When it comes to any kind of work that goes on around high-voltage overhead power lines, the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Law places safety responsibilities squarely on employers.

MOSH gives special emphasis to safety training, in that educating workers about safe work practices in proximity to power lines is essential.

Avoiding electrocution

Many accidents around energized power lines involve cranes, truck-mounted lifting equipment (bucket trucks), digging equipment and ladders. If these machines or objects come in contact with the lines, workers could suffer severe burns and other injuries, or instant electrocution.

Maryland law requires that workers and all their equipment stay a minimum of 10 feet away from overhead lines, with appropriate hazard signs. The minimum clearance for cranes is 20 feet. An operator should position the crane in such a way that the radius of the boom swing is outside of the absolute minimum clearance relative to the power lines.

Do you spend any of your workday on a ladder, a scaffold or on some other surface that puts you several feet off the ground? If so, you more than likely already know that a fall is a significant hazard for you. A fall can cause any number of serious injuries that can change the course of your life, and when that fall happens at work, you may be entitled to Maryland workers’ compensation benefits.

Any injury to your pride after a fall is nowhere near as important as any physical injuries you may have suffered. Broken bones, neck and back injuries and hitting your head could all have substantial effects on your life. Even if doctors say you merely strained or sprained something in the fall, you could still find yourself in a lot of pain, out of work for a while and wondering how you will pay your bills.

Many of the on-the-job accidents that happen here in Maryland cause injuries from which an employee will more than likely recover. However, you may be one of the individuals who suffers such a severe injury that a full recovery is not possible. In that case, you may be wondering what type of workers’ compensation benefits you can receive to help with your financial situation since you may never be able to return to work, or at the very least, you may not be able to return to the work you did prior to the accident.

Even though hospitals have signs in strategic locations warning about the possibility of a patient taking a fall, this kind of accident happens on a daily basis. Patients may fall because they felt woozy getting out of bed or because the freshly mopped floor was slippery.

Some patiens survive such falls without harm. But if they suffered a lasting injury it may be classed as a medical error, and they may be entitled to compensation from the medical facility.

INJURED DURING A WORK BREAK? WHAT IF YOU WORK REMOTELY? 

Workers’ comp covers you for any work-related accident or injury. But what about injuries while getting coffee or snacks? What about your lunch hour? If you weren’t technically working, can you claim a work injury?

Maryland courts have recognized the “personal comfort doctrine” in workers’ compensation. When you are at work, there is a benefit — to you and the employer — in taking mental breaks, using the restroom and getting refreshments. But there are gray areas and untested scenarios relating to the allowance for personal comfort. Your employer may challenge a work injury claim that stems from a work break.

For many, vaccinations are a rite of autumn that can help prevent serious illness or lost days of work all through the winter. Getting a yearly flu shot is particularly important for the elderly or for people with compromised immune systems, as those groups are more susceptible to infectious diseases than others. While these routine vaccinations are important, negligence on the part of those administering the vaccine can cause larger problems than the flu. Here are three ways that vaccines can trigger a malpractice lawsuit: 

Hundreds of people — passengers, pedestrians and motorists — are injured each year in mass transit accidents in the Baltimore area. Some people forfeit their right to compensation by waiting too long to bring a claim. Other victims never pursue legal action, believing that government entities are immune.

A public transit agency can be held liable — the same as an individual or corporate entity — but there are special rules and restrictions. Your best recourse is to work with a lawyer who has actually filed and won such claims.

Do I have to be a public transit passenger to sue the transit agency?
No. Pedestrians who were struck by a bus or train, while crossing the street or waiting at the station or bus stop, may have claims. Occupants of other vehicles that collided with a bus or train may have grounds to sue. And of course, passengers who suffered lasting injury while riding, boarding or unboarding may have claims. According to Metrobus, the most common “customer injuries” (passengers) are collision-related, followed by slips, trips and falls.

In today’s Baltimore Sun, reporter Tricia Bishoplooks at the use of stents and the risks they bring. According to the article, until recently, use of cardiac stents to open blocked arteries has been all the rage and was seen as a relatively safe procedure when compared to open heart coronary bypass surgery. Since the 1990s, stents have been increasingly used and have generated more than $1 billion of revenue for Maryland’s hospitals.

In the wake of close to 600 claims against Mark Midei, M.D.- the once preeminent interventional cardiologist at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Towson, Maryland — for unnecessary stenting of patients with little or no artery blockage, the health care community is now taking a hard look at the risks and benefits of cardiac stents and is now trending away from using them in favor of medications or bypass surgery. According to statistics from the state Health Services Cost Review Commission, stenting procedures in Maryland will drop by 25% this year (from 14,255 to 10,650).