Attorney involvement in a workers compensation claims are most prevalent among workers with less than six months tenure, according to a study released Wednesday by the Waltham, Massachusetts-based Workers Compensation Research Institute. WCRI examined more than 950,000 claims of workers injured between Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2019, in the 31 states covered by its database, which it says…
Safety advocates are beginning to understand why minority and marginalized workers are more frequently killed or injured on the job than their white and often more socioeconomically privileged counterparts and what can be done to curb an annual statistic that has stumped some industries. Rethinking onboarding and training protocols and giving greater attention to the wider concerns of undocumented workers…
Pinnacol Assurance, a Denver-based workers compensation insurer, released a report Tuesday showing that workers are more at risk for injuries when working in extreme temperatures. The insurer said its claims data shows that workers in both outdoor and indoor settings are 52% more susceptible to injury when temperatures rise above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Common injuries on extremely hot days include…
Exposure to dust and other particles may put construction workers at an increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease, according to a study publicized on Wednesday. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg found that Swedish construction workers studied over five decades had a 15% higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease. The researchers noted that other recent expert studies showed…
Overexertion, slips and falls, and being struck by an object were the top three drivers of severe workers compensation claims between 2017 and 2021, according to a 2024 Injury Impact Report released Monday by Travelers Cos. Inc. Motor vehicle accidents and injuries stemming from caught-in or caught-between hazards were numbers four and five, respectively. The report says that employees in…
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a construction worker injured by a crane company employee may not have been subject to workers compensation exclusive remedy because of lingering questions over employment relationship. Jason Beckner was injured while helping to construct a home in Zionsville, Indiana, in November 2019 while employed by Commercial Air Inc. His employer…
The proportion of work-related injuries among newly hired workers increased from 2017 to 2022, with workers under 25 reporting more frequent injuries than those 55 and older, according to a report released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The report, which analyzed 8.4 million non-COVID-19 claims across 31 states, found that work injuries among workers with shorter tenure increased…
Physician charges per procedure performed increased by 11% in workers compensation claims from 2020 through 2022, outpacing the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Consumer Price Index of 7% during that time, according to a pricing report released Wednesday by Enlyte LLC. Enlyte showed a more modest increase of 2% from 2022 to 2023 for medical services. From 2023 to year-to-date,…
Injuries caused by lifting heavy loads were once again named the costliest in workers compensation, according to data released Tuesday by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. The insurer’s Workplace Safety Index estimates the top 10 causes of the most serious workplace injuries — those causing an employee to miss more than five days of work — and ranks them by their…
Aging worker claims often are more susceptible to litigation, as issues of causation and claim expansion come into question. Older worker claims may be slightly more challenging to handle once in litigation because of issues such as Medicare Set-Asides and a potentially higher percentage of disability paid, according to John Geaney, co-chair of the workers compensation practice at Mt. Laurel,…
