A career-ending disability can occur in a variety of contexts. Portland residents develop serious medical condition due to their genes or lifestyle choices. Others are injured in severe workplace accidents. Regardless of how a disability happens, workers who become too disabled to work are entitled to Social Security Disability benefits. Disability benefits are often not easy to come by and individuals who obtain the counsel of an experienced Social Security Disability attorney are more likely to have a successful application.

Many career-ending disabilities arise from workplace safety hazards which go unchecked until they injure an employee. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, was recently cited by federal safety inspectors for safety violations at one of its stores which were also found at nine other Wal-Mart locations around the country.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the mega-retailer for several safety hazards including unguarded grinders, no lockout/tagout procedures for a compactor, obstructed exit routes, and fall hazards. Any of these hazards could result in catastrophic and permanently disabling injuries for workers which is why the proposed fines against the retailer climbed to $365,000.

"The sizable fines proposed here reflect not only the seriousness of these conditions but the fact that several of them are substantially similar to hazards identified at nine other Wal-Mart locations in New York and eight other states," an OSHA spokesperson said. "This situation is unacceptable. A corporate employer must take effective and proactive steps to assess, correct and prevent the recurrence of hazards at all of its locations."

Source: OSHA, "US Labor Department's OSHA proposes $365,500 in fines to Wal-Mart for repeat and serious safety and health hazards at Rochester, NY, store," Region 2 News Release: 12-106-NEW/BOS 2012-022, Feb. 7, 2012