News Digest 8/1/2007

By: Rick Waldinger

Quote of the day

"The establishment of an independent board of directors brings us a step closer to restoring confidence and accountability in the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. The new board will ensure greater professional expertise and strengthened fiscal management of BWC funds."

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, in a statement regarding the new oversight board for the bureau, which has been plagued by multi-million dollar rare coin and hedge fund investment scandals

Go to the full story in the Coshocton Tribune

Delay in Case of Bakersfield Family Charged with Fraud
The court dates for a Bakersfield woman and her family who face criminal charges, including one count of workers’ comp insurance premium fraud, are pushed back to October. Bakersfield Californian
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Ohio Gov Names New Slate of Directors for BWC Oversight Panel
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland names a new slate of directors to oversee and, according to Strickland, restore accountability to, the state’s scandal-plagued Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. In related news, the Ohio Ethics Commission rules that a lawyer who represents injured workers or employers may serve on the panel but cannot make decisions affecting the performance of the administrator or other bureau personnel. By Julie Carr Smyth, AP via Coshocton Tribune
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‘Whoosh’: The Newest Datacenter Occupational Hazard?
Datacenter workers take “whoosh”—the noise and pressure created by fans and humming power supplies needed to cool more and more servers—for granted. Even though there is little scientific data assessing noise trends in datacenters, anecdotal evidence suggests the constant noise can cross federal noise level standards and have adverse effects on workers. By Patrick Thibodeau, Computerworld via InfoWorld
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Police Union Wants Baltimore County Doc Questioned on Workers’ Comp
Baltimore County administrators may have violated county charter in hiring a doctor who has a history of siding with the government in workers’ compensation cases, according to at least six police officers who say the doctor arbitrarily ruled them unfit for duty. By Jaime Malarkey, Baltimore Examiner
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Australia: Jockeys Reject Offer, Vow Strike
Tasmania’s jockeys say they will strike after rejecting an offer of improved, but not full, workers compensation insurance coverage. By Adrian Dunn, Herald Sun (Australia)
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