Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill to create rules for employers whose workers are exposed to extreme temperatures. S.B. 2501, introduced Friday, calls on the state’s director of labor by Jan. 1, 2026, to adopt rules to establish “excessive heat and excessive cold standards” for when temperatures fall below 40 degrees or above 90 degrees. The bill provides guidelines on…
Illinois lawmakers are considering bills that would nix the state’s workers compensation fee schedule in 2026 and replace it with another, and add guidelines in workers comp code on attorney’s fee for arbitrated claims. H.B. 2840, introduced Wednesday, would make existing medical fee schedules inoperative after Aug. 31, 2026, and calls on the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission to establish a…
Illinois’ altered workers’ comp law doesn’t block asbestos plaintiffs and others who discover diseases allegedly caused by workplace exposures to toxic substances from suing their former employers, even if the alleged disease-causing exposure happened many decades in the past, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled. On Jan. 24, the Illinois Supreme Court sided with the family of a man who…
Bills that would overhaul the law governing compensable workplace injuries and those suffered while traveling were filed in Illinois Friday. H.B. 1253, which would take effective immediately upon passage, would provide “that an injury arises out of and in the course of employment only if the accident significantly caused or contributed to both the resulting condition and the disability,” according…
Two bills that would affect workers compensation presumptions for firefighters and emergency medical professionals are being considered in Illinois. H.B. 1292, introduced Monday, would create a rebuttable presumption that post-traumatic stress disorder arose out of the work conducted by firefighters, all levels of emergency medical technicians, and paramedics. The change would amend state workers comp law that already provides such…
Workplace heat-related illnesses increase by at least sevenfold on days when temperatures exceed 90°F compared with days with temperatures between 75°F and 80°F, according to research published Wednesday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based WCRI used 2013 to 2022 workers compensation claim data from insurers, state funds and self-insured employers across 31 U.S. states, accounting for 80%…
There were 5,283 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2023, a 3.7% decrease from the previous year, with deaths among Black workers declining the most at 10.2%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. Transportation incidents were the most frequent cause of death, accounting for 36.8% of all occupational fatalities in 2023. As in years past,…
Costs associated with catastrophic workplace injuries represent less that 0.1% of workers compensation claims but account for up to 2% of all costs to insurers, according to a report released Thursday by the National Council on Compensation Insurance. Boca Raton, Florida-based NCCI worked with nine state ratings agencies to study so-called “mega claims,” examining 11,330 of them from accident years…
For the eighth time since 2020, federal workplace safety inspectors have cited a Lake Zurich, Illinois roofing contractor for exposing workers to falls from elevation, the leading cause of fatal and serious injuries among people employed in the construction industry. Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration observed employees of Fino Exterior Inc. working atop…
Federal inspectors have cited 595 Construction LLC – a Crystal Lake, Illinois contractor with a history of exposing employees to fall hazards – for eight safety violations after finding employees framing a residential structure without required protections three times at three residential worksites in the same neighborhood in May 2024. OSHA inspectors first observed 595 Construction employees at work without…
