Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation

According to an article on Health.com, there are some jobs and job characteristics that could potentially increase your risk for heart disease. Work-related factors that can affect your heart include sitting at a desk for long hours, irregular working hours, as well as exposure to some chemicals or pollution. So Health.com put together a list of some jobs to watch out for, as well as some ways to keep your heart healthy if you do work in one of these fields.

Desk Jobs: People who sit at a desk for extended hours have a higher risk of heart problems than workers who have more active jobs. It appears that prolonged sitting can cause a drop in insulin sensitivity and enzymes that break down fat. Standing up and walking around occasionally during working hours may help.

Emergency Responders: Emergency responders often juggle periods of less activity with high stress activity. According to the article, about 22% of deaths of police officers and 45% of deaths of firefighters that occur on the job are due to cardiovascular disease. Stress, exposure to pollutants, as well as other risk factors can contribute to their heart problems. It’s important for emergency responders to focus on healthy eating, exercise, and lowering blood pressure to try and reduce the risk of heart disease.

BusinessManagementDaily.com recently posted an interesting question: do workers’ comp laws apply if an employee is injured while working in his home and using his own equipment?

According to the article, this is possible if the employee is injured while acting in the course and scope of his employment. It mentioned the case of a woman who was injured when she fell down the stairs to her basement home office while talking on the phone to her supervisor. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court said she injured herself in the course and scope of her employment because she was engaged in furthering the employer’s business at the time she was injured.

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The phase-out of incandescent light bulbs for more energy-efficient lighting alternatives is taking its toll on Global Tungsten and Powders Corporation (GTP) in Towanda. According to WNEP.com, the Bradford County company will be eliminating 150 jobs this year due to a drop-off in sales of the wiring used in incandescent bulbs.

GTP is one of Bradford County’s largest employers, with 950 people employed at its Towanda plant. Job eliminations will begin in September. A company spokesman said this will mean retirement, a transfer, or for fewer than half, layoffs.

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Gov. Tom Corbett signed Senate Bill 1375 into law Thursday, ensuring federally funded Extended Benefits in Pennsylvania will continue to unemployment compensation claimants through March 10.

Extended Benefits, additional weeks of unemployment compensation payable to qualified workers when the state’s unemployment rate reaches a certain level, are only payable after individuals have exhausted their rights to state-funded benefits and federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation. High Unemployment Period Extended Benefits are payable to individuals who have exhausted their regular Extended Benefits.

The new legislation will allow claimants to receive High Unemployment Period Extended Benefits through Feb. 18, 2012, and regular Extended Benefits through March 10, 2012.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Scranton Dunlop Inc., doing business as Sandone Tire, for 19 safety violations, including four repeated, at its Scranton facility.

Proposed penalties total more than $58,000.

OSHA initiated an inspection as part of its Site-Specific Targeting Program for industries with high injury rates.

A warning to those on workers’ comp: be careful of the photos you post to your social network profiles, because they can potentially be used against you.

According to an article on ABCNews.com, an appeals court ruled that photos of an injured employee posted on his Facebook and MySpace accounts that showed him “drinking and partying” could be used to deny him further workers’ comp benefits.

The employee was injured on the job when a refrigerator fell on him. He received compensation for medical expenses and also received temporary total disability benefits for more than a year. After three surgeries resulting from his injury, he sought an extension of his benefits, saying that “excruciating pain” required further medical treatments and disability payments.

According to the article, an administrative law judge and the Arkansas Compensation Commission denied his application for additional benefits, so he hoped the Arkansas Court of Appeals would reverse the ruling. In his appeal, the employee requested that the court ban the photos from the social network sites because they were unrelated to his medical treatments.

However, the appeals court agreed with the previous rulings and denied additional treatments because diagnostic tests showed “no recurrent hernia and surgery.”

An opinion written by a judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals stated, “We find no abuse of discretion in the allowance of photographs. Clement contended that he was in excruciating pain, but these pictures show him drinking and partying.”

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According to a press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance, a 5.7 percent decrease in overall workers’ compensation costs has been approved that could result in $160 million in savings for Pennsylvania employers.

“Pennsylvania employers are able to benefit from the outstanding job they are doing to provide safer workplaces,” said Labor & Industry Secretary Julia Hearthway. She added, “There are 9,652 businesses enrolled in our Certified Workplace Safety Committee program, so they will receive an additional five-percent discount. More than 1.3 million people work at businesses with a certified safety committee.”

Although some will see rates go up and some will see no change, employers can expect a 5.7 percent rate decrease on average in 2012.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently cited QG LLC for eight serious violations of the process safety management standards at its Atglen facility in response to an employee complaint.

According to the OSHA website, proposed penalties on the North Haven Connecticut based web offset printing company total $54,000.

About 240 employees work at the Atglen site located in Chester County.

One UPS driver in Ohio really takes his driving job seriously – as he just logged 50 years of service without an accident. This record is a first for UPS.

The driver has a 306-mile round-trip route between Ohio and Kentucky that he drives five days a week. When asked how many miles he has driven in total for UPS, he estimates it to be more than 4 million.

According to an article in the Business News section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, UPS has more than 5,200 drivers who have gone 25 years without an accident.