OSHA publishes Final Rule on Costs of Personal Protective Equipment.

On November 15, 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a final rule on employer-paid personal protective equipment (PPE). The provisions in OSHA standards that require PPE generally state that the employer is to provide such PPE to employees, but do not specify that the employer is to pay for the PPE. OSHA has clarified, with this rulemaking, an employer’s requirement to pay for the PPE provided, with few exceptions for specific items. The rule contains a few exceptions for ordinary safety-toed footwear, ordinary prescription safety eyewear, logging boots, and ordinary clothing and weather-related gear. The rule does not require employers to provide PPE where none has been required before.

For more information, visit:

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=20094

http://www.osha.gov/Publications/PPE-factsheet-final.pdf

www.osha.gov

On June 23, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service announced an increase to the optional standard mileage rates.

For the last half of 2008, the optional standard mileage rate will increase from 50.5 cents to 58.5 cents per mile. Taxpayers have the option of using the optional standard mileage rate to calculate deductible costs of operating an automobile for business purposes.

The rate for computing the deductible medical or moving costs have also increased by 8 cents to 27 cents per mile, however the rate for providing services for charitable organizations has remained unchanged at 14 cents per mile. For further information you can go to the IRS announcement at: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=184163,00.html.

Employers need to be more involved in injured workers’ rehabilitation.

A doctor that treats workers’ compensation injuries recently gave a seminar that I attended. In the beginning of this seminar he gave some interesting statistics regarding injured workers, included here:

- 50% of injured workers who have been off of work for between 6 months to 1 year never return to work

- 90% of injured workers who have been off of work more than 1 year never return to work

- 85% of costs of all workers’ compensation claims come from only 5% of claims

- 40% of the costs from all claims come from delayed recovery

- 10% of injured workers actually perform their prescribed physical therapy exercises at home

Not only do these claims have an impact on the employers who the worker was working for, but they also have social impacts to all of us when the worker can not or will not continue to work after the injury. These social impacts include a drain on disability insurance, medicaid / medicare, and other welfare programs offered by state and federal laws. Employers need to design and implement Return-to-Work programs and show concern for the injured worker. As employers do this work related injury costs should be reduced and the burden to the employer and society as a whole can be softened.

See Also

• Staffscapes
  workers compensation information