Omaha Workers' Compensation Law Blog

Most of today's work opportunities come with a large amount of stress. The employer's demand to produce, meet deadlines and take on extra work shifts cause employees to feel anxious and stressed. According to the American Institute of Stress, other causes include:

• A lack of job security
• Balancing work and personal life
• Difficulty dealing with people

Whatever the cause, occupational stress plagues many workers. Most of these employees do not realize that workers' compensation can cover treatment for occupational stress in some cases. This means that workers can seek help for their suffering at no cost.

Trenches are a typical part of many jobs, especially in the construction industry and when working with utilities, but they also carry a very high level of risk -- higher than many workers realize. If there is a trench collapse, workers can be buried and seriously injured or killed in mere seconds. The amount of earth that falls back into the trench could weigh thousands of pounds, and moving it quickly and safely may be impossible.

One of the main keys to safety, then, is to practice caution from the very beginning. Here are a few things that workers should do:

• Understand where all electrical lines and other buried hazards are located before starting.
• Consider the type of soil that they'll be working in.
• Pick proper trench safety devices for the job at hand.
• Monitor those devices and do daily inspections to make sure the trench is still safe.
• Keep all heavy items -- materials, equipment, workers, vehicles, etc -- far back from the edge of the trench.
• Keep ladders close to the trench, usually storing them within 25 feet, so that they can be used to help workers get out in a hurry if needed.
• Have a reaction plan in place in case a collapse happens. It's better to plan for an event that never happens than to have no plan when it is needed most.

When employees suffer an injury on the job, their employer must provide them with workers' compensation benefits. This can pay for medical expenses as well as lost wages, eliminating many financial hardships that often accompany an injury.

Many employment opportunities in Nebraska require workers to travel. Naturally, employees assume workers' compensation will also cover any injuries they suffer away from their worksite. In many cases, this is true, but all workers in the state should familiarize themselves with the rules governing travel-related injuries.

Do you always report even minor workplace accidents and injuries to your employer? Two examples of minor accidents include tripping over debris and getting struck by a lightweight falling object. To most Omaha workers, incidents like these do not seem to be worthy of making a report.

Stopping your duties to fill out an incident report when you are not hurt may seem like a waste of time. However, accurate reporting is vital to improving workplace safety.