by Dave Kaplan

The summer is over, we've hired a new Training Coordinator to succeed Herb Sherburne, and your Board met on September 20th to cover a laundry list of issues.  As always, this column just outlines a piece of everything going on with your Association.  I'll try giving you a bit of a summary of things going on.

Rules Under Development.  Some 23 bills affecting workers' compensation and safety passed during the 2007 Legislative Session.  While not all of them require rules to be developed, a number of them do.  In addition, there are rules that have been under consideration for some time now.  The most significant rules now in the development process (or under consideration) include: vocational rehabilitation; "claims suppression", with definitions of both "bona fide safety program" and "first aid" being written into the workers' comp WAC's; financial requirements to become self-insured (making it a bit more flexible); workers' comp claims file confidentiality; experience rating the Second Injury Fund; the SIEDRS data collection requirement (effective July 1, 2008); worker employment patterns, for setting wages and time loss compensation; adoption of the most recent mortality tables (which separate men and women into two tables); Independent Medical Evaluations; heat stress; and crane safety.  Please watch for emails and phone calls from the Association asking for you to serve on a rule development committee.  We'll definitely need your help to ensure that the rules are workable and fair.

This will be particularly true regarding the Vocational Rehabilitation proposal that passed.  WSIA has already sent out the draft rules, and needs your help develop our feedback and suggestions to the Department in the crafting of the rules.  Please respond with your thoughts no later than close of business on Wednesday, October 31, 2007.  If you haven't received a copy of the materials, please email me at dave.kaplan@wsiassn.org.

New WSIA Training Coordinator Named.  After a brief hiccup in the process of replacing Herb Sherburne, WSIA is very pleased to announce the hiring of Bonnie (Ingersoll) Prater as WSIA's new Training Coordinator.  Bonnie has an extensive background in workers' compensation and training, is a very creative person, and energetic as well.  You'll be hearing and seeing more from her during the course of the year.  Please welcome her aboard.  She can be reached via email at bonnie.prater@wsiassn.org if you have training issues.

Meeting with Judy Schurke.  As is outlined in President Sherri Phillip's column, we held our first of many quarterly meetings with DLI Director Judy Schurke and some of the key Department staffers.  We're pleased to once again be able to address our issues and concerns at the highest level.  Many of our concerns were of concern to Judy as well, so we feel good about potential changes to get at the root of some our more vexing and frustrating challenges (though not all).

Legislative Issues Developing.  While not quite finalized, both WSIA and the Employer Coalition are beginning to focus our attention on the most important of many issues we would like to see addressed by the Legislature.  Most notable is the emphasis on finding a solution to even part of the "wage simplification/wage calculation" problem.  We believe that, if there's a reasonable proposal, we might be able to leverage Department support, though they haven't given any indication that that is the case.  Please watch your LegLink emails when they start up again in late December or early January 2008, just before the 2008 Legislative Session.

Supplemental Pension Fund & Other Assessments.  Assessments Committee Chair Brian Earl of ESD #121 and myself have met with the Department to review the PriceWaterhouseCoopers evaluation of the Supplemental Pension Fund assessment.  It only took a number of YEARS to get the data from the Department to have a fair evaluation performed.  The Assessments Committee will meet some time this fall to discuss the findings and discussions with the Department on the SPF and other assessments paid by the self-insured employer community.  Watch for email notices and the WSIA website for more information as it becomes available.

WSIA Training Programs Submitted for DLI CEC's.  WSIA submitted nearly all of our training programs for the 2007-08 program year to the Department's Curriculum Review Committee to see how many Continuing Education Credits they will award.  We are in the process of doing the same thing for our conferences and our region meetings.  Thus far, that committee has met twice, but has not yet evaluated any of the programs submitted.  They meet the first Thursday of each month, and a determination on the number of credits will be communicated within a week of that review.  WSIA will inform the membership of how many credits are awarded for each program as that information becomes available to us.  Non-WSIA programs may also be submitted by individuals directly to the Department, and they will considered for credit as well.

There are many other things going on, but those listed above are by far the most significant to bring to your attention for now.

Please check back here once a month for updated thoughts and a rundown of what your Association is doing on behalf of your organization!

Posted 19 October 2007

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