What Does COVID Mean for Workers’ Comp?

Though the daunting year that was 2020 is finally over, it feels as if we’ve only just reached the top of the pandemic roller coaster. Many people found themselves newly dubbed “essential” workers due to the pandemic in 2020, and with that brought an onslaught of unforeseen circumstances and drastic changes to our workplace environments. With these many changes came daily modifications to how a workplace was expected to run, with policies and procedures struggling to acclimate to news and discoveries made each day regarding COVID-19. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration, otherwise known as OSHA, played a significant role in deciphering and enforcing these changes across various workplaces throughout the year.

Records show OSHA issued almost $300,000 worth in fines pertaining to COVID-19 safety violations in just one month. It brought their staggering total number of fines since the beginning of the pandemic to just over $3.15 million! As it turns out, OSHA discovered most of these violations were in Alabama, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New York. These violations translate into several different types of offenses, from a lack of providing a written respiratory program to improper mask fitting tests, incorrectly reporting or failing to report an injury, illness, or fatality entirely, and more. Surprisingly, the majority of the businesses cited for these violations were in the healthcare field. The constant, daily shift regarding what was right or wrong in the workplace was difficult for everyone to follow. Still, the bottom line is this: any worker who found themselves negatively impacted by their employers’ inability to comply with OSHA standards deserves proper representation from an attorney experienced in workers’ compensation claims.

If you suspect an injury or illness you experienced throughout the pandemic was due to your employer’s inability to comply with OSHA standards, you deserve a fighting chance. Contact us today at (800) 438-7734 to schedule your free and confidential consultation with the Kenton Koszdin Law Office, Social Security Attorney in Van Nuys.