CHSWC Releases 2007 Annual Report on California’s Health, Safety and Workers’ Compensation Systems

OAKLAND -- The California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation (CHSWC) has released its thirteenth Annual Report for 2007 of its activities to improve vital programs affecting nearly all Californians. This Annual Report includes CHSWC's recommendations for legislative and administrative changes for the benefit of California’s workers and employers.

CHSWC studies and projects were initially formed to evaluate changes to the system after the implementation of workers’ compensation legislative reforms in the early 1990s and to assess the impact on workers and employers. CHSWC directs its efforts to identify and assess problems and to provide an empirical basis for recommendations and/or further investigations.

The 2007 Annual Report focuses on ongoing efforts to identify system improvements to benefit employers and workers, which include:

• Monitoring the workers' compensation system to determine whether the goals    of the reforms are being realized.
• Measuring and monitoring the impact of reform provisions on medical issues.
• Examining the integration of medical and indemnity benefits.
• Evaluating the benefit delivery reforms, including the revised Permanent Disability

Rating Schedule, temporary disability benefits, and apportionment.

• Evaluating changes to return-to-work programs.
• Identifying potential avenues to implement 24-hour care. 
• Working with the California Department of Insurance and key stakeholders to develop recommendations for Insurance Commissioner Poizner on ways to reduce or eliminate fraud in the workers’ compensation system.
• Providing training on injury prevention for high hazard industries and those with significant hazards.
• Providing information for workers and employers on the health and safety and    workers’ compensation systems.
• Examining the effectiveness of combining occupational injury-reduction efforts    with health-promotion “wellness” programs.
• Identifying ways to improve efficiency of workers’ compensation administration.

CHSWC is charged with examining the health and safety and workers' compensation systems in California and recommending administrative or legislative modifications to improve their operation.  CHSWC was established to conduct a continuing examination of the workers' compensation system and of the state's activities to prevent industrial injuries and occupational diseases and to examine those programs in other states.

Information about CHSWC and the 2007 Annual Report is available on the CHSWC web site www.dir.ca.gov/chswc, by contacting CHSWC by writing to 1515 Clay Street, Room 901, Oakland, 94612; by phone at (510) 622-3959: by fax at (510) 622-3265; or by email chswc@dir.ca.gov.