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Fluid sampling and gauging are routine tasks in oil production fields across the nation. Unfortunately for oil workers, these tasks can be very hazardous. Between 2010 and 2014, nine deaths in oil fields occurred due to exposure to hydrocarbon gas and lack of oxygen during the fluid sampling or gauging process, including one death in…

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), health care workers (nurses, nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants) suffer musculoskeletal injuries at a rate seven times that of workers in other occupations. This is far higher than workers in other physically demanding industries such as construction, mining, and warehousing. Health care employers incur $20 billion…

Toluene is a highly useful chemical found in a number of industrial and consumer products, including paints, metal cleaners, adhesives, nail polish, and printing inks. Toluene vaporizes when exposed to air at room temperature. That can result in serious health problems for workers who inhale even small amounts of toluene on a regular basis. Toluene…

The loss of a limb can have devastating physical, financial and psychological effects. But life goes on after the loss of a leg, arm or hand. What’s it like to lose a limb? What challenges do amputees face and how do they cope? Does everyone who loses a limb experience “phantom pain”? In this blog…

Heavier than normal work activities can result in a heart attack, even in a person who does not exhibit any signs of heart problems. In the parlance of the Colorado workers’ compensation system, this is known as “unusual exertion”. When unusual exertion does cause a heart attack, a worker can claim workers’ compensation benefits, though…

Workers in psychiatric and mental health facilities face a variety of hazards on the job. Among the most serious of these are assaults by patients and injuries sustained while subduing out-of-control patients. In the opinion of one California psychiatrist, violent assaults happen on a daily basis in most inpatient mental health facilities. He tempers that…