Work Comp Fraud 101

Fraud can find its way in to any business and workers compensation claim. Although the types of fraud may vary, each one can damage either your business, bottom line, career or work comp rates. Missouri Employer Mutual’s Special Investigations Unit breaks down the most common types of workers compensation fraud and what the consequences are.

The Dark Side of Employee Injuries

Traumatic injuries have long-lasting effects on a person’s body, but there are also social and emotional effects after serious employee injuries. It can take many years for injured employees, co-workers and family members to get over the intense emotional trauma of a serious workplace injury. Employee injuries take away things like strength, mobility and quality of life. The impact runs deep and lasts a lifetime.

April Awareness Month Targets the Employees of Tomorrow

April is Alcohol Awareness Month, sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. The theme this year is “Healthy Choices, Healthy Communities: Prevent Underage Drinking." Underage drug and alcohol abuse is a problem for employers because eventually the same adolescents with drinking and drug problems will mature and seek employment.

One Text or Call Could Wreck it All

Life is not getting any easier or slowing down. The demands placed on all of us to juggle work and home life is ever present. So we multi-task—but this really means doing two or more things at the same time and not necessarily giving each job the attention it truly deserves like texting, eating or making phone calls while driving. The result is 3,000 roadway fatalities in the United States each year from distracted driving, that’s an average of about nine people a day.

How Johme v. St. John’s Mercy Healthcare Changed Work Comp as We Know it

In 2012, the Missouri Supreme Court issued a decision which limits what has traditionally constituted a workers compensation injury. In a 5-2 decision, the Court ruled that an employee injured while making coffee at work was not entitled to workers compensation benefits. The decision in Sandy Johme v. St. John’s Mercy Healthcare not only overturned the ruling of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (LIRC), but also formally applied strict construction when determining compensability in workers compensation claims in Missouri.

AIHce 2013: Public Records Bring Safety Concerns to the Surface

At a time when many newspapers are eliminating labor and environmental beats to cut costs, public access to stories involving workplace safety issues may be at risk. During his May 21 Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo (AIHce) in Montreal, Tony Cook, a reporter for the Indianapolis Star, discussed the impact public records and journalism can have on workplace safety.

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AIHce 2013: Measuring Safety Performance with Leading Indicators

John Leyland, president of Safety Performance Services, opened his session at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo (AIHce) in Montreal with a true story of a workplace tragedy that took place decades ago: On a morning like any other, a husband and father went to his job at an electrical utility. But on this day, he made contact with a high-voltage line and landed in the hospital. Two days later, he died, leaving his wife a widow and his 5-year-old son fatherless.

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Following Investigation of Worker Fall and Death, OSHA Cites Phoenix Industrial Cleaning

OSHA has cited Phoenix Industrial Cleaning for 28 alleged serious safety violations following the death of Bernardo Martinez, 37, who fell from a ladder inside of a storage tank at Sunnyside Corp. in Wheeling, Ill. – a manufacturer of paint removers, paint thinners and wood care products – on Nov. 29, 2012. OSHA has proposed fines of $77,200.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office ruled in November 2012 that Martinez fell into the 50-ft. chamber, suffering multiple blunt injuries to the head as well as exposure to methylene chloride.

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AIHce 2013: Diversity Drives Innovation

Diversity drives innovation. That’s the message Frans Johansson, CEO of The Medici Group, offered during his May 20 keynote presentation at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo (AIHce) in Montreal.

“If you combine ideas from different industries, disciplines and cultures, you’ll have a better chance of breaking new ground,” Johansson told the thousands of AIHce attendees who gathered for the conference’s opening session in the Monteral Convention Center.

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AIHce 2013: AIHA and ACGIH Celebrate Professional Excellence and Contributions

The best way to start off AIHce 2013 in Montreal is  a celebration of industrial hygiene professionals and others who have made significant contributions to EHS.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists announced the following 2013 Award recipients:

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Work Comp Works

Participants will learn best practices of claims management, including prompt reporting, documentation and return to work programs. Participants will also learn how they can work with MEM to achieve successful claim outcomes through topics including: MEM’s websites and technology, NCCI’s experience modifier rate changes, subrogation, legal issues and pitfalls of improper claims handling.

Morning and afternoon sessions are being offered on each date, 8:30 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m.

Note: The seminar located in Sikeston will be held in the Clinton Community Building. There will only be a morning session offered in this location.

National Safety Council Defensive Driving 4 Certification

Send your company drivers to this session! Participants will learn about safe driving decisions and common driving errors. We’ll discuss how distractions, anger, fatigue and impairment affect how we drive. Learn the five steps to being a safer driver. It’s a perfect session for anyone that does company driving.

Sessions are 8:30 a.m.-noon.

Fleet Safety: Combating the #1 Killer of MO Workers

Vehicle accidents are the number one killer of Missouri workers. All businesses should be working to reduce their exposure. We’ll focus on a ten-step method that provides focus in your fleet safety efforts. This session is not DOT compliant, but a review of simple, achievable safety measures you can put in place.

Sessions are 1:30-3:30 p.m.