Dolina Hobbs, LLC - 82 W Washington St., Suite 300, Hagerstown, Maryland, 21204

Fire in Maryland Grocery Store Leaves Employees Jobless

On Sunday morning, December 25, there was a fire at a Maryland grocery store in Waldorf.

According to state investigators the reason for the fire was faulty lighting at the Tienda y Carnicera on Crain Highway. The blaze was noticed by a passerby just before 2 a.m. on Christmas morning and the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office attended the scene.

According to the investigators, the owners of Tienda y Camiceria closed the store shortly before 6 p.m. on the evening of December 24, and people passing by a few hours later. It appears that a fluorescent light had malfunctioned and both the store and an adjoining business suffered fire and water damage.

The fire was attended by over 40 firefighters and it only took 10 minutes to bring it under control.

Damage is thought to be in the region of $450,000 and in the meantime the store is closed and the 18 employees have no work until the store can be reopened.

Luckily no one was injured in the blaze but this highlights the need for businesses to ensure that their premises are safe and regular electrical inspections should be carried out.

If you have been injured in a work related accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.

Seriously Injured Firefighter Returns to Hagerstown Fire Department

Jimmy Sprecher III has returned to work with the Hagerstown Fire Department following a serious work related accident.

Sprecher III, whose father was also a firefighter was responding to a call on Christmas Eve 2015 in Long Meadow when the supply line which was being laid out and a 40 pound hydrant valve whipped around and hit him in the legs. It has taken him around nine months to be able not only to walk again but also to go back to work. As luck would have it his first call was back to Long Meadow.

During his rehabilitation, Sprecher III worked especially with physical therapists not only on learning to walk but also to serve which he says he began to believe could be a reality. He says that he owes his recovery to the help and support of his friends and family in the fire service

If you have been injured in a work related accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.

Preventing Accidents at Work

In the event of an accident at work, the first important matter is who was at fault for your accident at work?

All employers have a responsibility to protect their employees, contractors and visitors from accidents and injuries. Employees have to provide their employees with the necessary machinery and tools to complete their jobs and ensure that the machinery and the tools are in a good and safe condition.

The workplace must also be a safe place to work including free from hazards and debris. There should be no obstruction of emergency exits and corridors and storage areas should be free of fire hazards.

Those employees with dangerous jobs or using dangerous equipment should be properly trained and have the right protective equipment for the work. This includes those who have to lift heavy objects who should also be trained in the correct lifting techniques.

Safety gear should be provided to those who need it, which will include goggles, hard hats, ear defenders, dust masks, safety gloves, safety boots or high-visibility jackets.

If your employer did not provide a safe workplace environment and your accident or injury was caused as a result of this lack of care, you may have a personal injury compensation claim.

If you have been injured in a work related accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.

Farming Is a Dangerous Profession

A man who had a chicken farm in Maryland died this month when he touched a feed motor on his farm which is another example of how framing can be a dangerous profession.

Unfortunately Bill Brown did not know that a wire had come loose and he died from the shock. His death was a reminder to farmers that the job of farming is more dangerous than many realize as data on workplace injuries and deaths show farming is riskier than police or construction work, and only a few other professions, like logging and long-distance trucking, are more prone to fatal accidents.

There can be accidents due to tractors if farmers have no protective clothing or accidents due to the range of farmyard equipment which is not properly protected.

The government measure how fatal an occupation can be by the number of fatal injuries per 100,000 full-time workers an there were 270 fatal work injuries on U.S. farms in 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics which means there were 26.7 fatal accidents per 100,000 farm workers.

Farm work is not the most dangerous job there is. That distinction goes to logging, whose workers were four times more likely than farmers to die from an on-the-job injury in 2014. Fishermen, airplane pilots, roofers and trash collectors also have a higher more risk.

But in terms of deaths per 100,000 workers, farming is more dangerous than driving a truck, repairing power lines, doing steel work in construction or being a police officer on patrol. And it’s far more dangerous than manufacturing or factory work, which only saw 2.2 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2014.

If you have been injured in a work related accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.

Three law Enforcement Officers Injured in Montgomery County

On Thursday evening, August 24, three law enforcement officers were injured having been hit by cars in separate accidents in Montgomery County.

According to fire officials the three separate collisions occurred just before 6.30 p.m. on both of the northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 270 nearby Rockledge Drive.

Maryland State Police said that a Montgomery County sheriff had rear-ended a vehicle and so a Montgomery County police officer went to check on the accident. However, the officer’s vehicle was hit by another car. Then a Maryland state trooper arrived on the scene and his car was struck by yet another vehicle.

All three of the law enforcement personnel involved suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The state of Maryland has a law known as “Move Over” law which states that drivers have to change lanes if they can so that any first responders including police officers, firefighters, and emergency rescue personnel can get to an accident or work on the roadway.

If you have been injured in a work related accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.

Work Related Accident Leads to Death of Employee

On Tuesday, July 6, an employee of Hagerstown Company, Ellsworth Electric Inc. died in a work related accident.

According to Ellsworth, the accident happened Tuesday afternoon while doing preliminary work on a new residence hall project at Shepherd University. The accident happened at 170 W. Campus Drive, where Harkins Builders of Marriottsville, Md., is constructing the residence hall, and Ellsworth Electric Inc. is subcontracting the electrical work on the project.

The employee involved was 41 year old Bryan Cale, who lived in Falling Waters, West Virginia and he had been working for Ellsworth Electric Inc. for 24 years. His death was said to be due to electrocution.

A full investigation is being undertaken by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Ellsworth Electric Inc. and Harkins Builders to determine the cause of the accident, although it is expected to take several months to complete.

If you have been injured in a work related accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.

Workers at the Potomac Center Cite Unsafe Work Conditions

On Thursday, June 9 a group of union officials and workers at the Potomac Center in the West End of Hagerstown called on the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to help them to fight the problems of patient assaults on employees, which they say cause injuries including broken bones and leave ongoing mental trauma.

Workers complain that it is not a safe place to work and they are asking for more staff and training as well as more options for residents. It appears that over the last few years, assaults on employees have increased as the patients, which used to be developmentally disabled, now have more violent histories.

The state health department said that it is aware of the complaints and assured that they do take the safety of the employees seriously citing research from the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety which shows that violent crime in hospitals has fallen by nearly 70% from 2014 to 2105 with violent crime taking place in 0.09 incidents per 100 hospital beds last year. However, assaults and disorderly conduct increased over the same time frame.

If you have been injured in a work related accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.

Warehouse Manager Suffers from Severe Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

On Tuesday, May 17, a man who was working as a warehouse manager suffered severe carbon monoxide poisoning.

Darren Showe, aged 48 of Falling Waters in West Virginia, was working at B.P. Lesky Distributing Co. at 120 Western Maryland Parkway near Hagerstown. No one is exactly sure about what happened, although the family has heard a few different versions about what went wrong. Maryland Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the incident and cannot discuss any details until the investigation is completed.

Showe was flown to R Adams Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore in a critical condition and although his oxygen levels have improved he still has a fever and according to his sister, Suzanne Sigler, although he opens his eyes he does not appear to see them, but has what she calls a dead stare. Doctors say although there have been signs of improvement he still is not out of the woods.

If you have been injured in a work related accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.

Employee Hit on Work Site Near Hagerstown

On Thursday, April 21, a workman was flown to hospital in Baltimore having been hit on a work site on Interstate 70 east of Hagerstown.

According to Maryland State Police, the accident happened at 1.30 a.m. when the State Highway Administration was repairing a guardrail on I-70 east at the U.S. 40 interchange. Vehicles began to exit a lane closure as the roads reopened when a 2007 Chevrolet Colorado, driven by James P. Hill III of Bolivar, Ohio, tried to change lanes and pulled into the path of a 2014 Ford F350 driven by Brian Steven Debusk of Elkton, Md. The impact caused the Chevrolet to go into the median where it flipped several times and hit workman, 39 year old Jamey Kamp, who worked for Green Acres Contracting Co. of Scottdale, Pa. He was taken to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center where he is listed in critical condition.

There were no other injuries and the accident is still under investigation.

If you have been injured in a work related accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.

Repetitive Stress Injuries

More than one million people in the U.S. each year are affected by repetitive stress injuries which can be very painful and prevent you from working.

Repetitive stress injuries develop if you are doing the same task using the same part of your body over and over again. This can then lead to inflammation of the tissues which makes it painful and hard to do your job. One example is those who are on computers all day long, using the keyboard which can lead to wrist problems due to repetitive stress. In a similar way, those who use vibrating tools such as a hammer drill can also suffer from this injury.

Repetitive stress injuries can have different names, depending where the injury is so it can be a rotator cuff syndrome if in the shoulder, tennis elbow or carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrist.

With a repetitive stress injury, there may be swelling, which can cause numbness and pain, along with difficulty performing daily tasks.

If you have been injured in a construction accident, you have a limited amount of time to take legal action. Please, call the Hagerstown construction accident attorneys of Dolina Hobbs, LLC, at (301) 739-1013 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation so we can start helping you recover compensation.