Workers Comp

California employers will have less time to accept liability on certain presumptive injury claims and face penalties of up to $50,000 for unreasonably denying them, under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday. The governor also extended the presumption that COVID-19 is compensable through 2024 and signed a bill giving the insurance commissioner …

California shortens window for claim decisions, extends COVID presumption Read More »

The California Division of Workers’ Compensation on Friday proposed changes to its qualified medical evaluator rules that would allow an extra 30 days to schedule appointments. Instead of requiring a qualified medical evaluator to evaluate an injured worker within 60 days of being selected from a panel, the proposed rule would require that the exam …

Calif. proposes extending time for medical evaluations in comp Read More »

An appeals court in Texas on Wednesday ruled that a military contractor must prove a worker was an employee to avoid a “substantial jury award” over negligence stemming from a workplace accident in 2016. Addison, Texas-based King Aerospace, hired by the U.S. Army to maintain aircraft, was sued by Jorge Hernandez, who fell from a …

Military contractor must prove worker was employee to avoid suit Read More »

The Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Workers’ Compensation and its Anti-Fraud Unit suspended 178 medical providers during the first eight months of 2022.  Providers are suspended from the workers’ compensation system when they have been convicted of fraud-related crimes, have been suspended from the Medicare or Medicaid programs due to fraud or abuse, or …

California comp regulators suspend 178 medical providers in 2022 Read More »

A broker poaching suit, the announcement of the Women to Watch winners and stories about Hurricane Ian all caught readers’ attention this week. Source link

An Oregon State University study found an association with increasing temperatures and increased rates of injury claims that were more pronounced among workers in the agricultural and construction sectors. The study analyzed about 92,000 accepted claims and found that the rate of injuries is about 4% higher when the maximum heat index exceeds 75 degrees. The incident …

Study finds farm, construction worker injuries increase with heat Read More »

California workers compensation insurers and self-insured employers can add licensed clinical social workers to their medical provider networks, under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday. S.B. 1002 authorizes “qualified licensed clinical social workers to assess, evaluate and treat the behavioral and mental health needs of injured workers within the workers compensation system, …

Calif. governor signs bill adding social workers to provider networks Read More »

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing $201,379 after finding a candy manufacturer’s plant in Bellwood, Illinois, continues to expose workers to amputation hazards and failed to utilize lockout procedures for the third time in five years. OSHA said Wednesday that it has issued five citations to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania-based Ferrara Candy Co. for …

OSHA says candymaker exposes workers to amputations Read More »

An Indiana-based contractor who conducted work in Kentucky but failed to disclose the out-of-state operations to its workers compensation insurer is on the hook for a workplace injury, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, affirming a lower court decision. Custom Mechanical Construction Inc. in Evansville, Indiana, had an insurance policy with Accident Fund Insurance Co. …

Employer loses appeal over out-of-state comp claim Read More »

A Brockton, Massachusetts-based contractor failed to adequately train its workers on a demolition plan and safety management system, resulting in a worker dying in a floor collapse this year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Tuesday. JDC Demolition Company Inc., while working on the eighth floor of the Government Center garage in downtown Boston on …

OSHA fines demolition company $1.2M in fatal garage collapse Read More »