Premiums businesses pay for workers’ compensation insurance continue to go down in Alaska. Why? The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development attributes the decrease to two major factors — lower medical costs and a reduction in the number of worker claims.

In the latest year for which it has published statistics, the Alaska Division of Workers’ Compensation says there were 17,694 reports of occupational injury and illness in the state in 2018. The vast majority – 79.8 percent were no-lost-time claims, totaling 14,121, the rest, or 3,554 cases, involved time lost from work.

Getting hurt at work can have a great effect on your livelihood, and sadly, it's becoming more and more common. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 7,000 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported among Alaska's private industry employers in 2019, resulting in an incidence rate of 3.5 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers.

Every year, countless workers are affected by carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), repetitive stress injuries affect about 1.8 million workers annually.

A study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that Alaska workers annually average 40 job-related injuries per 1,000 workers. Firefighters have the highest rate of injury (162 injuries per 1,000 workers) followed by law enforcement officers (121 injuries per 1,000 workers).

Generally, any injury you suffer in a workplace situation may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. This includes not only those tasks that are part of your job description, but also may cover injuries at workplace social events and certain examples of travel on company time or in a company car.

Often, people think of a construction site or a blue-collar job which requires heavy lifting when they think about workplace accidents. However, these accidents can occur in all sorts of fields, and those who work in dentistry are exposed to many risks.

Some people target seniors for financial crimes. This can be someone the senior knows, such as a friend or family member, or an outside party that misrepresents itself to gain a person’s trust.

When a resident in Alaska decide it is time to create or update their estate plans, one of the things they will need to address is the identification of an executor for their will. This is a decision that should not be taken lightly as being named an executor of a person’s estate is not a privilege but a responsibility.

Employees who engage in a lot of physical movement risk injuring themselves while on the clock. The state of Alaska allows individuals who suffered a debilitating injury or who developed a disease as a result of dangerous chemical exposure to seek financial compensation.