Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines
All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Division of Workers’ Comp Adopts Income Benefits Form
May 19 2022 // The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) said it has adopted a new form: DWC Form-033, Request to Reduce Income Benefits Due to Contribution (DWC Form-033), effective immediately....
California Business Owners Arraigned for Workers’ Comp Fraud
May 18 2022 // Three California business owners were arraigned for insurance fraud this week after an investigation reportedly showed they illegally conspired to lower workers’ compensation premiums. Troy Williams, 49, of Angels...
Workers’ Comp Claims from 10 Years of Legal Cannabis in Colorado Reveal a Boring Trend
May 16 2022 // Data on injured workers from the nation’s most mature adult-use cannabis market is pretty boring. No excessive claims resulting from injuries suffered by stoned forklift drivers, high cultivators, or even dispensary...
Rhode Island High Court Revisits Exception to Workers’ Comp ‘Going-and-Coming’ Rule
May 12 2022 // The Rhode Island Supreme Court recently revisited the “going-and-coming” rule that generally excludes workers’ compensation benefits where an injured worker is traveling to or from work. The court has...
OSHA Warns South Central Employers Not to Ignore Heat Dangers
May 12 2022 // As temperatures rise in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration reminds employers and workers not to ignore the dangers of working in hot...
Claims Frequency Up for 2021, but Workers’ Comp Profitability ‘Unprecedented’
May 11 2022 // For the first time in more than a decade, workers’ compensation claims frequency, outside of COVID-19 illness claims, increased in the United States last year. But not to worry, the trend won’t last, and the...
OSHA Fines Oil Company $454K in North Dakota Explosion
May 10 2022 // An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that an oil company’s failure to take adequate safety precautions contributed to a drilling site explosion...
OSHA Fines Florida Utility $500,000 for Power Plant Deaths of Five Workers
May 9 2022 // A Florida power company has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine for a 2017 explosion that left five workers dead. Tampa Electric Co. has pleaded guilty to violating an Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard,...
Oklahoma Construction Company Faces $370,000 OSHA Penalty
May 6 2022 // An Oklahoma construction company faces proposed penalties of $370,347 after a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation found that the company failed to prevent a sudden...
OSHA Investigating Collapse of Boston Power Plant; Builder Pauses All Projects in City
May 6 2022 // Firefighters in Boston worked for more than three hours to rescue an injured construction worker after part of a historic power plant collapsed Wednesday while being redeveloped. Fire Commissioner Jack Dempsey told...
Seaglass Opens Workers Comp MGA in Florida
May 5 2022 // Seaglass Insurance Group, with offices in Estero, Florida, is a new managing general agent offering workers’ comp insurance through a national carrier, along with risk management and safety programs. Austin Seaglass...
Weight-Loss Surgery Covered by Workers’ Comp, Carolina Appeals Court Finds
May 4 2022 // Workers’ compensation insurer Erie Insurance Group must pay for weight-loss surgery for an obese woman who was injured at her child-care center, the North Carolina Court of Appeals decided this week. The appeals...
California Workers’ Comp Committee OKs 7.6% Pure Premium Filing
May 2 2022 // The governing committee of the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California authorized the WCIRB to submit a Sept. 1, 2022 pure premium rate filing to the California Insurance Commissioner that is on...
Department of Labor Eyeing Arizona OSHA Plan
May 2 2022 // The U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposal to reconsider and revoke final approval of Arizona’s State OSHA plan, which the department says is in response to nearly a long “pattern of failures” to...
Illinois Contractor Faces $360K Fine Over OSHA Violations
May 2 2022 // A Waukegan, Illinois contractor – with a history of violating federal safety standards and ignoring safety citations – was cited again by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health...
Workers’ Comp: A Shining Star in the P/C Sky, But the Future Is Less Bright as Workforce Changes
May 2 2022 // Workers’ compensation continues to be the shining star in the property/casualty insurance market. Despite a 9% decline in direct premiums written to $44.3 billion, and a combined ratio in 2020 (91.1%) that was just a...
California Workers’ Comp Bureau OKs 7.6% Pure Premium Filing
Apr 29 2022 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California submitted pure premium rate filing to the California Insurance Commissioner calling for a 7.6% increase. The advisory pure premium rates for the roughly...
Missouri Recycling Facility Faces Fine of $260K Over OSHA Violations
Apr 29 2022 // A workplace safety investigation following a worker’s fatal crushing injuries at a St. Louis, Missouri recycling facility on Oct. 26, 2021, alleges the company failed to erect guards or barriers to prevent workers...
TPA’s Quick Denials of First Responders’ Workers’ Comp Claims Draw Penalty
Apr 29 2022 // A workers’ compensation insurer must pay $100,000 under an agreement with Vermont state regulators because its claims administrator gave short shrift to claims for post-traumatic stress disorder and other...
Texas Workers’ Comp Division Recognizes Beverage Distributor
Apr 27 2022 // The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) recognized Tyler Beverages with the Lone Star Safety Program Award for its exemplary workplace health and safety programs and low rates of...
