The Stoddard Firm Blog

Farming Equipment Should Be Engineered for Safety as Well as Efficiency

Among non-farmers, farming is often thought of as a peaceful, low-stakes career. Farmers themselves often tell a different story — as do the cold, hard statistics of the industry. Aside from the demanding physical work, and the uncertainty that comes with shifts in weather, insect activity, disease, and other factors, agriculture has the tenth highest death rate of all civilian jobs. The vast majority of those deaths are caused by vehicle and equipment accidents. While some of the chall...

Georgia Has Added Human Trafficking to a Crucial List of Serious Crimes

Whether you’ve been casually following the story of bill SB-461, or you’re just now hearing about it being signed into law, you might be wondering how human trafficking could ever have been considered anything but a serious crime. Using force, deception, or other methods to coerce people into providing commercial sex or other unregulated labor is an obvious violation of human rights. The human trafficking industry ruins lives, and the fight to eliminate it has passionate bipartisan support...

MARTA May Finally Be Forced to Make Real Safety Improvements

This blog has reported time after time (after time, after time), on the MARTA transportation system’s abysmal safety record. After each new tragic incident, we’ve had to draw the frustrating conclusion that not much has changed, and not much appears to be changing. At long last, this pattern may have broken. Right now, the transit system is working with multiple private consulting firms, at a cost of $2.2 million, to overhaul its safety and incident-response policies. Of course, MART...

Construction Workers’ Lives Depend on Strong Safety Protocols, Onsite and Offsite

When a structure is unsafe and needs to be repaired or rebuilt, construction workers are the ones who venture into close proximity with the danger, in order to correct it. This is one part of why construction is one of the most dangerous careers in the U.S. Quality construction work is essential to making the world safe for everyone, but it is possible to make the work itself safer as well. When a construction worker is injured, it’s almost always due to a faulty piece of equipment, a safe...

There’s Still No Sign of Safety Improvements at MARTA Train Stations

Train stations don’t need to be dangerous places. There’s no ironclad reason why MARTA commuters should have to stand next to sheer drops, leading down to electrified rails and into the path of the trains themselves, without so much as a handrail to protect them. Airports don’t gather passengers along the side of the runway as they wait for their planes. High rise buildings don’t leave their elevator shafts hanging open when the elevator car itself is elsewhere. Yet train stations, includi...

Apartment Complexes with Swimming Pools Must Follow Safety Codes

Swimming pools are understandably popular amenities, especially in warm states like Georgia. In the absence of solid safety precautions, however, they can also be extremely dangerous. Nearly 4,000 people die by drowning in the U.S every year, and children are especially vulnerable. Drowning is the top cause of death for children aged 1-4, with residential pools being the most common setting. According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, most of these drownings happen outside of d...

How much do construction accident lawsuit settlements pay out?

Working on a construction site is one of the most dangerous jobs around. Not only is there heavy equipment everywhere, but huge steel beams, two-by-fours, concrete, welding equipment, nails, and other potentially hazardous objects are all over the construction site. Falls from roofs or scaffolding are also common, as are brain injuries. Every day a construction worker shows up on the job, injury or even death is possible. About 20% of all employee fatalities in private industry in 2019 wer...

Extreme Sport Venues Are Not Exempt from Safety Obligations

Owners of all different kinds of properties are responsible for providing a safe environment for their guests. This does not mean that no one is ever allowed to host activities with an inherent element of risk, like racing and other extreme sports. However, venue owners must take all reasonable precautions to make sure these activities aren’t any more dangerous than they have to be. They also have a duty to warn their guests in detail about any risks that can’t be eliminated. The fact t...

Coweta County’s Human Trafficking Problem Continues

As Georgia carries on with its statewide efforts against sex trafficking, Coweta County remains a hotspot. Through multiple rounds of mass arrests, the same types of criminal operations crop up again and again. For every investigation that recovers one or two more victims, it’s safe to assume that there are many more out there, unidentified and continuing to be abused. Many have no idea that there are ways out, or ways of fighting back. A Recent Sting Ended with 26 Arrests and 1 Rescue...

It’s Past Time for MARTA to Take Action Against Train Station Accidents

You’re going about your day, trying to get to work, or back home, or wherever your current destination might be. Maybe you’re checking your email, or thinking through your to-do list. Your commute is so routine that it barely demands any attention. But then, every so often, you glance over the edge of the platform while waiting for your train, and you realize how easy it would be to slip and fall onto the tracks below. You might even have stopped to ask yourself, “Why on earth isn’t there ...