This blog presents Metropolitan Engineering Consulting & Forensics (MEC&F) claim management and claim investigation analyses of some of the typical claims we handle
Many small businesses experienced insurable events in 2016, but didn’t file claims for them. (Photo: Shutterstock)Insureon
conducted a survey of more than 1,000 small business owners to find out
what kind of insurable incidents occurred at their businesses last year,
if any. More than one-third (35.2 percent) of small business owners surveyed reported experiencing an insurable event like employee injury or theft in 2016. Despite experiencing these types of events, the survey found that
many small businesses aren’t filing claims for them. Insureon cites the
following possible reasons for this trend:
They don't have insurance or don't have the right policy to cover the claim.
The cost of the incident is less than their deductible, so they deal with it out of pocket.
They worry that filing a claim will cause their premiums to go up.
They prefer to handle the matter on their own rather than wait for resolution from an insurance company.
As a result, many small business owners are choosing to let their
carrier know about an incident, but don’t file a claim. Instead, they
pay for the incident out of pocket to prevent higher premiums in the
long run. But how does the cost of a claim stack up against the cost of
coverage?
What costs more: A single claim or insurance coverage? (Photo: Shutterstock)
Cost comparison
According to The Hartford, the 10 most expensive types of claims (and the cost per incident) are:
Reputational harm: $50,000
Vehicle accident: $45,000
Fire damage: $35,000
Product liability: $35,000
Customer injury or property damage: $30,000
Wind and hail damage: $26,000
Customer slip and fall: $20,000
Water and freezing damage: $17,000
Struck by object: $10,000
Burglary and theft: $8,000
In comparison, the median price Insureon customers pay for coverage is:
$428 per year for general liability insurance
$920 per year for professional liability insurance
Compared to a $20,000 bill for a customer slip-and-fall accident,
most business owners would probably rather pay $428 for general
liability per year, plus their deductible, to pick up the tab. How do the most expensive claims compare to the top incidents small
businesses experienced in 2016? Click next to read the most common
insurable events for small businesses, and which coverage agents can
offer clients for them.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Client complaint or contract dispute: 22.2 percent
Professional liability insurance can cover claims related to client dissatisfaction, including alleged work mistakes, undelivered work or negligence.
(Photo: iStock)
Employee injury: 10.6 percent
Workers' Compensation can pay for medical bills and partial missed wages when employees are hurt at work.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Burglary or theft: 8.8 percent
Commercial property insurance can help pay to replace stolen business property.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Fire, storm damage or cracked pipes: 6.6 percent
Property Insurance can also pay to repair property damaged by fire or certain weather events.
Customer injury: 2.4 percent
General liability insurance can help cover costs when customers are injured on business property.
(Photo: Thinkstock)
Product that caused injury or damage: 2.3 percent
The product liability portion of general liability Insurance can pay for legal expenses associated with damage from goods you sell.
Millions of workers drive or ride in a motor vehicle as part of their
jobs. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of work-related
injury deaths in the United States, accounting for 23,865 deaths from
2003–2015. These deaths have an impact on workers, their families,
businesses, and communities. In 2013 alone, motor vehicle crashes at
work cost U.S. employers $25 billion—$65,000 per nonfatal injury and
$671,000 per death. Crash risk affects workers in all industries and occupations, whether
employees drive tractor-trailers, cars, pickup trucks, or emergency
vehicles and whether driving is a primary or occasional part of the job.
NIOSH is the only part of the U.S. federal government whose mission
encompasses prevention of work-related motor vehicle crashes and
resulting injuries for all worker populations. Other
federal agencies have responsibilities and interest in motor vehicle
safety for specific worker groups (e.g., truckers, fire fighters, law
enforcement officers). The NIOSH Center for Motor Vehicle Safety’s goal
is to ensure that those who work in or near vehicles come home safely at
the end of their workday. The Center recently assessed progress on its 2014–2018 strategic plan
and sought public comment to guide future directions. Feedback will
guide priorities through 2018 and inform the next strategic plan. A full
midcourse review report is now available for download. Other additions to the Center’s portfolio include:
Behind the Wheel at Work:This
quarterly eNewsletter, launched in December 2015, connects subscribers
to subject-matter experts, exclusive interviews, research updates,
practical tips on workplace driving, and links to NIOSH and partner
resources.
CDC Communications: NIOSH worked with CDC to create CDC Vital Signs: Trucker Safety. With the CDC Foundation, the Center developed CDC Business Pulse: Motor Vehicle Safety at Work, aninteractive
resource to help employers prevent work-related crashes through
information on the human and economic impact of workplace crashes.
Forbes featured this resource in a February 2017 guest op-ed by NIOSH’s Dr. Stephanie Pratt.
Collaborative Road Safety Communications: The
Center works with other NIOSH programs and external partners—such as the
Network of Employers for Traffic Safety and National Safety Council
(NSC)—on activities ranging from blog posts to Twitter chats to
cross-promotion of resources. For example, at NSC’s request, the Center
developed a blog post for mycardoeswhat.org
explaining the value of multimedia materials available on that site for
educating workers about advanced safety features on their vehicles.
GIF: To reach audiences with engaging content, the Center developed NIOSH’s first animated GIF that is specific to distracted driving.
Infographic:This
infographic answers the question: Why does workplace motor vehicle
safety matter? It covers information that is important for human
resources or safety professionals to make a business case for workplace
motor vehicle safety programs.
Too little sleep is more common in some occupations than in others.
There are significant differences in short sleep duration—less than
seven hours a night—among occupational groups, according to a CDC study
published today in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
This is the first study to evaluate short sleep duration in more than
90 detailed occupation groups and across multiple states. Learn more.
NIOSH Announces Free, Confidential Screenings for Coal Miners
In March, NIOSH began once again offering a series of free,
confidential health screenings to coal miners as part of the Coal
Workers’ Health Surveillance Program. The screenings are intended to
provide early detection of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, also known as
black lung, a serious but preventable occupational lung disease in coal
miners caused by breathing respirable coal mine dust. Learn more.
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month
The NIOSH Center for Motor Vehicle Safety is recognizing Distracted
Driving Awareness Month throughout April. Access the Center’s recently
updated Distracted Driving at Work webpage, which now includes a Spanish version of our distracted driving GIF to use on Twitter. Follow @NIOSH_MVSafety on Twitter for safe-driving tips.
Safety Pays in Mining
NIOSH’s new, free web tool—Safety Pays in Mining—offers
mining companies information on the cost of injury claims, as well as a
few suggestions on how that same money might be spent in other ways.
Preventing injuries saves workers from pain and disability, but it also
helps companies save money that could be put toward other expenditures.
Safety Pays in Mining displays not only distributions of direct costs
for specific injuries, but also an estimate of indirect costs stemming
from the incident, including overtime for other workers to fill an
injured worker’s role, training costs for a replacement worker, and time
spent using administrative resources to address the injury. Seeing the
cost of injuries spelled out in dollars may help companies see that in
mining, investing in safety pays.
NIOSH Wants Your Feedback!
NIOSH announces the availability of a draft web-based database called PPE-Info for public comment. NIOSH developed the database in 2012 and is requesting the public’s comments to help update its database. Comments are due by April 13.
NIOSH Seeks Comment on Draft Document Describing its Proposed Occupational Exposure Banding Process
NIOSH announces the availability of a draft Current Intelligence Bulletin entitled The NIOSH Occupational Exposure Banding Process: Guidance for the Evaluation of Chemical Hazards
for public comment. NIOSH is seeking comments on the draft document
until June 13. A public meeting will be held to discuss the document on
Tuesday, May 23. This is a new tool to protect workers from workplace
chemicals without occupational exposure limits (OELs). Currently, the
rate at which new chemicals are being introduced into commerce
significantly outpaces OEL development, creating a need for guidance on
the risk on thousands of chemicals that lack evidence-based exposure
limits. This NIOSH docket, including the draft document and more
information about the public meeting, is available at here. The Regulations.gov docket, for the submission of public comments, is available at www.regulations.gov. Enter CDC-2017-0028 in the search field and click “Search.”
NIOSH Photo Published, African American Coking Workers
NIOSH is honored to have an image (shown at right) of black coke oven workers published in The Journal of African American History. The Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies provided the photo, which appeared in “Gateway to Hell”: African American Coking Workers, Racial Discrimination, and the Struggle against Occupational Cancer,
by Alan V. Derickson. Derickson, professor of Labor Studies and History
at Penn State University. Derickson sharpens focus on the history of
mid-twentieth-century African American steel workers who, due to racial
discrimination, were disproportionately consigned to topside coke oven
work and thus disproportionately experienced workplace economic and
health and safety inequalities, including occupational cancers.
Derickson’s original research brings to the forefront black coke
workers’ leadership for positive changes, including their crucial role
in the creation of the NIOSH Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Coke Oven Emissions, 1973.
NIOSH Releases New Topic Page
NIOSH posted a new topic page on occupational exposure banding in
conjunction with the public release of the draft NIOSH Current
Intelligence Bulletin: Guidance for the Evaluation of Chemical Hazards
and the Federal Register notice requesting public comments on the draft
document. This topic page provides useful resources and information
about the proposed occupational exposure banding process. The webpage is
available at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/oeb/default.html
Emergency responders needed an hour to free a 52-year-old man from a well in Davidsonville after he fell about 40 feet, officials said Wednesday.
Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesman Russ Davies said firefighters were called to the scene of a worker having fallen down a well on the 2300 block of Rutland Road at 8:55 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Responders found the man, a worker with a water treatment and well company, had fallen down a well but was able to escape serious injuries by bracing himself against the walls of the well to slow his descent, Davies said.
Davies said the water in the well was up to his waste and it took lowering a firefighter into the well with a harness in order to be able to free the man at 9:57 a.m.
The man did not require any medical treatment as a result of the fall, Davies said.
BALTIMORE, MD (WJZ) — One person was killed after coming into contact with power lines Thursday morning.
The Anne Arundel County Fire Department confirms the incident happened just before 11:30 a.m., in the 1100 block of Sunrise Beach Rd.
Fire officials say someone working in a bucket truck came in contact with power lines, resulting in their death.
It is believed the person killed was in the bucket at the time of the accident.
================
A utility worker was electrocuted while working Thursday morning in Crownsville, county fire department officials said.
Capt. Russ Davies, department spokesman, said firefighters received a call for an injured cable company contract worker in the 1100 block of Sunrise Beach Road at 11:25 a.m. Thursday.
They found a man dead on the scene when they arrived, Davies said.
Investigators determined he had been electrocuted by power lines while he was working in a bucket truck, he said.
Davies did not identify the man or his employer. The Maryland Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the incident
EL CAJON, Calif. - Firefighters and construction workers frantically shoveled at a construction site where a man was trapped in a confined space Monday, authorities said.
A 20-foot-long section of a 6-foot-high concrete wall collapsed at a construction site at North Marshall Avenue and Wagner Road around 12:20 p.m.
Two men were digging footings next to the wall when it collapsed, fire officials said. One of them, a 21-year-old man, was pushed back and not trapped underneath the structure. He injured his leg and back. The other victim, only identified as a 51-year-old man, became trapped under it and died, officials said.
Heartland Fire Department firefighters used saws and other equipment in an attempt to break through the fallen structure. By 1:45 p.m., the rescue effort ended and a recovery mission began, according to fire officials.
It was not immediately known who owned the wall and what the construction crews were doing in the area.
OSHA investigators will determine what caused the wall to collapse.
The rest of the construction crew was sent home for the day. Fire officials said some of the workers have known each other for over 25 years.
Meredith Stone with Georgia Power released the following statement about the incident:
"We can confirm a fatality occurred at Plant Scherer over the weekend. Safety is our top priority every day. The individual was not a Georgia Power employee, but a contract worker with GE. Our most sincere thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victim during this difficult time."
-------------------------
A worker died this weekend in an accident at Plant Scherer in Monroe County.
A spokesman for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration says they are investigating how the worker died.
The accident happened around 4:30 Saturday and the worker died about six hours later at a hospital.
No further details are available on the accident, and the victim's name has not been released.
We called the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and Georgia Power. They have not returned our phone calls.
3 dead after boiler explosion in St. Louis. Lack of proper maintenance is to blame.
Apr 3, 2017, 3:45 PM ET Three people died and several others suffered serious injuries after a boiler exploded at a building in St. Louis, sending a piece of equipment flying into the air and through the roof of another building, fire officials said.
The boiler explosion at the Loy-Lange Box Co. left one person dead in that building, authorities said at a news conference this morning.
After the explosion, a piece of the boiler was tossed into the air and pierced the roof of a nearby building, the Faultless Healthcare Linen plant, killing two people, officials said.
The mayor's director of communications described the piece of the boiler as "van-sized."
KMOVThe St. Louis Fire Department confirmed the three people had died after a boiler explosion in St. Louis, April 3, 2017.
Two people were in critical condition, and two others suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the fire department said.
Mark Spence, the COO of Faultless Healthcare Linen, confirmed that two Faultless Healthcare Linen employees were killed from debris that came into the plant after the explosion.
"One other Faultless Healthcare Linen employee was involved and the extent of that person’s injuries has not been confirmed," Spence said in a statement. "We immediately will be giving what practical help we can to our employees and their families. We are grateful to the firefighters and other emergency responders who have acted heroically in response to this tragic event."
Spence said this location has 106 employees and that it could not yet be confirmed how many were in the building at the time of the incident.
St. Louis Fire DepartmentThe St. Louis Fire department confirmed that there were three fatalities at Russell and South Broadway in St. Louis.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has opened an investigation because the incident involved fatalities, an OSHA spokesman told ABC News. Health and Safety Compliance Officers are at scene interviewing witnesses and employers to see whether any potential safety violations may have led to the incident, the spokesman said.
==============
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on the deadly explosion of a boiler in an industrial area of south St. Louis (all times local):
5 p.m.
A spokeswoman for St. Louis' mayor says the city has strict licensure requirements when it comes to boilers much like the van-sized one that exploded Monday morning, killing three people and injuring four others in two different businesses.
St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said the boiler exploded at the Loy-Lange Box Co. in south St. Louis, killing one person there. The chief says much of that equipment flew about 500 feet (150 meters) across the street onto a laundry business, killing two people there when it came through the roof.
Two of the four survivors remained in critical condition later Monday.
Federal workplace safety officials are investigating.
Maggie Crane said on Mayor Francis Slay's behalf that although the city doesn't inspect boilers, it requires any business with one to have a city-licensed engineer on staff whenever one of those pieces of equipment is running. Crane says such licenses must be renewed each year.
Crane says Loy-Lange had three engineers on staff with up-to-date licenses as of Monday.
___
4 p.m.
St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson says he believes a boiler explosion that killed three people and injured four others, two critically, in two different businesses was a commercial accident.
Jenkerson says two of the four survivors of the blast shortly before 8 a.m. Monday remain in critical condition. He says one of them was undergoing surgery.
Jenkerson says the boiler exploded at the Loy-Lange Box Co. in south St. Louis, killing one person there. The chief says much of that equipment flew about 500 feet (150 meters) across the street onto a laundry business, killing two people there when it came through the roof. The equipment is described as being the size of a van
Federal workplace safety officials are investigating.
___
12:15 p.m.
Federal workplace safety regulators say a St. Louis company whose boiler exploded causing at least three deaths Monday has paid fines for workplace violations three times since 2014.
Scott Allen of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the Loy-Lange Box Co. paid a $3,741 fine after an August 2016 inspection found holes in floors that prevented proper cleaning.
An inspection in November 2014 found defective equipment, including a forklift without lights and damage to some safety latches. The company paid $6,566.
And in February 2014, the company paid $2,450 for defective energy control procedures, such as not properly training employees to ensure machinery was turned off and powered down.
Three people died and four were injured when the Loy-Lange boiler exploded, launching parts of it through the roofs of two nearby buildings. It's not clear if any of the earlier safety violations involved the boiler.
___
11:30 a.m.
Federal workplace safety investigators are at the scene of an industrial boiler explosion that killed three people and hospitalized four others.
Scott Allen with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration says OSHA investigators arrived at Loy-Lange Box Co. not long after the blast Monday morning.
St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson says the explosion launched a boiler the size of a van through the box company's roof and slammed much of it down hundreds of feet away in a neighboring laundry business.
Jenkerson says the dead include one person at the box company and two at the laundry.
Online OSHA records show that Loy-Lange has paid more than $12,700 in fines as part of three investigation since 2014. The records don't list specifics about the cases, and it's unclear if any citations were related to the boiler or other equipment.
___
10 a.m.
St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson says a boiler that killed one person when it exploded at a box company in St. Louis flew about 500 feet before crashing through the roof of a nearby laundry business, killing two more.
The boiler exploded Monday morning at the Loy-Lange Box Co. Four other people were injured and at least two are in critical condition.
A third person at Faultless Healthcare Linen was pinned under the boiler but fire department responders were able to free that victim.
Jenkerson says the boiler was a cast iron cylinder about 8 or 9 feet long and 4 feet in diameter, weighing about 1½ tons. He says it was about the size of a van.
A piece of pipe about 8 feet long pierced the roof of the nearby Pioneer Industrial Corp., but no one was injured there.
___
9:30 a.m.
Authorities say three people were killed and four others injured when a boiler exploded in a building in an industrial area of south St. Louis, reportedly sending the boiler airborne and through the roof of a nearby building.
The St. Louis Fire Department said on Twitter that two of the victims sustained critical injuries in the blast shortly before 8 a.m. Monday at the Loy-Lange Box Co.
Fire officials say at least three buildings have been damaged by debris.
Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said part of the boiler housed in an office area went through Loy-Lange's roof.
Jenkerson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the explosion seems to have been accidental and that investigators will review machine maintenance records.
No other details have been released, including whether anyone was working on the boiler at the time of the explosion.
The phone rang unanswered at Loy-Lange Box Co., and an email message by The Associated Press to the company wasn't immediately returned.
The company is described on its website as a "full service corrugator and custom box manufacturer."
Messages left with a fire department spokesman were not immediately returned.
A former Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training employee was sentenced in federal court for his involvement in an unemployment insurance fraud scheme.
Ambulai R. Sheku, 37, of Providence, a former senior employment interviewer at the DLT was sentenced on Monday in U.S. District Court in Providence on mail fraud, theft of government money and accessing a protected computer to commit fraud resulting in a $508,691 loss to the DLT.
Sheku was sentenced by Judge William E. Smith to nearly two years in federal prison and three years supervised release after finishing his prison term. He also must pay $486, 466 in restitution.
“Sheku’s crimes were a selfish betrayal of our customers — the claimants who rely on benefits and the 33,000 Rhode Island employers that pay for UI — of the public, and of us, his DLT teammates, peers, and supervisors,” DLT Spokesman Michael Healey said.
Between June 2009 and February 2015, Sheku accessed DLT computers and files to collect unemployment benefits for himself and others by changing the mailing address of actual unemployment insurance beneficiaries causing the banks to forward the unemployment benefits to he and others who were not supposed to receive them.
The DLT found evidence of Sheku’s scheme in February 2015. The department immediately fired Sheku and referred the case to the Rhode Island State Police, according to the DLT. State police along with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Dept. of Labor and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated Sheku’s actions. Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly prosecuted the case.
“Although today Sheku has received a much-warranted jail sentence for his crimes, his brazen and illegal manipulation of procedures caused DLT to reassess and tighten all security measures that were in place in the call center, especially those related to claims filing and payment procedures,” Healy said in a statement.
Sheku is not the only DLT employee caught benefiting from fraudulent activity at the DLT. Ruth Rosa-Rios was also caught stealing unemployment money. Rosa-Rios, a former DLT employee, who determined which applicants qualified for benefits, stole $25,000 in unemployment insurance money, even though she nor her husband qualified for benefits meant for Rhode Islanders who lose their jobs.
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Dennis Calvin Avera, 35, has been arrested on three counts of insurance fraud by Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens and McIntosh County Sheriff's Office.
According to a report, Avera was arrested on three counts of insurance fraud, related to his insurance business. An investigation by Hudgens’ Fraud Unit revealed that Avera was allegedly converting to his own personal use money given to him for automobile coverage from insurance clients.
Avera was arrested at his home, 1027 O’Cain Ave., which also serves as the office for his business, Sapelo Insurance Agency.
"I intend to continue aggressively investigating and acting on fraudulent insurance practices that place our citizens at risk,” Commissioner Hudgens said.
In addition to the criminal charges, an administrative order immediately revoking Avera’s agent's license has been signed by the Commissioner. Avera has ten days from receiving the order to request a hearing on the license revocation.
The order alleges Avera took insurance premium payment from three clients and failed to forward the money to the insurance company. The administrative and criminal investigations of this case continue.
"Since the premiums paid were not properly forwarded to the insurance companies issuing the policies, the effect was that none of these customers were insured,” Commissioner Hudgens said. “If there were accidents, it could create a hardship for any potential victims.”
Anyone who believes they may have purchased insurance from this agent and has questions about their policy should call Hudgens’ office at (800) 656-2298. Also, Insurance Department Fraud Investigators will be at the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, April 5 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. to assist clients of Avera with concerns.
Illinois company cited for exposing workers to chemical hazards
OSHA initiated an inspection of Orion Industries Ltd. in response to two employee complaints of exposure to air contaminants at its Chicago facility. The inspection identified workers in the spray painting operation being exposed to hexavalent chromium at levels approximately 40 times the permissible exposure limit. Inspectors cited the company for lacking sufficient engineering controls, work practices and protective gear to safeguard workers against exposure to hexavalent chromium. Orion has been prompt in addressing the worker overexposures since being informed about them and achieved significant reductions by the time of its closing conference with OSHA inspectors.
Alaska cites three companies that risked pipeline explosion at construction site
The Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Division has cited Universal Energy, Price Gregory International Inc. and Quanta Power Generation Inc. for multiple safety violations on a construction project in Anchorage, Alaska. An inspection at the Municipal Light and Power plant found that a pressure relief valve had been removed from a steam piping system and that system was put into operation without other safeguards in place. Two days later, the pressure reached dangerous levels, causing violent shaking of the piping system and leading to the evacuation of employees. Read the news release for more information.
Washington beverage company cited for exposing workers to chemical hazards
Johanna Beverage Company in Spokane was cited for four workplace safety violations by the Washington Division of Occupational Safety and Health after exposing workers to ammonia from three separate chemical leaks. Inspectors found that the company failed to: develop a written emergency response plan in the event of an ammonia leak; provide workers with emergency response training; and provide an ammonia alarm system to alert workers when they need to evacuate. For more information, read the news release.
OSHA has ordered Wells Fargo Bank N.A. to compensate and immediately reinstate a former bank manager who lost his job after reporting suspected fraudulent behavior.
The manager, who had previously received positive job performance appraisals, was abruptly dismissed from his position at a Wells Fargo branch in the Los Angeles area after he reported incidents of suspected bank, mail and wire fraud.
An OSHA investigation concluded that the former manager's whistleblower activity, which is protected under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, was a factor in his termination. In addition to reinstating the employee and clearing his personnel file, Wells Fargo has been ordered to fully compensate him for lost earnings during his time out of the banking industry.
See the news release for more information. OSHA enforces the whistleblower protection provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley and 21 other statutes protecting workers who report violations of laws in various industries.
==========
U.S. Department of Labor
April 3, 2017
OSHA orders Wells Fargo to reinstate whistleblower, fully restore lost earnings in banking industry
SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered Wells Fargo Bank N.A. to compensate and immediately reinstate a former bank manager who lost his job after reporting suspected fraudulent behavior to superiors and a bank ethics hotline.
The manager, who had previously received positive job performance appraisals, was abruptly dismissed from his position at a Wells Fargo branch in the Los Angeles area after he reported separate incidents of suspected bank, mail and wire fraud by two bankers under his supervision. He was told he had 90 days to find a new position at Wells Fargo, and when he was unsuccessful, he was terminated. He has been unable to find work in banking since his termination in 2010.
An OSHA investigation concluded that the former manager's whistleblower activity, which is protected under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, was at least a contributing factor in his termination. OSHA does not release names of whistleblower complainants.
In addition to reinstating the employee and clearing his personnel file, Wells Fargo has been ordered to fully compensate him for lost earnings during his time out of the banking industry. Back pay, compensatory damages, and attorneys' fees were together calculated at about $5.4 million. Wells Fargo also must post a notice informing all employees of their whistleblower protections under Sarbanes-Oxley, widely known as "SOX."
Wells Fargo can appeal the order before the department's Office of Administrative Law Judges, but such action does not stay the preliminary reinstatement order.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of SOX and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of airline, commercial motor vehicle, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime and securities laws. More information is available at www.whistleblowers.gov. For information about OSHA, visit http://www.osha.gov.
Objects and vehicles striking workers are the leading cause of roadside-related construction deaths.
As road construction projects ramp up this spring, the Federal Highway Administration is partnering with OSHA, the American Traffic Safety Services Association, and other groups to encourage safe driving in work zones. The campaign, called National Work Zone Awareness Week, is an annual event set for April 3-7 this year. Tragically, 700 people, including 130 workers, were killed in crashes at roadway worksites in 2015. Many states and localities across the country will hold events to bring attention to these hazards and encourage safe driving around work zones. A national kick-off event is planned for April 4, at 10:30 a.m., at the Maryland state Randolph Road/Georgia Avenue Interchange Project. In addition, the Georgia Struck-By Alliance, which includes OSHA, will hold stand-downs at highway construction locations throughout Georgia this week to train workers on the dangers of distracted drivers and flying debris. For more information on the Georgia events, see the news release
KMOVThe St. Louis Fire Department confirmed the three people had died after a boiler explosion in St. Louis, April 3, 2017. 
St. Louis Fire DepartmentThe St. Louis Fire department confirmed that there were three fatalities at Russell and South Broadway in St. Louis. 
