Workers’ Comp Regulatory Filing Approved

May 26, 2023

California adopts workers’ compensation rating

  • The California Department of Insurance fully adopted the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s September 1, 2023, regulatory filing. A separate decision on the advisory pure premium rates is still pending.
  • Approval of this regulatory filing clears the way for employer X-Mods to be updated and increases the threshold for experience rating.
  • The filing boosted the threshold from $9,200 to $10,200 to account, the Bureau says, for overall wage inflation.
  • The regulatory changes also create a separate, long-awaited lower rate for California’s 8871 telecommuter classification.
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Missouri program helped improve safety

  • A workplace safety program has helped correct more than 6,200 hazards and saved small businesses in Missouri a projected $26.7 million in federal fines over the past two years.
  • The Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program, or SHARP, encourages employers to develop and maintain systems for managing workplace safety and health.
  • In exchange, the business is exempt from inspections conducted by OSHA for up to three years.
  • Still, only 31 out of 120,000 small businesses in the state of Missouri participated in the program.
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Colorado firm faces fines for exposing workers to trench cave-ins

  • OSHA determined GoldStar Excavation and Sewer outside Denver was ignoring the federal safety standards that could have prevented a trench collapse in Greeley in 2022 that led to the death of a teenage company employee.
  • In that incident, a 17-year-old GoldStar worker suffered fatal injuries after being struck in the head by a large chunk of asphalt.
  • A company foreman was injured when an unprotected section of the excavation wall caved in on them.
  • After an investigation, OSHA issued a “serious citation” to the Commerce City contractor for violating federal law and proposed $15,625 in penalties.
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Three finalists for Sue Ann Head Award in Tennessee

  • The judges of the Sue Ann Head Award for Excellence in Workers’ Compensation in Tennessee have selected three professionals as finalists.
  • One of the finalists is Katherine “Kitty” Boyte, a partner at Peterson White, LLP who is a frequent speaker and contributor in the workers’ compensation industry.
  • Another is David H. Dunaway, an attorney at Rick A. Owens Law Offices in Maryville, Tennessee with nearly 50 years of experience helping injured employees receive workers’ comp benefits in Tennessee.
  • The third finalist is Chelsey Searcy, who used her knowledge from Travelers Insurance to join the Davidson Transit Organization.
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