Norfolk accident injury

Norfolk Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Talk About Employer Obligations to Workplace Safety

by | March 30th, 2015

Employers have a legal responsibility to provide workers with a safe and healthy environment in which to do their jobs; however, the Norfolk workers’ compensation attorneys with Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers say many companies fail to meet this requirement, which often leads to serious accidents and legal action being taken against the responsible parties.

An accident that occurred earlier today at Colonna’s Shipyard in Norfolk underscores just how easily an on-the-job accident can occur if safety isn’t on the mind of every worker all the time. According to a story from WAVY 10 News, the incident occurred at around 1:25 p.m. near the facility’s South Main Street entrance.

This wasn’t the shipyard’s first safety incident though. Just last year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined the shipyard more than $100,000 after inspections uncovered as many as one dozen health and safety code violations at the facility. Some of the violations included uncovered manholes, which presented a fall risk, as well as using damaged tools and equipment or utilizing unguarded machinery.

If you or a loved one have been injured or killed as the result of workplace negligence, it’s vital to know that help is available. At Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers, our Norfolk personal injury lawyers can not only answer your questions regarding workplace safety, but we can also help to assist you in filing the necessary paperwork to get back on your feet financially. Call us at (757) 459-CASH anytime to discuss your case.

911 Location Errors Put Citizens at Risk of Serious Harm

by | February 23rd, 2015

Whether you’ve suffered a brain injury or been hurt in a car accident, it’s likely that you will depend on calling 911 in order to receive emergency services. It’s important to remember though: 911 systems have flaws that could result in you not getting the care you need in a timely manner.

Typically, when a 911 call comes in, it is immediately traced in order to determine the location where the call was made. With cellphones and today’s technology though, this can be a difficult task because of cellphone towers. Sometimes, all of a caller’s information isn’t transferred to the dispatcher from the cell phone tower. In many more cases though, a call is sent to the nearest cellphone tower and then the nearest dispatch location. Unfortunately, sometimes the cellphone tower can pass along bad information about a caller’s location.

According to an article from 13 News Now, only around one-quarter of 911 calls in eastern Virginia come in with data about where a person is calling from. So what can you do to stay safe? The Norfolk personal injury attorneys with Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers suggest:

  • Stay vigilant– Being aware of your surroundings at all times and not engaging in risky behavior goes a long way in helping to keep you safe.
  • Call 911 from a land line– Most location errors occur because of interruption in the transmitting of data to cellphone towers. You can eliminate these issues by calling from a wired phone.
  • Be precise– If you call 911, explain your location in detail to the dispatcher. This can include zip codes, addresses, landmarks, etc.

We hope these tips help to keep you and your loved ones safe in the future.

Norfolk Woman Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against VA Hospital

by admin@gotechark.com | November 12th, 2012

November 12, 2012

A 39-year-old Norfolk, Virginia, woman filed a Norfolk wrongful death lawsuit against the Department of Veteran Affairs on behalf of her sister who died while under the care of the agency’s medical staff. The Virginian-Pilot reports the medical staff was negligent in prescribing medications to the victim that were ultimately used in her suicide.

The article told the story about how on the last night of the victim’s tour of duty in Naples, Italy, in 1995, she was the victim of a burglary that left her severely traumatized. A year later, the woman was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was found to have an 80 percent service-related disability. Over the next 13 years, the woman was seen by at least one dozen doctors and received prescriptions for as many as 25 different medications.

In the eight months prior to the woman’s death, she had attempted to commit suicide by taking the antipsychotic medication, Seroquel, but had failed. When a doctor purposefully supplied her more of the drug, she took it all in one night and was found dead the next day by her sister.

The sister is seeking $5 million in damages from a trial scheduled to begin next April.

The Norfolk Personal Injury Lawyers with Lowell “The Hammer” Stanley are hopeful that the Norfolk wrongful death lawsuit will help bring closure to the tragedy for the family and friends of the victim.