A 50-year-old bus driver for the North Carolina State University died of carbon monoxide poisoning on her bus. According to reports from WRAL News, the woman had made numerous complaints before passing away that she smelled fumes on the bus.

On December 21 of last year, two other drivers made complaints of smelling fumes on the same bus. Hours later, the 50-year-old woman pulled the bus over on the University’s Centennial Campus and called 911. She was taken to a local hospital where she died three days later form what coroners have determined was carbon monoxide poisoning.

The bus company, First Transit, confirmed that the vehicle was taken out of commission pending an investigation by the North Carolina Department of Labor.

This isn’t the only incident though. Last month, another driver and several of the bus’s passengers complained of smelling fumes while riding. Although the company’s maintenance department examined the bus, they found nothing wrong and the vehicle continues to run.

Another driver reported quitting the company in the months prior to the death of her colleague because she felt the managers were not properly addressing safety concerns after she made numerous complaints of the fumes and nothing was done.

The North Carolina toxic exposure attorneys with HensonFuerst often handle numerous cases where people have been hurt or killed by poisons in their environment. If dangerous toxins have caused you harm, we may be able to help.

A North Carolina Workers’ Compensation claim, made by a former Robeson County middle school principal who was shot in the face, has been appealed by the Attorney General’s office for the third time.

According to a report by News 14, in April of 2009, the man filing the claim was principal at Fairmont Middle School. He was driving to work one morning when the driver of a truck traveling in the opposite direction on Davis Road opened fire on him. He says he saw a hole in his car’s window, and knew he had been shot. The case is still unsolved.

Since then, he has been hospitalized, undergone several reconstructive surgeries, and still suffers post-traumatic stress stemming from the incident. He successfully sued the school district for workers’ compensation and also won an appeal, but the state still refuses to pay because they say he was not on school grounds at the time of the incident. The case will now go before the State Court of Appeals.

According to North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Attorneys with the law firm of HensonFuerst, victims of the workers’ compensation system often have their claims denied several times before receiving benefits. They say that is why it is best to contact an attorney to handle the case for you.

The North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Attorneys with HensonFuerst can be contacted anytime for a free evaluation of your case and to discuss the next steps you should take in order to receive compensation for your expenses.

According to an article describing the research in ScienceDaily, the hours closest to lunchtime account for only about 18% of accidents, but nearly 30% of all workplace fatalities. The Lunch Effect is true for workers who are young or old…just starting on the job, or with years of experience…in small businesses, or in large corporations…at all times of the year…with all types of machinery…and for all manner of falls.

“The gravity and mortality rate of accidents are higher in the hours around lunchtime, regardless of who, how, when, where or with what the accident happens,” Miguel A. Camino López, lead author of the study, said. The researcher in the Engineering and Responsible Management Group at the University of Burgos focused on the construction sector for this study.

The Lunch Effect remained true, even after researchers took other factors into account, such as the possibility of alcohol consumption at lunch, or whether the workers took naps (remember: this was Spain, where the siesta is still respected). The researchers looked at all accidents suffered by constructions workers in Spain from 1990 to 2002–a total of 10,239,303 accidents.

“Companies can use these figures to help them understand the times of day with especially high levels of accident gravity and mortality,” stresses Camino. “Workers should be informed of these risks, and the Ministry of Employment should make greater efforts to promote preventive measures in the construction sector, such as continuous shifts.”

To read the full ScienceDaily article, click here:  Workplace Accidents Are Worse After Lunch

To read the article abstract from the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, click here:  The special severity of occupational accidents

Details are slowly being brought to light by authorities regarding a tour bus accident that killed the driver, a former North Carolina State University standout. The accident report, which was released yesterday, says that the bus was traveling five miles over the speed limit.

According to WRAL News, the accident occurred Monday on Interstate 40 near the Highway 54 exit. The bus veered off of the highway, and traveled more than 380 feet down the shoulder of the highway and crossed the on-ramp from eastbound Chapel Hill Road. It then ran into a wooded area and struck several trees, redirecting the vehicle back towards the highway, where it came to rest. The vehicle sustained heavy damage to the front end and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

Thankfully, no passengers were aboard the bus at the time of the accident, and no other vehicles were involved. Although the accident report has been released, the exact cause of the accident is still under investigation.

The man who was killed in the accident is best remembered as the NCSU basketball star that made the game winning slam-dunk during the 1983 NCAA basketball tournament finals.

The North Carolina truck accident attorneys with HensonFuerst say that commercial bus drivers must undergo many of the same tests and follow many of the same regulations as drivers of semi trucks and can be held responsible if an accident occurs and is found to be their fault.

State investigators are probing into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of two men working for a company based out of Burlington, North Carolina. An article by WRAL News said a person passing by found the deceased men at the bottom of a manhole where they were working.

The deputy director of the State Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Allen McNeely, said that one of the men was working in the manhole when he lost consciousness due to a lack of oxygen. A coworker attempted to rescue the man, but suffocated as well.

When the fire department arrived, they measured oxygen levels in the hole before going in to retrieve the bodies. They found there was not enough oxygen to sustain life.

The men were working for an employer with a history of safety infractions. In fact, the company was fined $40,000 last year for exposing workers to hazards on a job. They reported the death of a worker in 1997, as well, after a bulldozer accident. In all, the company has had eight complaints filed against them in the last 14 years.

Responsibility is on the employer to ensure that work conditions are safe and employees are trained on how to respond to any incident. A North Carolina Wrongful Death Lawyer may be able to help if you have suffered an injury or loss at the fault of an employer. Contact HensonFuerst to discuss your potential case by filling out a free online consultation form.

If you are younger than age 65, you could receive your settlement check within weeks. That sounds right, right? Here’s the problem: If you are age 65 or older, your settlement check could be delayed by years. Yes…years. The difference is due to the red-tape run-around involving something called the Medicare Secondary Payer System (MSP).

The MSP was the product of good intentions. It was designed to help keep Medicare solvent by reimbursing the Medicare Trust Fund if another insurance or compensation source is available to pay for health care costs. The timeline (ideally) would go like this:

1. An injury occurs.
2. The medical bills are paid by Medicare.
3. A lawsuit is filed.
4. A lawsuit is won.
5. Medicare is contacted.
6. Medicare bills are tallied.
7. Medicare is reimbursed from the settlement money.
8. The remainder of the settlement goes to the injured person.
9. Other bills get paid and justice is done.

Again, that’s the ideal. In reality, this is what happens (differences are highlighted):

1. An injury occurs.
2. The medical bills are paid by Medicare.
3. A lawsuit is filed.
4. A lawsuit is won
5. Medicare is contacted. (So far, so good.)
6. Medicare sits on the request to tally the bill.
7. Medicare sits on the request to tally the bill.
8. Medicare sits on the request to tally the bill.
9. Medicare sits on the request to tally the bill.
10. Medicare sits on the request to tally the bill. (ad infinitum)
11. Other bills don’t get paid; justice is not done.

The funds that have been won in a lawsuit can be tied up for years due to the red-tape and inefficiencies of the MSP system. And remember, we’re talking about senior citizens–many of them die before they see a dime of the money that could improve their lives.

What Is Being Done?

There is currently a Bill before Congress that would streamline the process of Medicare reimbursement. The Bill (HR 4796: The Medicare Secondary Payer Enhancement Act) will do several things. Most importantly, it will require that Medicare respond to requests for recovery information within 60 days… that Medicare develop an appeals process for repayment determinations…and that there be a 3-year statute of limitations, so that Medicare can’t ignore injured seniors forever.

One has to wonder why the system would allow this kind of bureaucracy or incompetence to continue. Don’t they want funds repaid in a timely manner? Who benefits from keeping the law in place as it is? It seems like no one: The bill was introduced in March 2010 by Reps. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.). It is co-sponsored by 26 other Representatives–Democrats and Republicans–and is backed by a varied group of organizations and businesses, including Walmart, the Defense Research Institute, the American Insurance Association, and Safeway.

HensonFuerst also supports the bill. We have seen many of our clients suffer needlessly–additional suffering on top of their injuries–because of the current difficulties with Medicare reimbursement. If you want to read the full bill and see its status, click here: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-4796

And if you want to send a message of support to your Representative in Congress, go to the website for People Over Profits (http://www.peopleoverprofits.org), or click here to be taken to their dedicated web page: Support HR 4796.