Recently in Videos Category

In the office, on the road or at home, proper ergonomics when using laptops will help to prevent back, shoulder, and wrist problems.

We're looking for some OSHA safety guidelines, but to no avail. There's a peril that is plaguing postal workers, police, EMTs and news producers alike, yet it's a safety issue that remains largely unaddressed. We're talking turkey here. Wild, urban turkeys are fast, aggressive and persistent. In honor of Thanksgiving, we bring you these videos of brave workers confronting this natural peril.

As yet, we aren't aware of any turkey-related claims. Wait, that is not entirely true - there was the rather unusual situation where a claims investigator was mistaken as a turkey and shot, an unfortuante situation my colleague discussed a few years ago. But a claim resulting from an actual turkey attack? We've yet to hear of one.

Should you be confronted by a wild turkey - and we assure you, it can be an intimidating experience to be attacked by a 30-pound enraged male turkey that sees you as threat or a subordinate in the pecking order - the best advice we have is to try not to give ground. They are trying to establish dominance. Hold your ground, carry a big stick to shoo them, or better yet, carry an umbrella, which you can open and close to create your own display of dominance.

Or barring that, just stay in your vehicle, call state wildlife authorities, and wait until help arrives or the turkeys meander away.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers!

Since it's a Friday afternoon in August , we are ending the week with a musical interlude, the ever popular Hazcom song. We even have a link to the lyrics in case you'd like to sing along. Learn them and you just might be the hit of your weekend barbecue. We commend the author for some creative rhyming!

OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program was implemented some 30 years ago and includes about 2,500 workplaces. Employers must qualify for participation by meeting certain criteria, including a demonstrated safety record that is better the than industry average and practices such as training and employee involvement that would indicate a serious safety culture. Companies that are accepted into the program become exempt from programmed OSHA inspections while they retain their VPP status -- a not insubstantial benefit that makes the program popular with employers and small government advocates alike. So popular that some legislators are trying to make the VPP permanent.

But many question the effectiveness of the program beyond its popularity. And now, some investigators are asking what a company would have to do to lose the VPP status. If a company experienced a preventable workplace fatality, would they be ejected from the program? Would they be subject to a higher level of scrutiny?

Apparently not. A recent investigative report by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) revealed that at least 80 workers have died at VPP employers since 2001 yet have retained their "model workplace" status in VPP. Yet in 47 of these cases, inspectors found serious safety violations and, sometimes, tragedies that could have been averted.

Last week CPI and PBS's Need to Know ran the first report of their investigative series on OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), Model Workplaces, Imperiled Lives. In addition to the number of deaths at VPP participants, the investigation found that:

• Even when workers die and inspectors find safety violations, "model workplaces" often face minimal consequences and retain the special designation. At least 65 percent of workplaces where a fatal accident occurred remain in the special "Voluntary Protection Program" today.
• As the program tripled in size over the last decade, OSHA cut the number of staffers overseeing it and weakened requirements for membership, raising questions about how well the program supplements the efforts of inspectors in safeguarding American workers.
• Little widespread evidence exists that the 29-year-old program works. Despite calls by the Government Accountability Office and others for OSHA to complete a comprehensive evaluation of the program's effectiveness, none has occurred.

PBS featured this report on The Watch list: Safety matters: Injuries and fatalities at 'model' workplaces, which included this video.

This is not the first we've heard of the flaws in the VPP. In The Pump Handle's post entitled Investigators probe integrity of OSHA's safety recognition program, they link to a May 2009 GAO Report on OSHA's VPPs, which was extremely critical of OSHA's VPP program, noting that:

• OSHA's internal controls are not sufficient to ensure that only qualified worksites participate in the VPP. First, OSHA's oversight is limited by the minimal documentation requirements of the program. Second, OSHA does not ensure that its regional offices consistently comply with its policies for the VPP.
• OSHA's lack of a policy requiring documentation in the VPP files of actions taken by the regions in response to incidents, such as fatalities and serious injuries, at VPP sites limits the national office's ability to ensure that regions have taken the required actions. OSHA's VPP Manual requires regions to review sites' safety and health systems after such incidents to determine whether systemic changes are needed to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future and whether the site should remain in the program.
• OSHA's oversight of the VPP is limited because it does not have internal controls, such as management reviews by the national office, to ensure that its regions consistently comply with VPP policies for verifying sites' injury and illness rates and conducting on-site reviews.
• OSHA's efforts to assess the performance of the VPP and evaluate its effectiveness are not adequate. First, OSHA has not developed performance goals or measures to assess the performance of the program. Second, OSHA contracted for a study of the VPP to evaluate its effectiveness, but the study was flawed.

Shortly after this GAO report, OSHA pledged to reform the VPP.

There's certainly a place for a "Centers of Excellence" program for workplace safety. Companies that have made extraordinary efforts to ensure safety should be recognized. But it looks like a program that began with good intent has morphed into something that is poorly managed at best and a mockery of the original intent at worst. How much of a distinction is it for the truly high performing organizations if weak or inappropriate entities are kept in the program? Before any expansion of this program occurs, Congress would do well to ensure that the program that exists gets fixed.

As long as we're on the topic of healthcare today, it seems to be an opportune time to share a moving video clip that we bookmarked over the holidays. Marty Ratermann, a Missouri a craftsman and furniture maker, relates his story as a cancer patient at the 2010 Health Literacy Missouri Summit. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 rectal cancer in 2008. After a grueling recovery process, he has been in remission for more than a year. He details how his situation could have been prevented with better communication between him and his doctors.

His story illustrates the difficult path that a person faces navigating the complex healthcare system and making critical choices at a point when he or she is particularly vulnerable. His prescription at the end of the clip is a simple one: take the time and make it a priority to communicate.

I couldn't help but think of the parallels in the healing process for workers who have experienced a serious injury. Many a claim has spiraled out of control for want of good, clear communication and a simple human-to-human moment of concern. So often, we see workplace injuries that are treated as financial transactions when, in reality, they are fundamentally human events: someone is injured, often through no fault of their own. The complexity of the system a worker may find themselves suddenly thrust into, the unfamiliar insurance jargon, the impersonality - all occurring at a point where the worker may be feeling fear and anxiety about their future physical and financial well being. Our prescription: Less thinking about the injured worker as a claimant and more thinking about them as a person. In our experience, that's what leads to the best financial outcomes in the long run.

A Patient's Story from Health Literacy Missouri on Vimeo.

OK, it's Friday and we haven't talked about actuaries in awhile. Did you know that there are people singing about actuaries now? It's true. A few years ago, we brought you some mathematical musical hits, actuary style. Today, we are bringing you yet more actuarial ditties, including some love songs. Turn up your speakers and let down your hair.

In the past, we've featured assorted news items about how employers and insurers are turning to social networks to monitor employees for potential fraud. In fact, just last week, we learned about how the New York State Insurance Department's Fraud Bureau recently cracked a case as a result of a Facebook posting. But social media and how it intersects with workers compensation is all still pretty uncharted territory.

Given this, we were delighted to learn of a recent paper specifically dealing with this area of law: Social Networking and Workers' Compensation Law at the Crossroads, authored by Gregory M. Duhl of William Mitchell College of Law and Jaclyn S. Millner of Fitch, Johnson, Larson & Held, P.A. It's a substantial document - 75 pages, to be precise, that looks at the use of social networking evidence in workers' compensation litigation. It's scheduled to be published in the Pace Law Review, but you can download a free copy of the report at the above link. We'd encourage you to run, not walk, to get your copy - it's interesting, well written, and thoroughly annotated, and you don't need to be an attorney to find it valuable.

We think that the remarks which the authors make at the conclusion of their paper do an excellent job of explaining the importance of both the issues at hand and the value of this work in particular, so we are taking the liberty of reproducing them:

"The lawyers, judges, insurance companies, and parties within workers' compensation systems will increasingly confront the discovery, privacy, professional responsibility, and evidentiary issues that arise at the crossroads of workers' compensation law and social networking. In the absence of case law and ethics opinions that discuss these exact issues, this article starts with the rules that govern workers' compensation cases, and discusses how they might apply to lawyers gathering, producing, and introducing evidence from social networking sites. But this article is only a starting point. As workers' compensation systems are built on efficiency, flexibility, and discretion, workers' compensation is an ideal area of law for lawyers and judges to experiment with how to address some of the unique challenges and opportunities that social networking poses in litigation.

While there is a lack of legal authority on these issues, that should not cloud the reality that many employees are using social networking in their daily lives. One thing of which we are certain is that lawyers who practice in the workers' compensation field need to be able to navigate around social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace, and know how they work. Social networking is no longer a new technology, and ignorance should not be an excuse to the applicability of evidence from social networking sites in litigation."

Last week, we rocked and rolled you with a dramatic video of a cruise ship tossed in a storm, but for sheer fear factor, we think this video may top that one. Normally, we wouldn't post another video so soon after that one, but we think this one may not stay up for long!

Note: the video we had posted was removed but a copy has been posted here: Climbing Up The Tallest Antenna Tower 1,768 feet

Once we caught our breath after the gut-churning visceral reaction to the clip, we had two thoughts: Massive respect for the jobs that infrastructure workers do to keep our lights on, our computers running, and our phones working, and absolute horror at the "free climbing" concept. The narrator says that OSHA rules really allow for this, but that doesn't sound right. We'd be interested in comments from safety professionals.

Here's what we found from OSHA: "Tower climbing remains the most dangerous job in America. The majority of fatalities are the result of climbers not being tied off to a safe anchorage point at all times or relying upon faulty personal protection equipment. Many fatalities have occurred during the erection, retrofitting or dismantling of a tower. "Tie or Die!" has become synonymous with the requirement for 100 percent fall protection."

Our friend David Williams is hosting Cavalcade of Risk #113 over at Health Business Blog. Also of note on his blog, his post on a recent Kaiser study on healthcare, which includes some interesting statistics about practices related to healthcare quality monitoring.

Here at Workers Comp Insider, we are in "back to school" mode - catching up after a long Labor Day weekend, having tucked in a few final summer vacation days. So we have only one item today that fits in with the theme of risk ... a remarkable video clip of security camera footage from a harrowing 2008 cruise that just recently made its way to the web. How would you like to have been one of the employees or a guest on this particular cruise? Or the risk manager?

I don't know which segment is scarier - the passengers and crew sliding around in the cafeteria in the first half or the forklifts and heavy equipment careening around in the second half. Yikes.

The Sydney Morning Herald offers more information about what happened on the cruise. The article doesn't report on any injuries among the 671 crew, but says that, "Forty-two passengers were injured in the storm. The worst injuries were a fractured pelvis and fractured wrist, with most of the injured suffering cuts and bruises." After the event, the company offered passengers a 25% discount on future cruises. Also, "...recommendations made after an investigation into the event, including the securing of furnishings and providing bridge staff with night-vision binoculars, had been implemented by the company."

Friday afternoon in August - who wants to be too serious? We think it's the perfect time to deploy the secret stash of medical-humor related videos we've been collecting,

The first is a feel-good clip performed by staff at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon to raise awareness for breast cancer.

The next clip is a Gilbert & Sullivan parody created by the Neuroscience Education Institute to be a little video played at the beginning of lectures presented by Dr. Stephen Stahl.

The Model of a Psychopharmacologist

The third clip is performed by the Laryngospasms, a group of practicing Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists who create and perform medical parodies for audiences throughout the United States.

Other gems
The Colorectal Surgeon Song - OK, this is not performed by actual medical folk, but well worth a listen anyway!

UAB Emergency Room Tap - created by ER nurses for a National Nurses' Week contest and celebration. UAB nurses and other staff members are featured in the video.

Breathe - another ditty by the Laryngospasms. More can be found at www.Laryngospasms.com

Footloose: Nursing School Style - Baylor Louis Herrington School of Nursing cuts footloose.

Lawyers, investigators, policymakers and safety professionals will be wrangling over the Deepwater Horizon tragedy for years to determine what happened, where fault lay, and who will pay.

By many accounts, Deepwater Horizon was had a relatively good safety record. Its 125-member crew had no serious injuries in the seven years prior to the explosion. In a cruel irony, BP mangers were reported as being on board to recognize the Deepwater crew for its outstanding record on the very day that the explosion occurred.

The sheer magnitude of the disaster and the economic and ecological impact have taken center stage, while the deaths of 11 workers are all too often the asterisk to the story. Their surviving family members and their 156 work colleagues, who narrowly averted death themselves, are in the early stages of an arduous healing process. Coworkers lived through the harrowing and terrible event, many sustaining physical and psychological scars. At hearings and in the media, their personal survival accounts are beginning to be told.

In the first part of a 60 Minutes segment on the disaster, crew member Mike Williams talks about events leading up to the explosion. Production was off schedule by more than a month and $25 million had been lost. This put crews under even pressure to perform. A critical piece of equipment was damaged 4 weeks prior to the explosion, yet this unsettling event did not slow the inexorable push forward. Williams describes a "chest-bumping" argument that occurred on the morning of the fateful day, between a BP manager and crew manager about who would have the final word about process decisions. In his account, the BP manager won the argument and made a process decision, which preceded the explosion.

In the second part of the report, Williams relates his own struggle for survival, as well as the dramatic close call for other coworkers. He talks about being injured in the initial two explosions, the helpless feeling when crawling outside to see the extent of the damage, and the terror of jumping 90 feet into oil-slicked, fiery water and swimming until being rescued.

The dividing line between survival and death was a matter chance and of seconds. Although there had been weekly lifeboat drills, some survivors said that they had not anticipated such chaos, nor had they actually sat in lifeboats or thought through the details of a quick escape. And details could make the difference. One life raft of survivors was tethered to the rig and narrowly avoided being pulled back into the inferno simply because the company's strict "no knives" policy meant that no one had a knife to cut the rope.

Other survivors and family members shared their experiences on CNN.

Family members relate the experience from their point of view - hearing the terrible news of the explosion and the long, terrible vigil waiting to get official word of whether their loved one survived or not.

Also see: Profiles of the profiles of the Deepwater Horizon Eleven, ranging in age from the youngest at 22 to the oldest at 56 years old.

Prior posts
News update on BP
Engulfed by risks

Workers comp is 100 years old this year and by way of Roberto Ceniceros' informative blog Comp Time, we learn that there is a Workers' Compensation Centennial Commission (WCCC), which was formed to celebrate the anniversary of the first constitutional workers' compensation law in the United States. The WCCC was organized by a bi-partisan coalition of Wisconsin-based labor and government leaders, which is reaching out to other states to commemorate the anniversary of the landmark legislation. It's pretty appropriate that this initiative is kicking off in Wisconsin because that was the state where the first state workers' compensation law was signed on May 3, 1911.

The WCCC site has collected some really interesting resources, including a photo gallery and various historical documents. And one of the centerpieces of the collection is a terrific 10-minute video that was created by students from Nimitz High in Houston Texas for the 2008 National History Day.

Great job on the film - thanks, Nimitz High students!

Because of their rarity, volcanic eruptions are a pretty interesting insurance topic, so on the "thigh bone's connected to the hip bone" principle, we thought we'd stray a bit afield today. Mother nature has reminded us who's boss in a truly spectacular display of muscle flexing that's brought travel and commerce to an unprecedented standstill for a huge part of the globe.

As an insurance event, it may not prove to be as costly as one might think, given the havoc that it is wreaking on business and travel - estimated at $2 billion and counting. Most airlines will be absorbing the cost of the delays since there is not actual physical damage to the fleet, and a volcano would be considered an 'act of God.' This prompts Vladimir Guevarra of the Wall St, Journal to ask if we might see volcano-related insurance as a new product for the airline industry.

European insurers don't expect a big hit, largely because business interruption claims are considered unlikely - claims would need to be triggered by actual physical damage. The property and casualty damage from volcanic ash is not expected to be extensive.

For at least one segment of the industry, this is being deemed a significant claims event: Insurance companies that provide trip coverage are being inundated with calls, and they expect to pay out millions in trip claims. For travelers who were insured before April 13, coverage is likely, depending on exclusions, but after April 13, travelers should not expect ash coverage.

Future scenarios
In the great scheme of things, as far as volcanic eruptions go, this is a modest affair. However, there are two scenarios that could raise the stakes. The first is what the effects would be if volcano disruption lasts weeks, months - many are speculating about how the European crisis could play out

The second rather troubling scenario would be if this is a dress rehearsal, which it could well be if history is any guide.

"Eyjafjallajokull has blown three times in the past thousand years," Dr McGarvie told The Times, "in 920AD, in 1612 and between 1821 and 1823. Each time it set off Katla." The likelihood of Katla blowing could become clear "in a few weeks or a few months", he said.

A quarter of the island's population died in the resulting famine and it transformed the world, creating Britain's notorious "sand summer", casting a toxic cloud over Prague, playing havoc with harvests in France -- sometimes seen as a contributory factor in the French Revolution -- and changing the climate so dramatically that New Jersey recorded its largest snowfall and Egypt one of its most enduring droughts.

More volcano resources
Lists of the most deadly and the most costly eruptions
Volcano World
Aerial photo gallery of the Iceland volcano
Another gallery of stunning images
How to pronounce Eyjafjallajokull (video)

We like to keep our eye on advances in rehabilitative and assistive tehnologies, so we were delighted to find one of our favorite inventors and entrepreneurs Dean Kamen showcasing another of his awe-inspiring inventions in a TED talk. Kamen is perhaps most known for the invention of the Segway. We were particularly smitten by his iBOT, a revolutionary stair-climbing wheelchair that allowed the user to raise up on two wheels to be eye level to a standing person. Unfortunately, these went off the market due to cost but you can see the iBOT in action here.

Kamen's recent invention is the DEKA Arm (or the "Luke Arm"), a highly advanced prosthetic arm which he created for veterans who lost limbs in the war. He tells the fascinating story of the development and shows some of the capabilities in the following TED video. Inspiring and exciting! (You can also view his recent appearance on the Colbert Report and you can read about it at Dean Kamen's "Luke Arm" Prosthesis Readies for Clinical Trials.)

When is a worker disabled and unable to do his or her job? This is an issue that surfaced in a recent post about an employer that was reluctant to make workplace accommodations for employees who had been injured on the job but who wanted to return to work. This case came to mind again after viewing a presentation by record breaking athlete Aimee Mullins. In her most recent appearance at the TED conference, Aimee delivers an outstanding talk that properly redefines the word 'disabled.' The video clip is about 22 minutes, but it's guaranteed to be one of the best things you see this week. Here are a few excerpts that we liked:

"It's not just about the words, it's what we believe about people when we name them with these words - it's about the values behind the words and how we construct those values. Our language affects our thinking and how we view the world and how we view other people."

"...we have to make sure that we don't put the first brick in a wall that will actually disable someone. Perhaps the existing model of only looking at what is broken in you and how do we fix it serves to be more disabling to the individual than the pathology itself. By not treating the wholeness of a person, by not acknowledging their potency we are creating another ill on top of whatever natural struggle they may have."

More about Aimee Mullins
TED profile - with links to additional presentations she has made
Aimee Mullins website
Aimee Mullins on Wikipedia

It's been some time since we've made a foray into one of our favorite topics: emerging health technology, particularly in the area of rehabilitative and assistive technologies. We've compiled a few stories that we found fascinating and promising. If you enjoy them and and would like to read more, we point you to the following excellent sources: Always: Medgadget and MassDevice. Sometimes: Wired and Gizmodo.

Throw out those crutches
Crutches are an awkward and uncomfortable so we are delighted to learn about the Freedom-Leg, an "off-loading prosthetic," which allows users greater mobility. The device allows a user to avoid putting any weight on the injured foot, ankle or knee, but keeps the strength in the upper muscles of the injured leg.

Bionic fingers
If you are advancing in years as I am, you will remember TV's popular Six-Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. Yesterday's fantasy is today's reality, giving powerful new potential to amputees. Prodigits is a prostehetic device for partial-hand amputees who are missing one or more fingers. Bionic or self-contained fingers that are individually powered allow users to bend, touch, grasp, and point.

Gastric "condom" for obesity, diabetes treatment
A recurring topic here on the blog is the debilitating impact of comorbidities such as obesity and diabetes on the recovery process. Obesity is frequently also a contributing factor to a work-related injury. Recently, we've seen some controversial court decisions mandating that employers foot the bill for gastric by-pass surgery for workers who are recovering from work-related injuries.

A new temporary device, the EndoBarrier Gastric Bypass, holds promise for helping with weight loss. The device is implanted endoscopically via the mouth, creating a chamber in the stomach which limits the amount of food a patient can digest. A prior story showed the device had positive results in clinical trials.

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 should be mandatory viewing by the 100,000 at-risk organizations that have the potential for such explosions, but think "it can't happen here."

Jared Rhoads has posted a fresh Health Wonk Review at The Lucidicus Project. There are many interesting posts running the gamut: healthcare reform, home birth, hospice, hypertension and a variety of other topics that the health bloggers found noteworthy in the last two weeks.

Other news notes
Bad Manager of the Month Club - Scott Polston, an employee of Foster Farms Dairy in California, suddenly began getting a series bizarre phone calls and dozens of strangers coming to his home with unusual requests. The callers and visitors were responding to bogus ads that had been placed on craigslist, ads that were subsequently traced back to his supervisor, Michael Odell Simpson. At the time of this report, Simpson was no longer employed by the Dairy and was facing criminal complaints. Polston filed a worker's compensation claim over stress.

Experts Detail Perils To Comp Insurers - "Unconventional threats to the workers’ compensation system, ranging from Medicare system red tape to recession problems to employers liability difficulties," - these are all perils for employers and threats to the doctrine of exclusive remedy discussed by panelists at the recent at the Workers Compensation Educational Conference presented by the Florida Workers’ Compensation Institute in partnership with The National Underwriter Company.

Survey: Consumers Would Support TWD Ban - In light of our recent posts on texting while driving this week, we were interested to learn that a recent Harris Interactive survey revealed that 80% of Americans favor a ban on texting while driving, while two thirds favor a ban on cell phone calls, and more than half say they would support a ban on cell phone use altogether.

Labor Day - As the Industrial Revolution took hold of the nation, the average American in the late 1800s worked 12-hour days, seven days a week in order to make a basic living. Children were also working, as they provided cheap labor to employers and laws against child labor were not strongly enforced. With the long hours and terrible working conditions, American unions became more prominent and voiced their demands for a better way of life. On Tuesday September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers marched from city hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first-ever Labor Day parade. - More at Labor Day History.

Workplace safety - We started the week with a texting-while-driving shock video that has been making the rounds on the Web. Today, we found a more uplifting video highlighting the importance of workplace safety from the Washington Department State Department of Labor & Industries:

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 things in comparison to the approach that some countries are taking in getting the message out. Nothing that we've seen or read here in the U.S. has the raw, visceral power that a recent British public service announcement aimed at teens.

Before watching, please be warned that this video is very graphic.

There's no disputing the danger that texting while driving poses - the studies are adding up. One of the more recent is a study by the VirginiaTech Transportation Institute, which found that texting truck drivers were 23 times more at risk of a crash or near crash event than nondistracted drivers. But there has been some debate about the effectiveness of shock advertising as an awareness and prevention tactic - some see them as highly effective, while other think that viewers tend to tune them out. This is an issue that came up about two years ago when Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board released a series of graphic public service announcements designed to highlight worker safety.

As for the subject of this ad - currently, 18 states ban texting for all drivers. The Governors' Highway Safety Association maintains and updates a handy chart of state cell phone and texting laws - check back often, as this is an issue on several state legislative dockets.

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)

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 intended to send the message that work injuries and fatalities are unacceptable and preventable. The campaign includes television and radio commercials, print ads, transit shelter and outdoor ads, web-based ads and a Prevent It website. In addition to running in English and French, the print and TV ads will run in Cantonese, Mandarin, Italian, Portuguese, Punjabi and Spanish.

Take a look at the spots, but please be warned, these are graphic video clips:
Sous Chef suffers kitchen burns
Construction worker falls from roof
Retail worker falls from ladder
Forklift driver dies in an accident

This approach is markedly different from anything that we seem to have here in the U.S. These work safety ads are startling, both in the shocking and gruesome nature of their content and in the fact that they are run on public television. Other than an occasional reference to workplace safety in an insurance spot, we can't recall ever having seen TV ads devoted to worker safety. And despite pervasive graphic violence in films and on TV, it's hard to imagine spots like these being run on network or cable TV in the U.S. Another remarkable thing in comparing Ontario's approach to ours is in the variety of languages that the print and broadcast ads are employing to get the work safety message out.

Does shock value work? It would certainly seem to be effective in drawing awareness to an issue, although it's hard to measure if heightened awareness translates into better on-the-job safety. Ontario has been running graphic ads for a number of years now, and last year, there were 101 work fatalities in a population of some 12 million people. That's roughly comparable to the population of Pennsylvania, where there were 240 workplace fatalities last year or to Illinois, where there were 207 work-related fatalities. Alabama had about the same number of work fatalities (100) for a population of about 4.5 million. Maybe we could indeed use a few PSAs here. (For state fatality stats, see BLS report on fatal work injuries in 2006).

What do you think - effective or no? We'd be interested in hearing of any other public awareness campaigns for workplace safety - perhaps there are some sate-sponsored efforts. If you know of any, please let us know in the comments.