Quote of the day
“The point is, in Nebraska, if the risk of the employer-created condition does not increase the risk that someone will sustain injury then the injury is not compensable. And there’s a failure with the burden of proof.”
David Dudley, attorney for Colfax County, Nebraska, in a case involving whether death benefits were owed to the young child of a law enforcement official who died in a vehicle accident while driving home from work in his personal car
Lincoln Journal Star/News-Press
Colorado employers warned of workers’ comp risks with e-scooters
Pinnacol Assurance is warning Colorado to evaluate employee use of electronic scooters as part of their risk management plan. Denver Business Journal/KUSA (Denver)
West Virginia lawmakers draft bill to cover PTSD in first responders
The West Virginia House of Delegates and West Virginia Senate both introduced bills that would provide workers’ compensation to law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians with post-traumatic stress disorder. WSAZ (Huntington, W.V.)
Nebraska appeals court addresses denial of death benefits
The Nebraska Court of Appeals has been asked to reverse a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Court to deny death benefits to the young daughter of a 36-year-old sheriff’s deputy who died after a vehicle accident that occurred while he was driving home from work in his personal car. Lincoln Journal Star/News-Press
Canada: First responders to meet in B.C. to discuss mental health issues
More than 300 first responders from across the province will be in Richmond, British Columbia this week for a two-day, first of its kind conference on mental health. The conference comes nearly eight months after the province announced amendments to its workers’ compensation law that added post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental injuries to a list of presumptive conditions. Abbotsford News
Ontario workers’ compensation system needs overhaul: Expert
The scientist leading a major review of occupational cancer in Ontario says the province’s worker compensation system was designed in an era long before occupational disease was understood, and needs to be overhauled to deal with the epidemic of job-related diseases. The Record