February 16, 2010
Risk Management, Family Style
We have been following with increasing amazement the saga of Amy Bishop, the Harvard-educated biology professor who certainly is in touch with her rage, if not much else. She was involved in a year-long conflict with the University of Alabama-Huntsville over tenure. Sometime after receiving the final denial, she calmly taught a class and then attended a faculty meeting with...February 11, 2010
Toyota: Success is Dangerous
It will be years before we know the full implications of Toyota's recall problem, but a few things are already evident. In its relentless push to become the world's number one car manufacturer, Toyota lost its corporate soul (to the extent, of course, that any corporation has a soul). As with any business, performance measurement is a month to month,...February 3, 2010
Toyota: Hands Off!
Toyota, the world's largest automaker, is in the midst of a public relations nightmare. Over two million vehicles have been recalled for a problem with acceleration: gas pedals are prone to sticking, which leads to unstoppable cars hurtling along at high speeds. For months, Toyota denied that there was a problem. Well, there is no denying it now. U.S. Transportation...February 1, 2010
One Toke Over the Line
My colleague Julie Ferguson raised some fascinating issues relating to the growing movement to approve marijuana as a medication. As is so often the case, the implications for workers comp diverge substantially from general health issues. A toke may be just what the doctor ordered for pain management, but in the context of the workplace, any such prescriptions are likely...January 25, 2010
Instant Message, Instant Catastrophe
Robert Sanchez operated Metrolink trains in the Los Angeles area. By all accounts, he was a personable fellow. You might say, nice to a fault. He occasionally invited young passengers to take control of the train. He stayed in touch with train enthusiasts and friends via texting. Cool! On September 12, 2008, he was operating a train near the end...January 19, 2010
Older Workers and Comp: Low Risk and A Few Surprises
NCCI has issued its latest report (PDF) on the status of older workers in the comp system, with a particular focus on workers 65 and up. If nothing else, the study reinforces the notion that older workers are safety conscious and a relative bargain. For employers worried about workers comp costs, older workers are not a significant problem. In 1988...January 15, 2010
Want to Avoid Alzheimer's? Just Keep Talking
In the interests of keeping Insider readers mentally alert for as long as possible, we present the results of a study that appeared in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (and is summarized in the Wall Street Journal). The study found that long-term cell phone use appears to protect against and even reverse Alzheimer's-like symptoms in mice. Here is the Journal's...January 14, 2010
Haiti
As the world watches in horror and hopelessness, the people of Haiti are trying to extricate themselves from one of the great natural disasters of our lifetime. As I write, thousands of people are still alive, trapped beneath the rubble of what was once Port-Au-Prince. Very soon, most of these people will die, along with scores of the relatively unscathed...December 31, 2009
A (Moderate) Toast to the New Year
We conclude this bi-polar year with a risk-related story that is both a phenomenal high and a pathetic low. In what appears to be a record-breaking performance - at least for South Dakota - police found Marguerite Engel passed out behind the wheel of a stolen delivery truck. The article does not specify the contents of the vehicle, but if...December 29, 2009
Risk Management and the Vectors of Life
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was depressed and lonely, so he decided to blow up an airplane. He boarded a Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas day with explosives strapped to his underwear. (The Freudians will have a field day with that one.) As the plane prepared for landing, Umar, in seat 19A, began to detonate his deadly concoction. One...December 4, 2009
Ten Years After: the Worcester Cold Storage Fire
Most Massachusetts residents will recall how their heart sank 10 years ago upon hearing TV and radio reports of the on-the-job deaths of six firefighters in the Worcester Cold Storage fire. While firefighting is a dangerous job, this was the first time that six firefighters fatalities occurred in a building where neither a collapse nor explosion had occurred. The first...November 3, 2009
OSHA issues largest fine on record to BP
At the end of last week, OSHA issued $87 million in penalties against BP for failure to make make the changes which were specified in a settlement agreement related to the 2005 explosion at a Texas refinery which killed 15 and injured more than 170 others. The second-highest penalty that OSHA has imposed was in 2005 for $21 million -...October 20, 2009
Inferno: Combustible dust explosion at Imperial Sugar - video report
We recently posted about the Imperial Sugar Company explosion report issued by the US Chemical Safety Board, but more recently we found a video version, which we think is well worth the nine and a half minutes it takes to view it. Using computer graphics, it clearly explains how the accident happened and the conditions that led to it. It...September 29, 2009
Imperial Sugar Refinery report: routine housekeeping might have prevented explosion
A year and a half after the Imperial Sugar combustible dust explosion, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) issued its final report on the explosion, which killed 14 workers and injured 36 others, leaving some with permanent, life-altering conditions. In short, the CSB found inadequate housekeeping and maintenance, largely preventable conditions. In addition, CSB found inadequate emergency evacuation plans. The linked...September 28, 2009
Annals of Health: Why Smokers Cannot Quit
In all of our discussions about controlling the cost of workers comp, we continually come up against two lifestyle issues that have a direct impact on costs: obesity and smoking. Let's leave obesity for another day and focus on smoking. According to a compelling article by Stephen Smith in the Boston Globe, 70 percent of smokers want to stop, but...September 11, 2009
More on the work comp-financed weight loss surgery ruling
Charles Wilson of AP has written an article about the Indiana court ruling which determined that Boston's The Gourmet Pizza must pay for an employee's weight loss surgery under workers comp. For the article, Wilson spoke with attorneys representing both sides of the issue, as well as our own Tom Lynch for the workers comp perspective. The so-called "lifestyle illnesses"...September 1, 2009
Thumbs Down on New York Texting Ban?
As a follow up to Julie Ferguson's gruesome imagery from Monday's blog, we find Clyde Haberman's entertaining piece in the New York Times about the state's new statute outlawing texting. As of November 1, it will be illegal for anyone to drive and text in the Empire State. Haberman goes on to write: If any law may be described as...August 31, 2009
Brutal, graphic video aimed at teens: don't text while driving
There's been quite a lot of media coverage on the high risk of texting while driving and several states are lining up to issue bans or restrictions on the practice. We recently featured a texting while driving game that let's you get a rough gauge of how you'd fare while texting at the wheel. But this simulator really soft pedals...August 24, 2009
Dying to Find Fault in Wyoming
Wyoming might be a good place to work, but it's also a good place to die at work. The mortality rate for occupational injuries is three times the national average, with 15.6 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Many of these fatalities occur in the oil fields, where "roughnecks" make pretty good wages in exchange for working in relatively dangerous conditions. As...August 20, 2009
The Cost of Getting Better
Earlier this week, my colleague Julie Ferguson blogged an intriguing case in Indiana, where Adam Childers, an obese pizza baker, suffered a back injury when he was hit by a swinging freezer door. He was unable to get better due to his obesity. As a result, the Indiana court ordered the employer to pay for weight reduction surgery, to be...August 17, 2009
Fire the Smokers! Tax the Fat?
Back in December of 2006 we blogged the story of Scott Rodrigues, a new hire of the Scotts lawn care company, who was fired after failing a drug test. No news here, perhaps, except that the drug in his system, nicotine is perfectly legal. Scott's is self-insured for health benefits, so they have a vested interest in making sure that...August 11, 2009
Can you hear me now? Work-related injuries for musicians
Last week, 61-year old rock musician Steven Tyler fell off the stage and suffered a broken shoulder, along with stitches in his head and back. He has had to cancel upcoming shows, though it's likely he'll be on a self-imposed return-to-work plan in the near future. Many musicians are like athletes in their devotion to their profession and their determination...August 4, 2009
Distractions Behind the Wheel, Revisited
The other Nicholas Sparks is in a bit of trouble: not the well-known writer, but an obscure 25 year old tow truck driver from upstate New York. The lesser known Sparks has earned himself a place in the Business Hall of Shame when he raised multi-tasking to new heights (or better, depths). He was talking on one cell phone, texting...July 29, 2009
Homicidal Employers
Back in May, we blogged the appalling story of Albania Deleon, a legal immigrant who founded Environmental Compliance Training (ECT), the largest asbestos removal training school in New England. Despite the fact that the training only requires 32 hours, she frequently sold certificates of completion to "students" who never attended classes. In other words, she sent these marginal workers -...July 28, 2009
When lightning strikes
Summer brings extremes in weather that pose dangers to workers and challenges to employers who must plan for worker safety. This week, four construction workers were hit by lightning in Michigan. A quick Google search demonstrates this is not an anomaly - refinery workers, airport workers, firefighters, farmers and other working people all have too-close encounters with lightning, and a...July 21, 2009
Making Safety a Universal Language
The following article is a guest post by Joey Lucia, a loss prevention supervisor at Austin-based Texas Mutual Insurance Co., the largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance in Texas. Non-English-speaking Hispanic workers present unique safety challenges. Picture this: It’s your first day on the job with a construction crew. Your boss asks you to help lay a foundation for an...July 14, 2009
A survivor's story: Iowa teen advocates for farm safety after her near-fatal encounter with a power take-off shaft
Earlier this year, legendary baseball great Mark Fidrych died while working on his farm in Northboro, Massachusetts. He was working underneath his truck when his clothing became entangled in a power takeoff (PTO) shaft. PTOs are used to transfer power from tractors or trucks to other machinery. They spin at an incredible rate of speed. A single thread or a...July 2, 2009
Putrescible Waste
There are certain aspects of civilized life that few of us want to experience directly. Once our garbage has disappeared from the curbside, we are unlikely to give it any further thought. We have little curiousity about the desolate environments where this garbage is taken. But some folks work in these places, such as the ironically-named Regal Recycling Company on...June 24, 2009
More on the UCLA lab death of Sheri Sangji
Chemical & Engineering News has a followup story on the UCLA lab fire which killed Sheri Sangji in December 2008. The University of California, Los Angeles has paid the OSHA fine but is appealing the state's findings of workplace safety violations. According to the article, UCLA's vice chancellor for legal affairs, said the university's appeal was necessary to ensure "that...June 23, 2009
Fail-Safe Failure
At least nine people were killed yesterday when a Red Line Metro Rail train crashed into an unmoving train. Washington D.C. trains are equipt with the latest fail-safe technology. Accidents are not supposed to happen: trains are controlled by computers, which theoretically prevent any two trains from occupying the same space at the same time (the textbook definition of an...June 18, 2009
Vintage safety clips - women in the workplace
In searching for some safety videos, we chanced upon these vintage clips about workplace safety for women and supervising women, which we pass along for your amusement and elucidation. We're happy to note that in the ensuing years, there have been significant advances for both women and for safety! The Trouble With Women (1959)...June 8, 2009
Suffering for Art
Alan Rosenbaum is a revered professor of art at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He shows students how to work with clay - at least, he used to, until he was disabled by silicosis. Rosenbaum was exposed to silica dust in the clay mixing room and ceramic studios of the university. The state Workers Compensation Commission last year found that the...June 4, 2009
Death in the lab: why aren't university labs safer?
Earlier this year, 23 year-old research assistant Sheri Sangji suffered an excruciating death after having been engulfed in flames in a UCLA science laboratory. A drop of t-butyl lithium, a substance that ignites on contact with air, spilled on her clothing causing an instant conflagration. Sheri suffered second and third degree burns over 40% of her body. Beryl Lieff Benderly...June 1, 2009
Cell Phones: Unsafe at Any Speed?
We've been following the tentative steps taken by management to confront a relatively new and ubiquitous risk: the use of cell phones while driving. Most people seem to realize that cell phone use is a dangerous distraction, whether involving talking or, lord help us, texting. While surveys indicate that nearly every driver (98 percent) considers him or herself a safe...May 21, 2009
Working Outdoors: Skin Cancer and Workers Comp
With the full heat of summer bearing down on us, the Insider has deputized its readership to become informal safety inspectors: the next time you leave the office, observe any people who are working outdoors. Your checklist should include the fundamental safety drill: fall protection for height exposures; personal protective equipment such as hard hats, work boots and goggles; secure...May 18, 2009
Albania Deleon: Death in the Classroom
Albania Deleon is a entrepreneur. A legal immigrant and naturalized citizen from the Dominican Republic, she founded and operated Environmental Compliance Training (ECT) in Methuen, Massachusetts, the largest asbestos removal training school in New England. Between 2001 and 2007, she trained over 2,500 people in the intricacies of asbestos removal. Except that she didn't. Instead, she would fill out tests...May 11, 2009
Texting and Driving: Dying to Communicate
Aiden Quinn is 24 years old. He drives a trolley for the Mass Bay Transit Authority (MBTA or T) in Boston. He has a mediocre driving record, with three speeding violations (while operating a motor vehicle). Last week he was driving a trolley underground between Park Street and Government Center. He was texting his girlfriend, when he ran a red...May 5, 2009
Barab signals OSHA changes, heightened enforcement
We recently announced Jordan Barab's appointment as Acting OSHA administrator and, as expected, he is losing no time in making changes. Last week, he testified at a hearing held by the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the House Committee on Education and Labor, outlining some immediate OSHA changes. These include: the addition of new inspectors under the American Recovery and...April 29, 2009
Swine Flu part 2 - links to helpful resources for employers
To follow up on my colleague Jon's Monday post on Swine Flu Meets Workers Comp, we've compiled a list of swine flu news and planning resources for employers. How Employers Should Respond to the Swine Flu Outbreak - the Workplace Safety Compliance Practice Group of the employment law firm Jackson Lewis suggests 8 steps for employers to take in responding...April 27, 2009
Swine Flu Meets Workers Comp
It's only Monday morning and many of us are just refocusing after a weekend of gardening, football drafts, NBA playoffs, baseball (Ellsbury steals home!), so we are probably not quite ready to think about the unthinkable: a potential swine flu pandemic, originating in Mexico and already active in several major American cities. Here is the official government announcement (which appears...April 19, 2009
Great news for worker safety: Jordan Barab named to OSHA
In catching up on blog reading this weekend, we find we missed an important piece of good news last week: via Liz Borkowski at The Pump Handle, we learn that longtime safety advocate and erstwhile safety blogger Jordan Barab has been named Deputy Assistant Secretary for OSHA and Acting Assistant Secretary. We couldn't be more pleased and extend our heartfelt...April 9, 2009
Workers comp and safety in a recession
Recessions tend to place downward pressure on workers' compensation frequency, according to NCCI economists who made a recent presentation to the Casualty Actuarial Society. That makes sense. Reduced payrolls means fewer claims. Plus, with potential layoffs looming, some employees may be reluctant to report injuries - which might be part of the reason why there can be an uptick in...April 7, 2009
OSHA under fire from DOL Inspector General reports
OSHA has come under withering criticism in a report from the Department of Labor's inspector general for improperly enforcing safety and health laws against high risk employers with a history of safety violations and/or fatalities. In summarizing the report, Occupational Health & Safety notes: "The March 31 report says EEP [Enforced Enhancement Program] was mismanaged so badly that OSHA did...March 30, 2009
Safety Bob – Charisma in Motion
Julie Ferguson's gut-wrenching post from Thursday morning, "It's Spring…and the Start of Trench Death Season," made me think of a truly remarkable gentleman that I met a few months ago in North Carolina – Bob Synnett. Mr. Synnett, or Safety Bob, as he's known in the Carolinas, is a great big bundle of charismatic energy. I've been meaning to write...March 26, 2009
It's spring ... and the start of trench death season
Almost with the predictability of the swallows returning to Capistrano, the spring ushers in a season of frustratingly preventable trench deaths. Earlier this week, a Baltimore worker narrowly escaped death after spending 6 hours buried up to his chest in dirt. He had been digging in a 10 foot trench that was apparently unsecured. Firefighters who were on the scene...March 19, 2009
The Delicate Brain
Our guest blogger is colleague Peter Rousmaniere, a columnist for Risk & Insurance magazine and blogger on the immigrant workforce. Beginning with the sudden and unexpected death of actress Natasha Richardson, Peter explores the murky issue of brain injuries, where what appears to be minor may suddenly morph in to a life-threatening - indeed, life ending - catastrophe. The actress...March 17, 2009
New day for OSHA?
Labor leaders and business leaders are in agreement that the new administration will mean a more activist OSHA, with more targeted investigations and tougher penalties for hiding workplace injuries. Some predict that there will be an increase in standards - although that shouldn't be a tough record to beat since there was only one standard issued under the Bush administration...February 20, 2009
The Ventless Vent
When is a vent not a vent? When it doesn't vent. Here is a toxic conundrum for a Friday, from our neighbors to the north in Vancouver. Appropriate material, perhaps, for the 1,000th Insider entry. For two years Jim Mulally worked as an attendant in an underground parking garage. He and his fellow attendants collected parking fees for EasyPark Vancouver,...February 12, 2009
Prying the Cell Phone from Your Cold, Dead Hands?
The National Safety Council, surely a credible safety organization, has come out for a total ban on cell phone use while driving. The council points to increasing evidence that the distraction of cell phone use - with or without headphones - is a major cause of accidents. The council has written to the governors of all 50 states, recommending legislation...February 3, 2009
Social networking for the safety community
You'd have to be living under a rock to be oblivious to the revolution that is online social networking - blogging (hey, that's us!); networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn; social bookmarking services like delicious.com or Stumble Upon; photo sharing sites such as Flickr; video sharing sites like YouTube; microblogging and texting, such as Twitter; and Google mashups. The list...December 16, 2008
OSHA rule on Personal Protective Equipment in effect January 12, 2009
Last week, OSHA unveiled its final rule on Clarification of Employer Duty To Provide Personal Protective Equipment and Train Each Employee. To comply with this standard, beginning January 12, 2009, employers must provide personal protective equipment and hazards training for each employee covered by the standards. According to OSHA: "The amendments add no new compliance obligations. Employers are not required...November 26, 2008
The human cost of bringing poultry to the table
Last week, North Carolina's Occupational Safety and Health division levied 49 citations and $178,000 in fines for workplace hazards on the House of Raeford Farms, one of nation's largest poultry processors. This action was taken in response to serious, repeat safety violations, many involving hazardous chemicals that pose a threat to the safety of both the plant workers and the...October 29, 2008
Health & Safety resource roundup
Cleaning out our bookmark files, we came upon an assortment of health and safety resources that we thought we'd pass along. You may face some unusual hazards on your job, but it is unlikely you face anything like this - yikes. We've mentioned the Naval Safety Center's Photos of the Week - well worth checking out if you haven't. Each...October 14, 2008
Texting can be lethal
With the recent focus on the economic meltdown and the pending election, you might have missed the story about the likely cause of the horrific California train crash that killed 25 people last month and injured 135 others. Almost immediately, authorities knew that the accident was the result of human error - the driver had failed to stop at a...October 7, 2008
Safety@Work Creative Awards 2008
Creative work safety contests are somewhat rare but they can be a great way to get kids and young people thinking about workplace safety early. We were happy to see that this year's winners in the Safety@Work Creative Awards for digital animation and poster design were recently announced. Safety@Work Creative Awards is sponsored by the Workplace Safety and Health Council...August 13, 2008
Heart attacks, vehicle accidents leading cause of firefighter deaths in 2007
In a recently issued study entitled On-Duty Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2007 (3.0 mb PDF), the United States Fire Administration (USFA) reported that there were 115 on-duty firefighter fatalities in the United States in 2007. This was an 11% increase from the 106 fatalities in 2006. As in prior years, heart attacks were the most frequent cause...August 4, 2008
Three new state laws limit employer restrictions on guns at work
This summer, risk managers in Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana have a new concern to add to their checklist of health, safety and prevention issues: guns at work. These three states have recently enacted legislation that will allow employees to keep guns in locked cars at the work site. These laws not only overrule any existing company policies which forbid guns...July 29, 2008
Accident investigation slide shows
WorkSafeBC offers a variety of prevention resources which we've featured previously, most recently the videos of teens talking about how they were injured on the job. They offer an excellent library of safety materials - while laws may vary from here in the U.S., good safety practices don't change over the border. Recently, we've discovered WorkSafeBC's library of accident investigation...July 22, 2008
Lightning! Safety precautions for work and home
This week here in Massachusetts, ten people were struck by lightning when a flash storm suddenly disrupted a soccer game. At this writing, one victim is fighting for his life and four others are in intensive care. Just a few days before and about 80 miles to the northwest, two people in Maine who stepped outside to chase a dog...July 9, 2008
Heat stress: rules, reports, and resources
Here in the Boston area, we approach another 90+ degree day and the air is thick and muggy, prompting air quality alerts. But that's nothing compared to the heat in California where outdoor workers struggle in 104 degree temperatures, with things are even worse for the firefighters who battle to control rampaging fires. Triple digit temperatures have triggered the state's...June 11, 2008
Employers as Criminals
William Lattarulo owns several buildings and vacant lots in Brooklyn NY. Back in March, his workers were digging a foundation for a commercial laundry at 791 Glenmore Ave, when a more experienced contractor warned Lattarulo of an immediate hazard: the excavation had reached a level below the foundation of the adjacent building. He advised Latturo to install underpins to make...June 10, 2008
Driving and flash floods
Flash flooding (video) in the central states over the last few days has resulted in numerous deaths. With "ordinary" flooding, there is a build up over time from rain or melting snow as rivers and bodies of water overflow their banks. Weather authorities and media have time to issue public alerts. But flash flooding is the rapid and extreme flow...June 3, 2008
Firefighters revisited: Presumption's Slippery Slope
In yesterday's blog, my colleague Julie Ferguson discussed the issue of compensible illness for firefighters. Forty states already have statutes giving the benefit of the doubt to firefighters: if they become ill from many forms of cancer or heart disease, the illness is presumed to be work related. The burden of proof (and "burden" is surely the operative term) falls...May 27, 2008
Lost Youth: the stories of four teens injured at work
In a few weeks, millions of teens will be joining the work force, many for the first time. For most, nothing out of the ordinary will occur, but for about 70, their jobs will be lethal. About every three minutes, a teen is injured on the job. Worksafe BC has compiled the true stories of four ordinary kids whose first...May 23, 2008
DWT = DOA
vlingo is a Cambridge MA firm specializing in voice recognition software. They have completed a study of driving habits, specifically, the prevalence of driving while texting (DWT) across the US. The results, in the context of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, are nothing less than terrifying. In a survey of nearly 5,000 consumers, fully 28 percent of drivers (mostly under...May 19, 2008
Meatpacking in Iowa: Not Exactly Kosher?
Postville Iowa is a one traffic light town with a population of 2,300 people. Last Monday, as we read in the Washington Post, 17 percent of the town's residents were arrested in a raid coordinated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). All were employees of AgriProcessors, the nation's largest producer of kosher meats. The unusual story goes back to...May 12, 2008
Workers Comp and Wellness: Partners at a Distance
Bill Thorness has written an interesting article for NCCI on the relationship of wellness programs to workers comp costs. In some respects, it involves a "duh" thesis: wellness programs can significantly lower comp costs, because healthy workers are less prone to injury and, once injured, recover more quickly than their out-of-shape co-workers. Conversely, obese and out-of-shape workers are more at...May 6, 2008
Eye safety and eye health on the job
If today is an average day, more than 2,000 people will have an eye injury at work. And tomorrow, the risk is even greater because the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says that more eye injuries occur on Wednesdays than any other day of the week. While many eye injuries will be relatively minor, about 5 percent will be debilitating...April 28, 2008
Worker Memorial Day 2008
Today is Workers Memorial Day, a day that is dedicated to recognizing workers who have been killed or injured on the job. It was started by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in 1984 and began here in the U.S. in 1989. Today, it is marked by workers across the globe. It occurs on April 28 in recognition of...April 18, 2008
The 41-hour smoke break and other elevator stories
While working late one Friday night to meet a publication deadline, Nicholas White decided to take a smoke break. It lasted 41 hours. White worked on the 43rd floor of the McGraw Hill Building in downtown Manhattan. His descent in the elevator on his way to the smoke break was uneventful, but on the trip back up, the elevator got...March 6, 2008
Wonk, Wonk: Health Wonk Review is Here
Health Wonkery runs a wide gamut this week: we have big Pharma front and center with cowardly marketing, poison in the pills and a controversial study that finds a racial factor in whether meds are taken properly; we have extremely divergent views on health care reform, from single payer and a big role for government to status quo and no...February 11, 2008
Safety blog coverage of the sugar refinery explosion: frustration with OSHA
We sorely miss Jordan Barab's participation in the safety blogosphere - he was a tireless crusader for workplace safety. Whenever a work tragedy occurred, such as last week's Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion that claimed the lives of 6 workers, we could always count on Jordan to offer details and expertise on the matter that couldn't be found elsewhere. So we...February 4, 2008
NY scaffolding: one miracle survivor saved by physics; others not so lucky
When cables broke on a scaffold on the 47th floor of a New York high-rise residential building on a crisp December day, it took only about 6 seconds for the two window washers who had been on the platform to plummet 500 feet to the ground. Edgar Moreno was killed instantly but, astonishingly, his brother Alcides Moreno survived the fall....November 26, 2007
Controversial Canadian workplace safety ads unveiled
If you are feeling a tad lethargic after your holiday weekend, we are warning you that you may find the contents of today's posting a bit of a wake-up call. Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has unveiled a series of graphic public service announcements designed to highlight worker safety. The theme - There Really are No Accidents - is...October 22, 2007
Safety for Spanish-speaking workers must address cultural as well as language barriers
Hispanic workers suffer fatalities and serious injuries at significantly higher rates than other workers and this is due in large part to language barriers. Previously, we've discussed the importance of keeping the multicultural workforce safe by ensuring that your safety programs address language barriers. We've also discussed how qualified interpreters can save lives. Recently, some of our readers who run...August 28, 2007
To hell and beyond: Dave Holland's terrible story
Survival stories are a magnet for many and I am no exception. Whether they be stories of people who escaped death by seconds in the World Trade Center, shipwrecked sailors who spent weeks on a life raft, or cancer survivors who prevailed, there's something inspiring and fascinating about the indomitable will to survive against all odds. But no prior accounts...August 20, 2007
15 TX workers linked to vermiculite exposure; echoes of Libby, Montana
Last week, the Dallas News reported that fifteen former workers and residents exposed to vermiculite from a West Dallas mineral processing plant are exhibiting signs of asbestos-related illnesses such as asbestosis and cancer, a development one physician termed as "alarming." More than 400 employees, family members and nearby residents of the vermiculite plant have been tested, and of the 252...July 25, 2007
Trouble in Truckin': Court Limits Hours Behind the Wheel
A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down the Bush administration's rules that increased the number of hours a trucker can spend behind the wheel. In an article by Stephen Labaton in the New York Times, we read that the Bush approach increased weekly hours to 77 from 60 over 7 consecutive days, and to 88 hours from 70 over...July 16, 2007
New attention on trucker wellness
Truckers are too fat, they smoke too much, they don't sleep well and many have such big bellies they can't even fasten the buckle on their seat belt. That's according to a recent Associated Press story by Emily Fredrix, who points out that truck drivers account for 15% of the nation's work-related deaths, and poor health is often a contributing...June 28, 2007
Heat stress rules go into effect in Washington, California
For the second year in a row, Washington is implementing an emergency heat-stress rule designed to protect outdoor workers. It took effect on June 5 and will run through October. The rule requires employers to provide outdoor workers with a quart of drinking water per hour, to educate employees about risk factors for heat-related illness, and to have some area...June 26, 2007
Unsuitable Modified Duty, Wrongful Termination and Attorneys with Cash
On September 10, 2001, just one day before this country's sense of security collapsed along with the World Trade Center towers, a smaller world collapsed around Anthony Boyle, an employee of the Weyerhauser Company in New Jersey. A 600 pound bale of waxy cardboard material fell from a conveyer belt. Boyle used his back to prop it up. He suffered...June 19, 2007
Line of duty: nine firefighters killed in SC
Today brings the grim news that nine firefighters lost their lives doing battle with a fire in a sofa store in Charleston, SC. Our hearts go out to surviving family members and the community. For those of us in Massachusetts, this is sadly reminiscent of the Worcester warehouse fire that claimed six lives in 1999. Today's event joins the list...June 12, 2007
Pre-employment Testing: Between a Rock and a Very Hard Place
Frank Lima works for the Los Angeles Fire Department, where he oversees the screening of recruits. Back in 2004 he was supervising a training drill that involved hoisting heavy ladders against a building. A woman trainee later complained that she was singled out and harassed during the drill. Soon after, Assistant Fire Chief Andy Fox told Lima that women have...June 7, 2007
"Can't Take It No More": OSHA's Hollywood Moment
In 1972, twelve years before I founded Lynch Ryan and workers' compensation entered my life in a meaningful way, after completing a rather extended, all expenses paid trip to Southeast Asia (beautiful scenery, but a bit inhospitable when I was there), I said goodbye to the armed services only to say hello to the armed services. America was in the...May 30, 2007
Weighty matters: the high cost of obesity in the workplace
As if the link between obesity and adverse health effects weren't substantial enough, three new studies add to the growing body of evidence that employers pay a steep cost for overweight employees. Joanne Wojcik of Business Insurance reports on two studies linking obesity to increased employer costs for health care and workers compensation. One, conducted by the Medstat Group Inc....May 25, 2007
The case of Edgar Velázquez and Billy G’s Tree Care
We are making a few guest posts at Working Immigrants while Peter Rousmaniere is traveling. Today's post - Edgar Velázquez: Maimed at work, then deported - involves workers compensation (and the lack of it) in the case of an undocumented worker who was severely injured by a chainsaw while working for a Rhode Island company, Billy G’s Tree Care. To...May 3, 2007
Health Wonk Review #31 - The Derby Edition
HG Stern has a refreshing edition of Health Wonk Review up at InsureBlog and the post sports a jaunty look in keeping with Kentucky Derby week. Stop by to sample the fare - there are a few submissions from blogs that appear to be newcomers to HWR, as well as numerous posts from "the usual suspects." InsureBlog is one of...April 27, 2007
Workers Memorial Day 2007: mourn for the dead, but fight for the living
Workers’ Memorial Day - April 28 - is both a day of remembrance for workers who have died on the job and a grim reminder that we must all work to prevent further workplace deaths and injuries. April 28 has been dedicated as a day of remembrance since 1989. The significance of April 28th is to commemorate the 1971 date...April 26, 2007
What is OSHA's Role?
New York Times reporter Steven Labaton presents an interesting portrait of OSHA in action. It's a story about popcorn. Americans eat more than a billion pounds of popcorn a year. According to the industry, that's nearly 14 gallons of popcorn for every man, woman and child in the country. Unfortunately, quite a few of the people packaging the product are...April 20, 2007
Health Wonk Review #30
Jason Shafrin has posted Health Wonk Review #30 at Healthcare Economist - some good end-of-the week reading. Some of the prevailing these in this issue are HSAs and managed care, physician incentives, and the Massachusetts health insurance experience. And check out some other postings on the site too - if you care about healthcare policy, Jason's blog should be on...April 18, 2007
Thoughts in the aftermath of a tragedy
Our hearts go out to the Virginia Tech community in their time of mourning. What a terrible event and what a sad reminder that life is short and and can be snatched from us and those we love at any moment in the most unlikely of circumstances. Perhaps the best memorial we can offer to the deceased is to redouble...April 17, 2007
The Scarlet O: OSHA's List of Unsafe Employers
We recently blogged the publication of OSHA's list of 14,000 employers with "high" workplace injury and illness rates. One of the links posts the list as an Excel spread sheet, so you can search, state by state, to find the names of frequent flyers. But what exactly does the list tell us? Is it automatically an indicator of a safety-deficient...April 13, 2007
Health & Safety news notes - asbestos, office seating, OSHA resources
Federal workers exposed to asbestos - Effect Measure points to the a story in the Washington Post about the plight of 10 employees of the Architect of the Capital who have been exposed to asbestos for a number of years. These workers toil in underground tunnels strewn with asbestos debris, and have complained about working conditions over a number of...April 11, 2007
Hazardous work sites: is your organization in the top 14,000?
Last month, more than 14,000 employers got missives from OSHA informing them that their workplaces were at least twice as hazardous as that of the average U.S. workplace. In 2005, the average workplace has a rate of 2.4 injuries or illnesses that resulted in days away from work for every 100 workers. In contrast, employers who got OSHA notices had...March 23, 2007
Investigative report cites BP, OSHA for TX tragedy that killed 15
Earlier this week, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a scathing report based on investigations into the BP disaster that killed 15 people and injured at least 180 others two years ago today. The report found fault with BP, citing organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels of the BP Corporation as well as "material deficiencies" in the safety...March 16, 2007
DWT/Driving While Texting: An Idea Whose Time has Went
As if we don't have enough distractions as we hurtle ourselves from Point A to Point B in four ton vehicles, we read that DWT - driving while texting - has become an issue of sufficient magnitude to warrant legislative intervention. Lawmakers in Washington state have moved to establish stiff fines for this absurdly dangerous practice. You can make a...February 28, 2007
Health literacy: employees at risk
Last week, Ezra Klein put the issue of health literacy back on our radar screen with a link to a recent Washington Post article, A Silent Epidemic. The article discusses the complexity of the health care system, and how a huge swath of the population is unprepared to effectively engage that system because of functional illiteracy, language, or culture. The...February 16, 2007
Bird flu: business preparation tool kits
The bird flu virus outbreak at a turkey farm in Great Britain earlier this month has world health officials monitoring things closely and stepping up their prevention and preparation communications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services issued a Pandemic Severity Index (PDF). This Index offers a ranking of flu outbreaks on...February 6, 2007
Working and surviving in extreme cold
Brrrr ... after a mild winter here in the Northeast, we are waking up to temperatures in the single digits this week and wind chill that makes it feel 10 or 15 degrees colder. The cold is no doubt exacerbated because we had a relatively quick temperature plummet rather than a sustained low - we haven't had a chance to...January 22, 2007
The weekly toll: death at work
Every other week, our blog neighbor Tammy at Confined Space compiles a list of news stories about workers who have lost their lives at work. We've linked to it before. Despite its length, it's only a partial list at best- whatever manages to turn up in the search engines. The roster makes for some chilling reading. No matter how many...January 19, 2007
NFL Preview: Bigs Hits, Big Trouble
As we head toward the climax of the football season, with just four teams left on the path to the Superbowl, we read in the New York Times (registration required) that the big hits we cheer for may be causing permanent damage. In November, Andre Waters, a 44 year old former safety for the Philadelphia Eagles, killed himself. He may...January 2, 2007
Commercial Drivers: Unsafe at Any Speed?
We begin the new year, alas, with a nightmare: You're barreling down a three lane highway at 70 mph, when a tractor trailer rig pulls up behind you. All you can see in your rear view mirror is the ominous grill of a Mack truck. What runs through your mind? Do you console yourself with the notion that the driver...December 13, 2006
Bicycle Helmets: To Wear or not to Wear, That is the Question
You might think that the utility of wearing bicycle helmets has been so well established, that there is no serious questioning of laws requiring their use. Well, as with everything else, there are two sides to the issue. While the Insider always leans toward the disciplined use of personal protective equipment such as helmets, it's important to keep an open...December 1, 2006
Where There's Smoke, You're Fired, Revisited
In March of 2005 we blogged the issue of firing people who smoke. At that time, we wrote about the strict non-smoking policies of Weyco, a company in the health care field. When you're in health care, prohibiting smoking is a logical extension of your fundamental business. But what if you're in the lawn care business? Can you still fire...November 20, 2006
Not-so-Independent Contractors in the News
A couple of recent stories in the news highlight the problem that never seems to go away, the status of independent contractors. One story deals with union in-roads at FedEx, the giant delivery company. In the other story, the pervasive use of "independent contractors" (often undocumented workers) in construction keeps the cost of building down and keeps the profits high....November 10, 2006
The sad, quiet death of Bud Morris - father, husband, motorcycle afficianado
Early this year, a tragedy played out in headlines as a dozen miners were trapped in the Sago mines. The nation kept vigil with families waiting for possible word of rescue, and the nation wept reading the poignant notes that the workers scrawled to family members in the last minutes before they died. Three days before this, 29-year old father...October 30, 2006
The View from the Summit: Aging Workers in the 21st Century
The Insider recently participated in the Aging Workforce Summit, a meeting of the minds focused on retirement in America. The conference took place on the 80th floor of the Aon Center in Chicago. The views of Chicago and Lake Michigan were supposed to be spectacular, but for the duration of the conference the building was socked in a fog, so...October 19, 2006
After the Dust Settles: Liability versus Immunity in the 9/11 Clean Up
Five years after the fall of the World Trade Center towers, there are lingering issues concerning the health of the rescuers. Over 40,000 workers rushed to the site in the immediate aftermath, and then sifted debris in the following weeks. It now appears that many of these workers have suffered lung damage, much of it permanent, some of it fatal....October 17, 2006
Actuarial Aging
The Insider is partial to actuary jokes. Perhaps it's because so much depends upon the actuarial viewpoint. These are the people who drive the insurance bus. Those of us seated in the bus often feel a bit queasy, as the driver has the vehicle pointed backwards and attempts to drive while looking through the rear view mirror. They drive in...October 2, 2006
"Crackberry" Addicts: One More Email for the Road...
It's only Monday, so it might be too early in the week for this. But the Insider is committed to keeping our readers informed on the latest developments in risk and human resource management. Today, we confront the physical, emotional and legal time bomb of BlackBerry addiction. We first tracked the health implications of using tiny keyboards in our "BlackBerry...September 28, 2006
Morbid Obesity: What Should Employers Do?
We recently blogged a ruling in the U. S. 6th District Court, in which the judges determined that morbid obesity is generally not a disability. The judges’s thinking in this particular case appears to have powerful implications for the ADA and for all employers with obese workers who have difficulty performing their jobs. HR professionals might be tempted to assume...September 18, 2006
Injured immigrant workers denied workers compensation
It's one of our nation's dirty little secrets: immigrant workers are doing some of the nation's most dangerous jobs, are being injured and dying disproportionately in those jobs, and denied benefits when injuries and deaths occur. In a political climate where where the rhetoric and emotions are high and seemingly getting higher by the day, a "blame the victim" mentality...September 8, 2006
NIOSH study on nursing home lifting equipment: benefits outweigh costs
Does an investment in mechanized patient lifting equipment pay for itself? Yes, according to a recent NIOSH study. In an article entitled Making the Case for a Safe Lifting Program in Nursing Homes, Josh Cable discusses the NIOSH study in Occupational Hazards. The agency's six-year study encompassed 1,728 nursing personnel at six nursing homes ranging in size from 60 to...August 22, 2006
BLS Stats on Dying at Work: Spin Control in the Graveyard
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has issued its report on workplace fatalities for 2005. The total number of deaths (5,702) is down a fraction from the previous year's 5,764. In his press release announcing the results, Assistant Secretary of Labor Edwin Foulke tries to emphasize the positive, which isn't easy, given the inherently morbid nature of the data. Here's what...August 3, 2006
Cell Phones Revisited: Siren Calls on the Road to Oblivion
It seems that the Insider revisits the cell phone while driving issue once every year. (Just type "cell phones" on the search engine to the right.) This year is no different, except that red flags for employers are beginning to accumulate. Cell phone use by employees is something every employer needs to begin thinking about. We are deep into the...July 12, 2006
Risk Management on the Roads of Boston
Here's a problem for the amateur engineers out there. If you were going to hang something from a ceiling in your home, you'd probably want to at least put a toggle bolt behind it, so that the gravity pulling the object down would be countered by a more than equal force holding it up. You'd probably take into account the...June 23, 2006
The Lonely Death of Octavio Godinez
Octavio Godinez, 27, had been working as a trim carpenter with his father-in-law at a home in Coosaw Creek, South Carolina. He was shaping a shim for a door when something happened - it appears that his hand slipped and he cut himself. Normally, his father-in-law would have been there to help, but the latter had gone off for supplies....June 14, 2006
Worker with Intermittant Explosive Disorder: "Accommodate Me...or else!"
Earlier this week, our colleague Julie Ferguson blogged a new diagnosis for people with uncontrollable tempers: intermittant explosive disorder. Some call it "road rage.' (Here in the Boston area, we call it "ordinary driver" syndrome.) Call it what you will, with an estimated 7% of the population suffering from the disorder, this scary phenomenon is an all-too-frequent presence in the...June 6, 2006
The Economics of Amnesty: A "Wink Wink" for the (Unacceptable) Status Quo
The U.S. House and Senate have each passed a bill relating to immigration. The Bills are so far apart, it's hard to imagine the conferees finding much common ground, other than tightening up border security. The House wants to criminalize all illegals and those who support them; the Senate wants a worker amnesty program that gradually offers illegals who have...May 31, 2006
Deep Vein Thrombosis: Immobility in the Age of Travel
One of the ironies of modern life is that we can go anywhere in the world, but we often find ourselves immobilized in the process. There are a number of circumstances that render us immobile: long haul air travel - 4 plus hours (on a bad day, that might be just runway time!). Sitting in a traffic jam or driving...May 18, 2006
Company Outing? Beware the Flying Umbrella!
Company outings should be a time to kick back, relax and enjoy some sun. Well, maybe. Employers need to stay alert to the potential liabilities that linger whenever they host employees at a company-sponsored event. We have blogged the dangers of serving alcohol at company events and the open-ended risks involved in hosting company outings. Now we read of a...May 17, 2006
Teen workers: Stay safe this summer!
Starting your first job? Congratulations! But before you start planning how to spend that paycheck, it's important to give some thoughts to staying safe on the job. It only takes a minute to have things take a terribly ugly turn, as Candace Carnahan can attest. In fact, every three minutes, a teen gets hurt at work, and about 70 teens...May 12, 2006
Employers: Ten Tips to Keep Teen Workers Safe
As young, first-time workers enter your workplace this spring and summer, it's critical to redouble your efforts to ensure they work safely. Here are ten quick tips for employers, along with some resources for additional information. Know the Law. Review federal, state, and local laws governing young workers, and ensure that your managers know them, too. Check work permits. Make...May 8, 2006
United we Fall: Preparing for the Next Pandemic
The Insider is determined to do its part in preparing the nation for a flu pandemic. Although the President did not specifically mention bloggers in his mobilization plans, we think that blogs offer a unique tool for getting out the word and for maintaining communications under adverse circumstances. Best of all, you don't have to come within three feet of...May 3, 2006
How safe are your favorite kids on their new jobs?
If you are a parent of a high school or college age kid, you are probably familiar with the quest for the summer job. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, more than 2 million teen workers flock to the workplace, many for the first time. Think back to your first job - it can be an exciting thing to earn...April 28, 2006
Worker Memorial Day: a day for mourning, recommitment
"We were worried and afraid, but we began to accept our fate. Junior Toler led us all in the Sinners Prayer. We prayed a little longer, then someone suggested that we each write letters to our loved ones. I wrote a letter to Anna and my children. When I finished writing, I put the letter in Jackie Weaver's lunch box,...April 27, 2006
Protecting Homes, Humiliating Employees
Alarm One Inc. is in the home protection business. They install and monitor security alarm systems - serious business, or so you would think. A former employee, Janet Orlando, 53, is suing the company for $1.2 million in damages for the embarrassment of being spanked in front of coworkers. She quit her job in Fresno CA and sued, alleging discrimination,...April 11, 2006
The long tail of WTC toxic exposures
Health experts predict that the health implications for the workers involved in the World Trade Center cleanup will take more than 20 years to be fully evident. A recent article in the PhillyBurbs discusses the frustrations that sick workers and health authorities alike are having in trying to come to grips with the health ramifications of post 9-11 cleanups. The...April 10, 2006
Boston scaffolding deaths: the blame game
Mourners gathered at funeral services on Saturday for the two Boston workers who were killed in last week's scaffolding collapse. Meanwhile, the blame game is in full swing. The city of Boston is reviewing an analysis of the accident submitted by Macomber Builders, the company with overall project responsibility. The union representing one of the workers who was killed is...April 5, 2006
Safety Disappears in a Hurry
Dressed in surgical scrubs, Dr. Michael Tsan Ty was driving through downtown Boston on his way to Brigham & Women's Hospital. He was in the midst of his usual 80-hour workweek as a neurology resident. Perhaps he was thinking about his post-doctoral work at MIT, where he studied the way brain cells recover after they are damaged by disease or...March 24, 2006
Avian Flu: Unprepared for What Isn't Coming?
We have been tracking the Avian flu pandemic - fearfully awaiting the widespread outbreak of a killer virus. Now it appears that it might not be coming, at least not from the H5 virus that has been decimating flocks of birds. According to Nicholas Wade's article in today's New York Times, two researchers have concluded that the avian flu virus...March 23, 2006
Washington passes "Safe Patient Handling" legislation
Few think of health care as one of the nation's most hazardous professions, but there you have it: nurses, nursing home attendants, and other health care workers are among the nation's most frequently injured work population, suffering from a high incidence of musculoskeletal injuries. Patient care calls for frequent lifting and moving, and this wreaks havoc with the back and...March 21, 2006
The Looming Shadow of the Uninsured
The National Coalition on Health Care reports that the percentage of Americans with insurance is declining and is now at the lowest level in more than a decade. The lack of insurance has powerful implications for adults and children alike, but given The Insider's focus on the workplace, we'll limit our discussion to the workers who lack insurance. In 2003,...March 16, 2006
A Footnote on the Road to Oblivion
The Insider often looks at risk management issues from a personal perspective. It's one thing to talk about confined spaces, ladder safety and personal protective equipment, and quite another to look at the myriad decisions we make from day to day that might have a lasting impact on our lives. Lift a box carelessly, you might face years of back...March 14, 2006
Keeping the multicultural workforce safe
Occupational Hazards features an article about the challenges an organization faces in ensuring safety for a multicultural workforce. Often, workers from other countries or workers who don't speak English may not know their rights, may be intimidated about speaking up or asking questions, or may not understand job instructions or job safety training. Notwithstanding the fact that many immigrant workers,...March 6, 2006
Guns at work - coming to a neighborhood near you?
Should employees be able to keep guns in their cars on company premises? This has been a hotly contested legislative issue in several states recently. We've previously discussed the NRA's push in various states to get legislation passed that would forbid employers from banning guns in company parking lots. Legislation allowing employees to keep guns in their cars has passed...March 3, 2006
A Note to Fellow Immigrants
Franklin Roosevelt may or may not have begun an address to the Daughters of the American Revolution with the memorable line, "Fellow Immigrants." (A curmudgeonly blogger says a reporter made up the quote.) If Roosevelt didn't say it, he should have. It's a great line and perhaps more compelling than ever. The current debate over illegal immigrants - as fractious...February 28, 2006
The Feds and the Phantom Miners
Today the Insider looks at seemingly divergent issues which converge in a striking manner: federal involvement in mine safety (MSHA enforcement), federal prosecution for workers comp fraud, and the ongoing saga of work in the mines. It's a complex picture, but one which resolves into a single focus: the exploitation of the people who work in mines. MSHA and the...February 23, 2006
Preparing for Avian Flu
While risk managers might be tempted to ignore the potential disruption associated with a world-wide avian flu pandemic, they are paid to think about the unthinkable. So today as a public service, the Insider hopes to stimulate some disaster planning among our readers. Even with the prospect of millions dying in a few days or weeks, businesses need contingency plans,...February 21, 2006
To War and Back Again
The good news from Iraq (OK, there isn't much) involves the dramatic improvement in battle-related trauma treatment. Soldiers are surviving injuries that in prior wars would have resulted in certain death. So far, over 15,000 soldiers have been injured since the fighting began in March 2003. By the time major military operations have been completed, more than two million soliders...February 16, 2006
A terrible burden: the death of a coworker
Jon's post about the roofer who fell to his death stayed with me last night. Maybe because it occurred in a neighboring town, maybe because I've been made uncomfortably aware of the frequency of death by falls after regularly reading the Weekly Toll, maybe because work deaths seem more personal after having just witnessed the grief of the miners' families....February 10, 2006
What's the greater obscenity?
The Indiana AFL-CIO thinks that regulatory fines tell a story of what we value as a society. They note that Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" netted CBS fines of $550,000. In contrast, the total fines levied against the Sago coal mine for 276 safety violations over a two-year period was $33,600. The AFL-CIO has compiled a chart that offers a few...January 31, 2006
Workers with guns
News is just now breaking about a Californial postal worker who shot and killed 6 colleagues and then turned the gun on herself. While details of this particular event are still emerging, post office shootings are - sadly enough - an all-too-familiar story. One fairly unusual aspect of this story is that the shooter was a woman. I can't recall...January 27, 2006
Day Labor: Undocumented, Unprotected, Unconscionable
From time to time the Insider has focused on the many compelling issues relating to undocumented workers. If you enter the words "immigrant workers"in our blog's search engine, about 30 responses pop up. There are probably 10 million undocumented workers throughout the country, performing some of the most hazardous and least desirable jobs. They usually work without the protection of...January 9, 2006
Sago mining disaster and workers comp: newly formed insurer to pay benefits
For many years, West Virginia was one of a handful of monopolistic states in which all workers compensation was handled by a state compensation fund. After years of punishing losses, the state legislature moved to privatize the fund. The first phase of this privatization began on January 1 when the state compensation fund passed the baton to BrickStreet Mutual Insurance...January 6, 2006
Sago mining deaths: a sorry way to begin the new year
The deaths of 12 men in the Sago mine began the year on a somber note, adding another sad page to the roster of West Virginia mining deaths. Yesterday's news that several of the miners wrote notes in the last few minutes of life to reassure family was heart wrenching. And now the inevitable stories are emerging that the mine...December 16, 2005
Harvard study: carpal tunnel not caused by computer use
Our friend Joe Paduda sent us a link to a new report issued by Harvard Medical School stating that carpal tunnel syndrome is not caused by computer use. The report disputes the conventional wisdom that carpal tunnel syndrome is a repetitive stress injury, stating that it is often incorrectly described as one. Rather, it is a compression of the median...December 14, 2005
Seasonal safety: tips for staying safe both on and off the job
The holiday season can be a dangerous time. Fatigue, stress, drinking, and the many distractions of the season can increase the likelihood of an accident both on the job and off. Driving fatalities increase, particularly those related to alcohol impairment. Home fires spike. Topping things off, harsh weather can exacerbate the hazards, resulting in an increase in slips and falls,...November 28, 2005
News briefs: MA mandatory insurance, Peter Drucker, OR work blog, work safety
Health insurance: mandatory in Massachusetts? "Under two major proposals that aim to cover the estimated half million uninsured in Massachusetts, the state would require all residents who can afford it to purchase some type of individual plan or face penalties, such as losing their driver's licenses. Massachusetts joins a growing number of states grappling with how to expand coverage at...November 23, 2005
Talking Turkey
As many of us prepare to sit down to a turkey dinner, my thoughts turn toward the 30 million birds we will eat and the people who raise them. If you assume that a turkey's life is not one of pure pleasure, you're right. According to the largest turkey farmer in Michigan, the birds are incapable of participating in their...October 6, 2005
Reducing firefighter injuries - free online symposium
This week is Fallen Firefighter Memorial Weekend, a time to salute the brave people who sacrificed their lives to make the world a safer place for you and me. Firefighters are out there on the front lines every day, risking injury and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 100 firefighters die at work each year. At...October 3, 2005
Ballet and Workers Comp: Important Lessons in Prevention
When you think of ballet, workers compensation is probably not what first comes to mind. A ballerina spins across the stage with breathtaking grace, her male partner leaps across the stage in a grand jete, seeming to float in the air. Sitting in the audience, you don't spend much time thinking about the pain in the dancers's feet, the strain...September 12, 2005
Taking care of the unsung heroes
On the anniversary of 9/11, many of us took time to honor the victims of that sad day, including the many working heroes who gave their lives to try to rescue others. Last Friday, President Bush presented posthumous Medals of Valor to the families of 443 first-responders who were killed on the scene. But one sad story that is getting...August 30, 2005
Rescue worker health & safety resources; disaster coverage
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. In watching CNN last night, I was struck by the bravery of the police, firefighters, and volunteers who put themselves in harm's way to rescue survivors. Health care workers are also doing an amazing job under terrible circumstances: staffing flooded hospitals, tending to refugees in...August 26, 2005
NH doc under scrutiny for trying to save woman's life
Earlier this week, the Trust for American's Health issued a new report on obesity in Anmerica with the disturbing news that about 25% of American adults are obese. Health Daily News Central has more information on the details of this report. We've also previously blogged about obesity and workers comp. About the same time this report was released, the news...August 23, 2005
News roundup: health, safety, HR, and other stories from the blogosphere
Danger Flying Objects. M.R.I.'s Strong Magnets Cited in Accidents is a fascinating yet scary article from the NYT about safety concerns surrounding MRI equipment. It linked to a site with incredible images of wheel chairs and other objects being sucked into the MRI machines. Yikes - a safety hazard for patients and workers alike! (via MetaFilter). Ohio Coingate. Investigations into...August 18, 2005
Guns at work
Should employers be able to prohibit guns at the workplace? ConocoPhillips thinks so and is challenging a recently enacted Oklahoma law to assert that right. In response, the NRA will be launching a national billboard advertising campaign calling for a boycott of ConocoPhillip's gas. The Christian Science Monitor recently discussed this issue in an excellent article entitled Worker right or...August 15, 2005
Falls and human fall traps: Fatalities in the construction industry
Falls are one of the leading causes of injury and death, both on and off the job. As one might guess, construction workers are particularly at risk - falls are the most prevalent source of fatalities in that industry, dwarfing other sources. An Analysis of Fatal Events in the Construction Industry 2003 is a study that William Schriver of the...August 11, 2005
A Beautiful Mind Heads to Prison
There are many demanding activities in life that come with a wide margin of error -- parenting, for example. For most of us, a few moments of inattention at work will not result in any serious consequences (as long as we are not performing brain surgery, or installing steel beams 30 stories off the ground). But one of the least...June 30, 2005
Heat stress: fluid and electrolite imbalance can be fatal
Heat kills. This is a fact that was underscored publicly last week with the release of autopsy results for Scott Laio, a 20-year-old Boston College student who collapsed and died after rowing in the Dad Vail Regatta in May. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office attributed the cause of death to a fluid and electrolyte imbalance and heat stress. Physical exertion...June 28, 2005
Texas enacts safe lifting guidelines for a hazardous industry
Quick - name the three leading industries with the overall greatest numbers of injuries and illnesses. I've run this little pop quiz on people who work in the industry and those who don't, and it's rare that people get the right answers. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, the dubious *winners* in the win, place, and show categories are laborers...June 21, 2005
The Aging Workforce - Iceberg, Dead Ahead
The aging of the American workforce is a dynamic that we have been tracking closely. I can personally swear that as one ages the body begins to wear down. Oh, that this truth were not so. In my father's day, it was common for people (mostly men) to work until age 65 and then retire on the proverbial company pension...June 17, 2005
Mental Illness Revisited
We recently blogged a study in mental health that concluded that nearly half of all Americans will suffer from some form of mental illness during their lifetimes. Whenever this type of information is disseminated, it gives rise to inevitable skepticism. When the percentages are high ("nearly half of all Americans"), the numbers may lack credibility. It turns out that the...June 14, 2005
Laptop ergonomic woes: The price for mobility
I remember an ad from some years ago showing a guy using a laptop at the beach. At the time, this was designed to paint some futuristic fantasy of ubiquitous computing. I clearly remember how the ad alternately intrigued and horrified me. As a bit of a web geek, I loved the idea of mobility. On the other hand, the...June 3, 2005
CDC Backtracks on Obesity: Fat is Bad Again
Back on April 22 we blogged the new food pyramid model and a surprise finding from the AMA Journal that a little obesity might actually help you live longer. That particular study found that skinny people were at higher risk for death than those who were somewhat overweight. So it was time to break out the Twinkies and have a...June 1, 2005
The X Factor: creating a safety culture
Ever wonder why your loss costs continue to rise despite your organization's strong safety programs? Or why one of your company's locations has a much stronger safety performance than another? Larry Hansen does, and he has written an excellent and lengthy article entitled Stepping up to occupational hazards in this month's edition of Occupational Hazards that explores these issues. He...May 25, 2005
S. Carolina to bar workers comp for undocumented immigrants?
Apparently, at least a few legislators in South Carolina think that illegal immigrants should be barred from receiving workers comp benefits, and there is a bill to that effect under consideration in the statehouse: "Thousands of undocumented workers in the Palmetto State could be denied workers' compensation coverage, including lost wages and medical bills stemming from work-related injuries, under a...May 21, 2005
Weblog roundup: Fishing safety, hearing loss, BP disaster & more
Fishing Safety Strategic HR Lawyer points us to Dangers of the Deep, an article in which Alex Markel of USNews.com recounts the sad story of last December's sinking of the Northern Edge, a scallop boat fishing in the waters off Nantucket. Five fishermen drowned and one survived. The article discusses attempts to impose safety standards on the industry. "Fishermen are...May 11, 2005
Recognizing and preventing occupational disease
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) recently held a national forum on Recognizing and Preventing Occupational Disease. and as a part of that forum, delegates participated in workshops where they developed new strategies for dealing with occupational disease. The preliminary results of these forums are posted as survey recommendations under the following categories: Infectious DiseasesOccupational CancerRespiratory DiseasesStressWorkplace...May 9, 2005
Qualified interpreters can save lives
We've blogged before about language in the workplace, the impact that language has on safety, and the increased risk of death that non-English speaking immigrants face at work. We've also talked about the need for cultural competence in health care in the face of changing worker demographics. In a post entitled People are dying because of their language, Jordan Barab...April 28, 2005
Today is Worker Memorial Day 2005
According to the BLS, there were 5,559 workplace deaths due to traumatic injuries in 2003, a slight increase from the number of deaths in 2002, when 5,534 workplace deaths were reported. The AFL-CIO released its 14th annual death on the job report. Access the full 154-page report -- Death on the Job, The Toll of Neglect (PDF) -- or read...April 22, 2005
Thoughts on Eating and Dying
We try to keep up with the latest advice on staying healthy. It isn't easy. Have you revised your personal food pyramid, based upon the new government guidelines? In addition to the complex new charts, the government has provided a printable worksheet for tracking your daily progress. You get to grade yourself on how well you ate on a given...March 31, 2005
And The Green Cross for Safety Medallion goes to...
Congratulations to Liberty Mutual for winning the National Safety Council's highest award, The Green Cross for Safety Medallion. It will be presented to CEO Ted Kelly tonight at a dinner in Chicago. Liberty Mutual has long been in safety's vanguard. In the middle 1970s, when I was still a young man directing the Army's Safety and Health program in New...March 25, 2005
Never Again�Until Next Time
How often does tragedy strike and we vow never to let it happen again? This is the 94th anniversary of the horrendous Triangle Shirt Waist factory fire, in which 146 workers died because of blocked exits. (We blogged the event and a recent book about it back in February). Although the fire eventually led to reforms in workplace safety, the...March 21, 2005
No bargains to be had in shortchanging trucking safety
Most of us like bargains. We almost all feel good when we can save a few pennies here and a few dollars there at the grocery store or the mall. But when is a bargain not a bargain? Maybe when we trade the potential for saving a few cents with safety on our highways. Recently, a new regulation proposed extending...March 15, 2005
Tsunamis: Who's at Risk?
We don't often refer readers to a single site, but today we make an exception for an extraordinary explication of Tsunamis to be found at Guy Carpenter, a risk and insurance subsidiary of March & McLennan Companies. In this elegant and comprehensive document, we learn the science of tsunamis -- where and how they originate and the magnitude of their...March 10, 2005
Airport baggage screening: a high hazard job
USA Today recently ran a feature on airport baggage screeners and the extraordinarily high rate of injuries that they suffer in the course of their work. Approximately one out of every four workers reports an injury and one out of 8 workers has an injury that requires lost time. Yikes - this makes bag screening one of the nation's most...March 7, 2005
Hispanic Fatalities on the job: the Tip of the Iceberg
An article by Liz Mineo in the Metro West Daily News highlights the unacceptably high rate of fatalities among Hispanic workers. According to the U.S. Labor Department's National Census of Occupational Injuries, of the 5,559 fatal work injuries in the nation in 2003, 14 percent were Hispanics or Latinos. Blacks accounted for 10 percent. Asians were 1 percent. Whites represented...February 25, 2005
Safety culture must be more than a paper promise
We're big believers in employers committing to a total safety culture. If management can aim for a zero quality defect standard in a manufacturing process, why not hold to the same high standard for preventing "defects" to people? Are a certain number of injuries considered acceptable? Are worker injuries an inevitable part of doing business? We don't think so, but...February 10, 2005
The Original "No Exit" : The Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire
In the rush of events, we may succomb to the notion that we are constantly seeing things for the first time. In two previous blogs, we mentioned employers who locked exits to prevent theft after hours, leaving cleaning and maintenance crews vulnerable to disaster. Well, the most famous incident of locked exits occurred on March 25, 1911: the Triangle Shirt...February 8, 2005
February is workplace eye safety month
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) has declared February as Workplace Eye Safety Month and they’ve compiled some resources to help drive home the point that 90 percent of all work-related eye injuries are preventable. We didn't bring you the news sooner because last year this observance occurred in March. We were alerted of the change in months by several...February 7, 2005
When it comes to safety, make sure you speak the same language!
Many employers have workers who are not proficient in English. They may be recent immigrants, or they may have lived in non-English speaking enclaves here in America for many years. So how can you ensure that these workers understand your safety procedures? How confident are you that they can follow your lockout/tagout procedures, or bloodborne pathogen exposures, or fall protection?...Managers' tool kit: new healthcare, socioeconomic, and interactive resources
It's been awhile since we've added new resources to the toolbar on the right. We hope to create a one-stop shop of valuable workers compensation, HR, medical, and health & safety resources for industry practitioners, as well as for workers. Here are some recent finds: Since 1997, Pam Pohly's management guide for healthcare executives has been seeking and posting a...February 3, 2005
Blackberry Thumb?
A recent posting on WEB MD raises the specter of an ailment for the new milennium: "Blackberry thumb." The prognosis comes from hand specialists who see potential risk in the way people enter data onto their Blackberry devices. Alan Hedge, PhD, director of the human factors and ergonomics research group at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.is quoted in the article...February 2, 2005
Cell Phones and Driving, Revisited
Back on July 19 we blogged the issue of cell phone use while driving. Even as a few states were requiring headsets for drivers who want to carry on a phone conversation, there were studies indicating that head sets did not reduce the danger of distraction -- and accidents. Now the Journal of Human Factors (subscription required) has come out...January 26, 2005
Restaurant Workers in NYC: Bad jobs = Bad risks?
In a fascinating study of restaurant workers in New York City, the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York presents the results of a survey of over 500 workers and over 30 employers in the industry. There are about 165,000 restaurant jobs in the city, comprising 4.8% of the workforce. The median wage for these workers is $9.11 (meaning, of course,...January 24, 2005
Winter driving safety
We recently talked about winterizing your workplace and the need for care in snow shoveling and heavy lifting, but in the light of the recent blizzards plaguing much of the country, it's a good time to talk about winter driving safety. Of course, here in the Boston area, discussing this topic today is a bit like the proverbial closing of...January 20, 2005
OSHA inspectors suffer effects of beryllium exposure
Chronic beryllium disease (CBD) is an irreversible, debilitating and potentially fatal lung disease that occurs from exposure to beryllium. In 2004, after much foot-dragging, OSHA began monitoring inspectors for exposure to the substance. First results show that at least three workers, or 1.5 percent of the 200 inspectors examined so far, have become sensitized to beryllium. Occupational Hazards reports on...January 17, 2005
Free safety educational materials
Some state workers compensation authorities have very robust educational materials and information on their websites, and from time to time, we will point to tools or resources that we find. Several states have state funds - that is, the state provides insurance to employers, either exclusively or on a competitive basis. One might expect a certain level of depth to...December 28, 2004
Snow shoveling: Heavy Lifting!
I was all set to do our second blog on experience rating, when a snow storm interrupted my plans. As I was shoveling to clear a path out of my driveway, I envisioned doing a brief blog on the hazards of shoveling: it can be heavy lifting, especially if the snow is wet or has been compacted by the action...December 27, 2004
Winterize your workplace for safety
After a harrowing drive home in a snowstorm last night, I was reminded about the importance of "winterizing" both at home and at work. For employers, snow and ice management require preplanning. Slips, falls and back strains are among some of the more common hazards; injuries from snow-removal equipment, falls from roofs, and hypothermia/frostbite are other common injuries that can...December 16, 2004
Top 10 backbreaking jobs
According to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), back pain is one the most common work-related injuries in the United States, accounting annually for approximately one-quarter of all lost or unproductive workdays. What do ACA members consider to be the most backbreaking jobs? Heavy truck and tractor-trailer drivers top the list, followed by construction workers, landscapers, police officers, farmers, shingle roofers,...December 9, 2004
Three construction workers die every day in the U.S.
The News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington recently featured an excellent - albeit unsettling - article entitled Construction workers’ safety net full of holes: "It took only a second for Jose Enriquez Hernandez to die. One minute, he was on a Puyallup roof trying to yank out a tack holding down plastic sheeting. Then co-workers say they heard the 38-year-old man...December 7, 2004
'Tis the season - alcohol and holiday festivities
HealthLawProf Blog informs us that it is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month. That's a good cue to remind employers that they need to be mindful of their risk exposure when planning holiday parties. Off-premise and extra-curricular activities may pose either workers compensation or liability exposure when employees attend company-sponsored events. Employers should have worker health & safety a...December 1, 2004
Florida uninsured employer jailed for fraud after two deaths
In August, we wrote about a terrible construction accident in Florida that claimed two lives. Five other workers, including a 13-year old boy, were injured when a roof collapsed as concrete was being poured. A $2.4 million fine was imposed, and state authorities subsequently shut down the contractor when it was learned that the company did not carry mandatory workers...November 25, 2004
Thanksgiving and how to avoid too much of a good thing
Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers, particularly those for whom the day is business as usual - police, firefighters, healthcare workers, soldiers, waiters, cooks, utilities workers - for thousands of workers, it's just another day at the office. Hats off to all the workers who keep things running well and safely so the rest of us can enjoy the day!...November 22, 2004
America's Cold War Energy Workers - Help on the way?
In late September, we wrote about the government's pitiful efforts to compensate workers who became ill after working in our atomic energy program during the cold war. In 2000, Congress had passed The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). We wrote about the cooperation required between the Energy Department (DOE), the Department of Labor (DOL) and the National...DuPont safety resources and preventable injuries
For years, DuPont has been a leader in workplace safety. They were the original "zero injury" culture, holding to a philosophy that all injuries are preventable. The first and most basic safety principle at DuPont is that all injuries are preventable. This may seem a startling idea in the context of a lot of plant operations, but we have lived...November 18, 2004
Prolonged PC use may cause glaucoma
Does heavy computer use increase the risk for glaucoma? Yes, according to a study by the University of Japan at Toho. The study was conducted with 10,000 office workers who are heavy computer users: “… the researchers found that those who were short-sighted and sat in front of computer screens for long hours were at significantly higher risk of developing/having...November 16, 2004
When Injured Workers Meet Tired Doctors
Yesterday's posting on the impact of fatigue on medical treatment raises some interesting issues for workers compensation. The first line of defense for injured employees is the emergency room. You don't need an appointment. It's open 24/7. No injury is too severe or, for that matter, too minor. Supervisors routinely send injured employees to the nearest emergency room for treatment....November 15, 2004
Interns' Medical Errors Affected by Work Schedules
Insurance Journal reports on a study in the October 28, 2004, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine on the link between medical intern work schedules and medical errors. Surprisingly to me, the Brigham and Young research is one of the first studies of its kind, and while the study focuses on patient safety, it is but a short...November 10, 2004
Are older workers at greater risk for specific injuries?
The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation has published an interesting paper on the relationship between age and injury. We are all aware that many people are working longer and retiring later. Does this put employers at risk for higher workers compensation costs for their aging workforce? Are there specific injuries that occur to workers as they get older? The Ohio...November 8, 2004
Health & safety resources from Canada
Most U.S. risk managers and health & safety staff are no doubt familiar with the many online prevention resources available at OSHA, but some may be less familiar with resources available from our neighbors to the north. Canada's Center for Occupational Heath & Safety (CCOHS) is available in English, French, and Spanish - an invaluable resource for employers with a...November 7, 2004
Environment, health & safety benchmark survey
Wondering how your health & safety department compares with those in other organizations? An environemnt, health & safety (EHS) benchmarks survey, recently released by the Bureau of National Affairs reports on a number of trends, including salaries, outsourcing trends, budgets and expenditures, and areas of responsibilities. The survey was conducted in conjunction with the National Association for Environmental Management. A...October 22, 2004
Baseball and Workers Compensation
There are a lot of bleary-eyed workers staggering to their jobs across New England and all across America. This year’s baseball playoffs have provided riveting drama (and not just because the Red Sox have miraculously made it to the World Series!). Marathon games have kept fans up well past their usual bedtimes. For those viewing the epic confrontations in bars...October 10, 2004
Oxycontin and Workers Compensation: Prescription for Trouble
There is an interesting convergence of issues concerning the pain killer, Oxycontin. Originally developed to combat cancer pain, Oxycontin has been aggressively marketed over the past three years by its manufacturer Purdue, to the point where the drug is now the pain-killer of preference for work related injuries. This drug is twice as powerful as morphine and, while not technically...October 6, 2004
When incentive-based compensation programs and bonuses backfire
George's Employment Blawg (which, incidentally, is always a good read) treats the legal downside of incentive-based compensation, pointing us to an article by Chiree McCain of the Birmingham Business Journal entitled Compensation systems also have legal negatives The article uses examples of bonuses that may inadvertently encourage drivers to short-shrift safety or drive beyond legal limits and bonuses for accident-free...September 30, 2004
Workplace deaths increased in 2003
Workplace fatalities rose in 2003 to a total of 5,559 deaths, according to the Department of Labor. Here's a breakdown from the DOL report about the industry segments with the most deaths. The construction industry had the most deaths - 1,126, followed by 805 deaths in the transportation and warehousing sector. When the number of workers in each industry was...September 23, 2004
Still No Exit
Back in January we posted a blog about Walmart locking night shift employees in the building, ostensibly for their own safety. Now we read that a Winn Dixie supermarket in Mobile, Alabama, has been cited by OSHA for a similar activity. So far we have not had the benefit of a management explanation of this bizarre practice, but regardless of...September 9, 2004
How a workplace injury transformed a life
This past Monday, Sean George marched in Pittsburgh's annual Labor Day parade. While such an event may seem pedestrian, the circumstances that led to it are anything but. A steamfitter and a survivor, George shares the story of his horrific workplace injury with workers and insurers in the hopes that his experience might change the lives of others for the...August 17, 2004
Felony for willful safety violations - legislation gaining traction?
Ron Hayes has worked tirelessly to criminalize willful neglect of federal safety regulations, and some 11 years after he began his quest, legislation that would subject willful violators to felony charges appears to be gaining some traction. We wrote about Ron in April when he was testifying for the Corzine-Kennedy Wrongful Death Accountability Act. That bill was opposed by Commerce...August 5, 2004
Florida shuts down uninsured employer after two worker deaths
A few weeks ago, there was a horrific Florida construction accident that claimed the lives of two workers and injured several others. While laying concrete on the third floor of a new condominium complex, the roof collapsed. News reports of the accident were anguishing - many workers barely jumped to their safety, with others trapped by debris and hardening concrete,...July 19, 2004
Driving and Talking: Are headsets the answer?
If you want to talk on a cell phone and operate a motor vehicle in Washington DC, New York or New Jersey, you have to use a head set. A number of other states are contemplating requiring these head sets. But a July 19, 2004,article in the Wall Street Journal questions whether these headsets really make talking safer. Written by...July 17, 2004
Lightning strike prevention and survivor resources
A recent news story about a 42-year old Bradenton, Florida carpenter who was killed by lightening is sad a reminder that this is the prime season to be on alert for electrical storms. Every year, workers, account for about one third of the total number of people struck by lightening. Lightning strikes are most likely to occur between 2 pm...June 11, 2004
NIOSH issues alert for healthcare workers who are exposed to hazardous pharmaceuticals
If you asked the average "man on the street" to name dangerous professions, chances are nursing and other healthcare professions wouldn't make the list. Yet according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hospitals have the second highest rate of nonfatal injury or illness cases. Many of the risks are well known: back injuries and musculo-skeletal disorders from lifting patients; exposure...May 25, 2004
Return-to-work programs benefit by ergonomics
Ergonomics Today features an article on how ergonomics is an important tool in a successful return-to-work program. "According to Sheryl Ulin, Ph. D., CPE, Senior Research Associate Engineer at The University of Michigan's Center for Ergonomics, applying ergonomics principals to return-to-work can help the injured worker return to a more productive state more quickly. The key, she says, is starting...May 10, 2004
Workplace "freak accidents" as a media myth
In a recent post, Jordan Barab at Confined Space takes issue with the way the media often portrays work fatalities as "freak events." Jordan says that as far as he's concerned, a freak accident is "when you're sitting at your desk, minding your own business and a runaway satellite crashes through the roof over your head." He was reacting to...April 30, 2004
Dying at Work, part two
In our previous posting, we presented the findings of a report on workplace fatalities produced by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. There were 81 fatalities in Massachusetts workplaces in 2003, a 65% increase over the prior year. (By the way, the actual fatality number may be higher, as some vehicular fatalities "in the course and scope of employment" may not show up...April 29, 2004
Wrongful Death Accountability Act
Eleven years ago, in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, nineteen year old Patrick Hayes died instantly when 60 tons of corn collapsed on top of him. His father, Ron, from Fairhope, Alaska, has been trying ever since to give tangible meaning to his son's death by doing all in his power to convince Congress that it should give prosecutors the right to...Dying at Work, part one
Is the American workplace more dangerous today than in the recent past? According to a report released by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, workplace deaths in Massachusetts rose by 65% in 2003 to a total of 81 people. Naturally, the report focuses on systemic reductions in safety enforcement at both the federal and state levels. No argument there. But at LynchRyan, we...April 27, 2004
Workers' Memorial Day - April 28, 2004
April 28 is Workers Memorial Day - "Remember the Dead and Fight for the Living" The first Workers Memorial Day was observed in 1989. April 28 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the day of a similar remembrance in Canada. Every year, people in hundreds of communities and at worksites recognize...April 22, 2004
Modern Day Slavery
"Slavery is not just the shameful stuff of history books - not in Florida" "For nine months, The Palm Beach Post explored the roots of modern-day slavery. Reporters and photographers traveled to destitute Mexican villages, crossed the desert with a smuggler, rode across the U.S. with illegal immigrants, found new claims of slavery, uncovered rampant Social Security fraud, and found...April 16, 2004
More on immigrant workers
Recently, we posted about the AP investigation on Mexican workers and their shocking on-the-job death rate. Jordan Barab at Confined Space has an in-depth, not-to-be-missed follow-up to this story that discusses what OSHA is doing about immigrant worker safety. And one of our readers pointed us to this article from the Palm Beach Post about the Florida workers comp law...March 14, 2004
Jobs that lure Mexican workers to the U.S. are killing them
In documenting what is referred to as a "worsening epidemic that is now claiming a victim a day," a study by the Associated Press (AP) is exploring the reasons why Mexican workers are about 80 percent more likely to die from a work injury than native-born workers, and more than twice as likely to die on the job as other...March 5, 2004
March is workplace eye safety month
"In observance of March as Workplace Eye Safety Month, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Eye M.D. Association, and Eye M.D.s across the nation want to alert Americans to the possibility of eye injuries in the workplace. According to Prevent Blindness America, each working day in the United States more than 2,000 employees sustain job-related eye injuries, making workplace injury...February 29, 2004
IBM cancer lawsuit - exclusive remedy, workplace illnesses, and technology industry exposures
Last week a jury found in favor of IBM by denying damages in a suit filed by two retired workers. The workers alleged that exposure to chemicals and toxins at an IBM plant led to cancer. This case points to several issues that should be of interest to employers and to those of us who work in the field of...February 25, 2004
NIOSH Worker Notification Program
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is a federal agency charged with conducting research to prevent illnesses and injuries in the workplace. They've added a worker notification program on their site that provides medical information, resources, and research for a variety of workplace exposures. For example, steelworkers can learn about exposure to acid mist; dry cleaners could learn...February 23, 2004
Hazardous duty: Earl Dotter photographs America working
You must visit the extraordinary site of photojournalist Earl Dotter. He describes his work better than I ever could: For 30 years, the camera has enabled me to do meaningful work. Starting in the Appalachian coal fields, and continuing through the years over a broad spectrum of industries and regions of the country, I have observed and documented the working...February 22, 2004
Toxic mold and workers compensation: an issue for your watch list
The Sebastian, FL police station recently dealt with 21 toxic mold claims from employees who allegedly became ill from mold at the station. Fifteen cases were dismissed or settled for small amounts; another six involved lump sum settlements. Toxic mold is an issue to watch. It's a potentially explosive issue, and some in the industry liken it to asbestos or...February 15, 2004
Ergo tips - workstation ergonomic design
Does your work keep you tied to the computer? Or too much time spent blogging? Cornell University Ergonomics Web offers several resources to help prevent back, wrist, or eyestrain. They offer a pictorial guide to setting up workstation components to prevent injuries and to ensure comfort while you work or play at the computer. They also have a "where it...February 10, 2004
Mandatory English at the workplace?
As U.S. demographics continue to shift, one of the tough issues facing employers is an increase in the multilingual work force. Some employers mandate English-only in the workplace, but should they? Discrimination suits based on such policies are on the increase, yet employers defend the practice on the basis of business necessity, productivity, safety, and the like. The EEOC keeps...February 3, 2004
Workplace safety: the moral mandate of protecting young workers
Candace Carnahan lost her leg to a conveyor belt when she was 21 years old while working at a Canadian paper mill. She's thankful to be alive - if a co-worker hadn't heard her screams, she would have been pulled into the machine to her death. She now devotes her time to bringing the workplace safety message to the 18...January 23, 2004
Fashionable vs. unfashionable workplace violence?
Workplace violence is the second leading cause of worker deaths - and the top cause among women. Is there "fashionable" and "unfashionable" workplace violence? Jordan Barab makes some strong points on this topic and the idea of profiling as a preventative measure: "Instead of generating profit-making consultants, unfashionable workplace violence focused on boring issues like staffing levels in institutions, lockdrop...January 18, 2004
Walmart locks night shift workers in
The New York Times today features a shocking story on night shift employees who are locked in at Walmart and its affiliated stores. (free registration required) In a work practice that seems like something out of a Dickens novel or a third world sweatshop, exits are locked at night under the guise of protecting workers. The article relates the story...January 13, 2004
The Weekly Toll
Workplace safety isn't an academic exercise as Jordan Barab at Confined Space reminds us with his grim tally of last week's workplace deaths. It's a terrible list, yet an important reminder in light of yesterday's post touting a decline in frequency. If you are an employer, ask yourself this - are you doing everything within your power to ensure that...January 12, 2004
NCCI report: frequency trending down; severity trending up
Last week, NCCI reported on a recent study on workers' compensation claim frequency and, as they reported last year, frequency continues to decline. They cite several potential reasons for this - employer safety initiatives, increased use of robotics and power assisted processes, and ergonomics, to name a few. Here is a breakdown by size of claim - note that the...December 29, 2003
Communication pays dividends
From Wisconsin, land of many lakes, come three refreshing case histories depicting the many benefits that can accrue when employers heighten communication with employees. The unifying theme? "Aggressively listening to employees pays huge dividends." At a local corrugated box plant of the Weyerhaeuser Company, an employee-based safety campaign reduced accidents involving lost work time from 20 in 1999 to none...December 24, 2003
When Workers Die
It is well worth the free registration at the New York Times to read the powerful three-part series entitled "When Workers Die." These articles raise the issue of an employer's liability for willful neglect of safety procedures leading to a workplace death. They also make the case that OSHA has woefully failed in its mandate to protect workers by its...December 15, 2003
Lifting guidelines and RTW
The Ohio Bureau of Workers Comp and Ohio State University have teamed up on a research project that studies back injuries and reinjuries that can occur when people return to work. As an offshoot of the research, they developed an interactive lifting resource with guidelines intended to help employers and physicians in developing realistic transitional work programs. Considering that back...November 20, 2003
OSHA e-Tools - online training resource
OSHA's e-Tools are a good online training resource for employers. The modules are interactive and illustrated, and currently cover a range of more than 30 industry-specific safety topics. including two in Spanish. Some of the newest additions include baggage handling, computer workstations, machine guarding and Legionaire's disease....October 17, 2003
When work turns deadly
Sometimes when workplace prevention breaks down, the events affect more than your employees as was the case in last week's tragic N.Y. ferry crash that resulted in 10 deaths and 42 injuries. The accident investigation is underway, with all eyes on the Captain. Substance abuse testing of the crew showed no problem areas, but there have been some as-yet unconfirmed...October 14, 2003
OSHA and repetitive stress reporting rules
Tip of the hat to Robert Vonada of the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Journal for pointing us to this Washington Post article on OSHA and reporting rules for repetitive stress injuries....or perhaps it is more accurate to say the lack-of-reporting rules....September 29, 2003
