Things you should know

Free resources from the National Safety Council during June

June is National Safety Month and an annual National Safety Council (NSC) initiative is to offer free resources to employers during the month. To access the resources.

New reports/videos

Robotic technologies

• A new report from the National Safety Council (NSC) Work to Zero initiative, "Improving Workplace Safety with Robotics," looks at how robots can help reduce injuries and fatalities, as well as risks and other considerations.
• A new video from the Italian Institute of Technology showcases potential uses of collaborative robots, or cobots, to help prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Location geofencing

Location geofencing provides virtual barriers for construction sites, machine operating zones, and other defined areas and is often used with other technologies. It's the subject of the NSC Work to Zero initiative's latest white paper.

Fatal and nonfatal trenching injuries and citations

The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) released a report that examines trenching injuries, citations, and penalties in construction.

Top ten most dangerous states

Edge Fall Protection, recently analyzed fatality injury rates using the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics data to find which states are the most dangerous and which states are the safest.

Pressing problems affecting women in the workplace

Increased stress, long hours, and apprehension about disclosing mental health concerns are some of the most pressing challenges affecting women in the workplace, according to the fourth annual Deloitte Global's Women @ Work: A Global Outlook.

FAQs from injured workers

Hi Marley, a communication platform for insurers, reviewed conversations from carriers using its platforms and whittled down the relevant inbound questions to six root causes.

The most common inquiries related to payment status and amount (26 percent), contact with the adjuster (24 percent), provider scheduling and approval activities (22 percent), and process explanation (14 percent). The study also highlighted the importance of empathy in communication.

2024's "Dirty Dozen" unsafe employers

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) announced the 2024 "Dirty Dozen" list of employers who put workers and communities at risk due to unsafe practices. The Dirty Dozen report is released each year as part of the observance of Workers' Memorial Week. The list includes Alabama Department of Corrections, Ascension, Black Iron/XL Concrete, Costa Farms, Florence Hardwoods, Mar-Jac Poultry and Onin Staffing, Space X and the Boring Company, Tyson Foods, Uber and Lyft ,Valor Security and Investigations, Waffle House, and Walmart.

CMS updates WCMSA Self-Administration Toolkit

On May 15th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an updated version (1.5) of its Workers' Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) Self-Administration Toolkit Guide, which is designed for those who self-administer their set-aside arrangement. Annual attestation forms, the yearly accounting of how funds were spent, can now be submitted through the CMS portal.

State News

Florida

• Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that requires workers compensation payments for emergency services that aren't subject to a maximum reimbursement allowance to be set at 250% of what Medicare pays for the same service. The bill also adds leave time and retention requirements for a program that provides a one-time cash payout of $25,000 for firefighters who contract cancer in the line of duty.
• The Governor signed SB 808, which creates an exception to how providers are selected and paid to treat firefighters, law enforcement officers, correctional workers, and probation officers with tuberculosis, heart disease, and hypertension presumed to arise from employment. The workers can select a doctor and the provider's reimbursement is limited to twice the rate authorized by Medicare.

Georgia

• Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation that provides first responders with supplemental compensation if they are diagnosed with work-related post-traumatic stress disorder. HB451 covers both professional and volunteer first responders.

Minnesota

• The June edition of Compact, a quarterly publication for workers' compensation professionals is available.
• Governor Tim Walz has signed the 2024 Omnibus Labor and Industry Policy Bill and the 2024 Transportation, Housing, and Labor Omnibus Budget Bill, which include notable changes covering pregnancy accommodations, restrictive covenants in service contracts, minimum wage, information required in job postings, and oral fluid drug, cannabis, and alcohol testing. The bills also contain provisions enacting changes to earned sick and safe time law, paid family and medical leave, and worker misclassification.
• Effective July 1, all employers, as well as their owners, risk significantly increased penalties for misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Effective March 1, 2025, determining whether a construction industry worker is an employee or independent contractor will be based upon a new 14-factor test that focuses on the time at which the services were provided.
• The Department of Labor and Industry's Compliance, Records, and Training (CRT) unit created a new training video to assist claim administrators when filing a denial of primary liability.
• New video and guide to uploading a file to Work Comp Campus.

New York

• Assaulting a retail worker is now a felony in New York state, under a new law signed May 1 as part of theFY25 State Budget bill.
• Although deaths at New York City building construction sites fell to their lowest level in nearly a decade in 2023, work-related injuries rose 25 percent, according to the Department of Buildings' annual Construction Safety Report.

Tennessee

• A certified therapy dog joins the list of presenters featured in the annual Workers' Compensation Educational Conference, set for June 12-14 in Murfreesboro. More information.