Hicksville Injury Law Blog

A motorcyclist is dead and five people suffered injuries in a traffic accident that happened on a recent Saturday in Brooklyn, New York, The collision happened while a 47-year-old man was riding his Suzuki motorcycle and a 29-year-old woman was driving a Nissan passenger vehicle.

According to police, the woman in the Nissan was making a U-turn when she drove into the path of the motorcyclist a little before 4:20 p.m. The motorcyclist struck the car and suffered catastrophic injuries. Emergency responders rushed the biker to a nearby hospital to receive treatment for severe trauma. However, doctors were unable to save him and he later was pronounced dead at the medical facility.

New York "hardhats," a.k.a, construction workers, get their name for a reason. It's because, if they're not wearing a hardhat on the job, they're probably violating safety regulations. A hardhat is perhaps one of the most important pieces of equipment that any construction worker can don. It might not save your life in all situations, but it can certainly save your life when a flying object is headed in your direction.

All that said, getting hit on the head is no small event, even when you're wearing a hardhat. Many workers suffer from whiplash injuries after a heavy object hits their hardhats, which forces their heads and necks to jerk and results in strained, torn and bruised muscles and ligaments in the neck area. In most cases of whiplash, the symptoms will resolve themselves in several weeks or months, but some workers complain of enduring and serious neck, back pain and headaches after developing whiplash.

It's hard to imagine, but sitting could actually be deadly. Workers who spend a large part of their days sitting in a chair may not want to hear this statistic, but according to researchers, people who sit for over 11 hours a day have a 40 percent higher chance of death within the next three years. Surprisingly, most office workers easily sit for this amount of time each day.

Think about it: If you arrive at the office at 8 a.m. and work until your lunch break at 12 p.m., you just spent four hours sitting. Then you'll spend another four or five hours of sitting in the afternoon. Next, you'll go home, sit down to eat dinner and watch a couple hours of television. Easily, this is 11 hours of sitting per day for the average office worker.

Not only does an employer have a moral duty to employees to keep his or her workplace safe and free of unnecessary dangers, but the employer also has a legal duty to maintain safe premises. If the employer is grossly negligent in failing to keep his or her premises risk-free, for example – in addition to being able to file a workers' compensation claim – an injured employee may have a viable cause of action to pursue financial damages in civil court.

To prevent unnecessary accidents, one thing that employers must pay particularly close attention to is the prevention and speedy elimination of wet and slippery surfaces. Here is what employers and managers can do to eliminate such dangers:

• Parking lots have to stay in good repair. If workers are walking through the parking lot, they shouldn't have to navigate slippery oil spots, ice, large potholes or cracks that could trip them and result in injuries.
• During winter months, any snow and ice on sidewalks or outdoor areas frequented by employees must be removed as quickly as possible. If necessary, employers should cordon off slippery areas during extreme weather conditions to prevent slipping risks.
• Wherever there is a potentially slippery area frequented by employees, employers should apply anti-skid paint or anti-skid adhesive striping. Employers should also use anti-skid floor cleaning solution to give employees as much traction as possible.
• Employers should assign an employee to "anti-slip" duty. This employee should inspect work areas at least several times a day to ensure that there aren't any unnecessary slip and fall risks.