The Six Common Warehouse Work Injuries We See

South Central Pennsylvania is one of the fastest booming areas in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, especially in warehouses.  In fact, several of the counties that we serve are listed among the Top 15 in Pennsylvania for population growth from 2010 to 2014.  Those counties are:  Cumberland (1st), Lancaster (4th), Franklin (6th), and Dauphin (15th).  That leads to jobs, but also to common warehouse injuries.

Warehouse Injury
Common warehouse injuries in Pennsylvania

Warehousing Growth in Central Pennsylvania

A large part of the growth that has occurred in Central Pennsylvania can be directly attributed to the warehousing and manufacturing development along the interstate 81 Corridor, from Greencastle, PA up through Dauphin County.  We’ve seen a recent boom, such as the development of Food Lion Distribution and World Kitchen in Greencastle, Chambersburg area warehouse development,  which includes, Target, Ulta, K Mart, and Staples, new warehouses in Shippensburg, which includes, Procter & Gamble and Georgia Pacific, newer warehouses in Carlisle, which includes, Giant Foods, Ross Distribution, AMES distribution, Office Depot, Ryder, Amazon,  OHL, and Lindt Chocolate.  Those are just a few. These warehouse operations employ many people through South Central Pennsylvania.  Additionally, there is more warehousing growth set for Carlisle (Exit 44 off I-81) and Shippensburg (Exit 24 and 29 off I-81).    (more…)

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Unemployment rate in Harrisburg area drops below 5%

The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area has been blessed with a low unemployment rate.  It's true that employment concerns still continue to linger in certain areas of the nation, but not in our area. For the first time in six years, the unemployment rate for the Harrisburg region has dipped below 5%.   The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry posted the Harrisburg region numbers yesterday and lowered the rate to 4.9%.   Cumberland County had the lowest rate in the region…

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Pennsylvania workers compensation by the numbers

In terms of background, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers Compensation is under the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.  Each year, the Department of Labor and Industry releases its Annual Workers Compensation and Workplace Safety report.  The Department has released its 2013 Workers Compensation Annual Report. Injury and Petition Stats The total number of reportable work injuries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania rose slightly from 2012.  In 2013, Pennsylvania employers reported 89,132 work injuries, compared to 85,117 in 2012.  …

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Pennsylvania Store Manager Trying To Stop A Theft Awarded Workers Compensation Benefits

A Pennsylvania gas station store manager who suffered a traumatic brain injury when attempting to foil a store theft, has been awarded workers compensation benefits in a decision by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.   The decision by the Court overturned the Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Appeal Board's (WCAB) decision to deny the store manager benefits.  Here are the facts of what happened. Wetzel was working at a BP store near Pittsburgh when a theft bid occurred in November 2009. He chased…

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Pennsylvania Unemployment Rate Falls for Ninth Straight Month

For the ninth consecutive month, the Pennsylvania unemployment rate has declined.  The current unemployment rate is 5.7% and has not been at that level since April of 2008.  In the month of April, Pennsylvania added 23,000 jobs statewide.   Here is a breakdown of where the increase in jobs came from.  One year ago, in April 2013, Pennsylvania unemployment rate was at 7.6%. Total nonfarm %jobs grew by 10,900 in April to reach 5,768,800, the highest level since October 2008. The…

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