Business Insurance - Mississippi’s House and Senate passed a workers compensation bill Monday that would require employees to prove that their injuries were work-related, among other reforms. S.B. 2576 requires workers comp claimants to give their employers medical evidence of the "direct causal connection" between their jobs and their injuries or occupational diseases. It also allows employers to order drug and alcohol testing for injured workers who are under "reasonable suspicion" of abusing such substances at the time of their accident.

The Tennessean - Crews responded to a house on fire at 3 a.m. this morning in North Nashville, according to Metro’s dispatch department. No one was inside the home in the 1800 block of 14th Ave. North when the fire occurred according to Ricky Taylor of the Nashville Fire Department. There was no power, but the home had furniture and other household items inside. “This thing was roaring out the front when they got there,’’ Taylor said. “We didn’t know if anyone was there or not, so we began an aggressive search and extinguishment process.’’

Insurance Journal - Illinois’ troubled system for compensating injured state workers hands out money too readily, sometimes without medical evidence to back up a claim and occasionally paying benefits the hurt employee didn’t even seek, according to an audit released on April 25. Auditor General William Holland suggested lawmakers follow up last year’s overhaul of the workers’ compensation system with further improvements in a report that found information about the process “incomplete, inaccurate, and inconsistent.”

Insurance Networking News - The workers’ comp industry hasn’t had a profitable underwriting year since 2006, according to Conning Research & Consulting. And while the economic recovery and rate increases will boost premiums, Conning expects—just as in recent years—rising medical costs and the increased utilization of drugs to re-introduce the threat of inflation in loss costs and reduce profitability even further. The firm’s recent report, “Workers’ Compensation: A Bumpy Road from Recession to Recovery,” indicates that the line has been affected by falling investment yields, creating headwinds against overall profitability.

Insurance Journal - A Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy in Washington is suing the Lynnwood Police Department over a dog bite. Deputy Marcus Dill says Lynnwood police failed to properly train the K-9 officer and his dog, Sandor. Sandor bit Dill on the leg in 2009 when they were working together, and the wound required stitches and caused him to miss some work. The Daily Herald reported Lynnwood police declined to comment on the lawsuit.

wmur.com - An employee was killed when a keg exploded at the Redhook Brewery in Portsmouth on Tuesday morning. Fire officials said the man, identified as Ben Harris, was pressuring kegs with air as part of a cleaning process just after 7 a.m. when a keg exploded into two pieces. The man was hit in his chest and head. "It ruptured, and parts of the keg struck him in the chest and the head," said fire Assistant Chief Steven Achilles. "He sustained serious injuries to his chest and head."

ky3.com - The United States Postal Service is putting the bite on mail service. It has nothing to do with postal agency cuts but unrestrained canines. ationwide, Springfield ranks 23rd when it comes to dog attacks on postal workers. They average about 12 dog attacks a year. Because of a handful of dogs, a neighborhood near Kearney Street at Glenstone Avenue is no longer getting mail delivered to their homes. "I get quite a bit of mail. I sent out a lot of mail. I pay all my bills manually," said Todd Magness. For the past few weeks, Magness says his mailbox has been empty.

The Weather Channel - This preseason forecast calls for 11 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale). These forecast numbers are below the long-term average from 1950-2011 (12 named storms, 7 hurricanes, 3 major hurricanes) and well below the averages for the current active era from 1995-2011 (15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, 4 major hurricanes). “After very active tropical seasons in 2010 and 2011, we expect fewer storms to develop this hurricane season,” said Weather Services International (WSI), a part of The Weather Channel Companies, Chief Meteorologist Dr. Todd Crawford.

Business Insurance - The Pittsburgh Steelers had a right to contest a former player’s workers compensation claim and therefore do not have to pay the player’s attorney fees, a Pennsylvania appellate court said last week. In Chidi Iwuoma vs. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, Mr. Iwuoma sought to have his attorney fees paid after the Steelers contested his disability benefit award. Mr. Iwuoma played for the Steelers at various points between 2002 and 2007, with a few short stints with other National Football League teams during that time. Mr. Iwuoma was cut from the Steelers in 2007.

abc15.com - Authorities say seven employees of a north Phoenix bagel shop were being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning Saturday. Phoenix fire Capt. Dorian Jackson said two workers went home sick earlier in the day and one went to the hospital where blood tests showed high levels of carbon monoxide. The hospital called the Phoenix Fire Department and dispatchers called the Einstein Brothers Bagels store at 7th Street and Bell Road and told workers to get everyone outside.