As workers' comp costs climb, benefits fall

Workers' compensation insurance, which covers work-related injuries, continues to get more expensive for businesses and provide lower benefits for workers. The results come from a new National Academy of Social Insurance report on workers' comp benefits, coverage and costs.

According to the analysis of data from 2009 to 2013, benefits as a percentage of payroll declined in 39 states for two major reasons, according to John F. Burton, professor emeritus of Rutgers and Cornell University, as quoted by a National Academy press release.

"The decline is due to a drop in workplace injuries as well as changes in many state laws that made it more difficult for workers' to qualify for benefits," said Burton, who was on the data study panel. "These state laws include more stringent compensation rules, the reduction of coverage for certain medical diagnoses and new legal requirements that make it more difficult for workers to succeed in their claims for benefits."

On average, injured workers received 98 cents per $100 of covered wages. Employers paid $1.37 on average per $100 of covered wages. Costs went up in 27 states.

States with the highest costs were Alaska ($2.58 per $100), Montana ($2.24) and Oklahoma ($2.24). Lowest employer costs were in the District of Columbia (47 cents per $100), Massachusetts (74 cents) and Texas (80 cents per $100). However, the inclusion of Texas requires a caveat because employers aren't required to provide workers' compensation.

Both worker benefits and business costs have been in a long-term downtrend since the early 1990s, when both were at long-term highs.

About 130 million people are under workers' comp protection. One of the big changes in expenses has been health care. In 1980, 29 percent of workers' compensation expenses were health care costs. In 2013, the percentage grew to 50 percent.

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Contact the Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. today if you have a workers' compensation or a Social Security disability case.

http://www.otoole-sbarbaro.com

Phone: 303-595-4777

We are located in the Denver Metro area.

226 West 12th Avenue Denver, Colorado 80204

Disclaimer 

Any content of this blog is intended for informational purposes only.It is not intended to solicit business, provide legal advice from The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. and does not serve as a medium for an attorney-client relationship. Therefore, The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. is not responsible for the information on this blog which may not apply to every reader. Always seek professional counsel if you have any legal matters. Contents within the blog of The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C., logos and other related media are protected by the copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions.

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MSHA Proposes Rule to Prevent Crushing, Pinning Deaths and Injuries

Haulage machinery in underground coal mines —such as shuttle cars, ram cars and scoops—would have to be equipped with technology that prevents miners from becoming struck, pinned or crushed, as per a proposed rule from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

On Sept. 2, MSHA published a proposed rule calling for proximity detection systems on underground coal hauling systems used on the mining section. Proximity detection is a technology that uses electronic sensors to detect motion and the distance between a miner and a machine. These systems provide audible and visual warnings, and automatically stop moving machines before miners are injured.

MSHA estimates that, as of June 2015, 155 of the approximately 2,116 underground coal hauling machines and scoops were equipped with proximity detection systems.

Between 1984 and 2014, pinning, crushing and striking accidents killed 42 miners and injured 179 others. In the most recent five-year period (2010-2014), accidents killed nine miners in 41 cases—23 involved coal hauling machines and 18 involved scoops. In one recent case, on Dec. 16, 2014, a repairman was fatally struck by a ram car at the Highland 9 Mine in Union County, Ky. Proximity detection systems may have prevented all of these deaths and injuries.

“This proposed proximity detection system rule would better protect miners from being crushed or pinned in the confined underground mine spaces where large equipment is constantly in motion,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “It is an important component of the department’s ‘Plan, Prevent and Protect’ strategy for safeguarding all workers.”

“We know this technology works as a number of mine operators have already installed proximity detection systems on coal hauling machines and scoops,” said Kevin Stricklin, MSHA’s administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health. “We hope to learn from their experiences during the public comment period.”

In January, MSHA published a final rule requiring the installation of proximity detection systems on continuous mining machines used to cut coal in underground mines. Many continuous mining machines are already equipped with this technology.

The proposed rule requires coal mine operators to use proximity detection systems that do the following:

• Cause a coal-hauling machine or scoop to stop before contacting a miner
• Provide audible and visual warning signals when a miner gets too close to the machine (within the machine’s warning zone)
• Provide a visual signal on the machine that indicates the system is functioning properly
• Prevent movement of the machine if the system is not functioning properly
• Prevent interference with or from other electrical systems
• Be installed and maintained by a person trained in the system’s installation and maintenance.

The proposed rule includes the following phase-in for compliance:

• Eight months after the rule goes into effect, coal-hauling machines and scoops manufactured after the effective date of the rule; and coal-hauling machines and scoops equipped with an existing proximity detection system, which can be modified underground must be in compliance.
• Thirty-six months after the rule goes into effect, coal hauling machines and scoops equipped with an existing proximity detection system, which cannot be modified underground or needs to be replaced with a new proximity detection system; and coal hauling machines and scoops manufactured on or before the effective date of the rule and not equipped with a proximity detection system must be in compliance.

Thirty-six months after the rule goes into effect, all coal-hauling machines and scoops would need to be in compliance.

In the proposal, MSHA also requests comments on whether this technology should be required in underground metal and nonmetal mines. The comment period will close on Dec. 1, 2015, and MSHA will hold public hearings to allow the public to present their views on the proposed rule.

Original Source

Contact the Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. today if you have a workers' compensation or a Social Security disability case.

http://www.otoole-sbarbaro.com

Phone: 303-595-4777

We are located in the Denver Metro area.

226 West 12th Avenue Denver, Colorado 80204

Disclaimer 

Any content of this blog is intended for informational purposes only.It is not intended to solicit business, provide legal advice from The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. and does not serve as a medium for an attorney-client relationship. Therefore, The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. is not responsible for the information on this blog which may not apply to every reader. Always seek professional counsel if you have any legal matters. Contents within the blog of The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C., logos and other related media are protected by the copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions.

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South Dakota Prankster Entitled to Workers’ Comp: Court

The South Dakota Supreme Court says a man who broke his ankle running away from a co-worker on whom he had played a prank at a construction site is entitled to workers’ compensation.

In Jason Petrik v. JJ Concrete, Inc. and EMC Insurance Co., South Dakota’s high court ruled that the state Department of Labor incorrectly denied benefits to concrete worker Jason Petrik. Petrik tricked his co-worker into giving up his seat in an air-conditioned truck on a hot August day in 2012. He broke his ankle jumping over a trench while his co-worker chased him.

Petrik’s employer, JJ Concrete, argued he shouldn’t get benefits because the compa­ny’s rules bar horseplay.

“JJ Concrete and EMC Insurance Company refused to pay for Petrik’s medical expenses and refused to provide tem­porary total disability ben­efits,” the court wrote in its opinion.

The South Dakota Department of Labor ruled that Petrik’s injury “arose out of” his employment, but did not occur “in the course of” the employment and denied employee benefits, according to the court’s opinion. The circuit court affirmed.

Petrik had argued that during idle times he and his co-workers often “would play jokes and tricks on each other.”

The Supreme Court reversed the lower court rulings. It ruled Petrik’s horseplay wasn’t a “sub­stantial deviation” from his normal work and therefore happened while he was on the job.

The case was remanded to the Department of Labor for an award of work­ers’ comp benefits.

Original Source

Contact the Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. today if you have a workers' compensation or a Social Security disability case.

http://www.otoole-sbarbaro.com

Phone: 303-595-4777

We are located in the Denver Metro area.

226 West 12th Avenue Denver, Colorado 80204

Disclaimer 

Any content of this blog is intended for informational purposes only.It is not intended to solicit business, provide legal advice from The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. and does not serve as a medium for an attorney-client relationship. Therefore, The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C. is not responsible for the information on this blog which may not apply to every reader. Always seek professional counsel if you have any legal matters. Contents within the blog of The Law Office of O'Toole & Sbarbaro, P.C., logos and other related media are protected by the copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions.

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