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...Posted by Julie Ferguson at 8:59 AM