The recent movie “Unbroken” is about Louie Zamperini, a U.S. Army Air Force bombardier whose plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean. Zamperini and another survivor drifted 2,000 miles in a life raft for 47 days before being rescued by the Japanese. As if that weren’t remarkable enough, the two men were then taken to several Japanese prison camps and tortured unmercifully for over two years until the war ended in 1945. They survived horrific pain, humiliation and starvation.
Zamperini’s incredible story was not “made up” to get compensation nor was it concocted to get attention, medals or accolades. It is a true story based upon fact with many witnesses along the way. Decades later, even in Hollywood, in the telling of Zamperini’s story, the truth prevailed.
Witnesses
Contractor injury logs are often filled with unwitnessed claims of injury. Without witnesses, it’s hard to tell exactly what happened. Could it be an at-home injury brought to the jobsite? Was it a weekend recreational injury? Who knows? When there are no witnesses, it’s up to the injured employee to declare cause and that often requires an investigation to verify the claim and/or to determine the cause. When unwitnessed, finding causation is challenging. A worker in pain is focused on reducing pain or stopping blood loss, not necessarily on remembering what happened and how. But often, the worker knows precisely how and when the injury occurred.
At a new construction jobsite, two craft workers were seen coming through the gate arm-in-arm. Two hours later, one of the workers hobbled into the safety office saying he had twisted his ankle while on the job. A prudent field safety manager began to investigate. None of the injured’s co-workers had witnessed his injury that morning. A review of the job safety analysis revealed the worker’s tasks contained no activity that would indicate strenuous lower leg or ankle movement. Eventually, a co-worker came forward declaring the worker had injured his ankle in a softball game over the weekend. When confronted with the truth, the injured employee confessed. He had filed an on-the-job injury because he had no personal health insurance. The truth prevailed.
Broken arm
A worker claimed to have been injured as he left the lunch tent and headed back to the task area. He claimed he had stumbled over the tent lashings and had fallen onto the gravel walkway hurting his elbow. The first aid medic realized the injury was severe and sent the worker to an orthopedic clinic. After being X-rayed, it was determined the fracture didn’t come from a simple fall but was the result of a twisting of some sort. The safety director was called to the site to conduct an investigation. Witnesses confirmed the worker did not stumble and fall. One person had seen him arm wrestling with a co-worker during the lunch break. The conclusion was the injured worker lost an agonizing defeat when his arm was twisted backward, and the truth prevailed.
Worker misconduct on the job is not acceptable but is compensable in the course and scope of construction. Worker horseplay is not normally compensable and coverage may be denied by workers’ compensation insurance such as the case of the broken arm. Horseplay on a jobsite is unacceptable. Making false claims for personal gain hurts all of us whether the claim is big or small. Let the truth prevail.
In Zamperini’s case, the truth was not always pretty. He was a troubled youth. He started smoking and drinking at age 5. With his brother’s help, he turned his life around and went on to compete in the 1936 World Olympics. During his wartime imprisonment, he was forced to condemn the U.S., and he refused; thus, his torture became even more horrific. After the war, he was haunted by nightmares that threatened his marriage and his sanity. He then turned his life around once again and saved his marriage. He returned to Japan in 1950 and expressed his forgiveness to many of his former captors for their atrocities. Zamperini died at age 97 before the movie was released.
For more information, contact HASC Customer Relations at (281) 476-9900, Ext. 310 or visit www.hasc.com.