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Workers compensation claims for COVID-19 last year were far less than the doomsday predictions made early in the pandemic, but experts are concerned that lingering symptoms and rebuttable presumptions in some states may negatively impact the industry going forward. In November and December combined, the U.S. reported 11 million new COVID-19 cases, with insurers and ratings agencies seeing corresponding jumps…

The rate of serious injuries and fatalities continues to hold steady despite declines in overall recordable incidents, though companies with strong safety cultures are less likely to report these serious incidents, according to a report released Monday by information management company ISN Software Corp. ISN analyzed more than 55,000 recordable incidents at U.S. companies between 2017 and 2019, finding that…

As employers wait to see whether the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will create a temporary workplace safety standard for COVID-19, their legal experts hope the federal government avoids what they contend are costly and inflexible measures put in place by individual state OSHAs. President Joe Biden on Jan. 21 signed an executive order calling on OSHA by Feb. 4…

Health care workers pose the greatest risk of developing COVID-19 infections and, relatedly, have been most likely to submit workers compensation claims, according to the results of a study released Tuesday. The study, published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and conducted by AF Group in Lansing, Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, revealed that…

A former truck driver for a gas and chemical company is alleging he was told to resign or be fired in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim. Joel Straus filed a complaint Jan. 4 in the Madison County Circuit Court against Air Products and Chemicals Inc., alleging retaliatory discharge. Straus was employed as a truck driver for Air Products…