Alakska Gov, signs workers comp bill for firefighters
- Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed a bill that will provide firefighters statewide with expanded workers’ compensation disability coverage.
- The bill recognizes the impact and exposure firefighters experience from harmful, carcinogenic chemicals.
- It also adds breast cancer to the list of presumptive cancers covered by workers’ compensation disability.
- The bill increases the workers’ compensation for permanent partial impairment and death benefit payments.
Kentucky to boost cybersecurity for workers comp, other insurance
- The Kentucky League of Cities provided a 2022 Cybersecurity Grant to the City of Barbourville to help members implement additional safety protocols and programs.
- KLC Insurance Services is Kentucky’s largest municipal insurance program and provides workers’ compensation and other insurance.
- The programs will include disaster recovery systems, advanced threat protection software, and endpoint detection and response.
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Lawsuit after construction worker buried alive
- Family members have filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging a Las Vegas construction worker was buried alive when a trench collapsed.
- The family of Rigoberto Canas Ramos filed the lawsuit in Clark County District Court, naming KB Home Nevada and Customized Safety & Quality Solutions as defendants.
- Ramos went into the trench to get his tools and to help in pouring cement, but fellow employees later noticed he was not with them and later found him buried under the dirt.
- The suit is seeking more than $15,000 in special, general, and punitive damages.
Changes to Colorado workers comp law
- The Colorado legislature approved changes to the state’s workers’ compensation laws for businesses.
- A posted sign must include the name and contact information of the workers’ compensation insurer, and the employer is responsible for the payment of workers’ compensation insurance.
- The deadline by which an employee must notify their employer in writing about an on-the-job injury has been extended to 10 days, compared to the previous four days.
- An employee is no longer obligated to notify an employer of an occupational disease within 30 days of contraction of the disease.
- Employers are responsible for additional obligations with the acquisition and recordkeeping of employee mental health records obtained during the course of the workers’ compensation process.