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NEW YORK’S HIGH RATE OF CONSTRUCTION FATALITIES CONTINUES
Despite work stoppages during the COVID-19 pandemic, New York’s construction industry remained one of the most dangerous in the country in 2020. In fact, a report from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) found that New York’s construction fatality rate actually rose 9% in 2020, with construction workers accounting for nearly […]
Read MoreNEW YORK MAX WEEKLY WORKERS’ COMP BENEFIT RATE RISES
Thirty years ago, in July of 1992, New York’s maximum weekly workers’ compensation benefit rate was $400 per week. Fifteen years later, in June of 2007, it was still $400 per week. A lot has changed in the last fifteen years, thanks to sweeping amendments to the Workers’ Compensation Law that occurred in 2007. Although […]
Read MoreNEW TELEHEALTH RULES LIMIT MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT IN WORKERS’ COMP
On May 2, 2022, the Workers’ Compensation Board launched new guidelines that limit the use of telehealth to treat injured workers. Before the COVID pandemic, the Board did not permit the use of telehealth at all. In response to the pandemic it issued a general authorization for the telehealth largely without limitation, which the new […]
Read MoreHEAT-RELATED HAZARDS
Millions of workers are exposed to heat in their workplaces. These exposures occur in both indoor and outdoor working environments and are equally hazardous in both. The greatest occupational risk from heat exposure occurs during first few days of working in a hot environment because the body builds tolerance to heat over time – according […]
Read MoreA PANDEMIC OF INJURIES AT AMAZON (AND BEYOND)
The COVID pandemic caused a boom in delivery work ranging from restaurants and grocery stores to internet giant Amazon. According to a new report from the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), which is a coalition project of the Service Employees International Union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Communication Workers of America, and the United Farmworkers […]
Read MoreREPORT FINDS THAT NEW WORKERS HAVE HIGHER RATES OF INJURY
It’s generally understood that some jobs are more hazardous than others. For example, everyone recognizes that a construction worker is more likely to have an injury on the job than a lawyer. In fact, according to the New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board construction, manufacturing, health care, and services (such a restaurants and retail stores) […]
Read MoreCANNABIS FOR WORK-RELATED INJURIES LANDS ON THE U.S. SUPREME COURT DOCKET
As we’ve written about before, the New York workers’ comp system does provide coverage for medical marijuana in a limited number of cases. However, issues remain because of federal law on the issue – which has now reached the United States Supreme Court in two workers’ comp cases from Minnesota. The injured workers in these […]
Read MoreTWO YEARS OF COVID: HOW THE WORKERS’ COMP SYSTEM IS RESPONDING
We’ve previously written about the fact that work-related COVID can be covered by workers’ compensation and that essential workers who continued to work in person in 2020 and who contracted COVID should file for benefits. Unfortunately, far fewer workers filed for benefits at that time – and because there is a two-year time limitation to […]
Read More“INDEPENDENT” MEDICAL EXAMINERS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
An injured worker’s entitlement to wage loss benefits, compensation for permanent injury, medical treatment, prescription medication and more depends on their medical provider. In addition to providing medical care, a worker’s treating doctor must be familiar with the workers’ comp system and its reporting requirements in order for the injured worker to receive the benefits […]
Read MoreFEMALE DOCTORS IMPROVE WORKERS’ COMP OUTCOMES FOR FEMALE WORKERS
In the workers’ compensation system, an injured worker’s benefits depend heavily on medical evidence: the reports their doctor files, how familiar with their job and their injuries the doctor is, and most importantly the doctor’s disability opinion. It’s an adversarial system in which the worker’s treating doctor is often opposed by the employer or insurance […]
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