Five Things You Need to Know: 12/5, Wednesday Edition

Las Vegas, NV (WorkersCompensation.com) -

1) Robots to Take on Some Cleaning Responsibilities at Walmart

A San Diego startup company has helped make the idea of  “robotic janitors” come true, writes Pavel Apleyev of Bloomerang. Walmart will recruit 360 “autonomous floor-scrubbing robots” to help clean a some of its stores in a testing phase. “…The robots, which look like a cross between a miniature Zamboni and a motorized wheel chair, already scrub floors at airports in Seattle, San Diego, Boston and Miami,” Brain Chief Executive Office Eugene Izhikevich said. 

2) NWCDC Lights Up the Strip in Las Vegas

The National Workers' Compensation and Disability Conference (NWCDC) starts today at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas. Yesterday included a pre-conference session with speaker Paul Braun, Managing Director of Aon, and Monica Manske, Senior Manager of Work Comp (Safety and Ergonomics) at Rochester Regional Health, and an event run by the Alliance of Women in Workers’ Compensation. Today brings plenty of options for each kind of stakeholder in the work comp industry, including Olympian gold medal winner gymnast Shannon Miller as the keynote at 8:30 a.m. in South Pacific C. Another interesting session with Stuart Colburn, (Shareholder, Downs Stanford) and Marcos Iglesias (SVP, Chief Medical Officer, Broadspire) will cover “Marijuana, Workers' Compensation and Disability: What's the Science and the Law?” at 2:30 p.m. in Islander F-H. Click here to read up on WorkersCompensation.com pre-event coverage, and follow us here and on Twitter at @wcconnections for a timely look at all the Vegas happenings.

3) UPS Senior Director of Global Risk Management at UPS and WCRI President to Talk Opioids Today at NWCDC

In pre-coverage for NWCDC, there is another event to watch out for today. Michael Fenlon, Senior Director, Global Risk Management at United Parcel Service; and WCRI President and CEO John Ruser will speak at 2:30 p.m. regarding “New Insights for Mitigating Opioid Prescribing’s Impact on Injured Workers” in South Pacific F. WorkersCompensation.com caught up with Ruser, who told us he is honored to speak at NWCDC, as well as other conferences across the country. “…I will be sharing our latest opioid research on common prescribing patterns, injury type, industry and worker demographics,” he said. “Michael will share proven strategies to help risk managers and claims managers assist injured workers avoid opioids’ pitfalls and help workers return to work without dependency or prolonged absences.”

4) Average Weekly Wage (for Injured Workers) to Increase in FL for the New Year

The average weekly wage for injured workers is about to increase, as of the New Year, writes Louise Esola of Business Insurance. “…The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced that the statewide average weekly wage paid to injured workers by employers will be $939 starting Jan. 1,” per the article. $917 was the amount for 2018, per the Florida Division of Work Comp.

5) Spring 2019: NCCI to Host Residual Market Forum

“It's time for current and future workers' compensation servicing carriers and direct assignment carriers to register for the NCCI Residual Market Forum (formerly NCCI's Assigned Carrier Conference). This event provides a key opportunity for sharing knowledge and networking with regulators and other residual market partners,” according to NCCI Public Relations and Communications Director Dean Dimke. The event will be held mid-February 2019 at the Hilton West in Palm Beach, FL. For more information, click here. 

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