Some companies in Ohio fail to prioritize employee safety over profits, not realizing that workplace injuries can have an adverse impact on the bottom line. Every workers’ compensation claim that is filed can potentially increase the company’s insurance premiums. This will likely happen if the surviving family members of a man who died in a recent workplace accident file a survivors’ benefits claim.
Reportedly, the fatal incident occurred on a recent Tuesday in Warren County. An employee of a rigging company was apparently involved in the moving of a 26-ton machine at the premises of a manufacturer of auto parts. Under circumstances yet to be determined, a forklift lost its load which fell onto the worker and crushed him to death.
According to records of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the auto parts manufacturer’s safety record indicates that it was cited for six safety violations in 2010. The violations were all classified as serious. They included unsecured storage systems, the lack of machine guarding that exposed workers to dangerous rotating machine parts and the failure to anchor equipment that was designed to be fixed in place.
An Ohio family who has to cope with the trauma and financial consequences of a loved one’s death in a workplace accident may seek help from the workers’ compensation insurance program. The surviving family members will be entitled to death benefits that will cover the costs of a funeral and burial. Also, to help them with daily living expenses immediately after the death of their loved one, a wage-replacement package may form part of the benefits.
Source: wcpo.com, “26-ton machine crushed worker at Walther Engineering and Manufacturing, coroner says“, Aug. 23, 2017