Professor Emeritus, John F. Burton, Jr., reports in the Workers' Compensation Research Report that for the ninth consecutive year there have been declining costs.
Issue 10 of the Workers’ Compensation Resources Research Report (WCRRR) examines the employers’ costs of workers’ compensation. Part I relies on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to examine national trends from 1986 to 2014. For private-sector employers, costs dropped for the ninth consecutive year and represented 1.77 percent of payroll in 2014, the lowest figure since 1986. For all non-federal employers, which includes state and local government employers in addition to private sector employers, employers’ costs of workers’ compensation were 1.76 percent of payroll in 2014, which was the ninth consecutive year of declining costs and the lowest figure since the data series began in 1991.
The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) also publishes estimates of the employers’ costs of workers’ compensation for all non-federal employers. The results of the two estimates diverge after 2010, with the NASI data showing three years of increases in employers’ costs from 2011 to 2013 (the latest year with NASI data) while the BLS data show nine years of declines through 2014.
Part II provides information based on the BLS data on the variations among employers’ costs of workers’ compensation in 2014 depending on the employers’ region, industry, the occupations of the firms’ employees, firm size, and union status. The variations among industries were significant, ranging from 4.71 percent of payroll in construction to 0.57 percent of payroll in the financial industry.
Download WCRRR Issue 10 Order Form
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
OSHA cites Bergen Regional Medical Center after 8 employees assaulted or threatened by patients
I
n a three-month period this year, health care workers at Bergen Regional Medical Center LP in Paramus NJ were victims of violent patients in eight incidents, including one in which a nurse suffered a laceration and bruises attempting to stop an attack on a patient.
Following a worker's complaint, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspected the facility and found eight incidents of workplace violence from Feb. 22, 2015, through June 12. OSHA cited the facility on August 18 for one general duty clause citation for failing to keep the workplace free of hazards.
Employees reported incidents that involved patients barricading workers in a room, threatening them and exposing them to bloodborne pathogens. Several employees experienced being bit, punched, kicked and threatened by patients.
"Bergen Regional Medical Center's management recognized workplace hazards, but lacked adequate procedures to prevent employee exposure," said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA's Hasbrouck Heights Area Office. "With so many incidents, it's clear that this facility's workplace violence program is ineffective and should be improved immediately to protect employees and ensure a safe workplace."
OSHA issued one repeated citation for incorrectly recording workplace injuries on the OSHA 300A illness and injury reporting form. Proposed penalties total $13,600.
In June, the agency expanded use of its enforcement resources in hospitals and nursing homes to focus on workplace violence, one of the most common causes of injuries among healthcare workers. Guidelines for preventing workplace violence for health and social service workers are available at https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3148.pdf
Bergen Regional Medical Center is one of the nation's largest hospitals, providing long-term, behavioral health and acute care in northern New Jersey. With more than 1,070 beds, it is also one of the state's largest licensed nursing homes.
Bergen Regional Medical Center requested an informal conference with OSHA's area director after receiving the citations.
Following a worker's complaint, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspected the facility and found eight incidents of workplace violence from Feb. 22, 2015, through June 12. OSHA cited the facility on August 18 for one general duty clause citation for failing to keep the workplace free of hazards.
Employees reported incidents that involved patients barricading workers in a room, threatening them and exposing them to bloodborne pathogens. Several employees experienced being bit, punched, kicked and threatened by patients.
"Bergen Regional Medical Center's management recognized workplace hazards, but lacked adequate procedures to prevent employee exposure," said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA's Hasbrouck Heights Area Office. "With so many incidents, it's clear that this facility's workplace violence program is ineffective and should be improved immediately to protect employees and ensure a safe workplace."
OSHA issued one repeated citation for incorrectly recording workplace injuries on the OSHA 300A illness and injury reporting form. Proposed penalties total $13,600.
In June, the agency expanded use of its enforcement resources in hospitals and nursing homes to focus on workplace violence, one of the most common causes of injuries among healthcare workers. Guidelines for preventing workplace violence for health and social service workers are available at https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3148.pdf
Bergen Regional Medical Center is one of the nation's largest hospitals, providing long-term, behavioral health and acute care in northern New Jersey. With more than 1,070 beds, it is also one of the state's largest licensed nursing homes.
Bergen Regional Medical Center requested an informal conference with OSHA's area director after receiving the citations.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Computerized X-ray Interpretation to Evaluate Spinal Ligamentous Injuries
Diagnosing and quantifying spinal ligament pain in workers' compensation claims has historically been a challenge to both the medical and legal communities. Now a recently published study reports that through computer assisted analysis a computerized measurement can be obtained that can assist in accurately diagnosing and grading of ligament injuries.
"Spinal Ligament injury is well documented to be one the most common injuries in a trauma. It is also well documented that, depending upon the grade (seriousness) of the injury, they can take up to 2 years to heal and have different treatment protocols. Yet it seems few doctors attempt to accurately grade the injury according to medical guidelines even where specific guidelines exist. The crude and varying methods to assess the injury provided little consensus. This study shows that precise accurate grading of spinal ligament injury can be best obtained by advanced computerized methods for measuring x-rays, while conforming to current AMA injury guidelines. One Hundred random cases of spinal injury were assessed by usual visual inspection of stress x-rays by radiologists, then re-assessed by computer measurement.
"Significant spinal ligament injury was accurately revealed by computer measurement that was missed by the standard radiological reads.
"Assessing spinal ligament injury by computer measurement significantly improves diagnosis and grading of ligament injury.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Joint Employment: Workers' Compensation's New Frontier In The New Shared Economy
Last week the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision that may have far reaching impact on how "joint employment" is interpreted in workers' compensation cases. Under the doctrine of "joint employment" an employee may be considered an employee of two employers and the ultimate responsibility maybe passed to franchisor under both, The Right to Control or The Nature of the Work, tests.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Federal Court Civil Action Stayed Pending Criminal Case
A civil action instituted by LM Insurance Corporation was stayed against a defendant employer pending a Federal criminal action. The application to stay the Federal civil action was made by the employer to the court following the issuance of multiple Grand Jury Subpoenas and the execution of a Search and Seizure Warrant against the defendant employer in his home and place of business.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
NLRB Rejects Northwestern University Football Payers' Bid to Unionize
Ryan Field, Northwestern's 49,000 seat football stadium.
The NLRB has rejected a bid by the football players at Northwestern University to unionize. The decision, ironically, did not decide whether or not the football scholarship players were employees.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Senator Gillibrand: We Have a Moral Obligation to Care for 9/11 Heroes, Survivors & Their Families
As the Zadroga Act slowly journeys to expiration, Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) declared that, “We Have a Moral Obligation to Continue to Provide the Critically Needed Care and Compensation That Our 9/11 Heroes, Survivors and Their Families Deserve."
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