesterton, Inc., et al., Feb. 21, 2012.
]]>Slipping and tripping, while common, are sometimes the result of someone else's failure to maintain safe premises. Owners of residential and commercial property are required to take reasonable measures to reduce the risk of slips and trips on their property.
]]> Yet, proving that a property owner's negligence caused your injury is not as simple as showing that you fell on his or her property. In most cases, you must show that the property owner knew or had reason to know of the danger; that the burden of removing the danger was slight compared with the potential harm it could cause; and that the property owner failed to take the precautions that a reasonably careful person would have taken under similar circumstances (such as warning about the danger). You must also show that the owner's negligence caused your injury.For example, if you slipped on a puddle of water in a store and someone had already told the store manager about that puddle but he or she had failed to put up a warning sign, then you probably have a case against the store. If, however, the manager had not been warned about the puddle, your case may be more difficult.
Conditions that may cause slip and falls / trip and falls include:
Under Pennsylvania law, a landowner has a different duty of care to children, invitees and trespassers. Therefore, it can be helpful to speak with a premises liability attorney about your case and whether you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries.
]]>Currently, well operators drill many of the Marcellus gas wells in areas without addresses. Some wells - 182 - are not even listed on the Marcellus Shale permit list. According to State Representative Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane, "It's very important for our local first responders to get to know where the drilling is going on. . . A lot of the wells are in uncharted territory." The regulations will hopefully help workers who face serious injuries after Marcellus Shale explosions and other accidents.
]]> The new bill would require state regulators to create emergency regulations for well operators, including regulations requiring operators to:Pennsylvania was one of only two states that produced natural gas and did not enforce federal safety rules. Furthermore, the state safety laws in existence were not created with these wells in mind - the extent of the horizontal drilling is far greater than originally expected. According to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), there have been 4,000 Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale wells drilled since 2008.
Now, the state is acting to create safety standards. For example, in late 2011, a new law went into effect that authorized the Public Utility Commission to enforce the federal safety rules.
Marcellus Shale well accidents - explosions, fires, vehicle accidents, etc. - have injured many workers in Pennsylvania. The drilling can also have an effect on the environment, which can endanger those who live near the Marcellus Shale wells. For example, in 2010, there was a blowout that sent natural gas and toxic wastewater into the air.
Hopefully, the new safety measures will protect workers and prevent future accidents.
Source: Canon-McMillan Patch, "Corbett Signs Marcellus Shale Emergency Response Plan Bill," Amanda Gillooly, Feb. 3, 2012.
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