GRAND FORKS (AP) - A firefighter who was injured on the job has been named to the board that oversees the state workers compensation agency.

Ed Grossbauer was appointed by Gov. John Hoeven as an employee representative on the Workforce Safety and Insurance board. He succeeds Evan Mandigo, who recently retired from his job, which made him ineligible to remain on the board.

Grossbauer recently returned to work full time with the Grand Forks Fire Department after shoulder surgery to repair an injury he suffered on the job while providing emergency medical aid. He was off-duty or on light-duty status for nine months, he said.

"My experience with the employees there (at WSI) was excellent," he said. They assigned him a medical case manager who sat in on doctors' appointments and followed his case through, he said.

"I got everything I needed to get back to work," he said.

Grossbauer is president of the Professional Firefighters of North Dakota and a former president of Grand Forks Firefighters organization. He has lobbied the Legislature on behalf of firefighters when it considers workers' compensation bills, and has participated in meetings of a legislative committee that considers changes in workers compensation laws.