Bills Propose New Definition of Compensable Injury, Higher Penalty for Safety Violations

Missouri lawmakers introduced bills that would revise the definition of what constitutes a compensable injury and increase the benefit enhancement when an employer’s failure to follow safety standards results in an injury. House Bill 1967, by Rep. Alex Riley, D-Springfield, would require the need for medical treatment for an injury to be compensable. Currently, an injury is compensable when an industrial accident is the prevailing factor in causing both the resulting medical condition and disability. Prevailing factor is defined as the primary factor in relation to other fact...