Massachusetts Personal Injury And Workers' Compensation Blog

When you are going through the process of being recruited for a new job in Massachusetts, you will spend as much time interviewing your potential employer as they will spend interviewing you. One of the areas that you should ask about is how their workers' compensation policy works. Once hired, a good employer will spend considerable time making sure you understand your rights in the event you are injured on the job. At Ellis Law Offices LLP, we have been able to help injured workers to utilize the maximum of their workers' compensation policy. 

Preventing an accident and its subsequent injury from happening in the first place is a team effort between you and your employer. As you begin receiving training for your job, you should also be educated about the risks and hazards of the responsibilities you are required to perform as part of your job description. Additionally, it is your responsibility to abide by the regulations and protocols that have been given to you, to protect your own safety and well-being, as well as that of the people around you. 

For many people in Massachusetts, the amount of time they spend in their vehicles getting to and from work every day has become almost an extension of their workday. This has been fueled by the ability to remain in communication at virtually any time. Cell phones have become so common that many employees find themselves on conference calls or receiving messages while on their daily commute. This, in turn, may well be increasing the urge to use phones while behind the wheel.

USA Today recently published a report that indicates the urge to respond to incoming messages is exceptionally high among drivers between the ages of 18 and 34. In this demographic, 37% of people say they feel strongly compelled to check or return messages even while they are actively driving. The desire to be available to bosses and colleagues is part of this desire, making some people feel that the need to compete at work may be contributing to dangers on the road for others. 

So much attention is paid to the dangers posed by drunk driving in Worcester that you might think that intoxicated motorists are the only dangerous drivers you may encounter on the road. The fact is that there is another type of driver that poses just as great a danger as those that are intoxicated. This is the driver that gets behind the wheel after having only had a few hours of sleep or taking a medication that is known to cause drowsiness. The risk that such a motorist presents might be even greater than you would think because people are much more likely to drive while drowsy than while drunk. 

Just how prevalent are drowsy drivers? Information shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that as many as 800 fatal accidents were attributed to drowsy driving. Experts, however, believe that number to much higher (potentially as high as 6,000) due to the fact that few people report being drowsy while driving. Even the numbers that are known are shocking. Indeed, 1 in every 25 respondents to researchers admitted to having fallen asleep behind the wheel in the last 30 days. 

Damage to the spinal cord can result in dramatic life-altering consequences. Some injuries result in varying forms of paralysis from which there is no chance of recovery. However, other spinal cord injuries can be less severe in nature, and regaining some independence and quality of life is possible. According to John Hopkins Medicine, whether a patient in Massachusetts can successfully complete spinal cord rehabilitation will depend on a number of factors.

The nature of the injury itself is going to be a critical factor. Some spinal cord injuries are so severe that full healing is not possible. The nature of the disabilities resulting from the spinal cord damage will also impact a person’s ability to rehabilitate. The general health of the patient may make it easier or harder to undergo rehabilitation. A person who is otherwise quite healthy will generally find it easier to regain independence than someone who is sickly.