Since the inception of US workers’ compensation legislation almost a century ago, climate extremes have been causally related to compensable events in both a traumatic and occupational exposure setting. Whether it be periods of extreme temperatures or significant storm, i.e.. Hurricane Sandy, weather patterns are reaching new record breaking levels and causing increased levels of occupation injuries and illnesses already.
The US Centers for Disease Control has announced a program to address health and climate change:
“Changes occurring in the world's climate pose significant threats to human health and wellbeing and will have even greater impacts in the future. These threats are wide-ranging, including decreased air quality and increases in extreme weather events, wildfire, and illnesses transmitted by water, and disease-carriers, such as mosquitoes and ticks. Although scientific understanding of the effects of climate change is still emerging, there is considerable evidence to support preparing for potential health risks.
“Early public health action is essential to ensuring that systems are in place to protect people from the impacts of climate change. As the nation's public health agency, CDC is using its prevention expertise to help states and cities investigate, prepare for, and respond to the health effects of climate change. See: “Climate Change and Health – From Science to Practice.”Windows Media:
http://wm.onlinevideoservice.com/CDC1
Flash:
http://www.onlinevideoservice.com/clients/CDC/?mount=CDC3
Captions are only available on the Windows Media links. The webcast links are only active during the date and time of the session, but all sessions are archived for future viewin
Related reading:
Weather extremes and workers’ compensation
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