Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Atlantic Drain Cited for 18 Violations in Massachusetts Trench Collapse
Apr 13 2017 // Robert Higgins and Kelvin Mattocks died on Oct. 21, 2016, in Boston, Mass., when the approximately 12-foot deep trench in which they were working collapsed, breaking an adjacent fire hydrant supply line and filling the...
Florida Workers’ Comp Reform Battle Far From Over
Apr 13 2017 // Several bills addressing changes to Florida’s workers’ compensation system were filed this legislative session in response to court decisions from the state’s high court in 2016, but it remains to be seen...
California Workers’ Comp Board Submits Lower Filing than Industry Average
Apr 11 2017 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau on Tuesday submitted a July 1 Pure Premium Rate Filing to the California Department of Insurance proposing advisory pure premium rates that average $2.02 per $100 of...
Report: Claims from Workers in California’s Sierras Involve Only 4 Industries
Apr 11 2017 // More than half of all claims from workers living in California’s Sierras involve only four industries, according to a report out today from the California Workers’ Compensation Institute. The CWCI’s...
Owners of California Hotel Cleaning Firm Plead Guilty to Workers’ Comp Fraud
Apr 11 2017 // The owners of a cleaning company serving luxury hotels in Southern California and Nevada have pleaded guilty in connection with a nearly $7 million insurance and tax scam. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Hyok...
Ohio Coal Miner Creates Fake Employment Records in Workers’ Comp Fraud
Apr 10 2017 // A former coal miner from northeast Ohio owes the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) more than $40,000 after BWC investigators found him creating phony employment records to secure BWC cash benefits, the...
OSHA Delays Obama Silica Safety Standard for Construction Industry
Apr 7 2017 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced a delay in enforcement of the crystalline silica standard that applies to the construction industry. The rule, on which OSHA...
Hanover Stone Practice Aims to Control Workers’ Comp Costs
Apr 7 2017 // Hanover Stone Partners, a risk management services firm, has established a dedicated, national practice group to help employers manage workers’ compensation costs. Barry E. Thompson, who has more than 30 years of...
California Worker’s Comp Governing Committee Votes for Lower Mid-Year Filing
Apr 6 2017 // The insurer and public members of the Workers’ Compensation Rating Bureau Governing Committee have voted to authorize the Governing Committee to submit a lower mid-year pure premium rate filing to the California...
Report: Workers’ Comp Claims, Costs Continue Downward Trend in Minnesota
Apr 6 2017 // The number of paid workers’ compensation claims fell 53 percent relative to the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) employees from 1997 to 2015, according to the Department of Labor and Industry’s 2015...
IVANS Index: Commercial Rates Up in Q1 Except Workers’ Compensation
Apr 6 2017 // Insurance premium renewal rate change for the majority of standard commercial lines products including auto, business owners, general liability, property and umbrella remained in positive territory for the first quarter....
Boiler Explodes at St. Louis Box Company; 3 Dead, 4 Injured
Apr 5 2017 // An explosion launched a van-sized boiler through the roof a St. Louis box company and slammed much of it down onto a laundry business across the street on April 3, killing three people and injuring four others, authorities...
Maine’s The MEMIC Group Promotes Schwartz to VP of Underwriting Compliance
Apr 5 2017 // Workers’ compensation specialist The MEMIC Group, based in Portland, Maine, has announced the promotion of Karen Schwartz to the position of vice president of underwriting compliance. She is responsible for leading...
Iowa Legislative Session: War on Workers or Tough Budget Choices?
Apr 4 2017 // With Republicans in control of state government, Iowa union leaders approached this legislative session with apprehension, but say they never envisioned lawmakers would approve such dramatic changes to laws governing...
California State Fund 2016 Report Shows 128K Policies Written
Apr 4 2017 // The California State Compensation Insurance Fund’s 2016 annual report shows a net income of $192 million in 2016. Other important highlights from the newly released report include: 128,000 policies written in...
OSHA Orders Wells Fargo to Rehire Whistleblower, Pay $5.4 Million
Apr 4 2017 // The federal government has ordered Wells Fargo to reinstate a former bank manager who lost his job after reporting suspected fraudulent behavior at the bank. The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health...
New QBE Program Targets Worker Safety in Transportation Market
Apr 4 2017 // QBE North America, an operating division of global insurer QBE Insurance Group Limited, has formed a strategic program alliance with High Point Underwriters and Midwestern Insurance Alliance to offer a national...
Pennsylvania Businesses to See Workers’ Comp Insurance Rate Cut
Apr 3 2017 // Pennsylvania businesses will see another cut in workers’ compensation insurance rates while maintaining benefit levels for injured workers, Wolf Administration cabinet secretaries for the Pennsylvania Insurance...
How to Reduce Workers’ Comp Costs in a K-12 School Climate
Apr 3 2017 // The physical and emotional well-being of employees is of vital importance to the success of K-12 schools, but the challenge of keeping school staff safe from harm is becoming more and more complex. As a result of rising...
California Workers Comp Medical Review Volume Hit a Record in 2016
Apr 3 2017 // The California workers’ compensation independent medical review process used to resolve medical disputes found that in 2016 IMR physicians once again upheld about 90 percent of utilization review (UR)...
