Quote of the day
"They've done the right thing by taking that out of the calculation, because it's pretty easy for companies to take some pretty severely disabled people and have them technically working."
Don Voaklander, University of Alberta School of Public Health, about the provincial government's new way of calculating injury rates by removing "modified work" statistics, which slashed the number of employers qualifying as Best Safety Performers.
New Law Requires New York Employers to Have Full Coverage
Under a new law, insured employers with any employees in New York now must have workers’ compensation insurance policies providing “full” coverage in the state, according to the state’s Workers Compensation Board. By Roberto Ceniceros, Business Insurance
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Not Much Interest in Top North Dakota Insurance Post
Three weeks after North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman announced his resignation, Gov. John Hoeven has not been deluged with applicants to replace him. By Dale Wetzel, AP via Forbes
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Workers, Attorneys Register Dissatisfaction with W.V.’s Reformed System
Some injured workers and applicant attorneys remain dissatisfied with West Virginia’s workers’ compensation system since it became the private, for-profit BrickStreet Insurance, state legislators hear during a three-day series of meetings in Martinsburg. But many small business owners disagree that the system needs further tinkering. By Lawrence Messina, AP via Yahoo! Finance
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Mountain State Concrete Firm Pleads Guilty to Fraud
West Virginia Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline announces that the owner and operator of a concrete coating firm has pleaded guilty to workers’ comp fraud for operating a business without coverage and filing a false report with the former Workers’ Compensation Commission. Charleston Daily Mail
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Advocates Laud Change in Injury Rate Methodology
Safety advocates are crediting the Alberta provincial government for altering the way it calculates workplace injury rates and, as a result, making it tougher for employers to qualify for the annual list of Best Safety Performers. Under the new policy, so-called “modified work” stats, in which a worker is kept on the job but with lighter duties to accommodate injuries, are removed from the calculation. By Jeremy Loome, Edmonton Sun via ShiftPortal
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