Quote of the day
"They're not in business to pay workers' comp. They're in it to make money."
Michael DelSignore, SafeWorks president and chief executive, who says Illinois' high cost of workers' comp can hurt businesses and force some to close
Illinois Workers’ Comp Experts Push for Collective Bargaining
Some of Illinois’ leading experts on workers’ compensation plan to encourage lawmakers to make changes to the system, including collective bargaining, in order to reduce the need for attorneys in negotiations. By Chris Lusvardi, Herald & Review
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Burned-Out Workers Often Spurn Intervention Efforts: Study
Employees with symptoms of burnout, especially severe cases, are less likely to participate in work-based interventions than workers who don’t suffer from it. However, workers with severe burnout were more than fives times as likely to receive individual interventions. By Katherine Torres, Occupational Hazards
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Commentary: Did SB 899 Go Too Far?
Alan J. Wax, a member of Board of Governors of the California Applicant’s Attorney’s Association, argues that California employees have borne the entire brunt of the 2004 workers’ Comp reform, with benefits having been reduced by 50 to 70 percent. By Alan J. Wax, Signal (Santa Clarita Valley)
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Violence Against Staff Plagues Alberta Health Care Facilities
Health care staffers are among workers with the highest risk for encountering violence on the job, says a senior security adviser for the Workers’ Compensation Board of Alberta. Each year, the Alberta WCB deals with more than 180 lost-time claims—about 20 percent of the agency’s total claims—related to assaults on healthcare workers. By Jodie Sinnema, Edmonton Journal
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NCCI Filing Seeks Big Rate Cut for Hawaii
Hawaii insurance officials announce the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s request for a decrease of 16.8 percent in the workers’ compensation loss costs for Hawaii for premiums beginning January 1, 2008. Hawaii Reporter
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No Victim Comp Funds for Families of Colorado Tunnel Workers
As Fed-OSHA takes over the investigation of the hydroelectric tunnel fire near Georgetown, Colo., which caused the suspected smoke-inhalation deaths of five maintenance workers last week, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter visits the tunnel and says state officials have ruled out using state victim-compensation funds to help the workers’ families.
Go to the full story by Steve Lipsher, Denver Post [With Photo] Go to the full story in KGET-TV (Bakersfield)
Opinion: Money Belongs to Injured Workers, Not Attorney General
What do you call a lawyer who sues the makers of OxyContin on behalf of West Virginia’s Medicaid and workers’ compensation programs and the Public Employees Insurance Agency, settles out of court, and keeps the money? Answer: the state attorney general. Charleston Daily Mail
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