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In any business sector, workers’ compensation claims are inevitable, but with proper risk management and a proactive approach, you can keep the associated costs to a minimum. The key is preventing employee hazards and injuries from happening in the first place by developing and maintaining a safe working environment. If these efforts are not made or simply ignored, workers’ compensation claims and payouts can damage your reputation, employee relationships and your bottom line. Click here to read more:

A pending Florida Supreme Court decision and state legislative efforts are putting new focus on how to fairly compensate workers compensation attorneys without inviting additional litigation and greatly increasing claim costs. The Florida Supreme Court is expected to rule soon in Marvin Castellanos v. Next Door Co. et. al., which challenges the constitutionality of Florida's cap on attorney fees for workers compensation claimants. Click here to read more:

South Florida appeals court Wednesday overturned a circuit judge's constitutional ruling that threatened a major underpinning of the state's workers-compensation insurance system. A three-judge panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal tossed out the ruling, finding that plaintiffs did not have legal standing and the case was moot. The appeals court did not weigh in on whether the workers-compensation system was constitutional. Click here to read more:

Construction is popping up in Southwest Florida at a breakneck pace, but some employers aren't making sure their employees are covered for those kinds of injuries. An investigation headed by Division of Workers' Compensation, Division of Insurance Fraud and state and local licensing offices arrested four employers for not providing workers' compensation insurance for their employees. Click here to read more:

Drivers for ride-sharing services Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., who argue they are employees and not independent contractors, could put the tech upstarts on the hook for workers compensation costs if court challenges succeed. Both companies already provide some auto liability insurance for the drivers. Click here to read more:

A Florida truck driver who failed to tell his employer and treating physicians about his prior injuries and workers compensation claim in Ohio is barred from receiving benefits, a Florida appeals court ruled Tuesday. Alan R. Clark, a long-distance truck driver for Wilmington, Ohio-based R&L Carriers Inc., was involved in two compensable accidents in 2012 — one in January and another in July — resulting in injuries to his shoulder, neck and low back, according to court records. Click here to read more:

Florida’s workers’ compensation market remains competitive and well-capitalized, with loss ratios that are among the lowest among larger states, according to the latest report from the state’s insurance regulator. At the same time, the report warns that several court cases now pending and an erosion of costs savings from reforms enacted in 2003 that could throw a monkey wrench into the market’s otherwise stable operations. Click here to read more:

In an Order issued Wednesday, Nov. 5, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty notified the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) that its proposed 3.3 percent overall decrease in Florida workers' compensation rates has been disapproved. Substantiating the disapproval, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) contended that the NCCI's use of an increase in the profit and contingency factor from 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent was excessive and unjustified. Click here to read more:

Workers compensation claimants younger than 60 have higher medical claim costs for medical payments made 20 and 30 years after their initial injury compared with claimants who are age 60 or older, the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. said Monday in a report. The average late-term medical cost for claimants born between 1951 and 1970 was $10,700, according to “The Impact of Claimant Age on Late-Term Medical Costs,” 64% higher than the average annual late-term medical cost of $6,500 for claimants born between 1920 and 1950. Click here to read more:

The family of a Florida construction worker who was killed by a 1-ton falling steel column cannot collect a $2.4 million judgment from his employer, a state appeals court ruled. Victor Lizarraga worked as a foreman for Metal Bilt, a subcontractor on a warehouse expansion project. His company worked on the 33-foot-tall steel columns that would support the building. The general contractor, R.L. Haines Construction, told the Metal Bilt employees to begin settling the steel columns after the epoxy had been drying for 44 hours, rather than the recommended 72 hours. Lizarraga was tightening a wire attached to one of the columns when the column fell on him and killed him. Link no longer available

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued afinal rule requiring employers to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The rule, which also updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA record-keeping requirements, will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, for workplaces under federal OSHA jurisdiction. Original article no longer available

Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation announced it received the 2015 Florida workers’ compensation rate filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which proposes a statewide average rate decrease of 2.5 percent — the first decrease in four years. NCCI said fewer claims and a lower amount of loss is responsible for the proposed rate decrease. Click here to read more: