Tag: Workers Comp

Dave North will retire from his role as executive chairman of Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. on June 30 but will remain on the board of directors, the company announced Thursday.

Mr. North has spent 29 years with Memphis, Tennessee-based Sedgwick, where he served as the third-party administrator’s president and chief executive officer from 1995 to 2020.

Mr. North began his insurance industry career in 1978 as a fire protection engineer at Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co. During his time at Sedgwick, where he led it through numerous acquisitions, the company grew from the 8th largest third-party claims administrator with $70 million in gross revenue and 5,000 staff in 1995, to the world’s largest TPA with more than $4 billion in revenue and more than 30,000 staff.

The company has not named a new executive chairman, a spokeswoman said.

 

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday that it again cited a large food manufacturer for numerous safety and health violations at its Pennsylvania facility.

OSHA cited Centre Hall, Pennsylvania-based Hanover Foods Corp. for nine “repeat,” 51 “serious” and 11 “other-than-serious” violations and proposed $761,876 in penalties following an October 2023 inspection.

Investigators said Hanover Foods engaged in numerous Process Safety Management failures, including failing to properly train workers, not correcting equipment deficiencies and failing to establish an emergency plan for the entire plant.

The company was cited for similar violations at its Clayton, Delaware, plant in 2019 and 2021. In March, a Hanover Foods subsidiary, Vineland, New Jersey-based Aunt Kitty’s Food Inc., was also cited for safety violations.

Hanover Foods has 15 business days to contest the latest citation and proposed penalties. 

 

 

A Florida appeals court on Wednesday ruled that Pepsi Co. Inc. does not have workers compensation immunity in a lawsuit over a shooting that took place at a packaging and distribution facility.

The company had initially denied a workers comp claim, stating that the two workers involved were not in the course and scope of employment when one shot the other.

Giovanni Bastien was “seriously injured when a co-worker, purportedly disgruntled over union activities, shot him several times” at the facility in Medley, Florida, according to Bottling Group LLC. v. Giovanni Bastien. The shooting took place in December 2020.

While recovering in the hospital, Mr. Bastien notified his manager that he intended to file a workers compensation claim. “He was informed he was not entitled to benefits,” and Bottling Group proceeded to email its comp insurer “to oppose the claim,” according to documents.

Mr. Bastien sued Bottling Group, later adding parent company Pepsi Co. as a defendant. Pepsi Co. moved for summary judgment, arguing the case was subject to workers comp immunity. 

Citing three instances of case law and affirming an earlier ruling, the 3rd District Court of Appeal found that Bottling Group took “inconsistent” positions on the shooting and that the lawsuit could proceed.

 

 

A West Virginia Supreme Court decision Monday is poised to affect the way workers compensation disability determinations are made in comp claims.

The high court overturned an Intermediate Court of Appeals decision affirming a Workers’ Compensation Board of Review determination that a Kanawha County sheriff’s deputy was entitled to 13% permanent disability benefits, not the 25% sought by the claimant.

The case addressed apportionment in disability claims when injured workers seek benefits for compensable injuries aggravated by preexisting conditions.

In David Duff II v. Kanawha County Commission, the Supreme Court said employers must show that a disability impairment that partially results from preexisting conditions contributed to a claimant’s overall impairment after the compensable injury.

Mr. Duff sought a 25% permanent partial disability award based on an independent medical evaluation, but the workers comp board awarded 13% after factoring in apportionment.

Mr. Duff, who injured his back while lifting a bomb detector robot, argued apportionment wasn’t proper, but the lower appeals court disagreed and affirmed the lower percentage of disability.

The medical evaluator determined Mr. Duff had a 25% whole-person impairment but attributed 13% to the work injury.

The high court, drawing a distinction between “conditions” and “impairment,” said unless a work injury results in total permanent disability, preexisting conditions cannot be taken into consideration when deciding compensation.

The court remanded the case to the workers comp review board to give Mr. Duff an additional 12% permanent partial disability award.

 

 

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday said it cited two Florida construction contractors over an October 2023 workplace death.

OSHA cited Tampa-based Concrete Impressions of Florida Inc. and Plant City-based Adcock Cranes and proposed penalties of $4,839 and $16,131, respectively, following the death of a worker who was struck by a boom as a crane tipped over during work on an Orlando highway ramp.

Employees of both companies were installing precast concrete sound barrier panels on the SR 417 ramp at the time of the incident.

A Concrete Impressions employee was operating an aerial lift as a 10,700-pound panel was being lifted into place by an Adcock Cranes worker, according to OSHA.

The worker who was killed was struck by the crane as it entered the worker’s swing radius after the machine tipped.

OSHA said it cited Adcock Cranes for one “serious” violation for not ensuring the ground conditions were adequate to support the crane while lifting the panels.

It cited Concrete Impressions for one “serious” violation for permitting employees to take apart extension ladders and one “other-than-serious” violation for failing to document a required 12-month record of the inspections of a chain used to lift the sound barrier panels.

The contractors have 15 business days to contest the citations and proposed penalties. 

 

 

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday that it cited a Guam residential and commercial contractor for failing to protect workers against potentially fatal trench hazards.

OSHA cited Tamuning-based Giant Construction Corp. for nine “willful” violations and two “serious” violations and proposed more than $1 million in penalties after investigators encountered employees installing sewer lines in trenches without required safety equipment.

The citation stems from an inspection at the Palisades Subdivision Project in Tiynan, Guam, in October 2023.

The agency said it cited Giant Construction five other times for similar violations in the past 10 years.

The company has 15 business days to contest the latest citation and proposed penalties. 

 

 

Property/casualty rates continued to increase in the first quarter while rate decreases in financial lines slowed, Chubb Ltd.’s top executive said Wednesday, after the insurer reported higher profit and double-digit premium growth.

Evan G. Greenberg, chairman and CEO, said on Chubb’s earnings call that the company saw the best rates and pricing overall that it’s seen in the last four to five quarters.

It was one of the best quarters for large account casualty rates and pricing, Mr. Greenberg said.

Chubb reported Tuesday after markets closed first-quarter net income of $2.14 billion, up 13% from $1.89 billion in the year-earlier period, buoyed by double-digit premium growth driven by rate increases and new business.

Pre-tax net investment income grew 25.7% to $1.39 billion, and the company’s earnings benefited modestly from two one-time items: an incremental deferred tax benefit of $55 million related to Bermuda’s new income tax law and a $30 million contribution to Chubb’s charitable foundation that partially offset the tax benefit.

Consolidated net premiums written rose 14.1% to $12.22 billion, while property/casualty net premiums written increased 12.4% to $10.59 billion, with commercial lines up over 11%.

North America net premiums written increased 8.8% to $6.39 billion, with growth of 9.4% in commercial lines. Chubb’s major accounts retail and excess and surplus wholesale business grew 11.9%.

In Chubb’s global reinsurance business net written premiums rose 29.7% to $359 million, reflecting continued growth in property catastrophe-exposed business. Chubb allocated more catastrophe capacity to its global reinsurance business due to favorable pricing conditions, Mr. Greenberg said.

First-quarter pre-tax catastrophe losses totaled $435 million, compared with $458 million in the year-earlier period.

Chubb’s property/casualty combined ratio was 86%, compared with 86.3% in the year-earlier period.

The company saw double-digit premium growth across the globe, with strong results in its commercial, consumer, property/casualty and international life businesses, Mr. Greenberg said on the earnings call.

In North America, property/casualty pricing increased 12.8%, Mr. Greenberg said.

Property pricing was up 13%, while casualty pricing was up 13.1%. Workers compensation pricing rose by 4.8%.

Financial lines aside, the North American property/casualty market environment is “quite favorable and rational,” Mr. Greenberg said.

In financial lines, the underwriting environment in a number of classes “is simply dumb,” Mr. Greenberg said. “Rates continue to decline, albeit at a slower pace,” he said.

Rates and pricing for North America financial lines in the aggregate in the quarter were down 3% and 2.7%, respectively, Mr. Greenberg said.

 

 

 

A new Florida law prohibiting local governments from implementing workplace heat safety rules will likely pressure the federal government to step in and take action to protect workers, experts say.

But federal rules are years away, they say, leaving it up to employers to create safe worksites as temperatures rise. 

The law, signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 11, had the support of some in the business community, who cautioned that heat regulations created by individual, sometimes small jurisdictions would harm companies that operate statewide.  They contend a state or federal heat standard is preferable.

“A patchwork of local government heat safety regulations only leads to confusion for job creators and does not lead to safer workplaces,” said Carolyn Johnson, vice president of government affairs with the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Opponents of the legislation, citing the need for workplace guidelines with strict enforcement protocols, say Florida has yet to address the issue on a state level and that the lengthy process for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been too slow.

 

“The evidence is abundantly clear and overwhelming that our farm working communities and more broadly our communities that have to work outside are exposed to Florida heat and an undue amount of stress just from an environmental perspective,” said Ernesto Ruiz, research and agroecology coordinator with the Apopka, Florida-based Farmworker Association of Florida.

Supporters of the new law say any regulation governing workplace heat exposure should be at the state or federal level to avoid confusion for companies that work across jurisdictional lines such as those in construction and transportation.

“It’s not about limiting the ability to enhance worker safety at all,” said Carol Bowen, chief lobbyist for the Florida chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, which supported the legislation. “It’s about doing it in a uniform and consistent fashion.”

OSHA has been working on a heat rule and will likely put forth a proposal within the next few years, said Jordan Barab, who was deputy assistant secretary of OSHA under the Obama Administration.

OSHA already recommends rest breaks, shade and hydration for employees who work in extreme heat conditions, Ms. Bowen said.

The new law says Florida would step in if OSHA doesn’t adopt a heat exposure standard by July 2028.  

Florida isn’t the only state that’s putting the onus on federal OSHA—a similar law went into effect in Texas in September 2023 and is now being challenged in court.

Worker safety advocates say the time is now for heat regulations and that without a federal mandate, local jurisdictions – which face shorter timelines – should be able to step in.

“This is not rocket science on how to protect workers,” Mr. Barab said. “So, again, it’s just like a total cave-in to the business community and putting workers at increased risk, especially as we enter the summer.”

Mr. Ruiz, of the farmworkers group, noted that while the business community has expressed opposition to local heat safety regulations, employers will still be paying for workers who become injured, sick or die from workplace heat.

“It’s just in the interest of business to protect their workers,” he said.

The construction industry is particularly dangerous as workers face the “compounded effect” of high environmental heat and that generated by heavy machinery, said Kyle Hubregtse, Houston-based CEO of Kenzen Inc., which makes wearables to monitor worker heat exposure.

“This (heat) problem exists, and companies have to deal with it,” Mr. Hubregtse said. 

 

A West Virginia appellate court on Tuesday reversed a decision of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board of Review to deny fatal benefits to the dependent of a former coal worker who died from work-related illnesses.

The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia said the workers comp board erred in affirming a claim administrator’s denial of death benefits to Carol Hoosier because the administrator, and the board, used a leg injury as the basis for their decisions and not a diagnosis of occupational pneumoconiosis.

Ronnie Hoosier, who worked for Apogee Coal Co., suffered from various lung problems and other issues related to his work. He died in February 2020.

Ms. Hoosier filed for fatal dependents’ benefits in December 2021.

Doctors offered mixed opinions on what caused the death, and the comp board later found that “evidence submitted by the parties does not address the issue of whether the leg fracture contributed,” to the death, the appeals ruling states.

The appellate judges said the board’s rationale was “clearly wrong in analyzing this claim under Mr. Hoosier’s leg injury claim, rather than the (occupational pneumoconiosis) claim.”

The court said the benefits application was “arbitrarily” assigned to a leg injury claim rather than the appropriate claim.

The court remanded the case to the workers comp board for further proceedings. 

 

 

Indemnity benefits per workers compensation claim grew at a “rapid” pace of 6% or more in 2022 in 16 out of 17 states analyzed by the Workers Compensation Research Institute, which said data prior to 2021 showed little change.

Pegging the post-pandemic conditions as that which may have spurred the rise in indemnity benefits, WCRI said the tight labor market led to wage growth across the board, and increased the duration of temporary disability, which reflected “a growing share of new hires in the workforce and changes in comorbidities since the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a statement on 14 research reports published Tuesday.

As highlighted by WCRI, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Texas and Wisconsin reported nuances:

• Following two years of little change, Florida indemnity benefits per claim grew 12.9% in 2022, driven by a 9.5% increase in wages for workers with injuries and a 0.6-week increase in the average duration of temporary disability.
• Indemnity benefits per claim in Illinois increased 9% in 2022, driven by a 4% increase in wages for workers with injuries and a nearly one-week increase in the average duration of temporary disability. 
• Indemnity benefits per claim grew 6% in Michigan in 2022, following four years of moderate growth. Indemnity benefits remained lower than in the typical study state, and Michigan’s overall costs per claim were the lowest of all study states.
• After a 4% decrease in 2021, 2022 saw Texas’s indemnity benefits grow by 6%, driven mainly by wage growth among workers with injuries.
• Indemnity benefits per claim grew by 10% in Wisconsin in 2022, driven by 6% growth in wages and an increase of nearly one week in the average duration of temporary disability. Even with these increases, Wisconsin had some of the lowest indemnity benefits of the study states.