An employee is injured while playing volleyball. He files for workers’ comp, saying it was part of his job. His employer disagrees, saying it wasn’t part of his tasks. Does the employee in this case get comp?
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Tags: recreational activity, volleyball injury, Workers' comp
Imagine this. A machine in your workplace has a sharp blade that chops things. Do you really have to tell employees not to stick their hands near the blade when the machine is running?
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Tags: common sense, machine guard, warning sign, Workers' comp
Here’s proof that workplace injuries happen in the service industry, too. And those injuries can lead to workers’ comp claims.
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Tags: back injury, casino dealer, service industry, workers' comp claims
Most companies have all the work-related hazards they need, thank you. They see no need to introduce additional hazards not normally associated with whatever work is involved. But one company’s unusual gimmick has set the stage for what promises to be an interesting workers’ comp decision.
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Tags: chimp attack, hazards, Workers' comp
In some states, when workers are placed on permanent partial disability, it’s expected that injured employees will make a “good-faith effort” to find alternate employment they can perform. However, one state court just found a reason to overturn that 15-year precedent and allow a worker to keep collecting.
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Tags: back injury, good faith effort, permanent partial disability, sit home and collect comp
If one of your employees was injured in an exercise class, you wouldn’t expect that to be covered by workers’ comp. But that’s not how one court saw it.
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Tags: employee injured at gym, exercise class, Workers' comp
A jury in Illinois has awarded the family of a worker $6.74 million after he died at an Archer Daniels Midland plant in 2007.
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Tags: Archer Daniels Midland, record jury verdict, third degree burns
Good news for employers in one state: Your workers’ comp insurance rates are going down. But that’s not all the information released. A new report also details who files for comp more often and why.
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Workers’ comp boards and courts draw a fine line between what is and what isn’t a work-related injury that qualifies for benefits. See if you can guess how the court ruled in this case:
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Tags: climbing into truck, ruptured tendon, shipping yard, tractor trailer, Workers' comp
A man has been sent to prison after using money he received for a workplace accident to deal crack cocaine.
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It’s true: Managers can find comp fraud by viewing employees’ social networking Web pages.
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Tags: Dollar Tree, fraud, Workers' comp
Imagine this: A company sponsors a Family Fun night of bowling for its employees and their families to improve morale. One employee injures his back while bowling. Does he get workers’ comp because this was an employer-sponsored event?
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Tags: back injury, improve morale, Workers' comp
Imagine this: A company sponsors a Family Fun night of bowling for its employees and their families to improve morale. One employee injures his back while bowling. Does he get workers’ comp because this was an employer-sponsored event?
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Have you ever been suspicious of a workers’ comp claim? Be careful. A recent ruling appears to draw an important — and, in this case, expensive — distinction between “reasonable” and what you might call “reflexive” suspicion.
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Tags: employee surveillance, recent court ruling, workers' comp claim
Have you ever been suspicious of a workers’ comp claim? Be careful. A recent ruling appears to draw an important — and, in this case, extremely expensive — distinction between “reasonable” and what you might call “reflexive” suspicion.
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The world isn’t fair. Some people can eat Twinkies all day, every day and never gain an ounce.
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You hear it all the time: Sedentary, overweight and out-of-shape employees can be a huge drain when it comes to health insurance, workers’ comp and other costs. Whip ‘em into shape and you’ll save, save, save!
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Tags: court, decision, employee, exercise class, injury
An employee says she was harassed at work, and that caused her “mental injury.” She applied for workers’ comp payments.
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Tags: anxiety and stress, doctors' opinions, harassed, mental injury, Workers' comp
In most cases when an illegal immigrant is injured at a U.S. company, courts have ruled in favor of giving workers’ comp benefits. One state is trying to put a stop to that.
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Tags: illegal immigrants, injured, legislation, South Carolina, Workers' comp
A story that vividly illustrates at least three points:
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Tags: exclusive remedy, eye injury, jury, worker, Workers' comp
A new report from a local advocacy group for construction workers paints a picture of a dangerous profession and less-than-caring employers.
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Tags: Associated Contractors of America, Building Austin, construction safety, Workers Defense Project
An employee helps a co-worker get a stuck bag of chips out of a workplace vending machine and in the process fractures his hip. Does he get workers’ comp or not?
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An employee helps a co-worker get a stuck bag of chips out of a workplace vending machine and in the process fractures his hip. Does he get workers’ comp or not?
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Tags: fractured hip, good Samaritan doctrine, personal comfort doctrine, snack machine, Workers' comp
UCLA has paid $31,875 in fines and taken corrective steps after a lab fire that claimed the life of an employee. But now, the university wants to appeal the citation for a technical reason.
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Tags: Cal-OSHA fine, Sheri Sangji, UCLA fatal fire
A worker suffered a serious workplace injury and was taken to the hospital for treatment. While there, he was drug tested. The test was positive for methadone, a drug used to treat narcotic withdrawal and dependence.
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California authorities have made massive allegations of workers’ comp fraud against an employer.
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Tags: insurance premiums, Petronella Roofing, workers' comp fraud
Slips, trips and falls are routinely one of the top causes of injuries in workplaces. They also subtract from a company’s bottom line due to medical and workers’ comp insurance, lost productivity and retraining costs.
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Tags: ASSE, flooring, slip, top causes of injury in workplace, trip and fall prevention
No question about this: Workers’ Compensation covers medical treatment for employees injured on the job. However, does a home security system qualify as medical treatment?
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Tags: anxiety, home security system, insomnia, traumatic brain injury, Workers' comp
When employees get injured at work, they can’t sue because workers’ comp is their “exclusive remedy,” right? That’s not the case if a company is found to have intentionally allowed employees to be harmed, as this case shows.
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Blanket policies barring employees on light or limited duty from working overtime violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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Tags: Americans with Disabilities Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, light duty, overtime, United Airlines
An employer’s insurance coverage doesn’t pay for housekeeping services for workers injured on the job, according to a new ruling by Arizona’s Court of Appeals. But that’s not the case in all states.
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Tags: back surgery, tripped, workers' compensation
Yesterday Safety News Alert told you how a court ruling expanded a state’s workers’ comp law to give companies immunity from being sued by contract employees. Today we have an example of what can happen when a state’s comp law doesn’t include that exemption.
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Tags: Clark Oil, worker killed in an explosion, workers' compensation
A premises owner can’t be sued by an injured employee of a contractor, according to the Texas Supreme Court.
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Tags: Entergy, sued by injured employee, workers' compensation
Was an employee’s skin condition caused or simply aggravated by contact with chemicals at work? The distinction played an important part in this workers’ comp case.
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Tags: chemicals at work, psoriasis, Workers' comp
What constitutes loss of use of feet and hands to qualify for permanent disability? A state court says it’s not necessary for employees to actually injure their feet or hands for that to be the case.
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Tags: hip injury, permanent disability payments, shoulder injury, slip and fall, workers' compensation
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