From Bob's Cluttered Desk

It is time to review the accuracies of last year’s annual (or occasionally semi-annual) predictions for the future. As per usual, I did not get many things right, but I see no reason for that to discourage me from trying it again. I published my “Top Ten” predictions for 2018 on January 10, 2018. I feel compelled…

One topic in Nancy Grover’s inaugural “5 Things You Need to Know” segment on this website this morning really caught my eye. She writes about the just released Bureau of Labor Statistics report outlining workplace deaths for the year 2017. She reports that there was a 25% increase in “unintentional workplace overdose deaths” that year.…

It is one of the least considered factors in any political campaign; at least when it comes to the average voter in any given state. As citizens turn out to the polls to elect their next governor, they are not just selecting a “one man or woman” band. They are choosing a new administration, with…

Truth be told, our recap of the weird this week has nothing to do with the holidays, but since I likely won’t be posting anything next week, I had to make something sound festive. Might as well be the title. This was another banner week for the wacky and absurd. We had a Chinese man…

Today is a day that not many people get the opportunity to see. It is my father’s 99th birthday, and statistically it is not a common event. In our family, however, there is precedent. We are blessed with good genes, with grandparents who lived into their 90’s on both sides of the family. My father’s father…

I had a strange feeling going in. Something wasn’t quite right; everything to this point had gone too smoothly.  I just knew it was too good to be true. The set up for the latest Hot Seat Webinar, entitled “The Faces of Kids’ Chance: A Life Changing Organization” had gone smoothly enough. The guests had readily…

Since one of the topics covered in this blog is technology in the workers’ compensation industry, I have been granted a press pass at the CES2019 in Las Vegas next month. CES, colloquially known as the Consumer Electronics Show, is the largest technology-based conference and exhibit in the world. Last year it was attended by…

A story that made a big impact this week on social media and elsewhere, that involves a human heart left in an airplane cargo hold and a flight rerouted to deliver it, is a lesson that perceptions can be more important than reality. The story about the misdirected heart has evolved a bit, and it is interesting…

We spend a lot of time in the workers’ compensation industry griping about jurisdictional forms. They are often complex, and some are poorly designed with fields too small to accommodate the information they demand. The biggest issue, for many people, is that no two forms are alike, even though they may require the same information…

For the many people who have been advocating a shift in our workers’ compensation claims handling philosophy the last few years, this year’s National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference in Las Vegas was not a disappointment. The “Advocacy Based Claims” movement received front and center attention this year, with conference Chair Roberto Ceniceros noting during…