Frequency of claims leads to huge jump in workers’ comp

• Workers’ compensation insurance is increasing by nearly 40 percent for Carroll County, Iowa at the start of fiscal year 2024.
• The county has had one of the lowest incidence rates in the entire state historically, but the frequency of claims has been higher than usual in the last three years.
• MOD, or modification factor, directly affects what a county pays for premiums.
• In 2023, workers’ compensation insurance cost was $56,272, but the renewal rate is jumping by more than $20,000 to $77,506. Because of how MOD is calculated, Carroll County will likely see higher-than-usual insurance costs through at least through 2026.
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More than $400,000 in fines for serial safety violator

• A Snohomish, Washington, roofing company with an extensive history of worker safety violations is facing $442,654 in new fines for disregarding the same rules it has been caught violating repeatedly over the last several years.
• The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries opened an inspection of Allways Roofing last November after an L&I employee saw roofers on a two-story building in Tumwater working without fall protection.
• Because the company was already considered a “Severe Violator,” inspectors returned to the job site daily following the initial inspection. During one of the return visits, they found workers using nail guns without eye protection and another worker who had removed their fall protection to install a vapor barrier.
• The most recent citation brings the total fines against the company to more than $3 million since 2019.
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Texas law overrides heat-related safeguards 

• A law in Texas will soon override labor ordinances statewide that guarantee, among other things, construction workers are given 10-minute breaks to drink water and rest in the shade.
• The law, signed Tuesday by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), will overturn many local laws regulating businesses across Texas, ensuring cities and counties instead follow state codes.
• Proponents say the law makes it easier for companies to sidestep a patchwork of local regulations to get work done. But opponents warn it overturns worker protections in more liberal municipalities that aren’t able to pass in the state legislature, where the GOP has majorities.
• Two other bills would have established a statewide advisory board to set heat illness guidelines for Texas businesses and required mandatory breaks for contractors working for government entities, according to the Texas Tribune.
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Workers’ comp outreach for miners

• The U.S. Labor Department’s Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation will host outreach events on available benefits for current and former coal miners and their survivors in Arizona and New Mexico from June 27 to 29, 2023.
• Held in the Four Corners region, the events will help serve members of the Navajo Nation eligible for federal benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act.
• “The U.S. Department of Labor encourages current and former coal miners to attend and learn more about their eligibility for benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act,” said Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation Director Mike Chance.
• The events require no pre-registration to attend and are open to the public.
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