Cleveland, OH Workers' Compensation Blog

In the event of a workplace injury, many Ohioans know they are entitled to workers compensation benefits for the duration of the injury. What they may not know, however, is that employees may be entitled to receive additional compensation for injuries sustained during the course of employment if a VSSR has occurred.

Section 4101 of the Ohio Revised Code requires an employer to "protect the life, health, safety, and welfare" of employees and "frequenters" of the employer's facilities. Hours of labor, safety devices, and other safeguards are all covered under Section 4101.

In April, 2010, an explosion and fire at the Tesoro oil refinery in Anacortes, Washington killed seven workers and injured several others. The families of six victims filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tesoro, alleging the company failed to provide a safe working environment, ignoring safety standards that may have prevented the blast.

Tesoro, an oil company based in San Antonio, Texas, is accused of willfully ignoring federal safety laws as well as oil industry safety standards, leading to the explosion and death of the employees. The families claim that Tesoro failed to inspect aging equipment and that if Tesoro had followed federal and industry safety rules and regulations, the deaths and injuries could have been prevented.

In June 2008, the Industrial Commission of Ohio fired its director of non-adjudicatory operations, Timothy Adams, saying only that it was time to "head in a new direction." It looks the Commission is making a U-turn.

In January 2011, the Commission rehired Adams and promoted him to the position of Executive Director. Reportedly, the Commission had recently been firing several top managers hired under the former administration to pave the way for Adams' return.

A 2008 decision issued by the Ohio Industrial Commission (IC) is being used by some worker's compensation hearing officers as a justification to allow self-insured employers to pick their injured worker's vocational rehabilitation program. After reviewing a self-insured employer's appeal, the IC reversed a staff hearing officer's order, finding in favor of the self-insured employer on the issue of choice of service provider for vocational rehabilitation services.

The Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation has the charge of administrating all Ohio worker's compensation claims and paying out on approved claims. The BWC has set out standards for serving its customers - injured Ohio workers and their employers - in the Pledge of Service. The Pledge of Service outlines an injured Ohio worker's rights, including:

1. The right to worker's compensation benefits after a workplace injury or diagnosis of an occupational disease;
2. The right to choose a BWC-certified health care provider and access to treatment promptly after the injury;
3. The right to the BWC's payment of approved medical bills;
4. The right to customer service by BWC employees that is "prompt, professional and courteous";
5. The right to online or in-person access to personal records;
6. The right to prompt payment for approved claims;
7. The right to consideration for all benefits that the injured worker is eligible for;
8. The right to an independent medical examination, when needed;
9. The right to appeal an adverse decision;
10. The right to hire an attorney and the right to self-representation.

On a roughly party-line vote, Ohio Senate Republicans have rejected three of outgoing Gov. Strickland's appointees to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation Board. The Senate also rejected more than 70 other appointments that Strickland made in an 18-12 vote. One lone Republican joined the Democrats in support of Strickland's appointments.

Republican senators justified the rejection to allow Governor-Elect Kasich the chance to make his own appointments to the same position.

After the vote, Democrats noted that so-called "lame duck" appointments by outgoing governors have been accepted in many previous administrations, with less regard to whether the appointments benefited out-going Republicans or Democrats.

Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation (BWC) Chief Martha Ryan, the top BWC administrator appointed by Gov. Ted Strickland, resigned from her post, effective January 9, 2011.

Ryan has led the Ohio BWC since Strickland appointed her in May 2007. She has been credited with several effective reforms including lower worker's compensation base rates for private and public sector employers. Rates have come down for these employers by between 33 and 35 percent.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) offers a variety of programs to Ohioans who have been injured in the workplace or have become ill as a result of workplace conditions.

Temporary Total Benefit and Living Maintenance Benefit

The first available benefit from the BWC is temporary total compensation. Workers can receive temporary total compensation once they have lost eight consecutive days of work to a workplace injury or illness. It is granted after evidence of injury or illness is presented to the BWC by a physician. In the first 12 weeks, workers receive 72 percent of their regular wage; after week 12, the percentage decreases to 66.67 percent. Temporary total benefits cease once an employee returns to work. A living maintenance benefit is available for people that are enrolled in a long-term rehabilitation program.

Wage Loss Benefit

If, after a workplace injury or illness, a person found alternative work but is paid less than what they earned at their former employer or if a person cannot find work due to injury, the BWC provides a wage loss benefit. The wage loss benefit is equal to 66.67 percent of the difference between the two wages.