The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) examined the impact of opioid prescriptions on the duration of temporary disability benefits for workers with lower back injuries. The conclusion: long-term opioid prescriptions lead to temporary disability durations more than three times longer than claims without opioid prescriptions. Long-term is defined as having prescriptions within the first three […]
Getting LOTO wrong is costly Here’s how to get it right Many companies believe they are in compliance with OSHA’s Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) standard; yet, it is one of the most difficult to comply with and is the number five violation in general industry and construction. To give you an idea of the standard’s complexity, a […]
OSHA’s removal of the term “unexpected energization” from the LOTO standard likely to lead to more citations Under the Obama administration, OSHA began an effort under the Standards Improvement Project 4 to fix minor, noncontroversial issues in several existing regulations, including the lockout/tagout regulation. While these issues typically include correcting typos, eliminating redundancies and clarifying […]
Fraud or abuse that might not reach the legal requirements for criminal sanctions happens in all aspects of the Workers’ Comp system. There’s employee fraud, employer fraud, health provider fraud, attorney fraud, and even insurer and claims adjuster fraud. The good news is that technology is making it easier to detect and many states have […]
By Kevin Ring Institute of Work Comp Professionals Editor’s note: Kevin Ring, CWCA, CWCA, MWCA, is Lead Analyst at Institute of WorkComp Professionals, Asheville, NC of which we are a member. It trains, certifies independent insurance agents and their support staff to navigate the complicated workers’ compensation system and act as advocates operating between employers […]
Be sure your employees are covered when going out of state to assist with recovery The requirements for Workers’ Comp vary by state and the important message here is that if you have employees traveling out of state you want to be sure you have the correct states on the policy. You should work with […]
OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application Injury Reporting is now available allowing employers to electronically enter their required 2016 injury and illness data from Form 300A. The Improve Track of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses final rule went into effect Jan. 1 with an initial compliance deadline of July 1. But OSHA has proposed delaying that deadline until Dec. 1, in an effort to […]
Whether you’re an insurance professional, an employer or “the person in charge of insurance,” it’s often difficult to get your arms around Workers’ Compensation. It’s complex and fraught with so many “moving parts” you can almost be certain that what you say will be challenged and certainly open to interpretation. While there are several good […]
To keep their premiums at the lowest cost each year, it’s not unusual for businesses to seek job classifications with lower ratings. Workers’ Compensation guru, David Leng, explains in his book, Stop Being Frustrated and Overcharged Year After Year by Your Workers’ Compensation Program, this practice can actually backfire. He cites the case of a […]
ADA Employer requiring wellness program participation prevails over EEOC A federal District Court in Wisconsin has ruled against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and held that a plastic manufacturer’s policy of requiring employees to complete health risk assessments and biometric screenings to be eligible for health coverage does not violate the ADA. The court granted […]
