Maryland Workers Comp

Maryland and many other parts of the country are sweating under oppressive heat this summer, with Baltimore temperatures bumping up against 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the area heat index (a combination of heat and humidity) expected to reach as high as 110.

Extreme heat makes construction, landscaping, agriculture, and other outdoor work even more dangerous, as heat-related illness — which can lead to death — can overtake the body quickly. Maryland recently reported its first heat-related death of 2023; in last year’s extreme heat, our state saw five heat-related deaths.

As Maryland Workers’ Compensation lawyers, we’re concerned about the safety and well-being of all our state’s workers. Let’s take a look at what the Maryland Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Labor – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) want employers and workers to know about avoiding heat illness this summer.

The Workers Compensation Insurance Organizations (WCIO) now lists COVID-19 among its reporting codes for Occupational Disease or Cumulative Injury, describing it as “respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus.” The Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission (WCC) began accepting these codes on April 1, 2020, to be used for reporting any claim effective December 2019 or later.

Filing a successful Maryland Workers’ Compensation claim proving employer liability for injury or illness can be very challenging. Proving employer liability for a worker becoming ill in Maryland from COVID-19 — in the middle of a pandemic in a state with community spread — is not necessarily an open-and-shut case.

Articles Tagged with Maryland Workers Comp

Maryland Workers’ Compensation Claims and COVID-19