Workers Comp

A federal workplace safety investigation into a maintenance technician’s fatal electrocution found an Ashland, Alabama,  cabinet manufacturer might have prevented the incident by following required safety standards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday. OSHA investigators determined the 33-year-old employee of Wellborn Cabinet Inc. was exposed to a 277-volt circuit while replacing a light fixture in …

OSHA cites Alabama cabinet manufacturer after fatal electrocution Read More »

The Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a claimant does not need a permanent injury to reopen a claim. Maria Jimenez worked for Lakshmi Narayan Hospitality Group at a Holiday Inn in Louisville. She suffered injuries in August 2014 when she slipped and fell while cleaning a bathroom. An administrative law judge awarded Ms. Jimenez …

Kentucky high court clarifies prerequisites for reopening claim Read More »

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Video: The BI Interview with John Swigart of Pie Insurance Read More »

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revised its guidelines to say that universal masking in health care settings may not be required if community transmission levels of COVID-19 are low. The new guidelines also state that health care professionals “could choose not to wear” masks “when they are in well-defined areas that …

CDC revises mask guidance for health care workers Read More »

A study examining how injured workers interpret and react to adverse effects from work injury and claims processes found that an improved understanding of unfairness in the system and better communication from employers and claims organizations can improve outcomes. Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada,  conducted interviews with 36 injured workers finding …

Study focuses on perceived unfairness among injured workers in claims process Read More »

After falling in calendar year 2020, aggregate medical payments rebounded in 2021 and increased about 5.5% to $1.9 billion, according to a report by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California. The WCIRB attributed the increase in aggregate payments to increases in average payments per transaction last year. And the increase in payments per …

Medical payments in California increase 5.5% in 2021 Read More »

In separate enforcement actions, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division on Thursday announced fines totaling more than $144,000 to two contractors for repeat violations of fall protection rules. The separate citations issued to Corvallis, Oregon-based Iron Head Roofing LLC and Canby, Oregon-based JMJ Construction LLC included the same violation of implementing adequate fall protection …

Oregon OSHA issues more than $144,000 in fall-protection penalties Read More »

The U.S. Senate on Thursday read through legislation that would expand the federal occupational illness program for energy workers. S. 4928, which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, would amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to expand the ways beryllium sensitivity can be established for …

Congress to consider expanding beryllium exposure bill for workers Read More »

A Washington Supreme Court ruling holding that insurers aren’t on the hook for the breakdown of a tunnel boring machine in Seattle has attracted plenty of readers. Also of note: The New York attorney general’s lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump and his three eldest children of financial fraud. Source link

The Idaho Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a self-described livestock transportation broker was the statutory employer of a driver injured while attempting to load a cow onto a truck for delivery. As documented in Eldridge v. Agar Livestock LLC, Agar Livestock LLC would “dispatch” loads of livestock to owner-operators of trucks. Once the load was delivered, …

Livestock transportation broker must pay benefits to driver attacked by cow Read More »