New publication to focus on industrial injury management

Leslie Bell and Sharolyn Wilson, partners in Nevada Industrial Review, say their new publication fills a gap that was left when the state privatized its workers compensation system nearly 10 years ago.

Employers and any workers injured on the job need a source of information about pertinent laws and resources, they say, and their newsletter is a forum for discussion and education on industrial health, wellness and injury management.

"When Nevada became a private state, we made a huge mistake in not asking private insurers to provide these services," says Bell.

Specifically, she says, the state fund was also a provider of training and risk management tools before the system was privatized in 1999.

While subscriptions to Nevada Industrial Review cost $50 a year, the Web site's section for injured workers will always be free. And the entire first edition, to be posted at NVIR.biz, will allow free access to content from August through September.

The newsletter carries advertising and the first edition sold out, says Bell.

The recent deaths on the huge CityCenter Project in Las Vegas served to spotlight the need for preventing accidents and improve the way inured workers are treated, she says.

After decades in the business, the partners currently process claims for injured workers; Bell at Manpower Inc. and Wilson as an independent claims specialist.

The company also plans educational seminars such as a medical conference plus training sessions for the adolescent work force, says Wilson, pointing to the high rate of teens killed in construction accidents.

The conferences will be a second profit center for Nevada Industrial Review. Drawing on her experience producing 500-plus gatherings for Nevada Self Insured Association, Bell plans bi-annual conferences following each legislative session. The first will be scheduled in Las Vegas, followed by Reno, then Elko.

The newsletter will report on changes in the law created during each legislative session. An injured worker spotlight will detail the success story of someone who regained his footing. Columns by experts will cover subjects such as the rights of undocumented workers.

Finally, subscribers can post to the site's blog.

But that presents a challenge: fear of defamation.

"A lot of things could be attacked," says Bell, who plans to retain editing rights to the blog in order to keep things positive. "We're being very careful to avoid being sued."

The Web site will be updated daily, with current events such as Supreme Court decisions. (B4 Designs of Reno built and maintains the site.)

"We can't find anything similar to this and we've done a lot of research," says Wilson.

The partners point to a potential subscriber base of employers, lawyers, insurers and medical providers. From 100 subscribers in their first year, they expect to build a national subscriber base of 100,000.

But, adds Bell, "Those first subscriptions will be real sweet."