Quote of the day
"They were very successful. Like anything else, you have to modify and change with the times."
Carl Kochman, communications and public relations leader at Montana State Fund, about advertising campaigns that the agency targets toward young workers
South Dakota Court: Workers’ Comp Is Team’s Obligation
The South Dakota Supreme Court rules that a Rapid City indoor football team, not the league in which it plays, has the duty to provide workers’ compensation to an injured player. After suffering a wedge compression fracture of the neck, the player sued both the team and the league, arguing that it was a joint employer. By Terry Woster, Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)
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Montana State Fund: ‘Don’t Be a Jackass at Work’
Montana State Fund is taking a comical approach to help educate young employees about staying safe at work: an ad campaign that uses online videos styled after the MTV show “Jackass.” Montana ranks fifth in the nation for workers’ compensation claims, and the injuries trigger more lost time than the national average. By Erin Madison, Great Falls Tribune
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Editorial: Kudos to Wyoming Legislators for Workers’ Comp Review
Can the state legislature fix what’s wrong with Wyoming’s workers’ compensation system? Time will tell, but a legislative panel is off to a good start after identifying some potential solutions following a two-day meeting in Casper. Casper Star-Tribune
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Rhode Island Employer Denies Knowledge of Settlement
A groundbreaking settlement for a Mexican illegal immigrant who was maimed in a chainsaw accident is in jeopardy after his former employer, a tree-services company owner, tells a workers’ compensation judge that he “had never even heard of” the $30,000 settlement agreement. By Karen Lee Ziner, Providence Journal [with photo] [may require registration] Go to the Full Story…
Palmetto State Workers’ Comp Commission Targets Poultry Firm
The director of the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission says that the agency has undertaken “a complete review” of a poultry company’s practices, including its reporting of workers’ injuries at its Greenville plant, in response to a series of reports in the Charlotte Observer. The newspaper reported earlier this year that House of Raeford has hidden the extent of worker injuries, in addition to ignoring or using intimidation against injured workers. Greenville News
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Report Suggests Cutting Down Province’s Wait Period
An independent review of the Nova Scotia’s Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation System recommends that injured workers receive compensation and benefits two days after a workplace accident, rather than the three-day wait that is currently in place. By Nick Moore, Times & Transcript
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CDC: Grim Stats for Latinos Not Budging
Latino workers face a greater risk of dying from work-related injuries, with one in three deaths occurring in construction, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Work-related fatalities are going down for the workforce in general, but the disparity between Hispanic and non-Hispanic is persistent and not going away,” according to Dr. Sherry Baron, coordinator of NIOSH’s Occupational Health Disparities Program. HealthDay News via Forbes
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