Montana jury awards $36.5M to former miner with lung disease
A Montana jury late last week awarded $36.5 million in damages to an Oregon man who suffers from lung disease because of exposure to asbestos while working at a vermiculite mine in Libby, a bellwether case that could affect hundreds of additional workers’ claims. The plaintiff was one of more than 800 who filed lawsuits against Maryland Casualty Co., which provided the workers’ compensation insurance coverage for the W.R. Grace & Co. mine from 1963-1973. Montana Right Now
Construction workers may expose families to toxic metals
Researchers who collected and analyzed dust samples from the homes of 27 construction workers in the Boston area found they may be unintentionally exposing their families to toxic metals from the workplace. Construction workers had higher levels of lead, arsenic, chromium, copper, manganese, nickel and tin dust in their homes than janitorial and auto repair workers. The investigators also found that higher concentrations of toxic metals in the home were associated with lower education, not having a work locker to store clothes, mixing work and personal items, and not having a place to launder clothes. UPI
Nearly 1 in 4 workplace deaths in New York occur in construction
According to an analysis of data from the New York Department of Buildings, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Fed-OSHA conducted by the labor group New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, workplace deaths in construction accounted for 24% of on-the-job fatalities in New York, compared to 21% nationwide. Latino construction workers are disproportionately impacted, accounting for 18% of fatalities, yet only 10% of the population. Archinect News
Limitations approaching on COVID claims for New Yorkers
New York employees who may have caught COVID on the job in early 2020 are running out of time to file workers’ compensation cases as the two-year statute of limitations approaches. Newsday [may require registration]