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8/25/2024 Florida businesses could see a slight decrease in workers’ compensation insurance rates in 2025, continuing a series of years of lower rates. The National Council on Compensation Insurance, which makes rate filings for the industry, submitted a proposal Friday to regulators that would lead to an overall 1 percent rate decrease, effective Jan. 1. A summary by the organization known as NCCI described the workers’ compensation system as “healthy” and said that while “consumer inflation has been elevated, the inflation for workers’ compensation medical costs remained stable.” It also said a combination of continued claims “frequency declines and moderate benefit costs at or below the level of wage growth, have continued to put downward pressure on overall WC (workers’ compensation) system costs relative to collected premiums.” The summary said a law passed this year (SB 362) to increase maximum workers’ compensation reimbursements for physicians affected the proposal. Without the law, it said the proposal would have been for an overall 6.4 percent decrease. The state Office of Insurance Regulation will review the proposal and can require changes. Regulators approved a 15.1 percent decrease that took effect this year and an 8.4 percent decrease that took effect in 2023.

August 22, 2024 Exposure to dust and other particles may put construction workers at an increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease, according to a study publicized on Wednesday.   Researchers at the University of Gothenburg found that Swedish construction workers studied over five decades had a 15% higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease.   The researchers noted that other recent expert studies showed that outdoor air pollution particles from sources such as industry and vehicle exhaust also increased the odds of developing chronic kidney disease.   The study, which was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, examined data from more than 280,000 construction workers who participated in health surveys between 1971 and 1993.   The researchers said that the risk could be mitigated by developing improvements to workplace emissions and emphasizing to construction workers the importance of using personal protective equipment.   “Considering the substantial disease burden and costly treatment of CKD, this has large implications for public health and warrants further efforts to reduce occupational and ambient particle exposure,” the researchers wrote.   They next plan to study the link between dust and particle exposure and chronic kidney disease in other professional groups.

August 22, 2024   A construction worker has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, alleging negligence and unlawful employment practices. Daylier Leyva Fajardo filed the complaint in the Circuit Court of the 64th Judicial Circuit in Pinellas County, Florida, on August 12, 2024, against Direct Express Construction, LLC.   According to the court documents, Fajardo was employed by Direct Express Construction as a laborer and construction worker from November 2022 until January 20, 2023. On that day, while performing his duties, he suffered a traumatic injury to his right eye when a steel cable pierced it. The plaintiff claims that the defendant failed to provide necessary protective gear such as masks or safety glasses that could have prevented the injury. Additionally, there was no proper supervision or work partner available at the time of the accident.   Fajardo immediately reported his injury to his supervisor Santiago but did not receive any workers' compensation benefits. Despite seeking emergency medical care on his own and requesting assistance from Santiago and Joseph V Cavaleri Jr., the owner of Direct Express Construction, Fajardo's pleas for help were ignored. Instead of providing support or benefits as required by law, Santiago informed Fajardo that he was fired shortly after reporting his injury.   The plaintiff argues that this termination constitutes retaliatory discharge under Florida Statute 440.205 which prohibits employers from discharging or intimidating employees for filing valid claims for workers' compensation. Fajardo asserts that he notified his employer within the legally required timeframe and had every right to request medical treatment without facing adverse employment actions.   Fajardo is seeking various forms of relief including actual and consequential damages plus interest; compensatory damages for pain, suffering, and humiliation; back pay; prejudgment interest; post-judgment interest; damages for all employment and retirement benefits he would have received if not for the defendant’s actions; and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.   Representing Daylier Leyva Fajardo is attorney Joseph Perea from Miami-based law firm Joseph Perea P.A. The case has been assigned Case Number: 24-003593-CI in Pinellas County Circuit Court.

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new rule that updates the overtime pay exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for executive, administrative, professional, and highly compensated employees. Here's what you need to know: Key Changes New Salary Thresholds : For Executive, Administrative, and Professional Employees : Starting on July 1, 2024, these employees must earn at least $43,888 per year to be exempt from overtime pay. This amount will increase to $58,656 on January 1, 2025. For Highly Compensated Employees (HCE) : The threshold for this group will rise to $132,964 per year on July 1, 2024, and further increase to $151,164 on January 1, 2025.   Automatic Updates Every Three Years : Beginning July 1, 2027, the salary thresholds for these exemptions will automatically adjust every three years. This is meant to keep pace with changes in worker salaries, giving employers a predictable schedule for future adjustments.   Unchanged Duties Test : The criteria related to job duties for these exemptions remain the same. To be exempt from overtime, employees must still meet both the updated salary requirements and the existing job duty criteria.   Impact on Employers These changes mean that many more workers will qualify for overtime pay unless their salaries are raised above the new thresholds. Employers need to prepare for these updates by reviewing and possibly reclassifying employees to ensure compliance with the new rules. Employers should start by assessing their current exempt workforce, considering factors such as job roles, locations, and compensation levels. This will help them identify which positions will be affected by the new rule and allow them to plan accordingly. It’s also crucial for employers to work closely with legal advisors to understand how these changes will impact their specific workforce and to ensure compliance with both federal and state laws.   Legal Challenges and Next Steps Although the rule may face legal challenges and could be influenced by future political changes, employers should not assume that the rule will be overturned. The best approach is to prepare for the rule to take effect on July 1, 2024, with further changes on January 1, 2025. To sum up, employers need to act now to review their workforce and make necessary adjustments to comply with the new overtime rules. Proper planning and legal consultation will be key to navigating these significant changes.

August 20, 2024 Pinnacol Assurance, a Denver-based workers compensation insurer, released a report Tuesday showing that workers are more at risk for injuries when working in extreme temperatures.   The insurer said its claims data shows that workers in both outdoor and indoor settings are 52% more susceptible to injury when temperatures rise above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.   Common injuries on extremely hot days include strains, cuts, falls and “strikes.”     Workers considered to be particularly vulnerable are those in the construction, road maintenance, landscaping and other outdoor industries, the report states.   “When workers are exposed to excessive heat, their physical and cognitive abilities can be impaired, increasing the likelihood of accidents,” Tom Denberg, Pinnacol’s medical director, said in a statement.   Employers looking to cut down on worker injuries should implement heat safety measures, including providing hydration, rest breaks and shaded areas to ensure a “safer and more productive work environment,” Mr. Denberg stated.   In addition to outdoor professions, employees who work in indoor settings, such as teachers, restaurant workers and maintenance workers, are also at an increased risk of developing injuries due to heat exposure, the report states.

August 19, 2024 Analysis of 1.2 million workers’ compensation claims reveals the costliest claims are driven by the most common workplace accidents, according to Travelers 2024 Injury Impact Report.   The data also shows first-year employees are still among those most vulnerable to injury.   The largest workers compensation insurer in the U.S. examined more than 1.2 million workers’ comp claims from 2017 to 2021.   The findings revealed that the most common workplace accidents make up the majority of claim costs. The report found that the most frequent causes of injury were:     Overexertion (29% of claims analyzed)     Slips, trips and falls (23%)     Being struck by an object (12%)     Motor vehicle accidents (5%)     Caught-in or caught-between hazards (5%)     The top five drivers of severe claims ($250,000 or more), beginning with the costliest:     Slips, trips and falls     Overexertion     Being struck by an object     Motor vehicle accidents     Caught-in or caught-between hazards   “Factors such as inexperience, workforce shortages and maintenance issues are all contributing to these unfortunate and often avoidable accidents,” said Rich Ives, senior vice president of Business Insurance Claim at Travelers. “While the number of injuries overall has been trending downward in recent years, our analysis shows that there’s never been a better time for businesses to invest in workplace safety and injury prevention.”   The 2024 report found that employees in their first year on the job continue to be the most vulnerable to workplace injuries, accounting for 35% of all workers compensation claims.   This year’s analysis also uncovered increases in missed workdays due to injuries.   On average, injured employees missed 72 workdays, up one day from last year’s report.   The construction industry continued to have the highest average number of lost workdays per injury (103 workdays, up from 99), followed by transportation (83 workdays, up from 77).   Injured small-business employees missed an average of 82 workdays, up from 79.   “There are tangible consequences to any injury, and many include long-term, sometimes permanent, effects,” said Chris Hayes, assistant vice president of Workers Compensation and Transportation, Risk Control, at Travelers. “By understanding where the risks were in the past, businesses can better identify what to look for and tailor their risk management and employee safety strategies accordingly to help prevent injuries from happening.”   Findings were based solely on indemnity claims, where the injured employees could not immediately return to work and incurred medical costs.

August 16, 2024 Washington — NIOSH is seeking respirator manufacturers and other participants for a new project aimed at determining how well the devices protect workers who have facial hair when beard bands are used.   Beard bands, which can be made from silicone or rubber, are an accessory used to keep hair or beards in place. According to a notice published July 25, the agency is looking for beard band manufacturers to participate in the project as well.   “The COVID-19 outbreak highlighted the ongoing need for effective respiratory protective devices for workers, especially in health care,” the notice states. “In the first phase of this study, respirator fit will be evaluated using the NIOSH-approved filtering facepiece respirators selected to participate in the study when worn on persons with facial hair. Then respirator fit will be determined for the same individuals wearing a beard band under the respirator.”   Additional study phases may include other kinds of tight-fitting respirators, including particulate-only elastomeric half-mask respirators or full-facepiece respirators. The study might also look at Simulated Workplace Protection Factor on respirator users with facial hair.   “The SWPF refers to the ratio of the concentration of the contaminant in the ambient air to that inside a respirator under conditions that simulate the work environment or various work activities,” the notice states.   “The study will provide data useful to support OSHA and NIOSH policy regarding the appropriateness of using beard bands with filtering facepiece respirators and particulate EHMRs or full-facepiece respirators. This study may lead to increased means for employers to conform with the OSHA respiratory protection requirements and possibly increase compliance with respiratory protection guidelines and standards among bearded workers in various industries.”   Anyone interested in participating in the study must submit a letter of intent by Sept. 23.

August 16, 2024 A study by the American College of Cardiology has found that chronic occupational noise exposure in power loom weavers was associated with increased blood pressure levels.   The study, which the college said was presented this week at the ACC Asia 2024 conference in Delhi, India, also said a worker’s chance of suffering from high blood pressure increased by 10% for each year of exposure.   “In addition to treating the high blood pressure through appropriate means, we must find ways to mitigate the exposure to the noise if we want to reduce the cardiovascular risk of these patients,” Golam Dastageer Prince, a doctor from Bangladesh and one of the study’s lead authors, said in a statement.   Researchers looked predominantly at 289 male workers in Bangladesh between January and December 2023 and found that the study population did not wear hearing protection.   The study’s authors said the goal is to raise awareness of noise-induced hearing loss but also to focus on improving workplace safety by using appropriate personal protective equipment.   The study participants were found to have a 31.5% rate of high blood pressure with an additional 53.3% being considered prehypertensive.   The study focused on workers exposed to more than 85 decibels of occupational noise for long periods of time.

August 14, 2024 DENVER — Addressing workplace mental health challenges is the missing link in many employers’ plans to tackle the physical hazards that could lead to injuries and prolonged workers compensation claims, according to a panel of health and safety experts who discussed the current state of so-called psychosocial hazards.   Among the panelists who spoke last week at Safety ’24, the American Society of Safety Professionals’ annual conference, Carrie Patterson, executive vice president of human resources consultancy Patricia Omoqui Enterprises Inc., drew a comparison between a physical injury that might keep a worker off the job 13 weeks and the compounding that happens when there’s a psychosocial or “toxic” issue in the workplace.   “You leave for six months because the work environment is so challenging for you,” said Ms. Patterson, who is based in Glastonbury, Connecticut, and provides psychological counseling to companies aiming to create positive work environments.   Panelist David Daniels, Atlanta-based president and CEO of safety consultancy ID2 Solutions LLC, called the issue of creating mentally safe work environments “seminal” to safeguarding against physical risks. “Psychosocial hazards … are just as real as physical hazards,” he said.   Psychosocial safety “informs how workers react to things,” he said. “It informs how they respond to things. It informs how they do things, what's important to them and what's not.   “What we as safety professionals have done, not intentionally, is focused so much on the physical aspect of the job. It's kind of how the law is written, right? The (Occupational Health and Safety) Act has 19,700 words or so; it mentions ‘psychological’ twice. It wasn't built to be concerned about how people feel at work.”   Ken Clayman, McLean, Virginia-based senior lead technical specialist with business consultant Booz Allen Hamilton Holdings Corp., said companies can use the same tools they use to identify physical hazards to address those considered psychosocial.   “We've got pretty good mechanisms in place on how to deal with the physical hazards already; that's what most of us are doing on a day-to-day basis. But are we really dealing with a person's mental state or condition as a result of their work activities and the workplaces that they are attending?” he said.   “We can go around and take a look at our operations, take a look at what the people are doing, and we can identify what may be of a psychological concern, as much as we can look at what is of a physical concern. We have to start looking at the people and looking at the conditions and the environments that they're working in.”   Kahlilah Guyah, Austin, Texas-based founder and principal consultant at EHS Compliance Services Inc., said companies’ leaders can apply some strategies that are “supportive” and “responsive” to the mental needs of their workers, a practice that can be incorporated throughout an enterprise.   One practice is to support workers emotionally, “indicating that we are here and we care about the people,” she said. “This is where we set the example.”

August 9, 2024 DENVER — From smaller risks faced by those working in retail outlets to those risks experienced in construction, warehousing and food-processing enterprises, among the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s priorities are repeat safety noncompliance and encouraging workers to speak out.   Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker spoke Friday at Safety ’24, the American Society of Safety Professional’s annual conference, giving attendees a bird’s eye view of the agency’s priorities in recent years. In addition to more formalized and ongoing rule-making, such as that addressing heat risks and infectious diseases, the agency has expanded enforcement targets.   One area of concern has been zeroing in on businesses with repeat safety issues — such as workers experiencing amputations due to unguarded machinery — and aiming to work with employers to reduce risks to workers, Mr. Parker said.   “We are taking a more comprehensive approach where we are seeing the same issues over and over again, and in planning we’re taking more aggressive interventions to ensure maintenance and improve safety,” he said.   With falls from height among the most dangerous risks faced by construction workers in particular, accounting for a lion’s share of worker deaths annually, “we are really hoping that we can finally bend the curve on what is really an epidemic of noncompliance (with fall protection) and that is the problem that we have year in and year out with workers dying needlessly because their employer has not properly implemented fall protection,” he said.   Trenching — another deadly hazard causing hundreds of deaths annually — is another concern that has led the agency to seek criminal prosecutions for repeat offenders, he said.   The agency in recent years also expanded its Severe Violator Program, targeting not just high-hazard industries, he said. “And there was some criticism of that initially, that we were not really allocating our resources properly.”   The move to look at all industries with multiple and similar citations has led to progress, he said, citing the example of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores, which have faced more than a million in fines overall for such issues as warehousing materials.   “As a result, those companies may have made significant safety investments or will,” he said. “They are reviewing their logistics and inventory controls. They’re implementing more worker participation and rapid response programs.”   Whistleblower protections are another focus. Over the past year and a half, the agency has reduced investigation timeframes from a high of more than 300 days to now under 200 days on average, he said.   He says employers must have a “system in place where workers can speak up,” he said.   “You cannot assume that they will (speak up) even if you have no intention of ever retaliating against someone,” he said. “They may very well not speak out because they’re afraid about their job. …You have to make it clear to them, again and again and again. And you have to have procedures and processes that ensure that they cannot only speak up, but that it is your expectation that they will.”