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Crane topples onto railroad tracks in Iowa along I-80

By Steve Lombardi

This is a work related accident that demonstrates several issues surrounding personal injury and how the law weaves a common thread between workers' compensation and personal injury. The Kansas City Star on its dot.com website reported a crane toppled onto a railroad track in Iowa killing the 27 year old crane operator. The operator apparently worked for A.M. Cohron & Son, Inc. of Atlantic, Iowa. They were doing work on an overpass bridge of the railroad tracks. At the time they were moving a beam.

 

Now I know nothing about this man or the company he worked. The fact that a worker died will trigger an OSHA investigation by IOSH. The work related accident with a worker being injured or killed should trigger action on the part of the workers' compensation insurance company. The employer is required to report this accident and work related death to the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health division. The workers compensation insurance company is required to file a First Report of Injury with the Division of Workers' Compensation, a part of Iowa's Workforce Development Division.

 

Any dependents of the operator are entitled to Iowa workers' compensation benefits. Chapter 85.  Those may be automatically paid by the workers' compensation insurance company; but then again they may not. Some times it depends on what the employer knows about its employee's personal life - such as whether or not he was married and had dependent children. Employers don't always know that an employee is married or has dependent children or parents.

 

The operator's estate is entitled to ambulance, rescue, emergency care and hospital services without regard to any dollar limit; so long as the charges are reasonable and necessary. The estate is also entitled to funeral and burial expenses within the limit set by the Iowa legislature. (Currently $7,500.00.)

"Medical Benefits

 

Your employer must pay for all reasonable and necessary medical care required to treat your injury. This includes reasonable and necessary travel expenses for treatment. Mileage for use of a private car is reimbursed at 48.5 cents per mile. (85.27)

Under certain circumstances, if you are required to leave work for medical treatment, you may receive payment of lost wages. (85.27)

A medical care provider cannot seek payment of charges for treatment from you while a contested case proceeding or a dispute as to the reasonableness of a medical treatment fee is pending before the Workers' Compensation Commissioner. (85.27)

 

                        Death Benefits (85.28, 85.31, 85.42, 85.43, 85.44)

 

If you were dependent on someone who had died as a result of an on the job injury, you may be eligible to receive death benefits. A surviving spouse may receive death benefits for life or until remarriage. Dependent children are entitled to death benefits until age 18 or, if actually dependent, age 25. Other persons may qualify for death benefits if they were actually dependent upon the deceased worker. If a surviving spouse remarries and the deceased worker has no dependent children at the time of the remarriage, the surviving spouse is entitled to a two-year lump sum settlement. In addition to the weekly death benefits, the deceased worker's employer (or its insurance carrier) must pay burial expenses of up to $7500.00.

 

And the operator's estate and spouse, if any would also be entitled to make a claim against any third party that is at fault or partially at fault for the accident occurring. At this point it is nearly impossible to say what that liability could be without an investigation. This type of claim requires legal representation. Insurance company adjusters who promise to give you a fair shake should not be trusted to follow with any promises."

 

Anyone who suffers a work-related injury can consult the free pamphlet: Questions and Answers About Workers' Compensation Law For Injured Workers.

 

                                                     Iowa Workforce Development

Division of Workers' Compensation

1000 East Grand Avenue

Des Moines, Iowa 50319

515-281-5387

or

1-800-JOB IOWA

(1-800-562-4692)

or

http://www.iowaworkforce.org/wc

 

Current events often times demonstrate how one accident can be both a workers' compensation benefits case and a personal injury lawsuit. When a death is involved several layers of investigation should be involved in preserving evidenced.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Steve Lombardi

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on May 21, 2008 (boomark / email).