Thank you for reviewing company and industry highlights. If you would like additional information on the topics discussed, please feel free to contact us.

December 2006

West Hartford, Conn., Manufacturer Fined Nearly $250,000 by U.S. Labor Department's OSHA following Latest Safety and Health Inspection

For the third time in six years, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has found widespread safety and health hazards at a West Hartford tool manufacturing plant. OSHA's most recent inspection, conducted under two national emphasis programs aimed at preventing amputations and overexposure to lead, has resulted in citations for 26 alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of standards. Proposed penalties total $247,600.

The latest inspection began in August. OSHA found safety interlocks on machinery were bypassed or removed, allowing employees to come in contact with moving parts. One worker sustained a hand injury on a machine with a bypassed interlock. OSHA proposed a fine of $70,000 for an alleged willful violation committed with intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations.

Eleven repeat citations, accounting for $138,100 in proposed fines, were issued for hazards similar to those cited at the plant in 2004. These included unguarded or inadequately guarded mechanical power presses, grinders and other machinery; no annual reviews of lockout procedures to prevent the accidental startup of machinery; exposed live electrical parts; lack of required hand protection; improper extension of fork trucks; and no warning signs and asbestos awareness training for workers. Repeat citations are issued when an employer has been cited for substantially similar hazards in the past and those citations have become final.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to request and participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director or to contest the citations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The investigation was conducted by OSHA's Hartford area office, telephone (860) 240-3152.

Source: OSHA Regional News Release

Former Insurance Agent to Serve Jail Time and Pay Back Los Angeles Businesses He Defrauded

California Department of Insurance Investigation turns up fraud against 14 small businesses.

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced today that thanks to an investigation by the California Department of Insurance (CDI), Investigation Division, 14 small businesses in the Los Angeles area defrauded by a former insurance agent will be getting their money back. The agent pleaded nolo contendre to two felony counts of Grand Theft. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office secured the conviction against the agent, a former fire and casualty agent/broker, for selling fraudulent workers' compensation and commercial fire and liability insurance policies to 14 small business owners in Los Angeles County.

The agent will be sentenced in January 2007. As part of the plea agreement, he will serve 32 months in state prison and pay $54,379.00 in restitution. A portion of the restitution, $25,000.00, is due on his sentencing day. The agent will be ordered to pay the remaining $29,379.00 to his 14 victims prior to the conclusion of his sentence and/or parole.

Source: California Department of Insurance

U.S. Labor Department's OSHA Fines Dighton, Mass., Contractor $66,400 for Cave-In Hazard at Cape Cod Jobsite

For the fourth time in three years, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited a MA contractor for allegedly failing to provide cave-in protection for its employees. A total of $66,400 in fines has been proposed against the construction company following a June 16 OSHA inspection of an excavation at a jobsite located in Barnstable, Mass.

OSHA's inspection found that two employees were exposed to cave-in hazards while working in a 7-foot, 2-inch deep, straight-wall trench that lacked protection against a possible collapse of its side walls. OSHA had cited the company in 2003, 2005 and 2006 for the same type of hazard at 3 other job sites in Norwood, Hingham and Barnstable.

Source: OSHA Regional News Release

U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA Renews Safety and Health Partnership with Underground Contractors Assn. of Illinois

The Underground Contractors Association of Illinois, Itasca, Ill., and the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have agreed to renew their partnership designed to promote workplace safety and health through cooperative training and education.

"By renewing this agreement, we've extended a successful project that continues to demonstrate that we all benefit when management, labor and government dedicate themselves to providing a safe and healthful work environment," said Diane Turek, OSHA area director in Des Plaines, Ill. "We are confident the cooperative effort will continue to help reduce injuries and fatalities."

The primary goal of the partnership is to ensure that workdays lost to injury stay below the national average for participating companies, increase training conducted by participating companies, and reduce violations of OSHA regulations, particularly in the areas of trenching and excavation.

Source: OSHA Regional News Release

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi Announces His Recommendation to Cut Workers' Compensation Pure Premium Rate by -9.5%

The Commissioner remains concerned as substantial decreases in total permanent disability payments continue, and the industry pays a record-low percentage of premium for injured workers.

“Today, for the final time as Insurance Commissioner, I announce my decision to recommend an additional -9.5% decrease in the workers’ compensation advisory pure premium rates for policies incepting on or after January 1, 2007.

“Since July 2003, I have recommended rate decreases to reduce costs within the system by a cumulative -55.1%. Today’s latest recommendation, which is higher than the -6.3% recommended by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB), will bring the cumulative total reduction in the cost of claims within the system to -59.4%. These welcome decreases over the years have resulted from a continuing drop in the frequency of workers’ compensation claims, a decreasing amount of total permanent disability payments, and record low combined loss ratios for the industry.

“There have been extraordinary improvements made to the workers’ compensation system since we began our work in early 2003. The reforms laid out in my roadmap, along with additional reforms by Governor Schwarzenegger, have helped stop the uncontrolled escalation of premiums and reduced system costs by more than half.

Source: California Department of Insurance

"Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently."
- Henry Ford