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American Journal of Industrial Medicine Mar 2022Given workplace risks from COVID-19, California policymakers passed Senate Bill (SB) 1159 to facilitate access to workers' compensation (WC) benefits for frontline... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Given workplace risks from COVID-19, California policymakers passed Senate Bill (SB) 1159 to facilitate access to workers' compensation (WC) benefits for frontline workers. However there has been no review of the available evidence needed to inform policy decisions about COVID-19 and WC.
METHODS
We conducted a literature review on worker and employer experiences surrounding COVID-19 and WC, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
RESULTS
Forty articles were included (16 about worker experiences and 24 about employer practices). Most were not about experiences and practices related to COVID-19 and WC. Worker studies indicated that paid sick leave reduced new COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 activity. Studies also found that rural agricultural and food processing workers lacked sick leave protection and faced severe housing and food insecurity. Studies on workplace health and safety indicated that healthcare workers with access to personal protective equipment had lower stress levels. Studies about employer practices found that unrestricted work in high-contact industries was associated with increased risks to at-risk workers, and with health disparities. No studies examined worker COVID-19 experiences and WC claims or benefits, job loss, retaliation, workers' medical care experiences, and return-to-work or leave practices.
CONCLUSIONS
Our review identified experiences and practice related to COVID-19 and the WC system, but not specifically about WC and COVID-19 WC claims or benefits. Further research is needed to document and understand evidence underpinning the need for WC coverage for COVID-19 and to evaluate the impact of the current SB 1159 bill on WC in California.
Topics: COVID-19; California; Humans; Return to Work; SARS-CoV-2; Workers' Compensation
PubMed: 35092626
DOI: 10.1002/ajim.23326 -
International Journal of Environmental... Apr 2022Temporary staffing has an increasing role in world economies, contracting workers and dispatching them to work for leasing employers within countries and across borders....
Temporary staffing has an increasing role in world economies, contracting workers and dispatching them to work for leasing employers within countries and across borders. Using Illinois as a case study, co-authors have undertaken investigations to understand the occupational health, safety, and well-being challenges for workers hired through temporary staffing companies; to determine knowledge and attitudes of temp workers and temp staffing employers; and to assess temporary staffing at a community level. Temporary staffing workers in Illinois tend to be people of color who are employed in the most hazardous sectors of the economy. They have a higher rate of injury, are compensated less, and often lose their jobs when injured. Laws allow for ambiguity of responsibility for training, reporting, and compensation between the staffing agency and host employers. Our findings illustrate the ways in which principles of fairness and equity are violated in temporary staffing. Shared responsibility for reporting injuries, providing workers' compensation insurance, and training workers should be mandated in law and required in contractual language between temporary staffing and host/contracting employers. Monitoring, enforcement, and adjustment of the law based on experience are required to "promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.
Topics: Health Equity; Humans; Illinois; Occupational Health; Occupational Injuries; Social Justice; Workers' Compensation; Workforce
PubMed: 35564507
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19095112 -
The Western Journal of Medicine Sep 1978A few states, notably California, are experiencing large increases in the number and cost of disability settlements under workers' compensation. Claims of cumulative...
A few states, notably California, are experiencing large increases in the number and cost of disability settlements under workers' compensation. Claims of cumulative injury for coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke, cancer and neuropsychiatric problems have all been interpreted as compensable under workers' compensation, even when these conditions are clearly related to the aging process. Legal precedents for such claims are building rapidly throughout the country. The resultant costs may lead to the demise of the workers' compensation system. The situation in California is discussed in detail including the legal aspects, cumulative injury claims by type of disease and age of claimants, legal costs to the individual and the employer, and the economic outlook for the workers' compensation insurance system.
Topics: Adult; Age Factors; Aged; California; Costs and Cost Analysis; Humans; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases; Workers' Compensation
PubMed: 151986
DOI: No ID Found -
Human Resources For Health Aug 2023Despite the physical demands and risks inherent to working in long-term care (LTC), little is known about workplace injuries and worker compensation claims in this...
Characterizing worker compensation claims in long-term care and examining the association between facility characteristics and severe injury: a repeated cross-sectional study from Alberta, Canada.
BACKGROUND
Despite the physical demands and risks inherent to working in long-term care (LTC), little is known about workplace injuries and worker compensation claims in this setting. The purpose of this study was to characterize workplace injuries in LTC and to estimate the association between worker and organizational factors on severe injury.
METHODS
We used a repeated cross-sectional design to examine worker compensation claims between September 1, 2014 and September 30, 2018 from 25 LTC homes. Worker compensation claim data came from The Workers Compensation Board of Alberta. LTC facility data came from the Translating Research in Elder Care program. We used descriptive statistics to characterize the sample and multivariable logistic regression to estimate the association between staff, organizational, and resident characteristics and severe injury, measured as 31+ days of disability.
RESULTS
We examined 3337 compensation claims from 25 LTC facilities. Less than 10% of claims (5.1%, n = 170) resulted in severe injury and most claims did not result in any days of disability (70.9%, n = 2367). Most of the sample were women and over 40 years of age. Care aides were the largest occupational group (62.1%, n = 2072). The highest proportion of claims were made from staff working in voluntary not for profit facilities (41.9%, n = 1398) followed by public not for profit (32.9%, n = 1098), and private for profit (n = 25.2%, n = 841). Most claims identified the nature of injury as traumatic injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments, or joints. In the multivariable logistic regression, higher staff age (50-59, aOR: 2.26, 95% CI 1.06-4.83; 60+, aOR: 2.70, 95% CI 1.20-6.08) was associated with more severe injury, controlling for resident acuity and other organizational staffing factors.
CONCLUSIONS
Most claims were made by care aides and were due to musculoskeletal injuries. In LTC, few worker compensation claims were due to severe injury. More research is needed to delve into the specific features of the LTC setting that are related to worker injury.
Topics: Female; Humans; Adult; Middle Aged; Aged; Male; Alberta; Cross-Sectional Studies; Workers' Compensation; Long-Term Care; Nursing Homes
PubMed: 37587454
DOI: 10.1186/s12960-023-00850-4 -
Canadian Respiratory Journal 2009
Topics: Age Distribution; Aged; Female; Humans; Incidence; Male; Mesothelioma; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases; Ontario; Registries; Sex Distribution; Workers' Compensation
PubMed: 19851531
DOI: 10.1155/2009/932534 -
Acta Neurologica Taiwanica Jun 2012Karoshi, death from over-work, is usually the extreme result of acute cardiovascular events including stroke. Among 203 karoshi cases received worker compensation in... (Review)
Review
Karoshi, death from over-work, is usually the extreme result of acute cardiovascular events including stroke. Among 203 karoshi cases received worker compensation in Japan, sixty percent died of stroke. Karoshi is a term for social medicine originated form Japan. Literature reviews on karoshi found that long overtime at work, on duty in holidays, attending a new job with no family members around, and working at night shift are risk factors. Work stress increases secretion of catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and cortisol which is associated with progression of atherosclerosis and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. To avoid long working hours, stress management and treatment of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia are key issues in preventing karoshi caused by stroke.
Topics: Death, Sudden; Humans; Japan; Occupational Diseases; Risk Factors; Stroke; Workers' Compensation; Workload
PubMed: 22879113
DOI: No ID Found -
AIDS Policy & Law Apr 1999
Topics: Contact Tracing; HIV Infections; Humans; Needle-Exchange Programs; Occupational Exposure; State Government; United States; Workers' Compensation
PubMed: 11366514
DOI: No ID Found -
WMJ : Official Publication of the State... Dec 2023The food manufacturing industry is a critical economic sector and has been a high-risk industry for COVID-19. This analysis aimed to describe COVID-19 cumulative case...
BACKGROUND
The food manufacturing industry is a critical economic sector and has been a high-risk industry for COVID-19. This analysis aimed to describe COVID-19 cumulative case incidence rates among Wisconsin food manufacturing workers and their worker's compensation utilization.
METHODS
This was a descriptive analysis of COVID-19 cases among food manufacturing industry workers in Wisconsin from October 1, 2020, through December 31, 2021.
RESULTS
Occupations with the highest cumulative case incidence rate (per 1000 workers) were Packers and Packagers, Hand (275; 95% CI, 252-300), Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders (266; 95% CI, 254-277), and Laborers and Freight, Stock and Material Movers, Hand (261; 95% CI, 247-276). Two worker's compensation claims were paid to food manufacturing workers.
DISCUSSION
Wisconsin food manufacturing workers were disproportionately affected by COVID-19, with a high cumulative case incidence rate exceeding that of the manufacturing industry overall, statewide non-institutionalized working-age adults, and the ambulatory health care industry. There was also a disproportionately low use of worker's compensation benefits in Wisconsin compared to the high COVID-19 disease incidence. Improved worker protections for occupational infectious diseases with high risk of transmission are needed as well as improvements to the worker's compensation system.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Incidence; Wisconsin; Workers' Compensation; COVID-19; Salaries and Fringe Benefits
PubMed: 38180931
DOI: No ID Found -
PloS One 2023Workers of color experience a disproportionate share of work-related injuries and illnesses (WRII), however, most workers' compensation systems do not collect race and...
BACKGROUND
Workers of color experience a disproportionate share of work-related injuries and illnesses (WRII), however, most workers' compensation systems do not collect race and ethnicity information, making it difficult to monitor trends over time, or to investigate specific policies and procedures that maintain or could eliminate the unequal burden of WRII for workers of color. The purpose of this study is to apply a Bayesian method to Washington workers' compensation claims data to identify racial and ethnic disparities of WRII by industry and occupation, improving upon existing surveillance limitations. Measuring differences in risk for WRII will better inform prevention efforts and target prevention to those at increased risk.
METHODS
To estimate WRII by race/ethnicity, we applied the Bayesian Improved Surname Geocode (BISG) method to surname and residential address data among all Washington workers' compensation claims filed for injuries in 2013-2017. We then compare worker and injury characteristics by imputed race/ethnicity, and estimate rates of WRII by imputed race/ethnicity within industry and occupation.
RESULTS
Black/African Americans had the highest rates of WRII claims across all industry and occupational sectors. Hispanic/Latino WRII claimants also had higher rates than Whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders in almost all industry and occupational sectors. For accepted claims with both medical and non-medical compensation, Bodily reaction/overexertion injuries accounted for almost half of the claims during this reporting period.
DISCUSSION
The high rates of injury we report by racial/ethnic categories is a cause for major concern. Nearly all industry and occupation-specific rates of workers' compensation claims are higher for Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino workers compared to Whites. More work is needed to identify work-related, systemic, and individual characteristics.
Topics: Humans; Workers' Compensation; Bayes Theorem; Industry; Occupations; Washington; Occupational Injuries
PubMed: 36649295
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280307 -
The European Respiratory Journal May 1994The medicolegal aspects (primary prevention, secondary prevention or surveillance) and the system of compensation (tertiary prevention) for occupational asthma are... (Review)
Review
The medicolegal aspects (primary prevention, secondary prevention or surveillance) and the system of compensation (tertiary prevention) for occupational asthma are reviewed in this article. Due to the significant medical, medicolegal, social and financial consequences, it is of the utmost importance that the diagnosis of occupational asthma be proved by objective means, whenever feasible. Compensation for temporary and permanent disability/impairment should be offered to workers. Attempts to retain subjects rapidly and efficiently are preferable, as occupational asthma generally affects young workers. The evaluation of permanent asthma and the awarding of relative permanent disability compensation should be effected 2 yrs after exposure to the causative agent has ended, as asthma generally persists even after exposure to the causative agent ceases. A tabulated review of prevailing medicolegal compensation systems in various countries is presented. Data on an evaluative assessment of the Quebec system of compensation are included.
Topics: Asthma; Humans; Occupational Diseases; Workers' Compensation
PubMed: 8050556
DOI: No ID Found