Chicago workers, as well as those employed throughout the State of Illinois and the rest of the country, are given legal protections against work accidents and on-the-job injuries under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and its creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
As explained on the OSHA website, “…federal law entitles you to a safe workplace. Your employer must keep your workplace free of known health and safety hazards.” These rights include things like:
- Safe machines on the worksite;
- Safety equipment as needed for the work to be performed;
- Protection from toxins and hazardous materials; and
- The right to refuse to work when doing so means exposure to a hazard that might cause injury or harm.
Illinois is one of several states (including Indiana, for example) that has an “OSHA State Plan.” This is an approved plan that covers state and local government workers in Illinois. For all other workers in the private sector, they are covered by federal OSHA, not Illinois OSHA.
Most Chicago workers rely upon the federal agency OSHA to make sure that safety laws and regulations are being respected by their employers.
Why is this important? OSHA has the right to send inspectors to jobsites to make sure that safety laws and regulations are being followed and workers are being protected. If the OSHA inspectors find breaches in duties of care and safety, they can issue citations and they can fine the employers who are disrespecting and endangering their workers.
Chicago Workers and OSHA Violations
Unfortunately, the reality today is that OSHA is notorious for not having enough inspectors to do the job that is needed to catch employers doing bad things and make them do a better job of avoiding work accidents that harm or kill workers in known dangers and preventable accidents.
“Federal OSHA is a small agency; with our state partners we have approximately 1,850 inspectors responsible for the health and safety of 130 million workers, employed at more than 8 million worksites around the nation — which translates to about one compliance officer for every 70,000 workers.”
Chicago workers cannot rely upon OSHA inspections to keep things safe at their workplace because there are not enough inspectors to do the job effectively.
Another reason that OSHA inspections are not enough to keep Chicago workers safe from on-the-job injuries is the blatant disrespect and disregard of citations and fines by employers, even after they have been punished multiple times.
Repeated Violations by Chicago Employers Despite OSHA Citations
Consider the following examples of Chicago employers who have been cited for safety regulations by OSHA and obviously kept disregarding safety laws as they received additional citations from OSHA for breaching duties of worker safety and care (these are far from the only local examples):
8 Citations Since 2015 for United Custom Homes LLC
Oswego, Illinois, is a suburb of Chicago that sits in Kendall County. It is the home base for a construction contractor named United Custom Homes LLC. In an August 2023 inspection, OSHA reported workers for this company at heights of 20 feet without the required personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect against falls on a Naperville construction site.
This company has been cited eight times since 2015 for fall protection violations, with the latest citation involving $264,143 in proposed fines. The company still owes $238,572 to OSHA for unpaid penalties.
See the OSHA news release of February 12, 2024, and read, “OSHA Cites Illinois Contractor for Fall Hazards for Eighth Time Since 2015,” written by Robert Yaniz Jr. and published by OHS Online on February 14, 2024.
Death of Worker Weeks After OSHA Citation for Amputation Injury in Gurnee Pizza Plant
Gurnee, Illinois, is a suburb of Chicago that sits in Lake County. A worker under the supervision of Miracapo Pizza Company and employed by XCEL Staffing Solutions LLC died in a horrific work accident involving the cleaning of a spiral conveyer as it moved to cool pizza. Miracapo Pizza Company is facing $2,812,658 in penalties and is now in the OSHA Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) as a result of this on-the-job tragedy.
The fatal Gurnee work accident occurred within weeks of an amputation injury suffered by a worker at that same sheeting fatality where OSHA assessed Miracapo $290,191 in penalties.
Read the OSHA news release of June 9, 2023; OSHA news release of May 15, 2023; Dangers Facing Workers in Illinois Food Processing Industry; and Illinois Workers: Machine Guarding and LOTO Risks of Death or Severe Injury.
Three Citations Within Five Years for Rana Meal Solutions: Repeated Amputation Injuries
Barlett, Illinois, is part of the Chicago Metropolitan area, located 29 miles west of the Chicago city limits. For three times in a five-year period, Rana Meal Solutions LLC of Barlett was cited by OSHA for safety violations that endangered its workers from accidents involving moving machine parts. In November 2023, the citation involved a worker who suffered an amputated finger while working on the hot pasta sauce line.
Explained OSHA Area Director Jacob Scott:
“Once again, our inspectors found Rana Meal Solutions LLC ignoring federal safety requirements to make sure dangerous machines are guarded or fully de-energized before they are maintained or serviced. In 2019 and 2020, OSHA found the company exposed employees to the risk of severe injuries and now, in 2023, their failure to follow industry and federal safety standards led one worker to suffer a painful, disfiguring injury.”
For more, read the OSHA news release of November 2, 2023 and “Food manufacture workplace safety violations cause severe injuries,” written by Dave Savini and Michele Youngerman and published by CBS – Chicago2News on February 20, 2024.
Chicago Workers In Danger of Serious or Fatal Work Accidents Despite OSHA Protections
The sad truth for many workers in Chicagoland is that they go to work each day without sufficient protections on the jobsite to keep them safe from being hurt or killed in an on-the-job accident. Safety laws exist on the books, but can do little in the real world if employers decide to put profits over people.
The lack of a sufficient OSHA inspection force coupled with known disregard by companies of OSHA citations as warnings to make things safer means that working in Chicago’s factories, plants, warehouses, ports, distribution centers, food processing facilities, and other industrial sites is unacceptably risky.
Workers’ Compensation
For these workers, the more effective laws may be the protections provided after an injury has been suffered. There are state and federal laws that provide Chicago workers with worker’s compensation after a work accident. This is a way to provide for some economic losses suffered by the injured worker via an insurance claim made on the employer’s mandatory worker’s compensation insurance policy.
- For more on workers’ compensation, read Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana: Workers Compensation Claim vs. Personal Injury Damages. and The Two Main Differences Between Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Claims for Accident Victims in Indiana and Illinois.
Personal Injury Claims
There are some situations where investigation into the Chicago work accident may reveal that legal claims are available outside of the Illinois workers’ compensation system. Expert analysis of the incident may reveal that third parties have legal liability for what has happened. An example here might be a defective machinery part that failed and caused the accident injuries. Another example may be a company hired to repair, maintain, or oversee the worksite or its components that failed to do so in a reasonable and prudent manner.
Finally, in some cases the Chicago worker may need to investigate if repeated OSHA citations, ignored by the employer, constitutes reckless behavior. If the employer can be shown to have intentionally allowed workers into dangerous situations without proper safety protections, then personal injury claims may be available against the employer. Willful violations may provide for additional damages being available to the worker and their loved ones than a standard workers’ compensation claim.
- For more, read: Premises Liability and Workplace Accidents: Third Party Injury Claims; Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Claims for On-the-Job Accidents; and Who Can Be Held Liable for Construction Worker Accidents?
Claims for Justice For Chicago Workers Hurt in Accidents After OSHA Violations
Anyone working in Chicagoland should be aware of the dangers they face on the job and the likelihood that their employer, or others in possession, custody, or control of aspects of the workplace may put profits over people and ignore legal duties of care and safety.
This can happen even after an OSHA inspection has revealed dangers facing workers on that jobsite. It may occur even if the company faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in OSHA fines and penalties.
For these workers, there is a legal right to independently investigate the Chicagoland work accident and to determine if there are legal claims for justice available for that injured worker against their employers or others involved in the work environment. There is a legal deadline within which these claims must be made.
For more, read:
- What Is The Most Dangerous Job in Indiana and Illinois?
- Death on the Job: Industrial Accident Fatalities in Illinois and Indiana
- The Reality of Widespread Industrial Work Accident Deaths in Illinois and Indiana: Warning to Our Workers.
Chicago workers deserve to go to work knowing they are protected from harm as required by law. Unfortunately, too many employers in Chicagoland are known to disrespect known safety laws and legal duties of care. Please be careful out there!
