Regulation Simplifies Workers Compensation Law

Under NSW regulation, only a single claim can be made for a lump sum amout under workers compensation law. Nevertheless, a current statement by the NSW government has made an exception to this section, in light of the main changes made in 2012 to the compensation injured workers received.

As such, so many of workers may be permitted to additional payment for their injuries.

Changes to workers compensation law

The NSW government has announced recent changes to workers compensation law for claims made before June 19 2012, when material changes to lump sum compensation came into effect.

Outlined by the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, the new regulation allows certain injured workers to make a second claim if their condition worsens. The changes in the regulation is in response to a recent NSW Supreme Court case, Cram Fluid Power v Green.

Back injuries can persist, minimising your ability to work.

Cram Fluid Power v Green

"The Government has acted to clarify the law, providing certainty for injured workers."

The appellant, Mr Green, received lump sum compensation on 14 December 2010 under section 66 of the 1987 Workers Compensation Act. However, his condition deteriorated resulting in spinal surgery.

As such, he requested further compensation. However, the Judges cited a clause in section 66 where the legislation states that the Act can only be used for a single claim when pursuing permanent impairment compensation for a work-related injury.

Between Mr Green's initial claim in 2010 and his second claim in 2013, key changes were made to injuries compensation law under the 2012 Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Act.

Despite the substantial changes, Mr Green was only able to make one claim for his injuries. In order to address the issues that arose from this case, the NSW government has released a statement detailing the modifications.

"The Government has acted to clarify the law, providing certainty for injured workers whose claims are affected by the Cram Fluid decision," says Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Victor Dominello.

"Injured workers within this cohort will be able to make one further claim. There is no time limitation for making the claim or restriction on minimum increase in a claimant's level of permanent impairment."

Who will this impact?

The Department of Finance, Services and Innovation estimate there are 6,000 individuals who made claims before June 19 2012 who may be due further injury compensation under the new regulation.  Most compensation claim lawyers operate on a no win, no fee policy, where we will absorb the upfront costs and subtract them from the final settlement if your claim is successful. If your claim is rejected, you will incur no costs from the proceedings

That is why safety work wear is compulsory for workers

Safety work wear has become an inescapable part of life for numerous unsafe occupations, mostly in light of progressively strict health and safety at work laws. Wherever you turn there is a tradesman in a high visibility jacket, or a construction worker with safety boots and thick leather gloves. This has also given rise to a massive market for commercially positioned safety work wear thrives on the necessities of these businesses.

Safety work wear has grown in popularity over the last several decades as trade and employment become more and more government regulated. With a shift towards safety and caring for employees rather than maximizing profits, a huge demand has been created for protective clothing and garments in the work environment.

Safety wear has become an increasingly popular choice for many, and a necessity for employers working above the law in recent years. But it's not just a necessity in legal terms. It is also essential for the protection and prevention of injury to employees, and practically speaking, for the avoidance of legal action.

Personalized or branded staff work wear is becoming more common in the UK, and has benefits for both staff and the company. It's one of those very rare situations in life and especially business: a win-win situation.

WORKERS ARE FEELING SAFETY NOW:

Taking care of employees is a fundamental part of the responsibility of any company, not just from a moral and personal point of view but because it also makes good business sense too. A happy and safe employee is a good employee. By personalizing the work wear, staff are getting the protection they need and there are also some handy branding and marketing benefits for the company too.                                                                                   The work wear you provide staff needs to be tailored and chosen according to the safety needs of your business. This can be established by carrying out risk assessments and by talking to the staff on the front line. Depending on the needs of the staff, the work wear you choose can either be general or task specific.

EXAMINE:

Work wear also has the benefit of increasing visibility for both other staff and for members of the public and clients. A branded work wear vest or tunic will identify workers in key areas. The presence of a logo or branding can also help people to identify staff. This is very important for customers who may have queries and for anyone working in environments where heavy loads are moved around.

A uniformed work wear also increase the sense of rapport and team spirit amongst employees. There's a reason teams at the World Cup all wear the same kits, after all. Having the logo on the appropriate work wear also engenders a sense of pride and belonging amongst individual employees. Knowing that you are representing the company and that you have been valued as a member of staff is great for employee efficiency and morale.

There are, of course, obvious advantages for brand awareness, promotion and marketing by using work wear too. By having your logo or contact details on all work wear, you are more visible to the public, especially if employees are in the public domain during and after the work day.

CONCLUSION

So, as you can see, along with the obvious (and sometimes legally required) benefits of providing staff with work wear, there are a number of associated benefits for all parties. For a small investment in equipment, you can ensure your staff are treated well, you have complied with legislation and have the added benefit of some low cost marketing opportunities. There aren't many times in business when decisions seem to make themselves but this would appear to be one of them.

SAFETY HELMETS

Hard Hats and Safety Helmets Are Essential Protection

Literally no one is willing to argue against wearing hard hats and safety helmets in construction areas nowadays. It has become so engrained in us now that seeing someone walking around a construction site without the protective head gear on would create quite an outrage.

In this installment on safety helmets, we want to not necessarily rate the helmet itself, but rather this particular vendor who seems to carry just about any and every kind of protective head gear on the planet. In fact, and this is what caught our attention, they even go so far as to customize the gear to reflect your "true" personality!

For example, if you want a helmet with flames, to reflect your ‘hot' nature, they have it. Or, if your company wants a customized and prominent large company logo placed on the front or side they can do that as well.

HELMET RULE IN INDIA

Observing that it was disheartening to note that a number of precious lives are lost due to non-wearing of protective headgear, the Madras High Court today made it clear that wearing of helmets by two-wheeler riders is a must and documents including driving license must be impounded in case of failure to do so.

The judge said impounded documents would be released on showing the receipt of purchase of a helmet with ISI certificate.

    

The court directed the central government to go into the details of the design of the helmets to provide clear visibility for the wearer of helmet

Failure to Sustain Proper LEV Systems to Guard Workers Can Be Expensive

If workers are likely to be showing to substances that could damage their health owners must abide by the UK's COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) regulations, which state that appropriate abstraction systems must be installed and frequently verified and maintained.

Among the events that could either use or produce harmful substances are welding, wood working, controlling chemicals in laboratories and the forms of substances that can cause problems range from dusts, such as sawdust, chemicals, fumes and gases, biological agents or fine mists.

Dependent on its variety of activity a business will install Local Exhaust Ventilation Systems (LEVs), which typically will include an removal hood, filter system, fans and ducting to take the substance away.

This may sound expensive but the consequences of failing to pay adequate attention to COSHH requirements can also be costly as this case study from the Health and Safety Executive illustrates.

A worker at a large company in Gloucestershire developed severe asthma after regularly inhaling rosin-based solder. A court found that the company had failed to install fume extraction equipment to remove fumes from the air or to substitute a rosin free solder and the company was fined £100,000 plus £30,000 costs.

Plainly an employer wants to be sure that any LEV equipment installed is both cost effective and working correctly to extract fumes properly. The regulations state that the equipment must be maintained in efficient working order so it continues to provide the necessary protection.

LEV testing must be carried out at least every 14 months, although most companies have the systems tested annually and the records of LEV testing must be kept for at least five years.

Also the company must keep information on the installed LEV system to confirm it provides adequate protection, for the lifetime of the equipment. This information is likely to include the intended or designed performance of your system such as hood type and position relative to the process, airflow and other measurements.

It will provide the person carrying out the tests with the basic data they need to ensure that the LEV system is performing to its specification and is adequate for the job it is intended to do.

Carrying out a thorough examination and test of LEV equipment needs specialist skills and most businesses engage someone with specialist knowledge, experience and skills. A good guide to their competence is whether they have undergone P601 training provided by the British Occupational Hygiene Society.

The training covers a basic understanding of the principles of the design of ventilation systems and the differences in performance between general and local exhaust systems.

After training an examiner should be able to carry out the correct measurements to check the system's effectiveness and identify when air sampling is required to determine adequate control.

If an existing system has not been commissioned properly they will also be able to carry out appropriate measurements to assess the effectiveness of such a system and document the results.

A specialist commercial cleaning service that offers testing as well as being able to advise on maintenance frequency as well as cleaning and to demonstrate a high level of its staff's COSHH and LEV training will ensure an employer is both complying with the law and that the equipment is running at maximum efficiency to keep workers safe and costs down

Matchless Gifts for Office Workers

With Christmas just round the corner, everybody is shopping online for gifts. If you're in an office, you identify that many people purchase gifts for coworkers. If you're the chief, you might feel obligated to purchase a gift for your office workers.

This is particularly true in small offices with 20 or less workers. Gifts are not obligatory, but a small gift can be just what that worker needs to feel respected and stop the job search.

There are many different kinds of gifts for office workers. If you're considering for a even gift that is impersonal, you can give someone a candy and chocolate basket or a gift certificate.

If you're looking for something more personal you could get one of your office workers a coffee cup that means something to them. Another more personal gift is anything that you could engrave. Engraved items are one of the most personal things you can give someone. Another great item for the personal touch is something that only the two of you have in common or an inside joke.

If you're office is the kind of place where people have fun and like to have fun, there are many different lists that have crazy gifts for office workers. To find these lists, try typing "crazy gifts for office workers" into Google and see what you find.

These crazy gifts for office workers include some flying planes and helicopters that you can fly over the cubicle walls. Also available are lightweight foam planes that have rechargeable batteries and can fly around the office.

Similar to the planes and helicopter gifts are the USB powered cars that drive around your desk and the USB powered mini lava lamp.

Need to file your business cards? How about a business card holder shaped like a filing cabinet with real opening doors and locks.

Want to know if someone is spying on you? How about a frequency detector that will light up LED lights if it detects a frequency nearby