Workplace Injuries

• Contractor To Serve 3 Years In Prison For Workers Compensation Fraud

  Matthew Bergmann | August 27, 2006 2:16 PM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  A judge in San Diego, California has ordered the owner of a local construction company to pay nearly $500,000 in restitution to the State Compensation Insurance Fund and serve three years in prison for workers compensation fraud. David Haskit 44, a licensed general contractor and owner of Haskit Construction, Inc., was sentenced by San Diego Superior Court Judge, Timothy Walsh, to three years in...

• Injured Worker in New York Offered $25 Million Settlement

  Matthew Bergmann | August 24, 2006 1:31 PM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  Seen as one of the largest insurance settlements ever in the history of New York, $25 million is being offered to a man for work injuries suffered due in a lliquid nitrogen accident. The settlement was granted to Michael C. Ottaviano, 50, of Lancaster, New York, after being approved in the State Supreme Court. Ottaviano's injuiries on December 19th, 1998, when liquid nitrogen tanks...

• Obesity Affects Physical and Financial Health of Workers

  Matthew Bergmann | July 29, 2006 11:18 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  A recent study has found that obesity not only affects the physical health of workers, but their financial health as well, with medical and pharmacy costs rising steadily for employees with above-normal body weight. The body mass index (BMI) of nearly 36,000 autoworkers and their spouses were calcuated to analyze the relationship between body weight and health care costs. For those who started...

• High Hazard Industries in Kansas Targeted by OSHA

  Matthew Bergmann | July 26, 2006 10:34 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  Local emphasis has been placed on high-hazard industry workplaces in Kansas. To combate the potential of on-the-job injuries OSHA's office in Wichita, Kansas is beginning a campaign to evaluate businesses with 10 or more employees who have not completed a comprehensive OSHA inspection since 1995.Charles Adkins, CIH, OSHA regional administrator in Kansas City, said that the agency hopes to...

• Kansas Court Rules Worker Compensation Settlements Are Appealable

  James B. Biggs | May 05, 2006 10:10 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  The Kansas Court of Appeals has determined that the Workers Compensation Appeals Board has the authority to review an injured workers lump sum settlement award approved by an administrative law judge pursuant to K.S.A. 44-531(a).In Grajeda v. Aramark Corp., et al (Docket #94,501) the main issue brought before the court was exactly that. Can the Kansas Workers Compensation Board review a full and...

• Kansas Court Finds Allergic Condition To Be Repetitive Work Injury

  James B. Biggs | March 27, 2006 10:22 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  The Kansas Court of Appeals recently held that some injuries compensable under the Kansas Workers Compensation Act are hybrid conditions that have elements of both a work-related injury and an occupational disease. In Casey v. Dillon Companies, Inc., Docket No. 93,302 (July 1, 2005), the claimant developed allergic reactions while employed at Dillons. Testing revealed that she was allergic to...

• Worker Injured While Running Errand Wins At Kansas Court Of Appeals

  James B. Biggs | March 23, 2006 4:48 PM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  The Kansas Court of Appeals has found that a worker who was injured in a auto accident, after he had left his job to retrive a set of work keys at home, has suffered an injury compensable under the Kansas Workers Compensation Act. In Ridenour v. Kenneth R. Johnson, Inc., Docket No. 94,149 (December 16, 2005), the Court of Appeals addressed the work-related errand/special-purpose trip exception...

• Kansas Injured Workers Required To Make Good Faith Effort In Finding Jobs

  James B. Biggs | March 15, 2006 9:18 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  The Kansas Workers Compensation Appeals Board has changed the way injured workers, seeking a work disabilty, will look for jobs. Essentially, the Appeals Board has placed a burden on the injured worker to show that a good faith effort has been made to find employment within their given work restrictions. In the case of Thomas v. Dollar General Corp., W.C.A.B. 1,008,265 (February 2005), the...

• Millions Lost Due To Workplace Injuries

  James B. Biggs | March 13, 2006 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  Workplace injuries result in the loss of millions of dollars to Kansans and their employers, both from medical costs and from work absenteeism.Most businesses have workplace safety rules in place, even those businesses that don't seem like they are at high risk for injuries, such as offices.Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, being in the insurance business, is particularly aware of how much...

• New Workers Compensation Rule on Drugs and Alchohol

  James B. Biggs | March 09, 2006 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsTopeka, KS

  Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has signed a bill aimed to keep businesses from paying workers' compensation benefits to employees for drug or alcohol-related accidents.The change was spearheaded by business groups looking and should clear up what rules apply when an employer suspects alcohol or drug played a part in a worker's injury.Current Kansas law states that an employer doesn't have to...