Wal-Mart has decided to manage its own injury benefits program in one state. That’s led proponents and opponents of such an option to weigh-in on whether it’s a good idea for businesses or not.
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Tags: Oklahoma, Texas, Walmart, workers' comp opt out
You’ve probably seen all sorts of articles predicting that as baby boomers reach retirement age that will only increase costs for employers, including workers’ comp insurance. Well, that’s not exactly the case, it turns out.
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Tags: baby boomers, National Council on Compensation Insurance, older workers, workers' comp costs
You know Mike Rowe, the guy on the Discovery Channel who hosts Dirty Jobs? A viewer recently called him out on not wearing the proper safety gear on his show. His response? “Of all the platitudes embraced in the workplace there is none more pervasive, erroneous, overused and dangerous than ‘Safety First!’”
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Tags: Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe, safety first, Safety Third
It’s been said that if both sides in a dispute are unhappy with you, you must be doing something right. That could be the situation involving the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) since it faces two separate lawsuits …
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Tags: lawsuit, Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Workers' comp
Retail giant Wal-Mart appears to be out $10 million in connection with a serious injury suffered by a truck driver who was making a delivery to one of the chain’s stores in northern Colorado.
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Tags: Colorado, jury verdict, slip and fall, Wal-Mart
Some business leaders claim the reason the U.S. economy has been floundering is because of the number of new regulations imposed by the Obama administration. Bloomberg News has conducted an analysis of new regulations enacted by the last several presidents. The results may surprise some people.
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Tags: beryllium, Bloomberg News, combustible dust, diacetyl, federal rules, injury and illness prevention programs, Obama regulations
The latest statistics on workplace injuries and illnesses contain good news for U.S. workers and their employers, particularly in these challenging economic times.
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Tags: Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction, direct and indirect cost of injuries, illness and injury rate, manufacturing, nonfatal workplace injuries
OSHA says it’s trying to level the playing field with new rules for residential construction. But some builders say the new rules are having the opposite effect: They’re tilting the field in such a way that cheaters are prospering, and those who comply are in danger of falling over the edge.
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Like Sammy Hagar, you may not be able to drive 55. But no matter how quickly you’d like to get where you’re going, chances are you’ll stay well under 100 the next time you’re on the open road. The question is why.
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The final, and most comprehensive, report on the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico points to seven company practices that contributed to the incident. They’re the types of mistakes that could be made by any company, not just an oil giant.
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Tags: BP oil disaster, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, cost saving, Deepwater Horizon, risk management, time saving, Transocean
Ten years after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01, controversy surrounds a fund established to help first responders at the World Trade Center (WTC) with their medical bills. Some are getting help, and some aren’t.
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Tags: 9/11, cancer, first responders, First Responders Bill, Ground Zero, post traumatic stress disorder, terrorist attack, World Trade Center, Zadroga Fund
As a person in charge of workplace safety, you’re well aware of the impact that workers’ comp premiums have on businesses. What if you had to obtain similar coverage for someone taking care of a child or elderly relative?
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Tags: babysitters, Babysitters Bill, California, Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, Workers' comp
Nationwide, workers’ comp costs are down due to higher unemployment rates. However, costs have gone up in some states. Where does your state fall?
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Tags: cash benefits, medical benefits, National Academy of Social Insurance, workers' comp costs
What if you could predict which employees would cost your company more in workers’ comp?
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Tags: drug or alcohol abuse, integrity tests, lying, violence, Workers' comp
Did this company fire a worker for seeking medical treatment for a workplace injury, or was this a case of miscommunication? A jury made the call.
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Tags: back injury, back pain, Family Medical Leave, physical therapy, punitive damages, seek medical treatment
When it comes to workers’ comp benefits, is employee hearing loss over a long period of time different from other injuries suffered in the workplace? The answer is key in a lawsuit by more than 40 workers.
Tags: hearing loss, long-term exposure, Louisiana, refinery, Workers' comp
Think about this the next time you’re watching a football game: NFL players have many of the same rights as other types of employees to collect workers’ compensation benefits if they’re injured on the job. And the fact pro football players travel for their jobs gives them a workers’ comp advantage.
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Tags: California, Florida, NFL, shop cases, Workers' comp
If an employee requests a reasonably priced piece of equipment to improve ergonomic performance on their job, would your company easily grant it? Here’s one of those stories that should encourage such ergonomic spending.
Tags: ergonomic, keyboard, neck pain, permanent partial disability, phone headset, Workers' comp
An injured worker turns out to be an illegal immigrant. His injuries prohibit him from doing the type of physical labor he previously did. He could do sedentary work, but he doesn’t have the skills. Does he get permanent total disability (PTD) benefits under workers’ comp?
Tags: Florida, illegal immigrant, permanent total disability, sedentary work, Workers' comp
One of the largest states in the nation, with some of the highest workers’ comp costs, has a new law intended to cut businesses a break.
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Tags: carpal tunnel syndrome, doctors, drunk workers, fraud, Illinois, Workers' comp
Establishing an open-door policy for employees to bring safety problems to management’s attention can be a real cost-saver: In this case, it might have saved thousands of dollars in OSHA fines.
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Tags: bloodborne pathogens, confined spaces, respiratory program, training, worker complaint
As part of President Obama’s executive order to simplify federal standards and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, OSHA has announced some changes.
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Tags: paperwork, President Obama, regulatory burden, streamlined rules
A state supreme court has weighed in on whether punitive damages awarded by a jury to a paralyzed worker were too large.
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Tags: fall, fractured spine, inspection program, paralyzed worker, punitive damages, Qwest
Do you work at a company that has more than one facility? It might pay to keep track of OSHA inspections at your company’s other facilities. Those other inspections can have an impact on you.
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Tags: electrical, exit doors, failure to train workers, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, Parker Hannifin, repeat citations
On April 28, 2011, OSHA turned 40 years old. Is the agency suffering an early mid-life crisis?
Tags: Chamber of Commerce, i2p2, inspectors, job killer, maximum fines, mid-life crisis, OSHA 40-years-old, permissible exposure limits, retaliation, unions
It’s almost one year since the oil well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history. A recent news report says the federal government is consolidating its efforts to bring criminal charges against the company and perhaps some of its managers.
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Tags: BP explosion, criminal charges, Deepwater Horizon, involuntary manslaughter, sacrificed safety
A contracting company faces $159,600 in OSHA fines following the death of one employee and the hospitalization of another.
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Tags: excavation, personal protective equipment, trench collapse
On March 25, 1911, 146 workers died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire in New York City. It’s been called an event that fundamentally changed U.S. workplace conditions. But have workplace safety attitudes really changed in 100 years?
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Tags: BP, fire safety, immigrants, safety attitudes, safety too costly, Triangle Shirtwaist fire, Upper Big Branch mine, workplace conditions
A recent ruling by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) clarifies OSHA’s ability to fine companies for older recordkeeping violations.
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Tags: injury logs, OSHA logs, OSHRC, recordable injuries, Recordkeeping
Workers’ compensation is supposed to be the exclusive remedy for an employee injured at work — it protects employers from lawsuits. But that doesn’t stop some workers from trying to find the situations when comp isn’t the exclusive remedy.
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It really does matter how safety training is delivered to employees. New research shows the best training contains something called the “dread factor.”
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Tags: cost of safety, dread factor, hands-on training, safety research, Safety training
A lot of debate will occur between this week’s announcement of President Obama’s proposed budget, including funding for OSHA, and the start of the new federal fiscal year on Oct. 1. Forget about that debate for now. Instead, take a look at what OSHA plans to do with its funding, especially if you own a small business.
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Tags: enforcement, inspections, OSHA budget, severe violators, small business
The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has issued a report on regulatory impediments to job creation. The report lists five OSHA proposals that business groups say would inhibit job growth.
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Tags: combustible dust, i2p2, musculoskeletal disorders, noise standard, on-site consultation
Pressure to resume production was a key factor in an explosion at the Bayer CropScience pesticide manufacturing plant that killed two workers, according to a government report.
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Tags: Bayer CropScience, Chemical Safety Board, explosion, maintenance, production pressure
The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has issued an important decision that will help determine what is and what isn’t a repeat OSHA violation.
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Tags: Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, OSHA, repeat violation
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