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Category: Workers’ Compensation Blog

Xsport Fitness Fined For Workplace Safety Hazards

Federal safety regulators have fined a Libertyville-based fitness club chain for exposing its workers to workplace safety hazards including dangerous chemicals. About $60,000 in proposed fines against Xsport Fitness, also known as Capital Fitness Inc., were announced by the U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA officials that Xsport Fitness employees were exposed to a variety of serious workplace injuries arising out of the companys failure to provide them with the proper safety equipment. Xsport Fitness has...

Firefighter Injured In Lake Zurich House Fire

A Sunday night fire in Lake Zurich has left three people injured, including one firefighter. Authorities responded to the northwest suburban fire shortly before 8 p.m. On Sunday. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the blaze happened at a single-family home on West Glendale Road. According to the Lake Zurich Fire Department, one of the residents of the home and one bystander were rushed to Good Shepherd Hospital where doctors treated non-life threatening injuries. It is unclear whether these injuries consisted...

Metra Electric District Train Kills Worker

A 36-year-old worker was killed when a Metra Electric District train hit and killed him around 1:30 p.m. The accident happened near 47th street. Authorities say that the man was a trackman who had been working for the company for about a dozen years. He was working with a maintenance crew at the time of the fatal train accident. The entire Metra family is deeply saddened by this tragic incident and the loss of one of our own, a company...

CTA Guard Accused of Sexual Assault

GWC Injury Lawyers is proud to represent the injured members of ATU 308 and ATU 241 for workers compensation claims and personal injury cases. Unfortunately many of these union members are injured in work related accidents every year. Cutbacks in personnel contribute to an unsafe work environment that cause many of these accidents. We wish that the CTA would recognize the dangers that these cutbacks cause. Below is a press statement written by Robert Kelly, president of ATU 308. PRESS...

Illinois Contractor fined By Feds For Workplace Safety Violations

A DuPage County contractor was recently fined by federal safety regulators for workplace safety violations which exposed workers to serious on the job injuries. Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Willowbrook-based Allied Waterproofing Inc. Committed five workplace safety violations at a Chicago construction site. Proposed fines against the company are above $56,000. Workers at the Chicago parking garage repair site were exposed to respiratory disease from crystalline silica dust. The dust could...

Companies Failed To Inspect For Asbestos In Chicago Building

Asbestos exposure is nothing new to Illinois workers, yet employers still fail to follow state and federal regulations requiring proper inspections to protect employees and the general public. For instance, when an older building in Illinois is set to be demolished, the development or construction company has to follow certain inspection guidelines. In particular, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to be notified. Recently in Chicago, the EPA inspected a building with unsafe levels of asbestos, but two companies...

Injurious After-Hours Work Errands Covered By Workers Comp

If you are injured in a car accident while running a work-related errand outside of normal business hours, can you receive workers compensation for your injuries? In Illinois, the answer is yes, depending on the particular situation. A case heard by the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission involved a car accident in which a director of investment was injured. Her job required her to promote her employers business, so to spruce up her employers booth at a business exposition, she decided...

Plant Explosion in Pekin Leaves 4 With Burn Injuries

Illinois has lately seen its fair share of factory explosions. A couple of weeks ago we wrote about an explosion in Cary, and now an accident at a plant in Pekin has left four workers injured. The explosion happened at an Enviro-Safe Refrigerants plant and is thought to have been caused by a malfunction in a gas line. An investigation was ongoing at the time of a news report. The blast was so powerful that part of the roof and...

Illinois Industrial Worker Killed When Disemboweled By Machinery

Throughout the scope of this blog, we have detailed what seems like countless workplace accidents across a variety of occupations in both Chicago and Illinois more broadly. While there are several safety regulations that should be closely adhered to in most workplaces, particularly those that are a construction or industrial setting, the reality is that employers will often cut corners to save money at the expense of safety. This is typically when devastating workplace accidents occur. Following a workplace accident...