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Mike Neri Sewer & Water Contractor Inc. Cited By OHSA

An Elk Grove Village-based contractor was recently cited by federal officials for exposing its workers to serious construction site injuries. OSHA officials say that Mike Neri Sewer & Water Contractor Inc. exposed its workers to cave-in hazards at a Des Plaines construction site. "This is not the first time this contractor has exposed vulnerable workers to dangerous excavation hazards," said Nick Walters, OSHA's regional administrator in Chicago. "These types of hazards result in numerous fatalities and injuries every year. No...

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Fatal Mine Accident Attributed To Lax Safety Procedures

Federal investigators have found that the death of an Illinois construction worker was due to lax safety procedures at a mine construction site. A report issued by the Mine Safety and Health Administration says that the fatal construction accident happened on May 15, 2012 when the worker was knocked over by an overloaded hose. The hose was being used to direct concrete into the mine shaft and form concrete walls. When the concrete came out of the hopper too quickly,...

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Is Responsible Driving Preventing Collisions?

As the snow begins to thaw in Illinois roadside construction projects will slowly get underway. Although pothole repair and bridge work are an annual occurrence, many drivers will still fail to drive responsibly in construction zones. Irresponsible driving behaviors are a primary contributing factor to the large number of construction zone crashes which occur in Illinois and around the country every year. Avoiding a construction zone accident is most effectively done by practicing safe driving behaviors including: Slowing down so...

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Wonder Lake contractor Zamastil Exteriors Fined For Safety Violations

A Wonder Lake roofing company was recently fined by federal officials for exposing its workers to serious construction site fall injuries. Regulators from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration are proposing more than $87,000 in fines against Zamastil Exteriors arising out of safety violations found during two worksite inspections. "When working from heights, such as roofs, ladders and scaffolds, employers must plan projects to ensure that the job is done safely, provide the proper equipment and...

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$8M Settlement In Colorado Case Despite Non-Economic Damage Law

An $8,000,000 settlement was reached in a mild traumatic brain/vascular injury case in Boulder, Colorado by two trial lawyers from Chicago's largest personal injury law firm,GWC! This settlement includes an apportionment of $400,000 for spousal loss of consortium and $100,000 for a minor son's leg fracture and exceeds the largest reported verdict in Colorado ever, by over $2 million for a tbi injury partners, Louis Cairo and Colin O'Malley, resolved the lawsuit against a major trucking company on Monday, January...

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$5 Million to West African Family of 28-Year-Old Woman Killed in Indiana Crash

A Cook County jury deliberated yesterday until 5:00 P.M. after a three-and-a-half day trial and awarded the Estate of Hawa Sissoko $5 million for her tragic death on May 30, 2007. The trial centered around a high-speed collision involving this young woman who was standing in the middle of the right driving lane on Indiana Toll Road 80/94, behind her stopped vehicle at the Chesterton exit in Indiana. Whether her vehicle was disabled, ran out of gas, had a flat tire,...

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Miami Parking Garage Collapse ? First Lawsuit Filed GWC

Four workers were killed in October when a Miami parking structure collapsed on its crew. The construction accident happened at the site of suburban Miami-Dade College's Doral campus, and generated national headlines. The first wrongful death lawsuit related to the construction accident was filed this week. The lawsuit was brought by the family of a construction worker who was driving a cement truck at the time of the collapse. Authorities say that it took about 17 hours to extricate the...

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12 Year Sentence For Former Burr Oak Cemetery Director

Last week, Carolyn Towns, the former director of Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, received a twelve-year prison sentence for her involvement in the cemetery scandal that came to light in the summer of 2009.  Towns pled guilty to six out of the seven felony counts levied against her, including dismembering a human body, damaging over ten gravestones, desecration of human remains, removal of human remains of multiple deceased human beings from a cemetery, conspiracy to dismember multiple human bodies,...

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$3.4 Million Settlement for Injured Millwright

GWC attorneys Colin O'Malley and Joseph Sorce today settled the lawsuit for an apprentice millwright injured during the 2005 re-tooling at the Chrysler Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois.Apprentice millwright, James Susan, lost his left hand when he attempted to take a measurement alongside an active conveyor chain. During four years of litigation, the defendants blamed James for failure to lockout/tagout the equipment. Through the investigation, attorneys O'Malley and Sorce established an ongoing work pattern of job assignments when millwrights were...

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