Statement by OSHA Administrator John Henshaw On Worker Memorial Day 2004. "Today is Worker Memorial Day, a day to pay tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives on the job. We mourn with their families and friends, and we recognize that the loss of these very special people extends beyond the home; the loss is felt in schools, places of worship, at social gatherings, in local communities, and throughout the entire nation.

ASBESTOS-Take a look at USAction's new cartoon, “Halliburton's Doggone Good Deal.” First war profiteering, now an asbestos bailout scheme orchestrated by a company with oh-so-close relations to the White House.  

DEATH BY WORK. Occupational diseases of the 21st century will be heart attacks, suicide and strokes. Hazards editor Rory O'Neill looks at why so many of us are being worked into the ground. 

 Workers' compensation, implemented in California in 1913, is a no-fault system, entitling workers to compensation for illness or injury arising out of and in the course of work duties, regardless of the blame which might otherwise be placed on the employer or the employee. The workers' compensation system is premised on a bargain between employers and employees: employees are supposed to receive benefits for on-the-job injuries and, in return, the benefits are the exclusive remedy for injured employees against their employer, even when the employer negligently caused the injury.

njured cops and firefighters, their advocates and union leaders today blasted a reported proposal on cutting benefits to injured workers. The injured workers, their advocates and consumer advocates said the proposal would harm those who could least afford it, the injured workers whom the system is supposed to protect.

 During the period from 1980 through 1995, at least 93,338 workers in the U.S. died as a result of trauma suffered on the job, for an average of about 16 deaths per day (NIOSH). The Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) has identified 5,915 workplace deaths from acute traumatic injury in 2000. BLS also estimates that 5.7 million injuries to workers occurred in 1997 alone; while NIOSH estimates that about 3.6 million occupational injuries were serious enough to be treated in hospital emergency rooms in 1998. 

From 1992 through 2001, roadway crashes were the leading cause of occupational fatalities in the U.S., accounting for 13,337 civilian worker deaths (22% of all injury-related deaths).

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE COVERAGE. Firms watch health-care fight - California battle on insurance fans fear of mandates.  A battle under way in California may foreshadow whether businesses in Illinois and around the country will be forced to offer employee health insurance.

The delivery of medical benefits to injured workers  is becoming more costly and difficult to administer.The purpose of this article is to report developing trends in the United States in the delivery of medical benefits for injured workers.