Case In Point

Trust, Belief, and Recovery from Disability

Washington, DC (WorkCompWire.com by Dr. Michael Lacroix) – August 11, 2014 – When the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) recently sought to identify outcome predictors from workers’ compensation injuries, they got a bit of a surprise. Aside from the obvious—and expected—factors such as injury type and injury severity, another strong predictive factor emerged: low trust in the work relationship.1 Workers who responded “Yes” to the question “I was concerned I would be fired or laid off” were twice as likely not to have returned to work at the time of the survey. This finding raises some interesting questions with important implications for managing absence more effectively.  Read more.

Recent Fatalities Serve as a Reminder to Protect Workers from Demolition Hazards

Washington, DC (WorkersCompensation.com) – July 11, 2014 – On June 20, a construction worker taking down an old Blockbuster Video building in New Jersey was trapped and killed when the last standing wall of a building under demolition collapsed on top of him. Six months earlier, a 25-year-old construction worker in Chicago was struck and killed by pieces of falling concrete while conducting renovations on a shopping mall. These tragedies follow the June 5, 2013, collapse of a four-story building undergoing demolition in Philadelphia that killed six people and injured 14. These deaths could have been prevented. To help prevent these tragedies and save lives, OSHA has developed new educational resources and training for the construction demolition industry.  Read more.

Two Companies Cited After Temporary Worked Injured at NJ Bottling Plant

Maplewood, NJ (WorkersCompensation.com) – June 19, 2014 -  Maplewood Beverage Packers LLC and temporary employment agency Corporate Resource Services Corp. in Elizabeth have been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for health and safety violations found at the beverage bottling company’s Maplewood plant.  Read more.

Christie Admin Honors 184 New Jersey Employers with Annual Safety Awards

Trenton, NJ (WorkersCompensation.com) – May 26, 2014 – The Christie Administration honored 146 New Jersey private employers and 38 public employers throughout the month of May, as the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development presented the 86th Annual Governor’s Occupational Safety and Health Awards. These ceremonies honored and recognized employers for their safety achievements, promoting a culture of safety in the workplace, reducing safety hazards and preventing accidents. Read more.

Unemployment Extension Bill Advances Narrowly in Senate

Washington, DC – April 2, 2014 – The Senate’s deal to revive an extension of unemployment benefits passed a key procedural test — barely — Wednesday morning. Read more. Click here for information on filing for unemployment in New Jersey.

NJ Appellate Court Upholds Atlantic City Workers’ Compensation Decision

Northfield, NJ – January 20, 2014 - The Appellate Division recently upheld a previous decision of a New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Judge to provide workers’ compensation to a Harrah’s employee represented by the firm of Petro Cohen Petro Matarazzo, finding she was within the scope of her employment as she was leaving the premises, even though the contact of the collision occurred in a public street “off premises.“ Frank Petro, a founding partner at Petro Cohen Petro Matarazzo, handled the Motion and argued the Appeal.  Mr. Petro said, “This decision is a reminder that workers’ compensation is intended to protect employees and, therefore, the statute should be liberally interpreted.  We are glad the Appellate Division agreed with the Trial Judge and concluded, given the particular facts of the case, just because the contact of the collision happened in a public street did not automatically disqualify our client from workers’ compensation benefits.  The Court took a broad common sense approach and agreed that the employee factually and legally was still in the process of leaving her place of employment.  Therefore, she was entitled to the protection of the workers’ compensation law.” Read more.