Florida Supreme Court justices will hear arguments April 6 in a closely watched challenge to Florida's workers compensation insurance system. The court Friday set the hearing date in a case stemming from injuries suffered in 2003 by Hialeah Hospital nurse Daniel Stahl. Attorneys for Stahl argue that changes to the system approved by lawmakers in 2003 went too far in reducing benefits for injured workers. Click here to read more:

Escalating medical costs and a series of pending lawsuits challenging Florida’s workers compensation law could potentially reverse a trend of falling workers comp rates in the state, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said Friday. Florida workers comp rates fell 4.7% from last year as of Jan. 1, marking the fourth consecutive workers comp rate decrease in the state, the insurance department said in its workers comp annual report. The department said that the recent rate cut reflects a 60.3% decrease in Florida comp rates since the state enacted workers comp reforms in 2003. Click here to read more:

A South Florida roofing contractor is facing $115,500 in proposed fines from federal regulators for repeatedly exposing workers to fall hazards. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Pompano Beach, Florida-based Latite Roofing and Sheet Metal L.L.C. for three repeat citations for allowing employees to work from heights up to 27 feet without fall protection, according to a news release issued by the agency on Tuesday. Click here to read more:

Most folks are not aware that ergonomics was an engineering strategy of the United States military in World War II. As war planes gained a more important role in warfare, the U.S. government realized that with the hefty investment it was making in the planes, it was critical to reduce pilot error resulting from poorly designed cockpits. The government interviewed pilots about their flight experiences after they landed. They then leveraged ergonomics to re-engineer confusing instrument panels and cockpit arrangements that might lead to accelerated pilot fatigue, rendering the pilots less effective in their missions. Soon, ergonomics was integrated into all military equipment and, eventually, American industry. The original article is no longer available

Federal safety officials will not use information generated by employers in what are known as rapid response investigation reports to issue citations and fines — a major concern expressed by employers and their representatives. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's revised reporting requirements under its severe injury reporting rule, which are effective Jan. 1, keep the mandate that all workplace fatalities be reported within eight hours. Click here to read more:

Would you play poker if your opponent got to choose his or her cards, and you were required to play with the cards he or she dealt to you? Of course not. Yet that is, in essence, what working Floridians are forced to accept under Florida's workers' compensation system: a system designed to benefit insurance companies and business interests. A system so favorable to them, that they will seemingly fight to the death to preserve it. Click here to read more:

About five years ago, one of the nation’s largest corporations, Tyson Foods, drew a bullseye on the official who oversaw Iowa’s system for compensating injured workers. As workers’ compensation commissioner, Chris Godfrey acted as chief judge of the courts that decided workplace injury disputes. He had annoyed Tyson with a string of rulings that, in the company’s view, expanded what employers had to cover, putting a dent in its bottom line. Read more here:

A Florida Supreme Court case challenging the constitutionality of the state's workers-compensation insurance system is drawing heavy interest from legal, public-safety and insurance-industry groups. At least 16 groups have been approved to file friend-of the-court briefs in the case, which the Supreme Court agreed last month to hear, according to an online docket. The case involves injuries suffered in December 2003 by Daniel Stahl, a nurse at Hialeah Hospital who hurt his back lifting a patient. In part, the legal dispute has centered on a move by lawmakers in 2003 to eliminate a type of benefits for partial disability. Click here to read more:

On November 6, 2015, the NATIONAL COUNCIL ON COMPENSATION INSURANCE, INC. ("NCCI") filed a request with the FLORIDA OFFICE OF INSURANCE REGULATION ("OFFICE") requesting the OFFICE to reconsider three issues in response to the OFFICE's Order dated November 3, 2015. The filing specifically waived NCCl's right to an administrative hearing and indicated that additional information was to be provided to support its request to reconsider: 1) the disapproval of the $160 expense constant; 2) the disapproval of the indemnity trend requested by NCCI; and 3) the disapproval of the profit and contingency factor requested by NCCI. Click here to read more:

Finding the first bit of evidence that Gene Cooper’s job damaged his brain and destroyed his health was the easy part. That only took his wife four years, eight doctors and at least a dozen tests. The hard part: Getting his former employer to pay. Click here to read more:

Employers considering opting out of workers compensation systems must ensure they understand the differences between traditional programs and requirements imposed on employers that forgo coverage through state systems, according to a report by the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. Texas and Oklahoma already allow qualified employers to opt out of the states' workers comp programs, while Tennessee and South Carolina legislators introduced opt-out legislation this year, according to the report, Alternatives to Traditional Workers' Compensation Systems, that was released Tuesday. Click here to read more:

State regulators will consider a proposal to reduce workers-compensation insurance premiums by an average of 2.2 percent in 2016, according to documents released Friday. The National Council on Compensation Insurance, which annually proposes worker-compensation rates, pointed to a series of reasons for the potential decreases, which would vary depending on the type of industry. Click here to read more: