Things you should know

Temp workers file lost-time claims twice as often: study

Temporary workers file lost-workday claims about twice as often as permanent workers, according to a recent study from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.

Agricultural services had the highest disparity among industries, with 12.39 lost-workday claims per 100 FTE for temp workers compared with 2.36 for permanent ones.

From interviews, researchers found that among temp claimants, nearly 40 percent said they did not receive safety training from their temp agency, and 48 percent said they were trained only at the beginning of employment. For permanent claimants, those percentages were approximately 25 and 20, respectively. Temp claimants also reported less screening for applicable work experience and less control over work schedules.

The study, which was published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine adds to the evidence that policies are needed to improve screening and training of temporary workers.

Nonfatal injury and illness rate in private sector continues to decline: BLS

The nonfatal injury and illness rate for private-sector U.S. employees decreased slightly in 2016, as did the rate of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work, according to data released Nov. 9 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Reported nonfatal injuries and illnesses occurred at a rate of 2.9 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2016, compared with 3.0 in 2015 and 3.2 in 2014. The rate has fallen in all but one year since 2003. The 2012 rate remained the same as in 2011.

Other 2016 data highlights:

• The median DAFW needed to recover was eight, matching the figure from 2015.
• The DAFW rate for workers in manufacturing fell to 94.9 cases per 10,000 full-time workers from 99.0 the year before. The total number of DAFW cases in manufacturing fell by 4 percent to 118,050.
• Among the four industries that reported injury rate declines, only retail trade (122,390) and manufacturing (118,050) exceeded 100,000 DAFW cases.
• Sprains, strains and tears accounted for 317,530 injuries and illnesses requiring DAFW, or about 36 percent of total cases.

Ignored safety procedures, fractured safety program led to fatal Amtrak derailment

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the April 2016 derailment of Amtrak train 89 near Chester, Pennsylvania was caused by deficient safety management across many levels of Amtrak and a lack of a clear, consistent and accepted vision for safety. A backhoe operator and a track supervisor were killed, and 39 people were injured when the train, traveling on the Northeast Corridor from Philadelphia to Washington struck a backhoe.

The abstract of the NTSB's final report, that includes the findings, probable cause and safety recommendations is available online.

'Hypermasculine' firehouse culture may hinder women from speaking up about safety: study

Female firefighters who feel unwelcome or shunned in the male-dominated culture at some firehouses are less likely to be active participants in the department's safety culture, according to a new study from Drexel University, published in the Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health.

2018 edition of NFPA 70E® available

Electrical equipment and electrical safety devices are constantly being changed and improved. The NFPA 70E Committee addresses these changes and updates the standard every three years as part of keeping up with current technology and safety concerns. This is a standard used not only by facility managers and safety officers, but also by OSHA inspectors, continually educating them on existing trends in electrical safety.

State News

California

• The guidelines for how injured workers are treated changed Dec. 1, with modifications in line with current American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine standards.
• According to the estimates provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), California's overall incidence rate of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses remains steady at 3.7 cases per 100 workers for full time employees, the lowest rate in over a decade.
• Medical payments per workers' compensation claim with more than seven days lost time have decreased steadily since the enactment of reform legislation in 2013, according to a study released by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). The average medical payment per claim decreased 3% - 4% per year.

Florida

• The Insurance Commissioner has granted approval to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for a statewide overall rate level decrease of 9.5% and premium level decrease of 9.8%. This applies to both new and renewal workers' compensation insurance policies effective as of January 1, 2018.

Indiana

• Nonfatal occupational injury and illness rate is the lowest in state history with an estimated 3.5 injuries or illnesses per 100 full-time workers.

New York

• The New York State Workers' Compensation Board released revised draft impairment guidelines and proposed regulations. According to a new section added to Title 12 of NYCRR, evaluations of permanent impairment must be completed using the Workers' Compensation Guidelines for Determining Impairment. The revised guidelines make changes to the way that medical impairments are scored.

North Carolina

• Workplace injury and illness rate for private industry in 2016 was statistically unchanged from its historic low in 2015. The 2016 rate is 2.5 cases per 100 full-time workers, compared to 2.6 in 2015.
• Physician payments as a percentage of Medicare reimbursements were lower than for the region and nationally last year, a NCCI study on Medical Data shows.

Wisconsin

• A recent study by the WCRI found medical payments per workers' compensation claim were higher than typical for 2015 injuries evaluated as of March 2016. In 2015, workers' compensation medical payments per claim with more than seven days of lost time were 61 percent higher than the median in the study; medical payments per all paid claims were 46 percent higher than typical. However, other WCRI research found injured workers reported higher rates of satisfaction with their medical care and among the lowest percentages of problems accessing medical care. Overall total costs per all paid claims were lower than typical in Wisconsin, driven largely by fewer workers losing time from work after an injury, substantially lower indemnity payments per claim, and shorter duration of temporary disability benefits.