On Your Side After An Injury

Worker injury can happen in any industry in Missouri

Going to work every day is a necessary task for most people in Missouri and elsewhere. For some, that task is one that is relatively safe from physical injury, but for others who are in jobs that require them to put themselves at risk, just going to work can be a danger. Sometimes a worker injury occurs. That was the case in one industry that our readers may find interesting.

Los Alamos is a famed nuclear facility where the original atomic bombs were created. Employees there, both during World War 2 as now, worked to manipulate plutonium as a part of their jobs. However, a portion of the facility where this manipulation occurred has been closed for more than four years because of worker injury and questionable workplace safety. The injuries include exposure to radiation when an accidental and uncontrolled chain reaction occurs.

The closed portion of the facility closed because of lack of safety measures. In such a dangerous job, it is important that all steps are taken before a worker removes a portion of the core of a nuclear bomb to test its potency. Because such steps weren’t consistently taken, workers were in danger, and some suffered worker injury.

In Missouri, when workers find that they are in a dangerous job and they report it, as happened in the nuclear testing case, it is best if the employer takes immediate action. However, there are some cases where this doesn’t happen, and workers get hurt. When this is the case, a worker injury victim may be able to make a claim against his or her employer and secure a monetary award that can help with physical and financial recovery. These protections for workers are in place to ensure that they are covered if an employer puts them in a dangerous situation at their workplace.

Source: sciencemag.org, “Safety problems at a Los Alamos laboratory delay U.S. nuclear warhead testing and production“, The Center for Public Integrity, R. Jeffrey Smith, Patrick Malone, June 30, 2017