Inappropriate training and Maryland workers’ compensation

Every job has a certain amount of risk for injury associated with it. Injuries that can keep employees from completing their duties can range from mental issues to physical ailments, both which have the possibility of hampering one’s ability to work or live a normal life. When a worker is injured while on the job, the Maryland workers’ compensation program is available to help provide financial assistance.

A man in another state is claiming that his son was permanently injured and his life subsequently altered when he contracted a virus while at work. The virus, hantavirus, can be contracted when people breathe in the excrement of mice. When the nesting materials that the mice use is moved, the virus can then become airborne and live for several days.

The father alleges that the park that his son worked for did not adequately train or house their employees. Because of this oversight, his son contracted the very serious and often fatal disease from the mice that lived in the cabin he inhabited. When the employee went to a supervisor to tell of the mice, he was handed some gloves and a mask and told to throw the droppings and nest away. As a result, the son caught hantavirus and now has permanent hearing loss in his left ear and difficulty walking due to partial paralysis in both legs and his feet.

When an employee is injured while on the job, the time missed from the inability to work can financially stress the employee and his or her family. Sometimes, the injury will alter the worker’s life forever. Maryland residents who suffer a workplace injury have the right to file a workers’ compensation claim. Should the claim be denied, an attorney with experience in workers’ compensation claims and appeals can aid the victim in the steps that follow.

Source: sacbee.com, “Bodie State Park: Worker’s father warns of hantavirus dangers at park“, Cathie Anderson, Aug. 28, 2017