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Swiss Re: Natural Catastrophe Insured Losses Nearly Doubled in 2017

Preliminary sigma estimates for insured global losses resulting from natural and man-made disasters in 2017 are around $136 billion, well-above the annual average of the previous 10 years, and the third highest since sigma records began in 1970. Total economic …

Amtrak Train Brake Automatically Activated in Fatal Washington Derailment

Investigators are looking into whether the Amtrak engineer whose speeding train plunged off an overpass, killing at least three people, was distracted by the presence of an employee-in-training next to him in the locomotive, a federal official said Tuesday. The …

Oregon City’s Businesses Frustrated by Delayed Flood Maps

For the past two years, Cheri Lerma of Cheri’s Cafe & Cannon Beach Cookie has spent almost $10,000 on flood insurance she knows she doesn’t need. As a part of a countywide study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, preliminary …

New Car Buyers Don’t Seek out Safety Tech, but Happy to Have it

A new telematics study by LexisNexis Risk Solutions found that most car buyers don’t seek out advanced safety and connectivity features in new cars, however 76 percent of connected car owners are pleased when they discover the benefits of having …

Louisiana Firm’s Co-Owner Pleads Guilty in Industrial Site Explosion

One of the owners of a company that abandoned thousands of tons of potentially explosive artillery propellant in Louisiana has admitted lying in order to be awarded federal contracts to “demilitarize” the smokeless powder, known as M6. Explo Systems co-owner …

House Lawmakers Paid $342K in Workplace Discrimination Settlements Over 4 Years

Newly-released statistics show taxpayers paid more than $342,000 to settle workplace discrimination disputes at House lawmakers’ offices between 2008 and 2012, including nearly $175,000 for eight settlements related to sexual harassment and sex discrimination accusations. The new numbers were released …

Nuclear Regulator Downplays Safety Warnings

The federal agency responsible for safety at the nation’s 61 nuclear power plants routinely downplays warnings from plant workers and its own experts about problems, including some with potential for disaster, a Better Government Association investigation found. Employees from U.S. …

How Federal Pain Management Rules Will Affect Workers’ Comp

Genex recently released a brief overview of the Joint Commission’s new pain management protocols. According to Mark Pew, senior vice president of PRIUM, a division of Genex Services, the new pain management protocol goes into effect January 1. “That means …

Holiday Season Poses Hazards

As the nation gears up to decorate their homes for the holiday season, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reminds consumers of decorating dangers and provides tips for a safe holiday. CPSC demonstrated some of the hazards, including Christmas …

Amtrak Train Derailed on New, Faster Route That Drew Concern

A Washington community along the new rail line where an Amtrak train derailed in a deadly crash had tried to stop the project on grounds higher-speed passenger trains would endanger pedestrians and motorists. The city of Lakewood, several miles north …

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