Oregon Injury Attorney Blog

The State Of Oregon recently observed Workers Memorial Day in an effort to recognize workers killed on the job. I knew nothing about this observance. It's on April 28th, which is the date Congress enacted the Occupational Safety and Health Act, or OSHA. In Oregon, 87 workers died on the job in 2006. I do not see the statistics for 2007 and 2008 on the Oregon OHSA website. Nationwide, more than a million workers are injured in America every year, and almost 5500 died in work related accidents in 2007. Logging and fishing are the most dangerous, so in Oregon and Washington, we get more than our share of worker fatalities.

After rattling off a bunch of statistics, I realize that the whole purpose the Worker's Memorial Day is to put a face on all the workers that are killed and injured each year.

Collisions involving large trucks (gross vehicle rating greater than 10,000 pounds) are an increasing problem. Trucks are getting bigger, and cars are getting smaller, but both have to share the road.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) posted data on fatal large truck collisions from 2007. It shows the following:

* One of out nine traffic fatalities in 2007 resulted from a collision involving a large truck

* 12% of all traffic fatalities in 2007 involved a collision with a large truck. This is an increase from 2006, where 8% of all fatal collisions involved a large truck.

* Large trucks are much more likely to be involved in a multiple vehicle collision - as opposed to a fatal single vehicle crash - than were passenger cars. (82% of all large trucks involved in fatal crashes, compared with 59% of all passenger vehicles)

* About 62% of fatal collisions involving large trucks occurred in rural areas, and most collisions occurred during the daytime, and on weekdays.

* About one quarter of all truck drivers involved in a fatal crash in 2007 had at least one prior speeding conviction, which is a bit more than passenger drivers also involved in fatal collisions.

In 2005, new statutes changed the way injured workers are paid permanent partial disability. "Permanent Partial Disability," also known as PPD, is the benefit that an injured worker receives a result of her loss of earning capacity. "Earning Capacity" refers to the person's ability to do different kinds of work. I often describe it as many doors of opportunity closing as a result of a permanent disability. There are experts, vocational counselors, that can actually put a dollar value on a person's lost earning capacity. However, with Oregon Workers' Compensation, the PPD benefit often does actually reflect the value of an injured worker's loss of earnings capacity.

The new PPD law and rules allocate PPD for the "whole person" and "work disability." Work disability is paid when the injured worker is unable to return to "regular work." Whether an injured worker has returned to regular work is often an issue we fight over. In one case, my client returned to the same job title, but was doing a whole lot less then before his injury. Even though he retained the same job title, and pay, the Workers' Compensation Division agreed that my client did not return to regular work, and he was awarded work disability.

The Workers Compensation Board is defining what "regular work" really means. For example is the loss of overtime due to physical limitations an inability to return to "regular work?" We shall see.

The Oregonian reported today on an AARP report that describes the number of people in America with a work disability. Most striking is the fact that roughly half of these folks are not receiving Social Security disability. The report also provides a good general outline of how the Social Security program works, who it serves, and how it is funded.

Another interesting comment involves the expected rise in claims due to our struggling economy. I have often heard that during hard times, disability and workers' compensation claims rise. Perhaps, but I have never seen a study or any statistics to support that contention.

Other links:

The Oregonian Article

AARP's Social Security Web Page

There is some hints of slight improvement in the current disability hearing backlog. Recent statistics show that the average "case processing" time fell for October to December of last year, but is still at 479 days. The number of pending cases dropped from an all time high in December of 2008. Still, the number of pending cases has not dropped below 760,000 since June of last year.

Hearing requests have increased 10% for fiscal year 2009. Some attribute this to a downturn in the economy, although I have not seen any reliable statistics to back that up. I suspect is it more likely due to the overall aging population. This increased hearing request trend is likely to continue because new applications are up 11% at state DDS (disability determination service).

Compared to last year, there are 90 new ALJs, and these new judges are starting to meet their target caseloads. ALJ productivity is increasing, and some attribute this to senior attorney involvement. Senior attorneys will make recommendations to ALJ's on pending cases, which is a great tool for cases that have sufficient evidence to make a disability determination.

With hearings offices pulling more cases, ALJs conducting more hearings, and attorney advisors reviewing cases, the backlog seems to have hit a bottleneck with Decision writing. It's taking longer to get the Decisions out, which makes sense. However, it shows a real effort to get things moving again.

On a local level, I notice some changes. The Portland ODAR is contacting our well in advance to set hearing dates, and is asking for my available hearing dates for the next three or four months. This is promising.

I was in Portland last year, and had to wait in my car in a parking lot during the rush hour. I watched in amazement as several bike commuters braved a spring snow storm to ride into work. I was also amazed at how many of the bike commuters disregarded a stop light and darted by cars pulling out into to traffic; not everyone, but quite a few.

I don't really ride a bike on a regular basis, but after returning to Astoria, I followed the bike v. car war that seems to be going on in the Portland area. A recent blog entry in the Oregonian discussed the ongoing issue, and efforts to pass a law allowing bicyclists