Guinness is good for you – That’s the news from Tinker Ready, who is hosting the Health Wonk Review: Wearing the Green for the St. Patrick’s Day Edition at her blog Boston Health News. We think it’s pretty fitting to have a Boston blog hosting this particular edition!
From the bizarre file – Thomas A. Robinson ofRisk Management Magazine offers a list of the 10 most bizarre workers compensation cases during 2011. Robinson rightly notes that, “Despite their unusual nature, however, one must always be respectful of the fact that while a case might be bizarre in an academic sense, it was intensely real, affecting real lives and real families.” So true. We hope he’ll follow with a collection of the 10 most bizarre employer acts – we’ve seen a few in our day.
OSHA whistleblowers – Just a reminder: Don’t fire someone for reporting safety hazard. A Florida charter school is learning this lesson the hard way. OSHA is suing Manatee School for the Arts in Palmetto, Fla seeking reinstatement of the former employee with full benefits; payment of back wages, punitive damages, and compensatory damages, among other things.
New York’s Reg. 194 – There’s a big brouhaha in New York over N.Y. Reg. 194, with risk manager groups and agent groups coming down on opposite sides of the fence. N.Y. Reg, 194 is a broker-disclosure rule that requires agents to advise clients that they receive commissions from insurers. The ruling was proposed by the Division of Insurance in the aftermath of the Spitzer investigations against several large brokerage firms. Last week, a NY Appellate Court upheld the rule.
Exploding pig farms – We posted a link to this issue before – but the mysterious hog farm explosions continue to stump scientists. A strange, potentially explosive foam is surfacing near manure pits in about 1 ou tof every 4 hog farms, and has caused six explosions since 2009. According to the article: “This has all started in the last four or five years here. We don’t have any idea where it came from or how it got started,” said agricultural engineer Charles Clanton of the University of Minnesota. “Whatever has happened is new.” The National Hog Farmer has more background: Foaming swine manure poses explosive risks.
Wellness focus – Of cancers affecting both men and women, colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon and rectum) is the second leading cancer killer in the United States, and the number one cancer killer in non-smokers. Why not issue a reminder to your employees: Colorectal cancer screening saves lives.
Market conditions – Roberto Ceniceros notes that captives are thriving as the work comp market hardens. Rising prices for traditional insurance vehicles always means that alternative insurance programs see growth.
Posts Tagged ‘whistleblowers’
Health Wonk Review, Irish style, and other noteworthy news briefs
Thursday, March 15th, 2012Cavalcade of Risk and assorted noteworthy news items from the blogosphere
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010Check out this week’s Cavalcade of Risk, which is hosted by Nina Kallen, a Massachusetts attorney who runs the blog Insurance Coverage Law in Massachusetts. These carnivals are a good way to discover new blogs and we are happy to discover this one, right in our own backyard.
Flammable Ice Cream – an interesting Loss Prevention case study from Liberty Mutual that addresses the issue of flammable liquid hazards in unexpected place.
America’s Best Hospitals Ranked – Complex Care Blog offers links to the recent rankings, as well as an interesting video on thinking differently about health care from the Mayo Clinic.
Beneath the Bell Jar: Companies Confront a Rise in Workplace Suicides – Emily Holbrook looks at this tough issue in the November issue of Risk Management.
Employee whistleblower protections in food new safety law – at Today’s Workplace, attorney Jason Zuckerman discusses the robust whistleblower protections included in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which are included to ensure that workers can disclose food safety concerns without fear of reprisal. He offers a detailed overview of the provisions.
Update on OSHA’s worker safety in construction efforts – OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab’s keynote speech, which was delivered at the Building Trades Employers’ Association of New York 2010 Safety Conference.
TSA Brings Problems on Itself – we discussed TSA employee stress earlier in the week. Workplace human behavior consultant and author Aubrey Daniels suggests that better attention to service and training might go a long way to reducing traveler tension – and would also, no doubt, make things easier for the screeners themselves.
Fatal occupational injuries at road construction sites, 2003-07 (PDF) – a report recently issued by the Monthly Labor Review, which analyzes trends and circumstances around the fatalities.
Remote Workers Need More Than Cookie-Cutter Safety Strategies – from Risk and Insurance, a discussion on telecommuting workers and an approach to keep them safe.
OSHA’s squeaky Whistleblower Protection Program
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010Most people are aware that, since 1970, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has been responsible for issuing and enforcing standards for workplace health and safety. But if I were a betting person, I would wager that far fewer are aware of OSHA’s responsibilities in relation to the Sarbanes Oxley Act. OSHA is charged with protecting workers ” …from retaliation for reporting alleged violations of mail, wire, bank, or securities fraud; violations of rules or regulations of the SEC; or federal laws relating to fraud against shareholders.”
This responsibility is part of the Office of Whistleblower Protection Program (OWPP),for which OSHA has oversight. OWPP was originally intended to protect workers from being retaliated against for such things as reporting safety violations to OSHA, requesting or participating in an OSHA inspection, or testifying in any proceeding related to an OSHA inspection.
Over the years, this responsibility has expanded to encompass oversight of the whistle-blowing provisions for eighteen other statutes, including violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, health care reform, nuclear energy, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad and securities laws.
And according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), OSHA gets failing grades for discharging its whistleblower protection responsibilities. The GAO cited lack of training, chronic inattention from OSHA leaders, and long delays in resolving cases, among other problems.
Some say the problems are no surprise: too few staff spread too thin, resulting in long case delays and staff demoralization. You can see charts depicting the growth of responsibilities while staff remained flat on pages 16-17 of the GAO Whistleblower Report. (PDF)
Some relief is in the offing – 25 new investigators are scheduled for appointment to OWPP. In addition, the Department of Labor (DOL) is conducting a “top to bottom” review and there is some discussion about whether the program should be moved to another part of DOL.
Whistleblowers are fundamental to workplace safety, but even with protections built into the laws, the reality is that protection for whistle-blowing employees can be a long time in coming, when and if it does. Read about truck driver John Simon’s whistle-blowing ordeal as a case in point. There are unfortunately many other similar stories. OSHA offers employees a a bill of rights to ensure safety, but fundamental to those rights are protections when and if they speak up in the cause of safety.
Flighty Health Wonk Review and sundry other news blurbs
Thursday, August 5th, 2010Jaan Sidorov has an air travel themed Health Wonk Review posted over at Disease Management Care Blog, which he calls “frequent flyer miles for your brain.” There’s a roundup of assorted news on the health care policy front ranging from a post on the growth of MinuteClinics to a look at hospital quality surveys. Get your dose of the news from some of the brightest braniacs in the health policy blogosphere.
Here are a few other health-care related news items we noted in our travels: Katharine Van Tassel of HealthLawProfBlog posts the disturbing news revealed via a survey that 36% of responding physicians don’t believe in reporting impaired colleagues. And at Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda talks about the results of a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll that demonstrates the power of mis-information: “Half of seniors (50%) say the [heathcare reform] law will cut benefits that were previously provided to all people on Medicare, and more than a third (36%) incorrectly believe the law will “allow a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare.”
The Weekly Toll – If you haven’t visited in awhile, stop by The Weekly Toll to read about US workers who died on the job this past week. Many seasonal hazards are represented with a high toll of tractor and farming-related fatalities and construction-related deaths in this week’s grim list. And the list does not include the 8 employees of Hartford Distributors who were killed by a coworker.
Whistleblowers – Michael Fox of Jottings By An Employer’s Lawyer tell us that the difference between cloth and leather gloves is just over $1 million in his post about a Maine court’s ruling in favor of a whistleblower who was terminated after making complaints about safety and working conditions. Maine courts aren’t the only ones who are taking a dim view of retaliation against employees who report safety problems: at Today’s Workplace, Mike Hall posts that OSHA takes whistleblowers seriously and has established a website to offer a Whistleblower Protection Program.
Teen workers – Elizabeth Cooney writes about young employees who face injury or even death on the job in an article in the Boston Globe. Teens often are employed in some of the most dangerous jobs and have little in the way of training, as evidenced by the fact that the nonfatal injury rate for 15- to 17-year-olds in the United States was 5.2 per 100 full-time equivalent workers per year, double the rate for adults 25 and older. She discusses research from the state’s Teens at Work initiative, which revealed that of “208 teens under age 18 who had been injured at work from 2003 through 2007, about half said they had no safety training. About 15 percent said there was no supervisor on site when they were hurt. Almost a quarter said they had no work permit.”
Remarkable story – Chrissy gets a new face from Work Comp Complex Care: “…her story of recovery is incredible on several levels – for the medical technology involved; for the reminder that dedicated health care professionals have the power to make a huge difference in a patient’s quality of life; and for the grace and attitude of the woman who suffered a devastating, life-changing injury and did not let it defeat her.”
Protecting football players – In Hitless or Witless?, Skip Rozin of WSJ.com discusses new NFL safeguards to protect football players from serious head injuries. Long overdue, and more is needed. The biggest hurdle will be overcoming the culture. As Rozin puts it “One of the biggest obstacles here is the athletes’ code of playing hurt.”
Nursing shifts – A new study from the University of Maryland-Baltimore reveals that long shifts pose health hazards for nurses – and may increase the risk to patients, as well. Study authors said that “the most common problems with an overemphasis on 12-hour shifts are needle-stick injuries, musculoskeletal disorders, drowsy driving, and other health breakdowns related to sleep deprivation.”
Legal briefs – In South Carolina, the court ruled that free living quarters offered as inducement for employment are considered wages. In a case involving horseplay, an Iowa court ruled in favor of a butt-shaking employee on appeal. A Washington court found that a fitness for duty test did not violate the ADA.
OSHA – Dwayne Towles of Advanced Safety Health News Blog warns employers that OSHA is scrutinizing safety incentive programs and may be asking for any written policies or details of any contests or promotions. They are looking for programs that might discourage employees from reporting injuries. Towles offers his thoughts for how to handle matters should OSHA come calling. And while on the topic of OSHA visits, SafetyNewsAlert offers additional suggestions in prepping for an inspection: top 10 dos and don’ts for OSHA inspections from 2 OSHA inspectors.
