COLUMBIA, S.C. - Employees who don't follow workplace safety rules wouldn't have their injuries covered by workers' compensation insurance under law changes the House is now considering.

It's a change that Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Seneca, would like to see in a no-fault insurance system that protects employers from open-ended lawsuits from injured workers and ensures that employees get payment for their injuries.

Sandifer wants to restructure the insurance system that helps nearly 90,000 people hurt on the job each year.

Workers' compensation pays medical bills, death benefits and long-term disability or disfigurement that arises from injuries.

Under current law, who is at fault is not a factor in paying death or injury benefits, said Gary Thibault, interim director of the S.C. Workers' Compensation Commission.

"We're trying to give a level playing field, so a business feels like they are getting a fair shake if there is an injury to a worker," Sandifer said of a proposal to stop claim payments to workers who don't follow safety rules. In the long run, workers will benefit, he said.

Sandifer says changes in the system will lower claims and insurance premiums. That would cuts the costs of goods and services, he says.

During more than six hours of public hearings in a subcommittee of the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee during the past few weeks, Sandifer has yielded in other parts of his workers' compensation overhaul.

For instance, Sandifer said that workers' compensation payments to inmates should be eliminated. But then someone asked what happens to the children of inmates who would rely on that money for food and clothes. Sandifer said he now thinks the bill should be changed so children could still get the money.

The overhaul effort has run into criticism from groups who point to studies that show South Carolina has one of the nation's least-expensive systems.

The system has more immediate needs, Earl Ellis, president of the South Car Bar says. For instance, the Workers' Compensation Commission's ancient computer system needs to be updated, he said.

"I think the perception is the workers' compensation system in South Carolina is broken. When compared to other states, it does pretty well," Ellis said. "It's not as good as it could be, but that's solely because it's underfunded."

Sandifer and other also have reintroduced legislation this year that would eliminate the Second Injury Fund.

That program is intended to help workers with previous injuries return to the work force by shielding them from claims tied to old injuries.

Proponents say that's no longer needed because federal law prevents discrimination in hiring based on disabilities. Opponents say that federal law does not apply to the small employers that make up the bulk of South Carolina's economy.