What if you could capture on video the seconds immediately before and after an injury-causing incident in the workplace? One employer hopes to do just that.
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Tags: DriveCam, improve safety, Washington Metro, worker cameras
An employee injures her knee just by walking up stairs at work and applies for workers’ comp benefits.
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Tags: accident, knee injury, walking up stairs, work-related injury, Workers' comp
Oh, the difficult life of a workers’ comp fraud investigator, having to track down comp recipients who are scamming the system. It’s a tough job that includes visiting places such as … strip clubs?
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No one can blame an employer for trying to reduce workers’ comp costs through a return-to-work program. But an employer might run into trouble if the state workers’ comp board finds the policy to be illegal.
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Tags: cut workers' comp costs, permanent disability, return to work
When no one witnesses a workplace injury and the injured employee files for workers’ comp, sometimes all you have to go on is the worker’s story. The situation can become more complicated when the worker delays reporting the injury.
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Tags: back injury, credibility, no one saw injury, Workers' comp
Even though workers’ compensation is supposed to be the exclusive remedy for workplace injuries and death, lawyers will find a way to make someone pay even more, especially in the case of a fatality.
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Tags: gross negligence, hot oil heater, National Fire Protection Association, Workers' comp, workplace death lawsuit
How much do you think federal government employees collected in workers’ comp payments in fiscal year 2009? A. $5.2 million? B. $40.3 million? C. $145 million? D. $1.6 billion.
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Tags: federal government employees, reduce costs, Workers' comp
A worker slipped and fell, and sustained multiple injuries including one to her back. While the worker was still healing, she lost her job in a mass layoff. Does she still get comp payments?
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Tags: back injury, laid off, temporary partial disability, Workers' comp
An employee who suffered from an eye disease had a corneal transplant that improved his vision from 20/200 to 20/50. Then, a workplace incident damaged the transplant, and his vision returned to 20/200.
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Where’s the best place to find a workers’ comp cheat? You might want to check out all the strip clubs in your area.
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Tags: Workers' comp
For most employees, turning around isn’t dangerous. But for a nurse in Mississippi, that simple act resulted in a broken leg, a protracted court battle, and ultimately, a sizable workers’ comp award.
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Tags: injury, Workers' comp
It’s not unusual for employees who claim they were injured on the job to get caught working or playing sports without the alleged effects of their injuries. In this case, the worker claimed he needed to use a wheelchair. But the worker was caught walking perfectly by …
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Tags: excavator, prison, workers' comp fraud
How far should the “exclusive remedy” provision of workers’ comp go?
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Tags: court, criminal charges, Workers' comp
When workers don’t report injuries right away and then apply for workers’ comp benefits, it often raises a red flag. With conflicting testimony, these cases often come down to which side the court finds more believable.
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Tags: back injury, delayed injury report, injured back when lifting, workers' comp benefits
An employer encouraged carpooling when some of its workers didn’t have transportation to work. Is the company now on the hook for workers’ compensation benefits after a fatal car crash?
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How do you know that the worker who claims to have been injured on the job isn’t committing workers’ comp fraud?
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A worker at a bear park smoked pot before coming to work where he fed grizzlies. The worker was seriously injured by one of the bears. A workers’ compensation judge called that “mind-bogglingly stupid.” But did the judge rule the worker was entitled to workers’ comp?
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Tags: marijuana, mauled by grizzly, pot smoking, Workers' comp
For purposes of workers’ comp benefits, just what constitutes an injury “arising out of and in the course of employment”? A court recently issued an interesting interpretation of that phrase.
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Tags: broken leg, in the course of employment, off the clock, workers' comp benefits
What types of workplace noise do you think of in connection with occupational hearing loss? Jack hammers, lawn tractors, manufacturing assembly lines? In this case, a worker claims hearing loss from being yelled at on the phone by angry customers.
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Today (April 28) is Workers’ Memorial Day. U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis suggests we take time to reflect on making jobs safe.
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Tags: Hilda Solis, workers' memorial day, workplace fatalities
It’s a fact: Dust, temperature and humidity factor into asthma attacks. But how can you tell if asthma is an ongoing disability?
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Tags: asthma, dust, permanent disability, temperature and humidity
As more and more companies use independent contractors to do work formerly handled by employees, these questions come up more often: Employee or contractor? Eligible for workers’ comp or not?
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Tags: contractor or employee, taxi cab drivers, Workers' comp
An employee was injured at work. At first his injury seemed minor. But as time passed, his condition grew more serious. He didn’t tell his employer about the incident until he needed to see a medical specialist.
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Tags: open wound, report injuries, Workers' comp
Remember the story from about a year ago in which a chimp tore off the face and hands of a woman? The police officer who shot and killed the raging animal was denied workers’ comp benefits.
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Tags: chimp attack, police officer, Workers' comp
If doctors declare an injured worker totally disabled, what happens if he looks for work while he’s waiting to see if he gets workers’ comp benefits?
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Many safety pros are familiar with doctor-shopping — when an injured employee tries to find a doctor whose diagnosis will extend workers’ comp benefits. Now a study shows the cost impact these doctors have.
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Tags: doctor shopping, injured employee, workers' comp costs
A home health aide was involved in a highway crash on the way to a patient’s home. Would workers’ comp cover her injuries?
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A migrant worker fractured his ankle on a sidewalk outside of employer-provided housing. Does he get workers’ comp benefits for his injury?
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A doctor cleared an injured worker for a specific light-duty job. The worker didn’t think she could do the offered job and didn’t show up for work. Did a court allow her to continue to receive workers’ comp benefits?
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Tags: back strain, light-duty job, Workers' comp
Imagine this: A worker has surgery to insert metal plates and screws to repair damaged discs in his neck. He says his injury happened at work … when he sneezed.
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Tags: neck injury, sneeze, surgery, Workers' comp
Workers’ comp laws usually prohibit lawsuits against companies when a worker is seriously injured or killed on the job. But a lawyer in Texas found a way to skirt the law and win a huge jury award.
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Tags: crane, jury award, worker killed, Workers' comp
A sanitation employee, who was preparing to urinate while standing on a platform on the back of a garbage truck, fell off the truck as it was backing up. He was killed after the truck backed over him. His family is seeking workers’ comp benefits because of a modification made to the truck.
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Tags: garbage truck, intentional wrong exception, truck backed over him, workers' compensation
An employee used a company vehicle, which he was allowed to drive, to get coffee and suffered a serious accident. He applied for workers’ comp benefits. Did he receive them?
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Tags: company vehicle, personal comfort doctrine, Workers' comp
Part of the problem with having injured employees miss days at work is that they’ll see all those personal injury lawyer ads while they’re watching daytime TV and then decide to sue.
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Tags: injured employees, injury lawyer ads, Trolman Glaser Lichtman
Workers’ comp laws in some states do contain provisions to discourage employees from trying to cheat the system. Here’s one example:
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Tags: cheat the system, New York, Workers' comp
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