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Current System of Determining On-the-Job Fatalities Has Serious Flaws

A series of flawed provisions in the current Occupational Safety and Health Act prevents the accurate calculation of work-related deaths. The system does represent a fairly accurate tally of on-the-job fatal injuries, but does not include work-related illnesses and occupational diseased like silicosis, asbestosis or hepatitis (sometimes seen in health care workers who have been… Read more

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Employee or Independent Contractor: An Important Distinction

Are you an employee, or an independent contractor? Chances are the company you work for has an answer to that question. But are they right? Misclassification of workers is a widespread problem: Pennsylvania even has a new law specifically targeting improper mislabeling of construction workers. If they get away with it, calling employees “independent contractors”… Read more

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Telecommuting is Changing the Workers’ Comp Landscape

Technology has spurred growth in telecommuting across the country, giving employers and employees options they never had before. For employees, for example, the ability to work from home eases the burden of child care and also eliminates the need to travel to and from work. For employers, having home-based employees can open office space during… Read more

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Eleven Workers’ Compensation Issues Sure To Impact 2011

When the U.S. Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced its preliminary report of the top 10 most-frequent workplace safety violations in 2009 at the annual National Safety Council’s (NSC) Congress and Expo, the report revealed that the top violations had risen almost 30 percent. For four decades, OSHA has struggled to enforce… Read more

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Kids Chance of Pennsylvania — Scholarship For Children of Injured Workers

Many families that suffer the loss of a parent due to a work-related incident find themselves in financial need. Buying the basics, such as food, becomes problematic. Never mind finding the resources to pay for the educational needs of the children. A non-profit organization, Kids’ Chance of Pennsylvania, is devoted to helping children in the… Read more