According to the Ohio Industrial Commission's 2007 Production Activity report, the BWC recorded more than 199,000 new injury, occupational disease, and death claims last year. The Industrial Commission is the agency that hears appeals of BWC orders and conducts hearings on other issues. Our office is most often asked to represent employers in hearings before the Industrial Commission. This is the phase where a hearing is held regarding an issue in the claim.

In 2007, the Industrial Commission heard a total of 178,172 claims at its various levels, 70% of which were heard by District Hearing Officers (first-level hearing) while the remainder were heard at higher levels. An average of 732 claims were heard per day at the District and Staff Hearing Officer levels statewide. The issue predominately heard by District Hearing Officers was allowance or non-allowance of an injury as covered by workers compensation.

These statistics show how busy the Industrial Commission is on a day-to-day basis. This should serve as a reminder to employers and their legal counsel of the importance of being prepared to present their claims in an organized, logical and concise manner at hearing. The preparation begins on the date the employer first learns of the alleged injury. Employers should review their workers compensation policies and evaluate whether the policies have resulted in effective informationgathering and assessment of alleged injuries in the workplace. For more information, please contact David Riepenhoff at (614) 221-1216 or driepenhoff@dhflaw.com.