News Digest 1-14-2022

 

Connecticut workers’ compensation rates fall for eighth straight year

Workers’ compensation premiums in Connecticut are decreasing for an eighth consecutive year, Gov. Ned Lamont has announced. The Connecticut Insurance Department approved an average 14.1 percent rate decrease for the voluntary market and an average 8.2 percent decrease in the assigned risk market, according to the governor. Hartford Business Journal

 

Wisconsin: Company’s bankruptcy agreement to provide $200K for workers’ comp claims

Employees of Briggs & Stratton who were injured at the now-bankrupt company will have an additional $200,000 fund to draw workers’ compensation from, thanks to a court decision. Wisconsin Law Journal [may require registration]

 

How a new wearable device may play a key role in workers’ comp

Earlier this month, New York-based Kinetic announced a partnership with Nationwide Insurance to introduce an insurance policy for workers’ compensation that relies on an “internet of things”-based wearable device designed to increase safety for employees in manual-inclined occupations, such as in warehouses. The device transmits tracking metrics like posture and unsafe motions to a software platform. All About Circuits

 

North Carolina: Durham EMS experiencing staff shortages

About half a dozen of emergency responders have been out sick in Durham, North Carolina within the past few weeks, a slight uptick compared to last year. Records between Jan 1-10 show an 81 percent increase in the number of patients with COVID or flu-like symptoms compared to this time last year, and a 14 percent increase in call volume overall. In Wake County, there are 70 general vacancies for full time employees and 30 other virtual vacancies due to a variety of reasons, including workers’ comp, according to a county official. WRAL (Raleigh, N.C.)

 

Construction worker dies under debris at Mississippi site

A 33-year-old construction worker died Tuesday after dirt collapsed beneath him, trapping him under 20 feet of debris on a Jackson, Mississippi worksite. Lexington Herald-Leader