Quote of the day
"It's still a mandate. But compared to the original bill, it's more palatable."
Robert Labanara Jr., senior legislative associate for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which opposed a bill to increase workers' compensation benefits for firefighters and police
Connecticut House Approves Workers’ Comp Bill for Emergency Personnel
Connecticut lawmakers pass a weaker version of a bill intended to boost workers’ compensation benefits for firefighters and police officers. Opponents had argued that the bill levies significant unfunded mandates on cities and towns; the new legislation, which forces municipalities to presume that any police officer or firefighter who suffers a heart attack while on the job had it because of work-related stress, limits the scope of ailments to heart attacks. By Brian Lockhart, Stamford Advocate
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Good News for North Star State Pork Plant Workers
Several employees of an Austin, Minn. pork processing plant, who initially were denied workers’ compensation for a mysterious neurological illness, will collect benefits after all, according to the attorney for some of the 18 workers who have suffered symptoms. All of the affected employees worked at or near a station at the plant called the “head table,” where they used compressed air to blast the brains out of pig skulls.
Go to the full story by Steve Karnowski, Minnesota Public Radio
Go to the full story by AP via Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Families of Victims of Arkansas Scaffold Collapse Sue Contractors
The families of two water main installers who are presumed dead in an April 2 scaffold collapse under a bridge over the Arkansas River sue the construction companies and a foreman in charge of the project in North Little Rock, Ark., for alleged negligence. By Schuyler Dixon, AP via Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Will Harassment and Intimidation Claims Derail Orlando Project?
As the state of Florida considers ponying up $649 million in a deal to buy 61 miles of CSX Transportation tracks for an Orlando commuter line, with the state taking liability for all accidents involving commuter trains, unions are speaking up that a federal investigation last fall confirmed that CSX used intimidation to discourage workers from reporting job-related injuries. By Lindsay Peterson, Tampa Tribune
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Sooner State Manufacturers Look into Workers’ Comp Package
Broad acceptance of a health insurance plan offered by the Central Oklahoma Manufacturers Association prompts the group to explore a workers’ compensation package. The proposal could save manufacturers 10 to 20 percent on premiums, says an official with the state manufacturing alliance. By Jim Stafford, the Oklahoman
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Palmetto State Biz Group Targets Scuttled WCC Nomination
Members of the South Carolina business community reportedly are preparing an offensive against several state lawmakers who shot down a conservative appointment to the state workers’ compensation committee earlier this month. And at least one mailing may go to voters from a pro-business advocacy group that will highlight the nearly 13,000 jobs lost in South Carolina due to skyrocketing workers’ comp premiums. FITSNews.com
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Risk Manager: Ohio County Unfairly Penalized
Knox County, Ohio, which pools with other counties in a workers’ compensation fund, has managed its workers’ comp claims “aggressively,” says a county risk manager. Nevertheless, the county’s premiums likely will double in the near future because of other counties’ sub-par claims management. By R. Eric Burdette, Mount Vernon News
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Commentary: Lone Star Supremes Courting Political Outrage
In an unusual move, the Texas Supreme Court recently agreed to reconsider a controversial decision that some say gives refineries and other industrial plants a new shield against liability claims from contract workers injured on the job. The ruling from last summer expands the ability of plant owners to seek liability protection from workplace accidents under workers’ compensation law. By Clay Robison, Houston Chronicle
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Australia: Must Employers Pay Workers’ Comp Indefinitely?
Employers sometimes feel that they are obliged to pay workers compensation for injured workers indefinitely. This is not true, as long as they understand the tricky process of stopping payments. By Andrew Douglas, SmartCompany.com (Australia)
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N.B. Industry Group Pushes Safety Along with Privatization
Privatizing New Brunswick’s Workers’ Rehabilitation Center is just one of several reforms to the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission that needs consideration, according to David Plante, vice president of the N.B. division of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, who contends that any reforms to the workers’ comp system should include a greater emphasis on safety and accident prevention. By David Shipley, Telegraph-Journal/News Brunswick Business Journal
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