Heath Concerns About the Misuse of Pesticides for Bed Bug Control

Hotel workers as well as consumes are being cautioned cautioned about exposure to pesticides to control bed bugs.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are alerting the public to an emerging national concern regarding misuse of pesticides to treat infestations of bed bugs and other insects indoors. Some pesticides are being applied indoors even though they are approved only for outdoor use. Even pesticides that are approved for indoor use can cause harm if over applied or not used as instructed on the product label.
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of bed bug-related inquiries received by the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) over the past several years, with many involving incidents of pesticide exposure, spills, or misapplications. From January 2006-December 2010, NPIC reported 169 calls to their hotline where residents, homeowners, or pesticide applicators sprayed pesticides indoors to treat bedbugs. These cases involved pesticides that were misapplied, not intended for indoor use, or legally banned from use. Of those, 129 resulted in mild or serious health effects (including one death) for persons living in affected residences.
ATSDR warns that outdoor pesticides should not be used indoors under any circumstances. Homeowners and applicators should always carefully read the product label to make sure that:
it has an EPA registration number

• it is intended for indoor use
• it is effective against bed bugs (the label should say it is meant to be used to treat your home for bed bugs) and
• you know how to properly mix the product (if a concentrate) and where and how to apply it safely within the home.
• ....
  Jon L.Gelman of Wayne NJ, is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson).  

More About Pesticides

Workers' Compensation: Aerial spraying pesticides to fight ...

Aug 22, 2012

Based on reports from the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) arial spraying of pesticides has been mandated in Texas because of the number of reported cases of West Nile Flu. Questions are now being raised ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning in ...

Feb 14, 2012

Consistent with an enforcement trend by the EU to reduce agricultural pesticides used by 50% between 2008-2018, a French court on Monday declared U.S. biotech giant Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a French ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Intentional Tort Claim Against Employer Proceeds for Pesticide

Aug 11, 2010

A US District Court in NJ is allowing a claim of injured agricultural worker to proceed against an employer directly for an intentional tort flowing from a pesticide spraying. The workers, residents of Puerto Rico, were employed ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Mother's Occupational Exposure to Pesticide Increases Child's Risk

Jul 02, 2009

A recent study by the McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment of the University of Ottawa finds that an increased risk of childhood leukemia is associated with the mother's exposure at work to pesticides.

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

The Devil is in the Details California Style

When Workers Compensation was adopted in the United States after the European model of a benefit system for injured workers in the early 1900's, it was supposed to be a simple remedial system, The unfolding California regulatory process is highlighting, yet again, that the system is in major trouble, and that the glimmer of hope, in the name of reform, to revived it from live-support, is lacking credibility.

The administrative system of Workers' Compensation was built upon simplicity, efficiency, as a social insurance system, It was a process encouraged by Industry to avoid litigation in the civil justice system. Giving up the right to a trial by a jury was a big trade off for Labor back in early 1900's. The adoption of the system, through its poster child, the tragic Triangle Shirt Waist Fire in New York City, was emblematic of the need for a practical system to make things work, and preserve justice in doing so.

The California reform effort of this summer, SB 863, was pushed through by some elite and self-serving lobbying groups, to try to "level the playing field" in a State where economic upheaval forced it to the verge of bankruptcy. As it edged closer to its own fiscal cliff, it was about to take an ailing workers compensation program with it.

Those who practice workers' compensation law in California have just gotten used to complexity. They spend enormous time and effort navigating a a maze of bureaucratic regulations that are generated each reform cycle in the name of simplicity and efficiency.

In promulgating Utilization Review Standards noted commentator David DePaolo, points out, "The fear of course is that regulations will end up either ineffective or unduly burdensome thus mitigating potential savings due to excess complexity."

The equation offered by the Rules simply just doesn't add up. They add more costs, fees and "independent extra-judicial parties," without time restrictions, to what is supposed to be a free and speedy process. Outsourcing justice is just taking another step away from the civil justice system and due process rights embodied in our Constitution.

After all these emergency regulations are promulgated, the California Legislature will again visit the system, and a new wave of reform will need to be considered. The devil in the details of the regulations will need to be reviewed. The next legislative cycle is anxiously awaited. Hopefully it will allow the legislature to be open to the suggestions and ideas of all stakeholders and a creatively new system will be entertained to handle medical delivery in the workers' compensation process.
....
Jon L.Gelman of Wayne NJ, is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson).  

More about California and workers' compensation

Workers' Compensation: California Worker Coalition Objects to ...

Sep 13, 2012

Injured workers are voicing opposition to recently passed legislation in California to enact austerity measures to save the California workers' compensation from rising costs and expenses. The injured workers group is voicing ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: The Great California Trade Off 2012

Aug 15, 2012

Rumors spread like wildfire this week as alleged secret back-room dealing continued in an effort to reform the failing California workers compensation system, yet again. The great trade-off of 2012 appears to be a major move ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: California Takes an Austerity Axe to ...

Sep 01, 2012

Tonight the California Legislature took an axe to its ailing workers' compensation system, as part of major election year austerity measures. Targeting both medical and legal costs of operating the program, at the ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Corporate Workers Compensation Fraud: California Targets ...

Jul 12, 2012

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today announced that a statewide joint task force in the fight against California's underground economy has netted contractors allegedly operating illegally, resulting in 104 enforcement ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

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Warehouse Workers Are At Risk By Company Safety Violations

Warehouse worker suffer unique risks associated with their employment. Many warehouse workers suffer injuries at work that lead to seriously disabling Worker’s Compensation claims. U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration  (OSHA) has taken a major step in enforcing regulations in Jersey City,New Jersey, in an effort to make the work environment safer.

OSHA has cited Continental Terminals Inc. for nine serious and two willful safety violations at the company's Jersey City facility. Inspectors were notified of alleged hazards at the facility while they were inspecting another Continental facility in Kearny. Proposed penalties total $130,900.

The willful violations involve not protecting workers by allowing them to ride on the forks of forklifts, where they were exposed to falls of 10 feet, and permitting them to work on elevated platforms devoid of guardrails. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowledge or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health. The citations carry $98,000 in penalties. The serious violations include having exit doors that were sealed shut, allowing damaged powered industrial trucks to be operated, stacking materials insecurely, not having a hazard communication program, using damaged electrical cords and not labeling electrical panels. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. The citations carry $32,900 in penalties.

"Because fall hazards are among the leading cause of death among workers, it is vital that employers provide workers with proper fall protection," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office. "Employers are responsible for ensuring safe and healthful workplaces, and will be held legally accountable when they fail to do so."

The citations can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Continental_408905_1026_12.pdf.*

Continental Terminals Inc. is a coffee and cocoa warehouse business that employs 10 workers at its Jersey City site; it was recently fined $162,400 by OSHA for safety violations at its Kearny site. The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.In April, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced a campaign to provide employers and workers with lifesaving information and educational materials about working safely from ladders, scaffolds and roofs in an effort to prevent deadly falls in the construction industry. In 2010, more than 10,000 construction workers were injured as a result of falling while working from heights, and more than 250 workers were killed. OSHA's fall prevention campaign was developed in partnership with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and NIOSH's National Occupational Research Agenda program. More information on fall protection standards is available in English and Spanish at http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls.

Read more about "forklifts"

Workers' Compensation: OSHA cites Jersey City, NJ, company for ...

Sep 21, 2012

Forklift injuries produce serious workers' compensation claims, so it is no surprise that the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is acutely concerned about forklift safety rule ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Trucking Companies Under OSHA Scrutiny

Jun 21, 2012

... include failing to perform a personal protective equipment hazard assessment; provide an eyewash station for workers exposed to corrosive chemicals; provide fire extinguisher training; provide training for forklift operators; ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: OSHA cites New York contractor for ...

Nov 08, 2012

Forklift injuries produce serious workers' compensation claims, so it is no surprise that the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is acutely concerned about forklift safety rule .

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Requests to Preserve Evidence Must be ...

Jan 24, 2010

An attorney for an injured worker quickly requested that a potentially defective forklift be preserved, but did not hastily have an expert conduct a physical inspection. Ciapinski v Crown Equipment Corp., 2010 WL 183903 (N.J. ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

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US Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument on Workplace Harassment Case

Whether an employer can be held vicariously liable for actions of an employee under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the subject of an oral argument this week before the Justices.

The petitioner argued:
"The judges in the Seventh Circuit itself have recognized that the rule does not really well fit the realities of the workplace. It also just moves uncertainty from one category to another. The category of supervisor may be a little bit tidier; but, under the Seventh Circuit's approach, the category of co-worker is very unpredictable. The Seventh Circuit itself, in Doe v. Oberweis Dairy, recognized that once you move people who can take—have this kind of power over their victims but can't actually take annual employment actions against them into the category of co-workers, all of a sudden you have to apply a sliding scale of negligence. Not only that, but the jury is the one who applies it. So for those categories—this exact category of employee, Your Honor, the employer going forward has very little idea of whether—what standard of care is that a particular jury would apply in that case and whether the jury would decide it is met or not."

Transcripts

Vance v. Ball State University 11-26-2012

For an in depth analysis see: Supreme Court hears arguments on employer liability for employee harassment (Jurist.com)

More on Harassment

Blowing the Whistle on Unsafe Workplace Conditions Gets a Boost

Jun 16, 2011

The employee, who reported the unsafe workplace condition to the headquaters of DuPont buut became a target of employer harassment and suffered the residuals of psychological disability. Justice Albin, delivering the ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: The Jungle Called Workers' Comp

Nov 10, 2009

... and practitioners, the non-profit group reported that deadly speed on the meat packaging line has resulted in an increase in the amount of injuries that go unreported because of employees' fear of harassment by employers.

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Surveillance Crosses the Privacy Line

Aug 31, 2011

Harassment of injured workers creates fear that deters claims to benefit of employers and their insurance carriers. Inured workers have limited resources to fight such unscrupulous behavior. The attorneys in Montana had ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Overwork A Recognized Compensable ...

Jul 06, 2012

... claims which indicated an increase of 430 percent in the number of claims filed from 1980 to 1986. The main causes for these claims include job pressures, harassment, and job termination. Other types of discrimination and ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

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The 6 Things You Need To Do If You Are Exposed To Mercury

Elemental mercury is a silver, odorless liquid.

Today's post comes from guest author Catherine Stanton from Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano.

Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine has released a guide to treatment for elemental mercury ((the pure form of the metal, when it is not combined with other chemicals) exposure. There are other forms of mercury, such as compounds found in contaminated fish, known as organic mercury and those are not covered by the guide.
Workers who experience a one-time sudden exposure to any chemical substance at work, should:

1. Gather as much information as you can about the type and amount of exposure, including labels, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), and the medical emergency phone number on the MSDS. 
2. If you are feeling ill, seek medical attention at an emergency department (ED) immediately. It is best if a medical toxicologist is consulted as part of your visit to the ED. They can be reached for advice about treatment by having the healthcare professional contact the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. 
3. You can call the PCC independently for recommendations as well.
4. Once the urgent situation has been taken care of, you may contact the nearest occupational health clinic in the country for recommendations and follow-up.
5. This fact sheet is not a substitute for medical care. The purpose is to direct the exposed worker to the proper medical provider. 
6. Report any exposure to your employer immediately. Complete an incident or exposure form. If none is available, write a memo informing them of the exposure incident (date, time, location, what you were doing in the area, and for how long). Keep copies and insist that documents are placed in your personnel files.

You can download a copy of the fact sheet by clicking here. It contains more information about the following topics:

The "New Normal," Special Compensation Funds and Viability

An Arizona Appeals Court has ruled that Special Funds [Second Injury Fund] used to pay workers' compensation benefits and fund the administrative agency, can be transferred to the state’s general treasury and used to fund the state’s general liabilities.

The Court , in allowing $4.7 Million to be transferred by the state Legislature to the general treasury, held that the special fund was funding source subject to legislative review and appropriation.  “….Because the legislature set the  percentage rate of premiums from the  State  Compensation Fund and private carriers to be placed in the Special Fund, the funds are public monies,” and is therefore a public fund.

Second Injury Funds have been phased out throughout the US. Major industrial states have eliminated them over the past several decades, a move historically supported as employers, insurance companies and the American Bar Association.

New Jersey still has such a fund, ie., The Second Injury Fund. It has been decimated economically after the economic downturn and a series of similar repeated raids by the legislature. While a constitutional amendment has been enacted to prohibit raids, the economy has not increased enough to withstand the fiscal challenges.

Other states face similar problems. Missouri’s fund has not been able to pay beneficiaries for decades as it heads for extinction. New York’s fund has been challenged since assessments are soaring beyond what Industry feels are sustainable in the week economy.

The real challenge facing the nation’s patchwork of workers’ compensation programs is how to fund them generally in light of increased medical costs, lack of premiums due to unemployment and the “new normal” now emerging across  the nation.

Read the decision: Industrial Commission of Arizona, et al. v. Janice K. Brewer, Governor, et al. , 1 CA-CV 11-0119 , (AZ App 2012), decided 11/23/2012.

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Breast cancer risk in relation to occupations with exposure to carcinogens and endocrine disruptors

Breast implant: Mammographs: Normal breast (left) and cancerous breast (right). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Canadian, British and Scottish researchers said there was a link between breast cancer in women who work in jobs exposed to a "toxic soup" of chemicals.

"A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that mammary carcinogens and/or EDCs contribute to the incidence of breast cancer. Yet there remain gaps and limitations. This exploratory population-based case–control study contributes to one of the neglected areas: occupational risk factors for breast cancer. The identification of several important associations in this mixed industrial and agricultural population highlights the importance of occupational studies in identifying and quantifying environmental risk factors and illustrates the value of taking detailed occupational histories of cancer  patients"

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2012/11/22/Workplace-chemicals-up-breast-cancer-risk/UPI-51041353641959/#ixzz2D26vN0Ay

More about "Breast Cancer" and occupational exposure

Workers' Compensation: Breast Cancer Linked to Occupational ...

May 29, 2010

"Odds ratios (ORs) were increased for the usual risk factors for breast cancer and, adjusting for these, risks increased with occupational exposure to several agents, and were highest for exposures occurring before age 36 ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Breast Cancer Presumed Occupational ...

Mar 18, 2011

Fire fighters in Canada are supporting legislation that would establish a legal presumption that breast cancer is an occupationally related illness. The legislation also creates a presumption that 3 other cancers (skin, prostate ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Night Work and an Increase Risk of Cancer

Oct 26, 2012

The Danish government has begun to pay compensation benefits to women who develop breast cancer after working night shifts and irregular work hours. So far approximately 40 women have received benefits according to .

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers Compensation Benefits Awarded for Breast Cancer

Jan 12, 2011

The Nevada Supreme Court has awarded workers' compensation benefits to a firefighter who alleged that her occupational exposure at work to toxic substances caused her breast cancer. The court held that there was ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

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