LS202

LS202  --   Never heard of this Longshore form?  Perhaps you or your clients need to know about it now or at least need a reminder.   Officially it is titled “Employer's First Report of Injury” – note carefully that first word “Employer’s”

“The LS202 is to be filed in duplicate with the District Director in the appropriate district office of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs within 10 days from the date of injury or death or from the date the employer first has knowledge of an injury or death….. Penalties may be charged for failure to comply with provisions of the law.”

“REPORTABLE INJURY – Any accidental injury which causes loss of one or more shifts of work or death allegedly arising out of and in the course of employment, including any occupational disease or infection believed or alleged to have arisen naturally out of compensation it must also file”

The responsibility for this lies with the insured.   This is common practice for Shipyards, Stevedores and the like who are used to Longshore claims.   But for those businesses who have few Longshore claims this can easily be forgotten.  The penalties are severe; the DOL has the ability to fine up to $11,000 PER CLAIMANT for this.   One insured whose Longshore exposure is a small part of their business, is being pursued for 7 such claims where they forgot to file and that bill could be as much as $77,000!

It simple to file online,  at http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/ls-202.pdf or print it out and fax it (if you still have a fax).   But however you file, make sure your client keeps a proof of the filing so it the DOL misplace the form, you have proof you filed within the required period.

WATCH OUT THE FINES ARE COMING….   Send this notice to ALL your clients with Longshore exposure (even incidental) to make sure they know that the Longshore act makes this clearly their responsibility, not the insurance companies.

One other benefit is that filing the LS202 starts the statute running on the Longshore claim.  The employee has 12 months to file their Longshore claim once you have filed that form.    The only problem with this scenario is that typically if they have not filed their claim in a reasonable period of time, the DOL will likely write to the employee asking them if they want to file a Longshore claim.   Take advice from you Adjuster or Attorney on filing the form for this purpose based on the individual facts of that claim.

CARRIERS – a suggestion,  why not ask not only for a copy of the LS202, but the record of filing  not only will this help your ultimate customers, but also help in processing claims with the DOL.   Try, for example, applying for the DOL to approve a settlement on a claim on which they don’t even have a LS202.

I know that we all love forms – but the penalties for NOT filing this far outweigh the time it takes

Happy filing.

Security Guards Round 2

Following the expansion of Longshore into the security world in K.L. v. Blue Marine Security BRB No. 08-0789 (Apr. 16, 2009) (see this blog June 2009 for details) the BRB has further expanded the definition in Gelinas v. Electric Boat Corp., 45 BRBS 69 (2011) –

Security guard may be covered if his work is “integral to shipbuilding”

In 1984 Congress expressly excluded from Longshore coverage “individuals employed exclusively to perform office clerical, secretarial, security, or data processing work…. [provided such persons are covered by State workers’ compensation laws]. The Benefits Review Board has taken every opportunity, however, to limit this exclusion as applied to security guards.

Tim Gelinas was employed as a security guard at his employer’s facility that builds submarines, in Rhode Island. The employer requires security guards obtain an emergency medical technician (EMT) certificate. During the regular work week, Gelinas is primarily assigned to the entry gates of employer’s facility; during weekends, claimant performs security rounds through employer’s submarine production areas. In addition to his usual security-related duties, as an EMT he is required to respond to medical incidents that occur at employer’s facility. He filed a hearing loss claim on April 21, 2010.

Generally, a claimant satisfies the “status” requirement if he is an employee at least some of whose work is integral to the loading, unloading, constructing, or repairing of vessels.

The Board has held that the term “exclusively” modifies all four classifications of work listed in this exclusion. Dobey, 33 BRBS at 65 n.7. It has also concluded that the term “office” also modifies those classifications of work

The Board then parsed the evidence and nitpicked the ALJs factfindings. It seems the Board too often ignores the Act’s limitations on its power and prohibition from substituting its view of the facts from that of the ALJ. In its closing paragraph the Board wrote, “We remand the case for the ALJ to determine if claimant’s work is integral to the shipbuilding process. He should discuss the evidence relevant to the status issue, make appropriate findings based on the relevant law and evidence, and give a written explanation of the reasons and basis for his findings of fact and conclusions of law. If, on remand, the ALJ finds that claimant’s work is integral to the shipbuilding process, he should resolve any other issues raised by the parties.”

This decision is even more difficult to square with the Board’s earlier decision in Gelinas v. Electric Boat Corp., 44 BRBS 85 (2010), in which the Board held that an occupational health nurse (no relation to Tim Gelinas) failed to establish her work was integral to shipbuilding and thus not entitled to benefits. We wonder what the Board will do if, on remand, the ALJ reaches the same conclusion and denies benefits again. Stay tuned, this one may not be over.

Seabright Sold

Enstar Group Limited (Nasdaq:ESGR) and SeaBright Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBX)  jointly announced August 27th that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Enstar will acquire SeaBright for $11.11 per share in cash. The purchase price represents a 34.3% premium over SeaBright's closing stock price today of $8.27.

Seabright Holdings is the parent of Longshore and WC Insurer Seabright Insurance Company and MGA “Pointsure”.

According the their joint press release the acquisition is currently expected to close in the first quarter of 2013.

Read the full press release on Seabright’s website at http://investor.sbxhi.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=702618

OSHA "Tool Shed" directive for marine cargo handling

WASHINGTON – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on August 10th 2012  issued a revised directive* providing enforcement guidance for inspections of Longshoring operations and at marine terminals, also known as the marine cargo handling industry. The directive is aimed at eliminating workplace hazards in the industry by addressing updated requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE) and the safe operation of Vertical Tandem Lifts (VTLs).

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, seven workers died and more than 2,900 were injured performing marine cargo handling operations in 2010. OSHA is committed to reducing and eliminating these worker injuries, illnesses and fatalities by conducting focused interventions in the industry.

The new "Tool Shed" directive is available at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVES&p_id=3349

CMIP Seminar - Houston,TX - October 15-16, 2012

St. Petersburg, FL, - LIG Marine Managers' sister company, LIG Educational & Consulting Services, in conjunction with the International Institute for Marine Insurance Studies, announces the next 2012 CMIP Seminar for those individuals working towards earning the Certified Marine Insurance Professional (CMIP) Designation.

The CMIP Designation is designed for agents, brokers, CSRs, Insurance Company Personnel, Underwriters or other insurance industry professionals who wish to expand their knowledge of the Commercial Marine Insurance industry. The CMIP Designation requires attendance at four 1½-day Seminars and successfully passing a short exam at the end of each Seminar.

The next CMIP Seminar, "Insuring Marine Employees", is being held October 15-16, 2012 in Houston, TX at the Sheraton North Houston Hotel. Topics for this dynamic seminar include "various exposures to Marine Employees" with practical "How to Guides" on properly insuring them, the essential policies and programs available to this sector, and delving into the tricky issues of "Payroll Allocation, Officer and Owner Exclusions, Common Endorsements: advantages/disadvantages, and Auditing techniques."

The speakers for these seminars include:
Ian Greenway, LIG President - Insuring Marine Employees

Richard Wood, Chief Operating Officer, Signal Mutual Indemnity Association - Mutuality in Longshore and P&I

Kenneth Baldwin, Chief Underwriting Officer, Travelers
- Protection & Indemnity

For more information and to REGISTER ONLINE, visit www.IIMIS.org

If you need further assistance, please contact Karen Tischler: KLT@LIGMarine.com or (415) 690-6214.

Recreational Marine Regulations. “Sinking the Marine Industry” ?

WASHINGTON:  Congressman Allen West (R-FL) chaired a hearing yesterday,  July 12th, entitled “Sinking the Marine Industry: How Regulations are Affecting Today’s Maritime Business” as part of the House Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations . 

West’s constituent, Kristina Hebert, Chief Operating Officer, Ward’s Marine Electric, Inc,. in Fort Lauderdale, testified on behalf of the United States Superyacht Association. Hebert, said  “The new rules have created confusion in both the recreational marine repair industry and the insurance industry,” Hebert said. “The misapplication of the exemption brought thousands of workers under the duplicative coverage or even worse left them without any coverage at all. For these reasons, the rulemaking seriously missed the mark and will serve only to cost American jobs and drive economic activity offshore.”

Congress are at least listening to the concerns of the Marine Industry

For more information from Congressman's website and links to the written testimony and video go to http://allenwestrepublic.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/rep-allen-west-statement-sinking-the-marine-industry-how-regulations-are-affecting-todays-martime-business/

MEL Mononline Market Changes

Over the last few months two significant players in the MEL market have stopped writing.   One stopped everything and the other just MEL.     Whilst there are still approximately 20 or so underwriters of monoline MEL today in London and the US, these two had significant shares of the market and so we expect to see some shift in pricing in three areas:

1.            The high risk, hard, heavy "working" MEL - here pricing will go up.

2.            The very low hazard "if any" type of risk where minimum premium are rising.

3.            Risks which were perceived by one of the departing markets as "soft"/low risk accounts, which other underwriters might see as hard

The first of these will be very much dependent on the account, but do expect more detailed questions on individual claims especially if still open. 

The second may only be a rise of $500 - $1,500, but that could be up to 40% of the premium to a small MEL client.

The third and last are the most critical, in one case recently we have a range of quotes on a CLEAN account where the most expensive was 20 times (yes TWENTY times) the lowest, not due to some rate scale, but the perception of the most expensive underwriter was that it fit into Category 1 and the others considered it a Category 2 account.

As with any market change there are three key issues...

Information - especially detailed claims history, explanation of injuries and detailed status on open claims particularly

Time - turning around the best quote for most, today takes a week - something more if there is missing information up front. 

Market Access - are you covering all the markets?    If you are dealing with London, does your Lloyd's broker regularly access the dozen or so underwriters there that write MEL or do they just regularly go to the same one or two?

This is no longer the quick, easy line it was for many clients.  It will take work and preparation for most.

Want to know more about MEL?   

Watch the Webinar at www.ligmarine.com/Video 

Read the article at LongshoreToolbox.com/Files/What_is_MEL.pdf, or

Attend the Insuring Marine Employees Seminar in Houston in October, for more information go to www.iimis.org/SEMS.aspx