President Obama signed an order yesterday asking federal agencies to improve overall workplace safety standards.  The order asks that in four years federal agencies will have significantly reduced the number of claims filed by employees, the time spent to review claims, and sped up employees’ return to the workplace.

In 2009, the federal government spent over $1.6 billion on workers’ compensation claims and 79,000 new claims were filed by federal employees.  These numbers do not include U.S. Postal Service statistics.

“Many of these work-related injuries and illnesses are preventable, and executive departments and agencies can and should do even more to improve workplace safety and health, reduce the financial burden of injury on taxpayers, and relieve unnecessary suffering by workers and their families,” stated Obama.

If you or someone you love has been injured or become ill on the job, contact the Champaign workers’ compensation lawyers of Thomas A. Bruno & Associates at 217-328-6000 to learn more about your rights.