From 2000 to 2013, OSHA recorded more than 2,000 construction site deaths in Texas. Look at the names, read what happened, and listen to the opinions of survivors.
Do you know anyone who was injured or killed at work? Learn about the rights of injured workers here.
Lea este artículo y vea video de reportajes por nuestros compañeros en Univision sobre trabajadores lesionados.
The statistics tell a fascinating story about the workers who are building the "Texas Miracle" economy: Thousands of people do not have occupational insurance. Just as many people have streamlined their plans and restricted their legal rights. Those who try to claim benefits in the dazzling workers' compensation bureaucracy often face denials, controversies they cannot win, and the government has little protection for them.
These are not just points on a colored line chart. Behind every worker who loses his life at work, there is a family member who can cope with the loss. For every seriously injured employee who is denied or fails to pay a claim, there are financial setbacks, hopelessness, or career shelving.
The following seven Texans suffered serious work-related injuries in Texas, and their experiences underscore the findings of this series. At the end of the worker profile, find a place to submit your workplace dilemma story, as well as useful information about the workers’ compensation process and recent news developments.
Nurse Lloyd Snyder has never seen the fist coming.
For a minute, he was dealing with an angry, unruly mental patient at the Houston Central Hospital where he worked. The next minute, he was leaning against the wall.
In extreme pain, Snyder went to the emergency room of St. Joseph's Hospital on October 9, 2002.
After a round of neurological examinations in November, Snyder was referred to plastic surgeon Stephen Esses to examine his neck and spine injuries.
St. Joseph provided protection to its employees through the National Workers' Compensation System, so Snyder filed a claim. In December 2002, Esses recommended surgery to repair the damage, but the hospital’s claims handler stated that this was “not medically necessary”.
Snyder fought the denial through the Workers' Compensation Division, but his case dragged on for several months.
In April 2004, nearly a year and a half after the accident, the hospital's claims staff approved Snyder's neck surgery. He woke up from the operation and heard bad news from the doctor.
"He said,'I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but I can't solve it. They waited too long to approve the operation, and your neck injury will be permanent,'" Snyder recalled. "He said,'You will be taking painkillers from now on.'"
Snyder filed a lawsuit and reached a settlement with Christus Health, the owner of the hospital, but the amount was not disclosed. Neither party admits that the settlement was at fault. Records show that the jury awarded him another US$4 million in a lawsuit against the claims handler in 2006, but the verdict was overturned on appeal in 2009 on the grounds that Snyder did not properly defend the first rejection of the operation.
Snyder, 70, said he was living with constant pain, daily nerve spasms and insomnia. He and his wife Florence had grand plans for retirement, but these plans were shelved.
"It ruined our, her and my life," he said. "If I have just been cured, they can get all the money back."
Disclosure: Christus Health is a corporate sponsor of the Texas Tribune. The complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.
In 1998, 55-year-old Glenn Johnson was injured in a smelting accident near Amarillo. The photo was taken by Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson.
The doctor told Glen Johnson that he should have died 16 years ago.
On August 24, 1998, Johnson opened the furnace door at a smelter in the Amarillo area where he worked. The stove was not cleaned up, and the chemical residue inside caused a violent explosion, knocking him off the forklift.
The hot metal burned his body, causing his face, neck, upper body, legs and arms to be burned to the second and third degree. One of his arms was amputated and the other arm was severely injured. He endured the operation after the operation. The accident also caused the arteries in his lungs to clot, which eventually led to chronic renal failure.
The 55-year-old Johnson’s company provides workers’ compensation insurance, and he will discover in the next few years that fighting for his health is not the only battle he faces.
He spent two years at the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Institute in San Antonio, learning how to work with his severely damaged upper body. He was discharged from hospital in 2000 and was diagnosed with 11 diseases, including post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression.
"These two diagnoses may last a lifetime," one of his doctors wrote. His attending doctor gave him an injury rate of 91%-almost completely disabled.
The claims adjuster of his workers' compensation insurance provider Old Republic Insurance Company did not dispute the impairment rating. However, some items are not covered by them, such as travel expenses and burn clothing. According to Johnson’s lawsuit against the company, the insurance company hired its own doctor to review Johnson’s medical records, but denied his claims for round-the-clock care, psychiatric services, and prosthetic equipment.
Old Republic and its lawyers did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
In May 2004, the police arrived at Johnson's home in the Childress countryside. They arrested him and his wife Natalie Johnson.
The mediator hired by Old Republic hired an investigator to gather information about potential insurance fraud by the Johnson family. The adjuster filed a criminal lawsuit, accusing Johnson of forging his doctor-approved travel expenses at the Gold's Gym in Amarillo, a two-hour drive from Childress.
The complaint stated that Johnson did not actually use the facility because electronic records showed that he did not use his card to enter the gym. Based on the evidence, a grand jury sued the Johnsons.
Johnson explained that his remaining hand was injured and he could not remove the card from his wallet. He said that gym employees have opened the door for him.
After the employee signed an affidavit certifying Johnson’s presence, the charges were dropped, but the legal issues did not end.
Johnson sued the Old Republic and its adjusters for $31.5 million, claiming that they continued to deny that his claim was acting maliciously.
"Insurance companies should be punished," he said. "And I think if I hit them in my pocket, they can finally leave."
In legal documents, the Old Republic stated that Johnson had no right to pursue malicious cases; the company argued that the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling basically eliminated this approach for injured workers.
As an undocumented day laborer, Javier Bautista usually goes where there is a job. Therefore, he did not hesitate in the summer of 2012 when a friend told him that he had a job with a daily salary of $200 on a residential construction site in Houston.
On the first day, the 38-year-old Bautista stepped on a nail while preparing to paint the room. A few days later, he felt very painful. His toe is badly infected.
Bautista said that given his situation, the contractor did not want him to work anymore. Bautista recalled that the contractor told his friend, “He can’t do anything anymore and take him home.”
When he returned to his home in Austin, Bautista went to Brackenridge Hospital, where doctors eventually removed all five toes from his left foot. He said he could not pay the $30,000 hospital bill and was told that it was written off as charitable care.
Bautista said that the contractor he worked for did not provide any benefits or workers' compensation insurance, and never paid him about $600 for paint work. Now, his work efficiency is not high and he can barely make ends meet.
"It's sad, but they treat us like we are worthless," Bautista said. "They treated us like cockroaches and then threw us away."
Former El Paso police officer Ricky Lopez and the Purple Heart he received from the city. Photograph by Ivan Pierre Aguirre.
On October 13, 2010, El Paso police officer Ricky Lopez and his partner were receiving a call when a drunk driver crashed into their cruiser. The accident resulted in the death of Lopez's partner, the 45-year-old father of four children with brain, arms, eyes, pelvis and back injuries. Almost four years have passed, and he is still very painful and unable to drive. Work is impossible.
Lopez said that after years of medical treatment, the workers' compensation insurance provider who paid for his care suddenly stopped. According to Lopez, the former police officer is now engaged in a battle with the claims management service company, which claims that his illness is a pre-existing condition.
The Claims Management Services Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.
A doctor in Lopez, Dr. Quazi Haque, diagnosed him with chronic pain exacerbated by post-traumatic stress and depression.
"It's hard for me to concentrate," Lopez said. "My memory is different. When I speak, it's like words start to slip."
Lopez's wife said that after the accident, her husband changed.
"Adapting to the new Ricky is very difficult. When he is in pain, he doesn't even want us to talk to him or touch him," Rosa Lopez said.
Two years after the accident, the Claims Management Services Department paid all Ricky Lopez's medical expenses. In 2012, although he had seen more than a dozen doctors, the company still required him to have another check-up.
Ricky Lopez said that the meeting with Dr. Andrew Brylowski, the state-appointed workers compensation doctor, lasted less than an hour. Based on medical records, Brylowski determined that Ricky no longer needs eight of the nine drugs he currently takes. Brylowski diagnosed Lopez with "pre-existing bipolar disorder or possible alcohol problems."
The doctor's conclusion shocked the Lopez family.
"Ricky is not even allowed to drink. He is taking drugs," Rosa Lopez said.
According to the doctor’s report, the insurance company soon began rejecting Lopez’s insurance claims.
Eventually, after Rosa Lopez lost her job, health insurance began to cover most of her husband's medical expenses. He said that although the insurance company continued to pay Ricky Lopez supplementary income benefits, the company refused to reimburse him for medical expenses incurred after the most recent doctor's report.
With the help of lawyers, the Lopez and his wife are questioning the insurance company’s denials at the Texas Workers’ Compensation Board. Rosa Lopez called the process "a lot of pressure and very chaotic."
Victorina, the widow of Angel Hurtado; his children Christian and Carla; and his grandchildren pose an old holiday photo. Photo by Carly Richmond.
When the police found Victorina Hurtado on the side of the road 10 years ago, her husband's blood was soaked.
She said that July 11, 2004 was the "ugliest day" in her life.
That morning, Hurtado and her husband Angel, a 44-year-old undocumented immigrant from Cuernavaca, Mexico, allowed themselves to enter a construction site in western Austin. Following the instructions of the contractor they only knew to be "Mike", they built the roof for the warehouse without supervision. Nearly ten years after his death, his family has been unable to find the contractor they believe was responsible for the accident, and the federal agency responsible for overseeing the safety of the construction site has no record of the tragedy that disrupted their lives.
When they were working that day, Angel Hurtado was sitting on the 21-foot-tall frame of the building and suddenly fell silent. A few minutes later, when his wife found him on the ground, she thought it was one of the jokes they often joked with each other.
"I said,'You are playing, please talk to me,'" 54-year-old Victorina Hurtado recalled. When she put her hand on her husband's chest, blood came out of his ears, nose and mouth.
When the representative of the Sheriff of Travis County arrived, he was dead.
Angel Hurtado's son, 31-year-old Christian, said that when they sought help to sue "Mike", seven lawyers rejected their family members and the contractor disappeared after the accident. Christian Hurtado said he was forced to give up his college savings to help his family make ends meet.
On the day of the accident, Christian Hurtado rushed to the scene, and an inspector from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration asked him about his father's work. They want to know why he works on Sunday and why he is not wearing protective equipment.
OSHA finally determined that it has no jurisdiction in the case. The agency’s regional director, Casey Perkins, said that Angel Hurtado is not on the employer’s payroll, which means he is considered a self-employed person under federal law .
Perkins added that now, ten years after Angel Hurtado's death, any records of the case have been destroyed.
The family could not confirm whether Hurtado's death was the official government statistics of the number of worker deaths, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles these figures, operates under a "secrecy commitment."
When Hurtados visited Angel Hurtado's place of death and left a memorial cross for him, they were told to leave because it was private property.
"Whenever we try to find the answer, we can't find anything," said Karla Hurtado, 25-year-old daughter of Angel Hurtado. "It's like, let's say nothing happened, let's keep working."
Nurse Peggy Brooks said that she never missed a day at the Vantage Hospice Hospital in Houston.
In the November 2012 performance review, she met or exceeded expectations in each category: “Peggy is a professional and reliable member of the Vantage team,” her supervisor wrote. "Keep working hard, Peggy!"
She said that when she filed a claim for compensation for work-related injuries, everything changed.
On March 16, 2013, 53-year-old Brooks was driving to visit a patient when he was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver near downtown Houston. She was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital by ambulance and suffered injuries to her neck and back.
Vantage Hospice declined to comment on this story. It has workers’ compensation insurance and the company’s carrier told her which clinic to go to after the accident. Due to her injuries, the health workers there imposed restrictions, so Brooks was unable to resume all her duties, including moving and elevating patients during the three-day shift that began on Friday and ended on Monday morning.
She accepted a "lightweight" assignment to do paperwork and answer phone calls. Then, on April 5, 2013, she said that her supervisor told her that she could return to normal work-despite the workers' compensation clinic telling her earlier that day that she should continue to work lightly until further notice.
She said that that night, she was called to Vantage for a meeting and was told that she had violated a series of company policies, including failing to complete the paperwork for the hospice case on the day she was taken to the hospital. After the meeting, she told her boss that she was physically unable to return to daily work, she felt uncomfortable and needed to go home.
Four days later-three weeks after she was injured-she was fired for allegedly failing to go to work. She said that she had properly notified her employer of her absence due to illness.
Brooks later filed an improper termination suit under the anti-retaliation clause of the Workers' Compensation Act. Vantage Hospice denied these allegations in court documents. This year, Vantage paid an undisclosed amount in a confidential settlement, and the lawsuit was dismissed.
Brooks quickly found a new nursing job, but her predicament did not end.
She keeps receiving medical bills, although it is generally considered an administrative violation for medical service providers to charge employees for the expenses covered by workers' compensation. She said she sent the bill to the insurance company Texas Mutual, but never received a response.
After an inquiry by the Texas Tribune last month, Texas Mutual Bank got in touch with healthcare providers. Mary Nichols, the general counsel of Texas Mutual Bank, stated that Harris Health, formerly a local hospital district, resubmitted the hospital bill on June 2 and the insurance company is processing the bill. bill.
Brooks said she was disappointed by a system that seemed to protect everyone except workers.
"There seems to be no checks and balances," she said. "This is very one-sided."
Disclosure: Texas Mutual Insurance Company is a corporate sponsor of the Texas Tribune. The complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.
Ronnie Bishop often sits in the shade of his garage, surrounded by remnants of old hobbies he no longer participates in, observing the outside world. Photograph taken by Callie Richmond for the Texas Tribune.
Four years after the van he worked on caught fire, most of his body suffered second-degree burns. Ronnie Bishop, a 62-year-old Air Force veteran, has given up the fish tanks and woodworking tools used to fill spare oil in the past. . time.
The damage the flame caused to his hands made the once hopeful hobby a painful reminder of that terrible day—and his continued struggle to obtain the insurance benefits he thought he deserved.
In October 2010, Bishop's boss at Davey Plumbing in Buda asked him to repair an old truck. When he poured gasoline into the injection system through the funnel, the engine ignited and the flames swallowed his body.
He was hospitalized for two weeks and part of his left ear had to be reconstructed.
In the past three years, Bishop received laser treatment for his injuries. He said he was still in pain and could not bask in the sun without covering almost every inch of his skin. He said that he is now engaged in night work, which makes caring for the same disabled wife more challenging.
Fortunately for Bishop, the company he works for provides workers' compensation insurance. Two years after the accident, the State Workers’ Compensation Department assigned a designated doctor to evaluate Bishop’s injury. Based on the damage rate, the results of the survey will determine how long he will receive benefits.
On the grounds that his hand was injured, the state-appointed doctor gave him an injury rate of 42%. Normally, the workers' compensation insurance company-Lloyd's Insurance Company-hired its own doctor to evaluate Bishop. The doctor assigned a 6% injury rate to Bishop’s injuries. The doctor of the insurance company wrote that Bishop "has no restrictions in carrying out activities of daily living", he does not need to be exposed to sunlight, he only needs minimal treatment.
In order to arbitrate the dispute, the National Workers' Compensation Department assigned another doctor to examine Bishop. This time, Bishop's impairment rating is 27%.
In May 2013, a hearing officer of the workers' compensation department ruled that the insurance company won the case and assessed Bishop's disability at 6%. A few months later, an appeal panel of the agency agreed.
"Then everything was over and they let me return to work," Bishop said.
Service Lloyds lawyer Timothy White said the workers' compensation process is fair.
"In Mr. Bishop's case, the hearing officer happened to be on the side of the insurance company," White said.
"The injured workers and your voters are deprived of their rights, even if the evidence is in their favor," he wrote.
If you or someone you love has experienced a tragedy on a construction site, please share your story with us. Please contact us at tribinvestigates@texastribune.org.
To report dangerous workplaces or unsafe conditions at work, or to file a complaint about possible violations of federal safety standards, call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742), call the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, or visit OSHA online .
Find the OSHA office closest to you. Texas Security Violation
To report unsafe conditions to the Texas Security Hotline, please call 1-800-452-9595 or report online.
Find out whether you are covered by Texas workers’ compensation or whether your employer has notified the state of its decision to withdraw from the state’s regulatory system.
Get basic information about the Texas workers' compensation system.
To contact your local Workers' Compensation Department on-site office, please call the injured employee hotline at 1-800-252-7031 or visit the online website.
To get help with your workers' compensation claim from the Office of the Injured Employee Legal Counsel, please call 1-866-393-6432 or visit the online website.
Keep workers voluntary, Abbott says, Texas Tribune
Texas worker safety hotline is unavailable, Texas Tribune
Texas State Workers' Compensation Commissioner resigns, Texas Tribune
Workers’ benefits were cut off two years later, Texas Tribune
Half a million people in Texas do not have workplace insurance, Texas Tribune
Group Health Plan Pays "Zero Cost" Workers’ Compensation Claims: Research, Insurance Journal
Labyrinth of Pain, Fort Worth Weekly
With the decline in workplace deaths across the country, the death toll in Texas remains high, Dallas Morning News
Insult to injury: Texas workers' compensation system denies, delays in medical help, ABA Magazine
TribBlog: The head of workers' compensation blasts the whistleblower of the Texas Tribune
Number of worker deaths confirmed by OSHA since 2000
The following are the names of hundreds of Texans who died in fatal accidents confirmed by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration between January 2000 and March 2014. The fatal accident dates from 1997 to 2012. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration provided this information in response to the Freedom of Information Act. However, the complete list of Texas workers killed at work is much longer, as many on-the-job fatalities occur outside of OSHA supervision. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks the deaths of all workers in the United States and publishes aggregated data annually, but says that the names and circumstances of each death are confidential. Download list.
Do you know who should be included in the list of workers who died at work? If so, please contact us at tribinvestigates@texastribune.org.
The Texas Tribune spent six months investigating the Texas workers’ compensation system and site safety regulations, which are designed to protect workers who are injured or killed at work. The story of journalist Jay Root-combined with the research and reports of several of his colleagues-documents the challenges faced by thousands of Texas workers and their families when they encounter tragedies at work .
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