Office of Workers’ Compensation

The Department of Labor has many activities to foster and promote the safety and health of workers. The Women s Bureau seeks to improve women s working conditions. Other important agencies are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Office of Workers Compensation Program. 

Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP) This agency develops and recommends standards for state workers compensation laws and provides technical help to states. It also administers three workers ... 

Safety and mission assurance. This measure will assess NASA s ability to reduce the number of fatalities, injury/iUness rate. Office of Workers Compensation Program chargebacks, and material losses. 

ServiceDetail.cfm service id=2320 21(d) Consultation Program Louisiana Department of Labor OSHA Consultation, Office of Workers Compensation... 

Daniel M. Berman, Death on the Job 19 (1978) Martha T. McCluskey, Efficiency and Social Citizenship Challenging the Neo-Liberal Attack on the Welfare State, 78 Ind. L. J. 783, 848-49 (2003) Martha T. McCluskey, The Illusion of Efficiency in Workers Compensation Reform, 50 Rutgers L. Rev. 657,669-72 (1998) Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Office of Workers Compensation Programs, State Workers Compensation Laws Table 6 (Washington, 1990). 

A good general account of the passage of workers compensation can be found in Weinstein (1968). See also Ashford (1976), Gersuny (1981), and US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (1985). 

Louisiana Dept of Labor, Office of Worker s Compensation OSHA Consultation Division PO Box 94094 Baton Rouge LA 70804... 

For example, in Mitchell v. Director, Office of Worker s Compensation Programs, 855 F.2d 485 (7th Cir. 1988), the court found that a railroad employee who worked under the direction of coal mine employees at the mine site and who helped prepare coal for delivery should he considered a miner. Additionally, a railroad brake-man/conductor was a coal miner under the Black Lung Benefits Act because he hauled raw coal from mines to a preparation plant and spent a significant amount of time in or around the mine. Norfolk Western Railway Co. V. Roberson, 918 F.2d 1144 (4di Cir.), cert, denied, 500 U.S. 916. 

Quimby contacted the state economic development offices in North Carolina, Florida, and Maine—the first two because of their business-friendly reputation, and the third to be fair, to see if there might be some incentives available to relocate within the state. Both southern states overnighted full packets of material to Quimby, including a CD-ROM from North Carolina that allowed her to calculate her payroll taxes and workers compensation costs, which compared very fa-... 

Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities (such as carpal tunnel syndrome and rotator cuff tendinitis) due to work factors are common and occur in nearly tdl sectors of our economy. More than 2 hUlion in workers compensation costs are spent annually on these work-related problems. Musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and upper extremities due to work factors affect employees in every type of workplace and include such diverse workers as food processors, automobile and electronics assemblers, carpenters, office data-entry workers, grocery store cashiers, and garment workers. The highest rates of these disorders occur in the industries with a substantial amount of repetitive, forceful work. Musculoskeletal disorders affect the soft tissues of the neck, shoulder, elbow, hand, wrist, and fingers. 

Any inj ury other than death or permanent total disability that results in the loss, or complete loss of use, of any member or part of a member of the body, or any permanent impairment of functions of the body or part thereof, regardless of any pre-existing disability of the injured member or impaired body function. These cases are used in computing American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard Z16.2 injury rates whether or not time is lost. Also refers to a term used by the state workers compensation office to describe an individual who is stable, but may have permanently... 

Our book could not have been written without the generous financial support from many sources. We have been helped by a grant from the Workers Compensation Project of the University of Connecticut via the Employment Standards Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, who bears no responsibility for our policy recommendations. We have also been fortunate to have had sabbaticals from Bentley College and Indiana University, during which we wrote much of our book. Incidental manuscript preparation expenses and expenses for out-of-pocket research costs have also been generously provided by Bentley College and the Office of the Vice-President for Research and the University Graduate School of Indiana University. 

Joe Derek often takes work home with him to complete some of the details that he is unable to finish at the office. Although his employer has never encouraged him to work at home, he is aware of the practice and thankful that the work gets done. One evening on the way home from work, Joe is injured in an automobile accident. His employer is surprised when Joe files for and is awarded workers compensation. 

Jamie Smith is discouraged by the recordkeeping requirements of the company. She keeps forms for OSHA and an additional form for workers compensation requirements. When a compliance officer arrives for a routine inspection, she is surprised to learn that she does not have to keep all the forms. She is also surprised to learn a form must be posted during the months of February through April. She has not posted the form in the past, but now assumes she should after the comment made by the compliance officer. The biggest surprise arrives three months later when the company receives a citation because the appropriate company official did not sign the form. 

Employers need to be careful in the application of laws in particular states. Although the types of awards vary, employers are subject to workers compensation liability any time an employee is injured in the course of work. This could occur in a number of ways. In the case of an employee taking work home from the office, that employee is subjecting the employer to a possible claim while en route, as well as while working at home. Employees required to travel in the course of their jobs may also be covered by workers compensation even during their off-hours. 

But, despite all this, compensation pressures can generate real health and safety improvements. This chapter has laid the foundation for a discussion of how compensation costs can be used to focus management attention on safety. This discussion will be undertaken in Chapters 11 and 12 where the particular task will be to identify ways in which governments, health and safety officers and others can best harness whatever safety potential there may be in the workers compensation system. 

Nevertheless, from the point of view of head office, workers compensation is costing the company millions of dollars annually, and there are clearly savings to be made. The corporate response to this financial cost is not to seek ways of improving safety, but rather to engage in other claims reduction strategies. 

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