The COVID-19 pandemic has been with us for over 9 months now, with no end in sight. As more time passes, the impact on workers compensation is becoming more evident. However, we are still in the early stages of developing claims, and it will be some time before we have clarity on the full impact.

An explosion in a high-rise building in Baltimore injured 23 people Wednesday and temporarily trapped a window washing crew on dangling scaffolding.

One person has been hospitalized and three people remain unaccounted for after a building collapse in Adams County on Wednesday, according to the Adams County Sheriff's Office.

A large explosion at a West Virginia chemical plant flung debris more than a mile away late on Tuesday night, injuring at least four people and forcing a nearby highway and some schools closed, officials said.

A lawsuit has been filed by the family of a Publix deli worker alleging he died of COVID because the Florida based company prohibited employees from wearing masks during the early days of the pandemic.

Congress enacted the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) to provide workers' compensation to specified employees of private maritime employers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been with us for over nine months now, with no end in sight. During this time, we conducted several Out Front Ideas COVID-19 Briefing webinars and The Path Forward virtual conference. These educational events were designed to provide risk managers and others in the industry with a better understanding of how COVID-19 was hitting our industry.

I was on a panel yesterday as part of the National Workers' Compensation Defense Network (NWCDN) Annual Conference. We were discussing life now and in the future in the "virtual world." At one point the topic turned to the challenges of claims management in a virtual environment.

The cost of workers' compensation in the United States is steadily dropping, even as the coverage it provides appears to be rising. The Workers' Compensation Benefits, Costs, and Coverage report examined data from 2018, comparing it with updated data for 2014 through 2017.

Relationships are the most important factor in the workers' compensation industry. Humor me for a moment and reflect on how you came into this space or why you stayed.

The planning and work have been intense. Multiple stages running simultaneous events. State and regional workers' compensation updates. Excellent speakers. Even a series of video shorts discussing what industry experts have learned from COVID.

Claims adjuster Agop Sarafian of La Crescenta, and chiropractor Shahe Topjian, D.C. of Granada Hills were recently arrested on felony insurance fraud charges after allegedly conspiring to defraud Sarafian's employer, the State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund), by setting up fake workers' compensation lien payments to receive undeserved insurance payouts of over $1.6 million.

On September 24, the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) president and CEO John Ruser led a webinar on the delivery of medical care and return to work in the COVID-19 era.

CCMSI, a large boutique third party administrator (TPA), has been providing innovative risk management solutions to thousands of companies for more than 40 years.

If ever there was a headline that made you look at an article, the one appended to this post is probably it. This story has it all.