Things you should know

Fraud report

A new report from the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud covers insurance fraud across all lines. For work comp, employers can commit premium fraud when they misreport payroll, misclassify workers, pay workers under the table, or don't buy workers' comp when they are required to do so. Employees commit benefits fraud when they claim an injury occurred at work, when it happened outside of work, they exaggerate an injury, or malinger. The report concludes that employer premium fraud cost the system $25 billion while employee claim fraud cost $9 billion, for a total of $34 billion in workers' compensation fraud.

CPWR resource to support pregnant construction workers

Physicians' Alert: Pregnant Construction Worker Safety and Health outlines the hazards and challenges pregnant workers may face. Designed for workers to print and share, the document includes guidelines for providing care, as well as how a clinician can write an impactful letter to ensure the worker receives necessary accommodations on the job. CPWR also has compiled a list of commercially available extended-size PPE for pregnant workers.

Chemical Safety Board issues reports on explosions related to liquid nitrogen and combustible dust

The final report on a chemical leak of liquid nitrogen that killed six workers at a Georgia poultry plant in 2021 concludes that the deaths were preventable. The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) identifies several equipment and process failures at the facility and issues a dozen recommendations to various entities, including the current owner of the facility, OSHA, and two standard-setting organizations.

A final report was issued on a fatal May 2017 explosion and fire at the Didion Milling dry corn mill in Cambria, WI where five workers were killed and 14 were injured.The report notes many failures on the part of the company and highlights the need for an OSHA combustible dust standard for general industries, as well as increased follow-up inspections when combustible dust hazards have been identified at facilities. Similarly, the CSB is calling on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), to update its combustible dust standards to include more comprehensive requirements for dust hazard analyses, incident investigations, and management of change.

Federal scientists recommend easing restrictions on marijuana

Matthew Zorn, a Texas lawyer, obtained a report from Health and Human Services that shows that scientists at the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse have recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration move marijuana from the Schedule I classification to a Schedule III drug, alongside the likes of ketamine and testosterone, which are available by prescription. The review by federal scientists found that even though marijuana is the most frequently abused illicit drug, "it does not produce serious outcomes compared to drugs in Schedules I or II." They also found that cannabis may have medical uses.

The D.E.A. is expected to formally announce its decision within months. The reclassification will be subject to public comment and debate before it is made final.

State News

Michigan

• The Prevailing Wage Act will took effect on February 13, 2024. The new Act will require every contractor and subcontractor to pay the prevailing wage and benefit rates to employees working on most state-funded construction projects.

New York

• The NYC Department of Buildings has launched a winter construction safety campaign, in response to four recent deaths of construction workers. All of the city's approximately 40,000 permitted worksites will be subject to ongoing sweeps.

Tennessee

• The Department of Commerce and Insurance announced that workers compensation insurance premiums will decline by an average of 9.4 percent effective March 1.