Employees who travel might be getting than just frequent flier wards when they travel for business. Business travel is hazardous to your health and may lead to serious medical conditions and require treatment and result in permanent disability. Employers and insurance companies should exercise safe protocols to avoid causing harm to their employees resulting in mental health issues, including alcoholism and depression.
A recent report from Columbia University reveals that, "People who travel for business two weeks or more a month report more symptoms of anxiety and depression and are more likely to smoke, be sedentary and report trouble sleeping than those who travel one to six nights a month. Among those who consume alcohol, extensive business travel is associated with symptoms of alcohol dependence. Poor behavioral and mental health outcomes significantly increased as the number of nights away from home for business travel rose. This is one of the first studies to report the effects of business travel on non-infectious disease health risks. The results are published online in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.*"
Where an employer has furnished a means of transportation to the employee, then injuries that occur while using that transportation in the course of the employment are considered compensable. In instances where a vehicle is considered a necessity for an employment situation, accidents occurring while using the transportation from the employment site to the employee's residence are considered compensable. Begley v. International Terminal Operating Co., Inc., 114 N.J.Super. 537, 277 A.2d 422 (Co.1971). Gelman, Jon L, Workers Compensation Law, 38 NJPRAC 10.9 (Thomson-Reuters 2017). Selak v. Murray Rubber Co., 8 N.J.Misc. 838, 152 A. 78 (1930), aff'd 108 N.J.L. 548, 159 A. 93 (Err. & App.1932).
The bottom line is that science has put employers and employers on notice that business travel is a potential occupational hazard. Employees and their employers should follow work practices in order to avoid suffering work-related illnesses.
*Andrew G. Rundle, Tracey A. Revenson, Michael Friedman. Business travel and behavioral and mental health. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2017; 1 DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001262
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters).
