Contra Costa County and Tri-Valley Workers' Compensation Blog

As devastating wildfires ravage California, there is an urgency in efforts by authorities to protect employees. At the same time, there was an urgency in the efforts of farm owners to get crops off the fields to prevent smoke and suit damage. Labor unions expressed their concern for low-income construction workers, farmworkers and others who earn their incomes in the outdoors. Some of the workers on smaller farms might not be eligible for workers' compensation benefits.

Under California laws, employers must provide outdoor workers who are exposed to the hazards of wildfires with protective gear. Reportedly, deputies who helped with evacuating residents during the Woolsey and Hill fires were equipped with protective masks. However, thousands of the estimated 36,000 farmworkers were hard at work in the fields without any protection.

With the wildfires in different areas of California, it is not only firefighters but also all other workers whose health is threatened. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued advisories with guidelines to help employers to keep their workers safe. Although the toxic smoke in the air poses a more severe threat to outdoor workers, precautions must also be taken to protect workers in enclosed areas. Many workers' compensation claims will likely follow the devastating seasonal wildfires.

To protect indoor employees and those in vehicles from harmful wildfire smoke, employers must establish and implement workable modifications to ensure the proper filtration of air. Employers are asked to review work schedules and modify them to limit the time employees spend working outdoors. Those who have to work in circumstances in which they are exposed to hazardous smoke must be equipped with safety approved respirators.

A significant percentage of the workforce in California suffer overexertion injuries because they attempt to do more work than certain body parts are capable of handling. Sprained ligaments and strained or torn tendons and muscles caused by lifting, pushing and pulling objects give rise to many workers' compensation benefits claims. The best way in which workers can prevent such injuries is by knowing and respecting their physical limits, and listening to their bodies when they warn them to stop.

Different types of exertion can cause damage, the most common being high force demands during lifting, pulling, pushing, gripping, carrying and using heavy tools. Reaching, twisting, kneeling and bending often force workers' bodies into awkward postures. If they must remain stationary in such positions, their bodies will be taxed even more.

A California family is struggling to cope with the consequences of a fatal crash that occurred on a recent Sunday evening. Dealing with personal injury caused by an alleged drunk driver is bad enough, and when three family members lose their lives in one crash, the trauma is naturally overwhelming. Reportedly, the alleged drunk driver survived the accident.

According to a preliminary accident report, the California Highway Patrol says two sisters along with the daughter of one of them were traveling along Highway 99 on their way home after a visit to other family members in Modesto. At approximately 7:30, they were struck head-on by a car driven by a 22-year-old driver who was reportedly heading in the wrong direction on the highway. All three the women in the one car died at the crash scene.