A total of 8,786 fatal work injuries were reported in 2001, including fatalities related to the September 11th terrorist attacks, according to  the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. A total of 2,886 work-related fatalities resulted from the events of September 11th. Excluding these fatalities, the overall workplace fatality count was 5,900 for 2001

In a decision that could open the doors to lawsuits by employees harmed by exposure to secondhand smoke or other indirect hazards in the workplace, an appeals court Tuesday upheld benefits for a West Milford custodian who died of cancer after exposure to asbestos in a school. 

In several landmark cases the New Jersey Supreme Court redefined the parameters of the Workers' Compensation Act as it applies to occupational illness, scientific evidence, the standard of proof to determine permanency, apportionment of responsibility, exclusivity of remedy and off-premises liability. These areas of the law are also the focus of various New Jersey Appellate Division case decisions as well as several federal court rulings. Some of the decisions rendered by the Supreme Court were the most significant rulings in the history of workers' compensation case law. 

The New Jersey Supreme Court, in a landmark decision that was a year in the making, has taken a big step toward dismantling the exclusivity doctrine of the Workers’ Compensation Act, which immunizes employers from tort liability. The 3-2 decision last Wednesday came in the case of a laborer for a nonunion shop who died when he was run over by a dump truck driven by a worker from a union shop owned by the same principals. The justices said the laborer’s widow can sue the shop that loaned the truck driver even though he is immunized from suit. 

During the 1993-1994 court term, the attention of the New Jersey Supreme Court was on evidential issues while the Appellate Division addressed an entire spectrum of issues arising before the Division of Workers' Compensation. Those issues included conflict of law questions, further definition of the coming and going rule, and apportionment of traumatic and occupational disease claims [as well as issues of credibility. The court also addressed such perennially important issues as dependency benefits, the "fellow servant" rule, casual employment, and psychiatric illness]. The court term marked further reiteration by the reviewing tribunals that permanent disability can be recognized at minimal levels and that a cause of action exists for an occupationally-induced cardiovascular condition.  

The 1992-93 court term produced a group of decisions which focused on some of the novel issues now being presented before the Division of Workers' Compensation. Judicial forums had an opportunity to review many aspects of the law including employment status, psychiatric disability, apportionment of disability in traumatic disease claims among multiple respondents, [the "safety net", the "coming and going rule", liens, the scope of spousal dependency, evidential concerns,] and the scope of the availability of a pension offset for employees of interstate agencies. 

 
The 1992-93 court term produced a group of decisions which focused on some of the novel issues now being presented before the Division of Workers' Compensation. Judicial forums had an opportunity to review many aspects of the law including employment status, psychiatric disability, apportionment of disability in traumatic disease claims among multiple respondents, [the "safety net", the "coming and going rule", liens, the scope of spousal dependency, evidential concerns,] and the scope of the availability of a pension offset for employees of interstate agencies. 

The workers' compensation system was established to provide an expeditious administrative program to provide benefits to the injured worker as a result of an industrial accident or occupational exposure. The benefits are to be awarded with a minimum of delay and regardless of fault. The system provides a direct remedy to the worker and limits litigation and exposure to the employer.

Quantity and quality marked the 1990-1991 Court term, with the entire spectrum of the Workers' Compensation Act, as well as the Rules of the New Jersey Division of Workers' Compensation, the subject of significant decisions. 

The 1989-1990 term provided the court with an opportunity to furnish judicial guidance in interpreting the statutory language of the 1979 Amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act and to expand the principles previously annunciated in prior case law decisions

The 1988-1989 court term has resulted in significant developments in the New Jersey Division of Workers' Compensation. The court has continued to define the scope of employment and the parameters under which remedies are available for the injured employee under the Workers' Compensation Act, and it confirmed the right of employees to obtain relief from employers where fraudulent concealment is an issue. 

 NJ Supreme Court Case Review 1988. Substantial and significant case law development and procedural changes have occurred before the Division of Workers' Compensation during the 1987-1988 court term. Decisions have focused upon the interpretation of the 1979 Amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act in light of the increasing complexities of the industrial arena.

In an era of heightened technological sophistication, the Division of Workers' Compensation is increasingly faced with the necessity to apportion responsibility among successive employers or insurance carriers when dealing with occupational disease claims. 

The concept of a compensable industrial disease has developed only recently and its acceptance has lagged far behind that of industrial accidents. The original Workers' Compensation Acts, as promulgated from the year 1911 forward by many of the states, did not provide for the recognition of occupational illness and disease as compensable events. As demands have been placed upon the medical system to treat and to prevent occupational illness, the legal system, under social, economic, and political pressure, has sought to provide a remedy for the thousands of injured workers who have suffered and who are continuing to suffer from occupational illness and disease.