Quote of the day
"We're not in chaos now. But if the trend continues, we could be."
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Steve Sviggum, about the state's workers' comp system
Minnesota Labor Commissioner Pushes Workers’ Comp Reform
In Minnesota, workplace injuries are down, but the cost per injury is rising, and that widening gap carries perilous consequences for the state’s workers’ compensation system, which deals with about 70,000 to 80,000 cases per year, at a price of about $1.7 billion, says Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Steve Sviggum.
Go to the full story by Tom Larson, Morris Sun Tribune [with photo] Go to the full story by Lawrence Schumacher, St. Cloud Times [with photo]
Bay State Workers’ Comp Claimant Well Enough to Seek Office
Andrea Traficanti, 30, has been out of work for 19 months and collected at least $60,000 in workers’ compensation checks on grounds that she is too stressed to return to her public works job. But she is apparently healthy enough to oversee Haverhill, Mass.’s highway and parks departments, the third-highest position in the public works department. By Shawn Regan, Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.)
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Enforcement Sweep Hammers Nail Salons
Five nail salons in Santa Cruz County face a fine of up to $10,000 after being cited for failing to have workers’ compensation insurance following a sting conducted by the California Department of Insurance and the county district attorney’s office. By Jondi Gumz, Santa Cruz Sentinel
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New York: Self-Insured Trusts Go Out of Business
Eleven of 14 groups that self-insure for workers’ compensation decide to discontinue operations, an indicator of a worsening insurance crisis kicked off by the failure in June of seven other trusts that were managed by Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based Compensation Risk Managers LLC. By Mary Beth Pfeiffer, Poughkeepsie Journal
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Connecticut Court Allows Reduction of Award for Cigarette Use
The Connecticut Supreme Court rules that a 63-year-old former insulation installer’s lung damage from smoking can be segregated from respiratory problems caused by asbestos work, and his workers’ compensation award reduced by the portion of his ailment caused by cigarettes. By Thomas B. Scheffey, Connecticut Law Tribune via Law.com
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Gas Pipeline Fatality Results in $10.5 Million Lawsuit
The widow of a worker who died last year installing a natural gas pipeline in a Middletown, N.Y.-area state park sues a contractor for $10.5 million. The 67-year-old was in the enclosed cab of a side boom, a crane-like construction vehicle on treads, putting segments of the pipeline in place when the machine tumbled backward down a hill. By Matt King, Times Herald-Record
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West Virginia’s Black Lung Cases Above National Average
About 13 percent of West Virginia’s coal miners who have had chest X-ray screenings are found to have black lung disease, which is caused by exposure to coal dust; the national average is 9 percent, according to NIOSH. By AP via Forbes
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