Deputy shares responsibilities for injury on the job

• The North Carolina Supreme Court has blocked a lower court’s ruling in a dispute involving legal liability for a deputy sheriff’s off-duty injuries.
• Lassiter listed both the sheriff’s office and the contractor, the Truesdell Corp., as his employers at the time of the injury and he filed a workers’ compensation in April 2019.
• A unanimous state Court of Appeals panel agreed that the Robeson sheriff’s office and a private Department of Transportation contractor shared responsibility for the injuries the deputy suffered in 2019.
• Truesdell Corp. argued that the Appeals Court rewrote a legal test for determining whether the company should be forced to fund some of the deputy’s medical expenses.
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Dept. of Labor to discuss benefits for nuclear weapons workers

• The U.S. Department of Labor announced an updated procedure for determining whether nuclear weapons workers qualify for benefits related to beryllium exposure under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act.
• The update implements provisions of the Beryllium Testing Fairness Act, signed into law by President Biden as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024 on Dec. 22, 2023.
• This update may allow formerly ineligible nuclear workers to receive medical care for diseases caused by exposure to beryllium.
• The EEOICPA program was established in 2000 to provide benefits to individuals who were sickened or died from their work in the nuclear weapons industry, as well as their families.
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Amazon is making progress with injuries

• After scrutiny from federal investigators, Amazon has reduced its workplace injuries.
• The company’s 2-23 recordable incident rate, which includes any work-related injury that requires more than basic first-aid treatment, has improved 30% over the past four years and 8% year-over-year (YoY).
• Amazon’s lost time incident rate, including any work-related injury that requires someone to take time away from work, has improved 60% over the past four years and 16% year-over-year.
• In the U.S., Amazon reports operations data to OSHA under two distinct industries: General Warehousing and Storage, and Courier and Express Delivery Services.
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Oregon declares workers’ safety day

• Oregon OSHA is hosting its 21st annual “Safety Break for Oregon” program.
• The event offers an opportunity for employers, supervisors, and workers across Oregon to celebrate their safety and health achievements, and to examine and renew their efforts to protect people from harm while on the job.
• Employers are expected to use Wednesday, May 8, as an opportunity to refresh the knowledge and training of workers, and conduct an assessment of safety and health.,
• Oregon OSHA encourages employers and workers to share their Safety Break activities on social media; tag Oregon OSHA on Facebook and LinkedIn with #SafetyBreak.
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