The NJ Uninsured Employers' Fund (UIF) is required to make payments to injured workers when no coverage is maintained by the employer. In this instance the UIF paid $253,000 in payment to the injured worker.
Friday, July 17, 2009
NJ Employer Indicted for Failing to Have Workers' Compensation Coverage
A NJ employer who failed to have workers' compensation insurance was criminally indicted the NJ Attorney General announced. The owner of Accurate Paving, Mack Setvens, was alleged not to have insurance coverage.
New Jersey Looking to Hire Attorneys to Work For Free
Relief from the hiring freeze that has stalled some cases before the NJ Division of Workers' Compensation maybe thawing. The Division has been barred from replacing vacancies in the staff of Deputy Attorney Generals who staff the Second Injury Fund.
Recently it was reported in Newark Star Ledger that the freeze has been lifted and the State will hire attorneys who will work for free, About 400 lawyers are registered in the unemployment system.
The Second Injury Fund is represented by the State of NJ. Those cases involve some of the most complicated cases in the state as they all involve allegations total disability matters. The lack of attorneys to represent the Second Injury Fund has resulted in the cancellation of some lists. It is unknown whether paid attorneys could be shifted to this work or whether the State plans to allow the attorneys who are hired for free to to this this assignment.
Disease in a Bottle-Phthalate Exposure at Work
What appears as an ordinary plastic bottle used for fragrances, cosmetics, hair conditions,water, toys and many other items, may actually be concealing a source for illness and disease. Phthalates, commonly found in plastic bottles, are know to suppress male hormones and sometimes mimic female hormones.
In a recent letter to the editor in the NY Times Nicholas D. Kristof commented, "If terrorists were putting phthalates in our drinking water, we would be galvanized to defend ourselves and to spend billions of dollars to ensure our safety. But the risks are just as serious if we’re poisoning ourselves, and it’s time for the Obama administration and Congress to show leadership in this area."
In a recent letter to the editor in the NY Times Nicholas D. Kristof commented, "If terrorists were putting phthalates in our drinking water, we would be galvanized to defend ourselves and to spend billions of dollars to ensure our safety. But the risks are just as serious if we’re poisoning ourselves, and it’s time for the Obama administration and Congress to show leadership in this area."
ADAO honors asbestos victim and nurse for 2010 Asbestos Awareness Day
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) announced that June Breit, a pleural mesothelioma victim since 2002, is its 2010 ADAO Alan Reinstein Memorial Award Honoree. Since her diagnoses, Breit has been a major player in political and educational advocacy related to public health.
The ADAO also announced that its 6th Annual Asbestos Disease Awareness Conference will be held April 9-10, 2010 in Chicago, IL. The purpose of this conference is to provide the latest occupational, medical and environmental information about asbestos-related illness. Registration and sponsorship opportunities will be announced in September 2009.
Read more about asbestos and asbestos-related diseases.
The ADAO also announced that its 6th Annual Asbestos Disease Awareness Conference will be held April 9-10, 2010 in Chicago, IL. The purpose of this conference is to provide the latest occupational, medical and environmental information about asbestos-related illness. Registration and sponsorship opportunities will be announced in September 2009.
Read more about asbestos and asbestos-related diseases.
New Jersey's New Workers' Compensation Enforcement Statute
Governor Corzine has now signed into law a new enforcement statute for workers' compensation coverage in New Jersey. The law amend NJSA 34:15-79 and allows the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation a stop-work order and impose penalties of between $1,000 to $5,000 per day for non-compliance.
The broad legislation makes it a violation for an employer to misrepresent the status of an employee as an "independent contractor" or to knowingly provide misleading, incomplete or false information.
The Division is in the process of promulgating administrative rules and regulations for implementation of this legislation.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Asbestos Do-It-Yourself Test Kit Avaiable
Asbestos is a know carcinogen. It is present at work sites, schools and in homes. It was frequently used, and in fact required, on various construction sites before 1980. Some examples include popcorn ceilings, insulation material and floor tile. A $29.95 kit is now being marketed to test for asbestos fiber. The kit is being sold through many hardware stores including Home Depot and Lowes.
The CDC has not yet banned asbestos use is not yet banned in the United States and continues reduce potential years of life.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Firefighters Required to Stop Smoking On And Off Duty
In many jurisdictions firefighters are allowed a presumption under the law that their pulmonary disability is causally related to their employment under workers' compensation. Now firefighters hired after January 1, 2010 in St. Louis County will be told that they must not smoke on or off duty.
"We felt we owed it to our taxpayers to be in the best shape we possibly could," said Rich Minda, West County fire captain and a vice president of the local firefighters' union. "We just don't feel that it's proper to be doing something so bad for yourself when you're viewed as a role model."
Ordinances allowing presumptions have unique interpretations. A local ordinance provided for an irrefutable presumption that an illness suffered by a firefighter was related to his employment was not deemed to be a payment under the "Workman's Compensation Act" within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code. Therefore the payments received by the firefighter were not excluded from income tax. Take v. Commission of Internal Revenue, 804 F.2d 553 (9th Cir.1986).
Also, firefighters are also entitled to benefits under the Public Safety Officers Benefit Program (PSOB), administered by the Department of Justice. The death of a volunteer firefighter who died of heart failure in the course of his duties while responding to a house fire was not deemed compensable. There was a lack of evidence as to smoke or carbon monoxide inhalation that would have triggered the heart attack. The volunteer firefighter was 70 years of age and had a history of heart trouble including prior hospitalizations for coronary insufficiency and for congestive heart failure. North v. United States, 1 Cl.Ct. 93, 555 F.Supp. 382 (1982).
Following the World Trade Center attack, many firefighters who were involved in the event and rescue were killed and those who survived suffer from respiratory conditions. The World Trade Center attack created an acute environmental disaster of incredible magnitude. It has been reported that the WTC dust was found to consist predominantly (95%) of coarse particles composed of cement, glass fiber, asbestos, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyl and polychlorinated furans and dioxins. Due to potential latent disease consequences, the population's greatest risk of exposure, including firefighters, police, paramedics an other first responders as well as construction workers and volunteers who initially aided in the rescue and recovery and then for many months thereafter cleaned the rubble at Ground Zero, are considered to have an elevated risk and should be studied. Philip J. Lendrigan, et. al., "Health and Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Disaster," 112 Environmental Health perspectives 6 (May, 2004).
"We felt we owed it to our taxpayers to be in the best shape we possibly could," said Rich Minda, West County fire captain and a vice president of the local firefighters' union. "We just don't feel that it's proper to be doing something so bad for yourself when you're viewed as a role model."
Ordinances allowing presumptions have unique interpretations. A local ordinance provided for an irrefutable presumption that an illness suffered by a firefighter was related to his employment was not deemed to be a payment under the "Workman's Compensation Act" within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code. Therefore the payments received by the firefighter were not excluded from income tax. Take v. Commission of Internal Revenue, 804 F.2d 553 (9th Cir.1986).
Also, firefighters are also entitled to benefits under the Public Safety Officers Benefit Program (PSOB), administered by the Department of Justice. The death of a volunteer firefighter who died of heart failure in the course of his duties while responding to a house fire was not deemed compensable. There was a lack of evidence as to smoke or carbon monoxide inhalation that would have triggered the heart attack. The volunteer firefighter was 70 years of age and had a history of heart trouble including prior hospitalizations for coronary insufficiency and for congestive heart failure. North v. United States, 1 Cl.Ct. 93, 555 F.Supp. 382 (1982).
Following the World Trade Center attack, many firefighters who were involved in the event and rescue were killed and those who survived suffer from respiratory conditions. The World Trade Center attack created an acute environmental disaster of incredible magnitude. It has been reported that the WTC dust was found to consist predominantly (95%) of coarse particles composed of cement, glass fiber, asbestos, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyl and polychlorinated furans and dioxins. Due to potential latent disease consequences, the population's greatest risk of exposure, including firefighters, police, paramedics an other first responders as well as construction workers and volunteers who initially aided in the rescue and recovery and then for many months thereafter cleaned the rubble at Ground Zero, are considered to have an elevated risk and should be studied. Philip J. Lendrigan, et. al., "Health and Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Disaster," 112 Environmental Health perspectives 6 (May, 2004).
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