Posts Tagged ‘mobile workers’

News Roundup: Holiday Health Wonkery, Claims Webinar, Firefighter Hazards & more

Thursday, December 6th, 2012

Holiday Health Wonkery – Just a spoonful of latkes makes the medicine go down? Hank Stern hosts a Chanukah-themed Festival of Lights edition of Health Wonk Review at InsureBlog – it’s fun, interesting, and contains substantial wonkery.
Claims Webinar – Mark Walls, who many of you may know from his LinkedIn Work Comp Analysis Group fame, is hosting a complimentary 90-minute webinar on Tuesday, December 11: Take your Workers’ Compensation Claims Handling from Good to Great. Mark’s been plying his profession for 22 years, so you can’t get a better claims guide. Click through to see topics or to register.
Firefighter hazardsStop, drop, and roll: workplace hazards of local government firefighters, 2009 (PDF) – “When compared with all workers, firefighters are injured in similar ways but at a much higher rate, with work-related injuries caused by “stress, exertion, and other medical-related issues” accounting for the largest number of deaths and with risks of fatal injuries 25.7 percent higher and nonfatal injuries and illnesses over two times greater.” – BLS report by Gary M. Kurlick, economist in the Office of Compensation and Working Conditions, Division of Safety and Health Statistics, at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Chimp attack – Roberto Ceniceros of Business Insurance brings us the most recent development in the sad saga of the CT woman who was attacked by her employer’s pet chimp: Woman disfigured in chimp attack settles with owner’s estate for $4M. We’ve written about aspects of this horrific case in the past – see: the crazed chimp case, Exclusive Remedy” for Losing Your Face?, and (Uncompensable) Nightmare at Work.
Depression and Work Comp – Does your organization offer depression screening for injured workers? Risk Scenarios: Down for the Last Time offers case in which missed cues and poorly handled communication made a difficult workers’ compensation case much more painful than it should have been.
Mind over Matter – Osteoarthritisis is “the most common joint disorder” and occurs “due to aging and wear and tear on a joint.” Will arthroscopic surgery relieve related pain? Read about prior studies in Kneedless Surgery. For more debunking, see Gary Schwitzer’s HealthNewsReview, which has a mission of “helping consumers critically analyze claims about health care interventions and by promoting the principles of shared decision-making reinforced by accurate, balanced and complete information about the tradeoffs involved in health care decisions.” The site offers commentary, evaluations, and grading on health care journalism, advertising, marketing, public relations and other messages – a great consumer resource.
Fraud – Two pretty large cases of fraud hit our radar this week, proving that work comp fraud perpetrators can come in many flavors, even among those you pay to trust. On WorkCompWire, we learned about $2.7 million Florida fraud case involving a former correctional officer and at Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda blogs that Pennsylvania County was defrauded by its risk manager to the tune of $490,000.
Telecommuting – In a recent Human Resource Executive, Carol Harnett makes the case that Telework is Good for Business, and she uses the experiences that many businesses had with Hurricane Sandy as examples. At LexisNexis, attorney John Stahl looks at work comp issues related to the mobile workforce and home-based employees.
Workplace Violence – The current issue of Risk Management Magazine has a Time Line of Workplace Homicides and at Risk Management Monitor, Ralph Metzner posts about preventing workplace violence.
News Briefs

Health Wonk Review, Illinois reform, Missouri SIF, mobile risks & more news notes

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Health Wonk Review – John Irvine & Matthew Holt host a hefty edition of Health Wonk Review over at The Health Care Blog – lots of good health wonkery there!
Illinois work comp reform – After all the sturm und drang in the Illinois reform process, we’ve had a breakthrough … a reform bill finally passed on the last day of the legislative session. In a Tale of Persuasion, AP’s Zachary Colman takes you step by step through the painful process. And at Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda offers an excellent rundown of some of the key provisions in the Illinois work comp reform bill.
In other Illinois news, the matter of $10 million in repetitive stress claims filed by Menard County prison guards has taken some new twists. The Illinois house recently passed a bill requiring the release of the related workers’ comp test records in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. A report obtained through the FOIA shows that locking and unlocking prison cells didn’t injure the guards.
Missouri’s second injury fund woesInjured workers in Missouri are being left in the lurch, according to a story in stltoday.com. about the state’s troubled Second Injury Fund Roberto Ceniceros posts more about Missouri’s financially-ill second injury fund.
Mobile risks – Andrew Simpson writes about the increased workers comp exposure as more workers go mobile in Insurane Journal. In the past, the workplace was a clearly defined place and the hours of operation were also clearly defined, but as more and more workers go mobile, things are much less clearly defined – the lines between professional and personal life are blurring. Plus, employers are often supplying the mobile devices to workers, increasing their exposure to claims that occur when off site or off the clock. “Insurance claims professionals say claims made by workers injured while doing things where the relation to their employment is unclear are on the rise and the increasing use of mobile devices is challenging traditional notions of work-related injuries.”
Workplace violence factorsThe Workplace Violence Blog posts about the prevalence of workplace violence as evidenced by a Society of Human Resource Management survey, and states that “Approximately $55 billion a year is lost to litigation awards, property damage and lost productivity from workplace violence. It is estimated that productivity can drop as much as 50% in the six to eight weeks following a workplace violence incident.” The post includes seven common organizational factors that contribute tow workplace violence.
Industry growth – Insurance is one industry that is poised for growth. According to a recent research report issued by IBISWorld, employment in TPAs and and claims adjusting is set to grow 5.7% annually between now and 2016. “Other industries in the IBISWorld top 10 fastest-growing for the next few years include sustainable building material manufacturers, multi-family home builders, used car dealers, remediation and environmental cleanup services.”
MRSA facts from the CDC – From the CDC, MRSA and the workplace, including a list of frequently asked questions. Staph infections, including antibiotic resistant MRSA, MRSA skin infections can occur anywhere. However, the CDC notes that some settings have factors that make it easier for MRSA to be transmitted. These factors, referred to as the 5 C’s, are as follows: Crowding, frequent skin-to-skin Contact, Compromised skin (i.e., cuts or abrasions), Contaminated items and surfaces, and lack of Cleanliness. Locations where the 5 C’s are common include schools, dormitories, military barracks, households, correctional facilities, and daycare centers.

Risk, compensability, mousing elbow, medical costs, and other news briefs

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Cavalcade of Risk – Emily Holbrook is hosting the 131st edition of Cavalcade of Risk at one of our favorite risk-related blogs, Risk Management Monitor. Check it out!
Compensability issues – In disputes as to whether an employee’s injury or illness is eligible for benefits, courts look at the issues of whether the injury arose in the course and scope of employment. Roberto Ceniceros posts that while course and scope have generally been regarded as a single doctrine, that may be changing with the challenges posed by an increasingly mobile work force. See his blog post: “Course and scope” separated.
Safety for the solitary worker – Speaking of a mobile work force, do you have workers who work alone? Solitary work poses unique safety challenges. See Safety Daily Advisor’s tips for keeping solo workers safe.
Claims IT systems webinar – Health Strategy Associates has an upcoming webinar that may be of interest to some of our readers: the results of HSA’s First Annual Survey of Workers Comp Claims IT Systems. If the sponsoring organization’s name isn’t familiar to you, it’s our fellow blogger and friend Joe Paduda’s firm – he’s sponsoring the seminar in conjunction with colleague Sandy Blunt. If this interests you, act now – the webinar is scheduled for tomorrow!
Mining safety, one year later – On last week’s anniversary of the West Virginia Big Branch mine disaster that claimed 29 lives, the latimes.com looks at progress – or lack of progress – in enhancing miner safety: Families of dead miners feel let down by Washington. The story reports that in the past year, a safety bill has failed and the backlog of safety cases has grown.
Top HR issuesWorkforce covers the top 10 HR concerns as reported by the Employers Resource Association. These issues are compiled from the more than 8,000 hotline calls made by the organization’s membership of 1,300 companies in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Mousing elbow – As we incorporate more and more devices in our work-world, technology-related maladies seem to multiply. Greg LaRochelle of the MEMIC Safety Blog talks about Mousing Elbow and how to prevent it. See also Blackberry Thumb, Cell Phone Elbow, IPod Ear. Also, see our ergo tips for setting up a workstation.
Medical costs – Can making physicians aware of the costs for procedures help to curtail costs? Katherine Hobson of WSJ’s Health Blog reports on an interesting research project that showed a decrease in expenditures for routine lab tests when physicians were made aware of the overall costs for such procedures: “Cosimi tells the Health Blog the study represents “a good first step, just to show that there’s a problem, and a potential solution.” The goal would be to establish guidelines for proper testing. And he says it’s not just blood work that could benefit from this kind of approach. At his own transplant unit, he noticed changes in prescribing behavior simply by posting the very different costs of two similar antibiotics.”
Hidden costs – We all know the health risks of smoking and that smoking can contribute to comorbidities that hinder worker recovery. But there are lesser known risks that can contribute to claim costs, In PropertyCasualty360, Zack Craft of Total Medical Solutions talks about how smoking can damage sensitive medical equipment too, and a factor that adjusters should consider.
Wage & hour violations? There’s an app for that – If you feel like your employees are tracking you, they may well be. Employment attorney Michael Fox posts about the Department of Labor’s new timesheet i-phone app, which is intended to help employees track the hours they work and the wages they are owed. The DOL says that, “This information could prove invaluable during a Wage and Hour Division investigation when an employer has failed to maintain accurate employment records.”

Health Wonk Review and other bloggy news notes

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Hank Stern has posted a fresh roundup of news from the health wonkosphere over at InsureBlog – check it out: Health Wonk Review: Early September Edition.
ADA update – The folks at George’s Employment Blog has been keeping an eye on changes to the ADA. In July, George Lenard posted on what the ADA amendments will mean if they become law, and more recently, Karen Tofte has posted a second part in the series. She examines how the substantial limitation of major life activities element of the ADA’s definition of disability would be altered.
MA health care – Bob Laszewski of Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review comments on a recent NY Times editorial that looks at the Massachusetts health insurance experience and finds it less costly than expected. Bob points to some problems that must be factored in when assessing the program.
Technology risksErgonomics in the News points us to the article The Downside of Mobility: Injury: “As Wi-Fi–and laptops and mobile devices–become more ubiquitous, users from kids to adults find themselves suffering from injuries ranging from carpel tunnel syndrome to “BlackBerry thumb.” The first in a series of features and reviews on the ergonomics of Wi-Fi-induced mobility, this article offers tips on how to prevent injuries.”
Going and coming – Judge Robert Vonada of Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Journal reports that PA courts upheld compensability in the case of a home health nurse injured while traveling to her patient’s home. The case was complicated by the fact that she provided services to several employers in the course of her day.
Safety – BLR’s Daily Safety Advisor offers tips on Getting the most from your safety committee.