Protecting the Fund

“Protecting the Fund”: How a legitimate obligation of the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is often used as an excuse for unfair treatment of injured workers while at other times is ignored to the systems detriment.

No one denies that the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has a legal obligation to protect the fund that supports the Ohio Bureau Workers’ Compensation system.  That being said, how the obligation to protect the fund should be interpreted is unquestionably a matter of disagreement.  In my opinion, protecting the fund should be defined as follows: The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has an obligation to make sure that the fund contains an adequate amount of money to compensate legitimate workers’ compensation claim; this obligation, of course, would require the BWC to make sure that claims and costs that are not legitimate are not paid for.  I do not believe this should be a contentious definition.  The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation can make sure that legitimate claims are covered and claims that are not legitimate are not covered.  Unfortunately, with every passing year, it appears that the BWC defines its obligation different than I define it. [Read more…]

One of the most impactful parts of the legislation passed in 2006 was the change from permitting aggravation of any magnitude to requiring a “substantial aggravation.”  Tied in with the defining of substantial aggravation in the new law were provisions regarding a return to baseline.  The return to baseline provisions provide that if a preexisting condition that was substantially aggravated returns to the level it was prior to the aggravation, the claim can abate.  Interestingly, unlike with the provisions regarding substantial aggravation itself, the legislature included the return to baseline language with almost no direct definitions.

Now that nearly seven years have passed since these legislative changes became law, motions for return to baseline are beginning to pop up.  While they do not appear to be overwhelmingly common, their mere existence makes it important to further examine what the precise meaning of return to baseline is.  Fortunately, while the statute lacks a direct definition of the requirements for finding a return to baseline, it does provide other language which clearly demonstrates what should be required to find a return to baseline.  As the following will demonstrate, as with substantial aggravation itself, proof of return to baseline should require objective evidence. [Read more…]

If you work in a construction work zone in or around Cincinnati, OH, you know how dangerous your job is. When you put on your hard hat each day, you put your life on the line to improve our communities’ infrastructure.

Work zones are dangerous for all workers involved, but this is by no means a new problem. Many attempts have been made to protect workers specifically in transportation construction work zones throughout the years. Maybe you have seen the signs reading “Slow Down: My Mommy/Daddy Works Here” in a child’s handwriting. These were meant to remind motorists that the men and women working on the side of the road are not just men and women but mothers and fathers with families who are depending on them. The signs are meant to encourage motorists to slow down to a safer speed and thus save lives.

Do they work? Perhaps they achieve their goal for some but not for all.

ODOT’s Transportation Worker Safety Campaign

In the summer of 2015, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) again made an attempt to protect workers. They implemented a social media campaign to raise awareness about the dangers construction workers face on the roads. The state of Ohio has a “Move Over” law that requires motorists to move over and slow down for vehicles with flashing lights, which includes highway work crews, that are on the side of the road.

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Serious injuries may put an employee’s working future at risk. Younger employees have a lot of time before retirement, so an injury can affect those workers far into the future. The amount of time left in a young worker’s expected career means the stakes of addressing a work-related injury are extremely high. [Read more…]

The Liberty Center located in Liberty Township, Ohio, is one of the bigger construction projects the greater Cincinnati area has seen in recent years, costing nearly $350 million for its development. The entire site spans over 100 acres and is situated between Cincinnati and Dayton at the interchange of I-75 and Ohio 129 (or Liberty Way). It is a mini-city that is expected to be a major regional attraction.

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While workplace injuries can happen in any employment area, there are a few jobs that tend to have higher injury statistics than others. These high statistics are due to the nature of the job, usually they arise from positions in which employees often perform physical work or work with dangerous equipment. Some of the most high-risk positions include factory workers, nurses, and construction workers.

In fact, construction site injuries are the most common form of workers’ compensation claims. According to a study done by the Ohio Safety and Health Administration, of the 4,585 workplace fatalities in 2013, 20.2% were due to construction related accidents. In other words, of every five deaths in the workplace, one was an employee on a construction site. These types of statistics are not something that should just be passed over. With this many deaths per year, many people are questioning if there are better safety precautions that could be put into place in order to lower these numbers.

Read our infographic

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The Tri-State area is booming recently when it comes to new developments. If you live in the Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky metro area, you’ve likely noticed some big construction projects occurring in your community.

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