Things you should know
Podcast discusses five top summertime injuries
BLS data shows injuries increase in summertime. A recent Occupational Health & Safety magazine podcast discusses five prominent summertime injuries and how to prevent them.
NCCI: COVID-19 claims totaled $260M in 2020
Workers Compensation losses in 2020 from 45,000 COVID-19-related claims totaled $260 million, according to the NCCI. The figures exclude self-insureds and only account for the 36 states where NCCI provides ratemaking services. COVID-19 claims have the potential to ultimately result in workers' comp losses exceeding $500 million over the duration of the pandemic.
Better outcomes for back pain treated under medical guidelines
A study of 60,000 workers by the University of Utah Health and MDGuidelines researchers found that people with a lower back pain injury miss 11 more days of work in a year when they only receive treatments for lower back pain that are not recommended by medical evidence-based guidelines compared with people treated according to guidelines.
Post-operative opioid scripts not always necessary: Study
Published in the Annals of Surgery by a team from Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan's academic medical center, researchers analyzed 2019 data from a statewide surgical care registry and surveyed patients about their experience. Eighty-six percent of the patients received a prescription for an opioid after they had hernia, gallbladder, appendix, bowel, thyroid, or gynecological operations and when the researchers compared those patients' experiences and survey responses with data from the 14% of patients who only got non-opioid painkiller prescriptions, they found little difference, according to the university.
NSC and Amazon partner on musculoskeletal disorders
NSC and Amazon have agreed to form an international advisory council of safety experts, corporations and researchers from both the public and private sector to address common injuries MSDs. Amazon has also agreed to contribute $12 million to NSC to go toward research and small business and university grants to study practical MSD solutions.
Amazon stops drug testing for marijuana
With more states permitting recreational marijuana, Amazon announced they will no longer include marijuana in the comprehensive drug screening program for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation and will instead treat it the same as alcohol use. Amazon will continue to do impairment checks on the job and will test for all drugs and alcohol after any incident.
Positive drug tests for U.S. workers remain near historic highs: annual index
Paced by sharp rises in marijuana positivity rates, the positive drug test rate for U.S. workers continued at a historically high level in 2020, according to an annual analysis conducted by lab services provider Quest Diagnostics. Among all workers, urine samples had a marijuana positivity rate of 3.6% last year, up from 3.1% in 2019 - a 16.1% increase.
State News
California
- A bill that would have extended past 2023 the rebuttable presumption for health care workers who contract COVID-19 at work failed in the Senate.
Connecticut
- Became the 18th state to permit recreational pot. The law became effective July 1.
Florida
- Compensable COVID-19 workers compensation indemnity claims continue to drop precipitously - 461 claims in May from a high of 8,390 in July 2020. Overall, 43,913 indemnity claims have been filed and employers and insurers have paid $41.4 million in closed COVID-19 claims and just over $52 million for claims that remained open as of May 3.
Missouri
- Governor Mike Parson signed House Bill 271 prohibiting any county, city, town, or village government receiving public funds from requiring COVID-19 vaccination documents (commonly known as "vaccine passports") from citizens. Also, citizens must be allowed access to any building, transportation system, or service without showing proof they have received the vaccine.
Michigan
- Workers' Disability Compensation Agency said it will return to "business as usual," with some exceptions, starting July 12.
- MIOSHA took action to align its emergency rules with the Federal OSHA's ETS, with the updated rules taking effect June 22.
New York
- The New York City Department of Buildings has issued stop-work orders at 322 construction sites in the city since June 1 as part of its "zero tolerance" safety inspection sweeps. More than 2,000 larger building construction sites were inspected and 1,100 violations were issued.
- HERO Act amended extending effective dates. Section 1 of the act, creation and adoption of airborne infectious disease plans, takes effect July 5 and Section 2, which pertains to the establishment of workplace safety committees, will take effect on November 1, 2021.
- NY Forward Guidance was updated for several industries, including office-based and food services employers, reflecting CDC guidance about vaccinated individuals and updating health screening questions.