CASES--The compensation judge denied)petitioner’s motion for temporary disability and medical benefits regarding a rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder and problems with his left knee. where the compensable injuries he sustained in his work—related accident had to do with his left shoulder, neck and lower back assessing the conflicting medical testimony the compensation judge found that the new problems were not causally related to the work—related, and that conservative treatment, rather than surgery, was recommended for petitioner’s lower-hack problems.

The ILO’s Sectoral Activities Department has organized a Meeting of experts to be held from 8 to 15 October 2003 in Geneva, to consider and review a draft and to adopt a Code of practice on Violence and stress at work in services: A threat to productivity and decent work. In services sectors, downsizing, freezes or cuts in salaries, increasing workloads and performance targets, longer hours, and more subcontracting and temporary work are among the potential stressors that can foster a climate of tension driven by uncertainty, exasperation and vulnerability

The number of people with health insurance rose by 1.5 million between 2001 and 2002, to 242.4 million, and the number of uninsured rose by 2.4 million, to 43.6 million, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

HEALTH CARE--Many California Employers Face Health Care Mandate
With the ranks of the uninsured rising rapidly across the country, California — where the problem is especially acute — is on the verge of requiring thousands of employers to provide health benefits for their workers.

 Almost seventy percent of the U.S. work force -- approximately 89 million persons -- work in non-industrial, non-agricultural, indoor work setti...

A total of 5,524 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2002, a decline of 6.6 percent from 2001, according to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. The count for 2002 was the lowest ever recorded by the fatality census, which has been conducted yearly since 1992. The fatality rate also reached a new low of 4.0 fatal work injuries per 100,000 workers in 2002.  

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and the environmental aftermath were unprecedented. Airborne dust from the collapse of the towers blanketed Lower Manhattan and was blown or dispersed into many of the surrounding office buildings, schools, and residences.
This complex mixture of building debris and combustion by-products contained such ingredients as asbestos, lead, glass fibers, and concrete dust. Responding to this crisis required organizations from all levels of government to coordinate their response efforts and to make critical public health and safety decisions quickly, and without all of the data that decision-makers would normally desire.

AIG Is Charged by SEC With Fraud--Regulator Says Big Insurer Helped Client Brightpoint Overstate Its Earnings
Comparing insurance titan American International Group Inc. with the banks that engineered financial structures for failed energy company Enron Corp., securities regulators charged AIG with fraud for allegedly helping a client overstate earnings with a bogus insurance policy.

The nation's property and casualty insurers reported capital gains of $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2003, representing a $725 million, or 181 percent, increase over the $400 million recorded during the same period last year, according to Weiss Ratings, Inc., the nation's leading independent provider of ratings and analyses of financial services companies, mutual funds, and stocks. Companies within the Berkshire-Hathaway group accounted for 62.8 percent of the industry's total first-quarter capital gains, earning $706.9 million. 

Private health insurance premiums increased 13.9% in 2003, a larger increase than last year and the third consecutive year of double-digit increases, according to the 2003 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET). This was also the largest increase since 1990. While employers are not dropping coverage, most are passing on higher costs to employees. Over the past three years, the amount of the premium employees pay for family coverage has increased almost 50%, from $1,619 to $2,412. The typical family health insurance policy now costs $9,068, with employers on average paying 73% and employees paying 27%.

SMALLPOX INJURY COMPENSATION PROGRAM: Smallpox (Vaccinia) Vaccine Injury Table. Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS. Interim Final Rule.. The SEPPA directed the Secretary to establish, by interim final rule, a table identifying adverse effects (including injuries, disabilities, conditions, and deaths) that shall be presumed to result from the administration of or exposure to the smallpox vaccine, and the time interval in which the first symptom or manifestation of each listed injury must manifest in order for such presumption to apply. 

The concept of a compensable industrial disease has developed only recently and its acceptance has lagged far behind that of industrial accidents.   The original Workers' Compensation Acts, as promulgated from the year 1911 forward by many of the states, did not provide for the recognition of occupational illness and disease as compensable events.

Workers' compensation is the largest of all commercial lines of insurance. Its compulsory nature ensures that the changes in the price and availability of the this vital type of insurance will quickly get the attention of businesses and regulators in every state. This presentation provides a comprehensive overview and outlook for the workers compensation insurance industry within the context of the property/casualty insurance industry generally 

The primary purpose of this document is to increase the awareness of roofing contractors, safety and health professionals, and engineers about current practices used to reduce occupational exposure to asphalt and asphalt fumes during the application of hot asphalt to roofs.  

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today joined her colleagues in calling for a Congressional investigation into the White House's role in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) public statements regarding the health risks present in the aftermath of the World Trade Center collapse. 

Is this employee entitled to benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act for injuries sustained while driving a go-can owned by a customer of his employer where the employee was a laborer whose duties did not include driving a vehicle, but the employer had personally urged the cmployce to take a tons driving the go-cart?
(certification granted 7/3/03)

Workers exposed to stress for at least half their working lives are 25 per cent more likely to die from a heart attack, and have 50 per cent higher odds of suffering a fatal stroke. Also, blue-collar workers are more prone to such illnesses than executives. These facts are exposed in the ‘modern workers health check’ featured in the latest issue of TUC backed Hazards magazine out today (Tuesday).  

 Jumpp v. City of Ventnor--Trip to the post office noncompensable deviation--PORITZ, C.J., writing for a majority of the Court. In this case, the Court determines whether a city worker, whose daily activities required him to visit various sites within the city's boundaries, is eligible for workers' compensation benefits when he was accidentally injured during the workday but while on a personal errand.

 California Court Finds Exclusivity Rule Did Not Bar A Malicious Prosecution Action Against Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual's failed attempt to sue the claimant for criminal fraud results in a malicious prosecution action against the workers' compensation carrier.