Flash: Cal/OSHA: To Mask or Not to Mask
Standards Board will vote on new revisions to COVID emergency standard this week. Workers’ Comp Executive
Texas community college wins grant for seventh straight year
For the seventh year in a row, El Paso Community College is set to receive a $100,000 grant from workers’ compensation insurer Texas Mutual for the college’s Risk Management Institute. Over a 22-year period, Texas Mutual reportedly has awarded $9.9 million in safety education grants for more than 35,000 students. KFOX (El Paso, Texas)
Oklahoma court decides injury case involving smoke break
A workers’ compensation case split the Oklahoma Supreme Court about whether a school cafeteria worker injured while returning from her smoke break can claim benefits for her injuries. Journal Record [may require registration]
Study ties legalized cannabis to fewer worker comp claims
Temple University research has found following a state’s legalization of recreational cannabis, there’s about a 20 percent reduction in the probability that a person reports having any income from workers’ compensation, according to an economist and associate professor involved with the study. Philadelphia Inquirer
U.S. employees are still dying from heat exhaustion
Even though employees who work outdoors face risks of heat stress, no specific federal standard covers working in hot environments. Now there is a push for individual states to enhance their protections, while federal lawmakers consider two new bills that would create measures such as paid breaks in cool spaces, access to water and limitations on time employees are exposed to heat as temperatures hike to daily record levels. NBC News