Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines

All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Cal/OSHA Says Safeway Exposed Workers to Hazardous Conditions at Largest Warehouse

Jan 10 2025 // The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited Safeway $182,000 in proposed penalties for safety violations that reportedly put roughly 1,700 workers at risk of serious injuries at the company’s...

Insurer Upheld in Declining to Defend Employer Against Injured Worker’s Lawsuit

Jan 10 2025 // The New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that an insurer had no duty to defend an insured employer against an injured employee’s personal injury lawsuit alleging negligence and intentional harm.The high court...

Injured While ‘Simply Walking’ Not Covered by Workers’ Compensation

Jan 8 2025 // Not all accidents are compensable merely because they happen at work, the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) reminded in denying workers’ compensation benefits to a school bus driver for an injury...

Colorado Governor Wants to Privatize State’s Workers’ Comp Carrier

Jan 3 2025 // Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wants to spin off the state’s stake in Pinnacol Assurance, privatizing the workers’ compensation carrier of last resort to help it make more money and plug government budget holes.The...

Bureau of Labor Releases Final 2023 Workplace Injury, Fatality Stats

Jan 3 2025 // Last year, there were 5,283 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States, a 3.7% decrease from 5,486 in 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.The fatal work injury rate was 3.5 fatalities per 100,000...

BTW Settles Whistleblower Suit on Overbilling of Federal Workers’ Comp Program

Jan 2 2025 // BTW Solutions bills itself as a drug wholesaler and billing service โ€“ and as a way for physicians to maximize profits on workers’ compensation and personal-injury-protection patients through the use of topical...

He Saved the Chocolates But Lost His Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Jan 1 2025 // An employee who was injured when rescuing chocolate candies from the heat in his employer-owned delivery truck is not due workers’ compensation benefits.The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC)...

OSHA Cites Contractor It Says Ignored Warnings Before Fatal Trench Collapse

Dec 31 2024 // A federal workplace safety investigation has found a Glenburn, Maine general contractor ignored an onsite expert’s repeated warnings and the company’s own site-specific safety plan prior to an incident in which...

Oregon OSHA Fines Contractor $135K for Repeated Fall Hazard Violations

Dec 27 2024 // The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division fined a Newberg contractor $135,407 for repeatedly failing to protect employees from work-related hazards.In one of the violations, View Top Construction LLC reportedly...

Cal/OSHA Cites Animal Services Center $563K After Worker Mauled

Dec 26 2024 // An animal services center has been fined for several worker safety violations, including one in which an employee’s leg was mauled by a dog, requiring hospitalization.The California Division of Occupational Safety...

Alabama Prisoners Work at Stores But Not Eligible for Parole or Workers’ Comp

Dec 23 2024 // DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) โ€” A storm was looming when the inmate serving 20 years for armed robbery was assigned to transport fellow prisoners to their jobs at private manufacturers supplying goods to companies like Home Depot...

Amazon Agrees to Worker Safety Measures to Settle OSHA Probe

Dec 20 2024 // Amazon.com will implement safety measures at all of its U.S. facilities to settle a federal agency’s claims that it failed to prevent workers from developing back problems and other ergonomic injuries, the agency...

Doctor to Plead Guilty to Bilking $3M from California’s Workers’ Comp Trust Fund

Dec 20 2024 // A physician who worked for an Inland Empire medical company has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud California’s workers’ compensation trust fund by continuing to work on workers’ comp matters...

OSHA Seeks to Fine Contractor $328K Over Alleged Repeat Fall Hazards at 3 Sites

Dec 18 2024 // Federal workplace safety officials have again cited a New Jersey construction contractor for allegedly repeatedly violating safety requirements at three North Jersey worksites, exposing employees to falls from...

Massachusetts Weighs Workers’ Comp Rate Hike to Correct for ‘Excessive’ 2024 Cut

Dec 18 2024 // Massachusetts workers’ compensation insurers have filed for a 7.1% increase in average rates for industrial classes beginning July 1, 2025 โ€” the first rate increase since 2016.Why an increase in 2025? According to...

Cal/OSHA Issues $276K Citation for Serious Heat Violations

Dec 18 2024 // The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued $276,425 in penalties to Parkwood Landscape Maintenance based in Van Nuys, California, for willfully violating state heat illness prevention...

Workers’ Comp Mega Claims Total $1B-Plus Yearly, Multiagency Study Shows

Dec 13 2024 // Mega claims in workers’ compensation represent far less than 1% of total workers’ comp claims yet account for more than 2% of total loss dollars, and total in excess of $1 billion each year, a new study from 10...

Construction Firm Owner Sentenced for $2 Million Tax Evasion, Lying to OSHA

Dec 13 2024 // A Massachusetts construction business owner was sentenced to 18 months in prison for an employment tax scheme and making a false statement at an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hearing about a...

Virginia Approves 12% Loss Cost Decrease for Workers’ Compensation

Dec 12 2024 // Virginia has approved a 12.0% loss cost decrease in the workers’ compensation voluntary market along with rate decreases in the assigned risk market, effective April 1, 2025.The State Corporation Commission (SCC)...

Court Nixes Workers’ Compensation for ‘Light Beer’ Drinking UPS Driver

Dec 11 2024 // A United Parcel Service (UPS) driver who was intoxicated when he crashed his semi-trailer delivery truck has been denied workers’ compensation benefits.Delaware Superior Court Judge Kathleen Vavala last week reversed...