Workers are too scared in the US to file claims

A recent research report indicated that workers fail to report occupational illness and accidents for fear of retribution by their employers. Most state laws prohibition retaliation by employers, but it is very difficult to enforce that aspect of workers' compensation statutes.

Health Serv Res. 2013 May 13. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12066. [Epub ahead of print]

The Proportion of Work-Related Emergency Department Visits Not Expected to Be Paid by Workers' Compensation: Implications for Occupational Health Surveillance, Research, Policy, and Health Equity.

Groenewold MR, Baron SL.

Source

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, OH.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To examine trends in the proportion of work-related emergency department visits not expected to be paid by workers' compensation during 2003-2006, and to identify demographic and clinical correlates of such visits.

DATA SOURCE:

A total of 3,881 work-related emergency department visit records drawn from the 2003-2006 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys.

STUDY DESIGN:

Secondary, cross-sectional analyses of work-related emergency department visit data were performed. Odds ratios and 95 percent confidence intervals were modeled using logistic regression.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:

A substantial and increasing proportion of work-related emergency department visits in the United States were not expected to be paid by workers' compensation. Private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, and workers themselves were expected to pay for 40 percent of the work-related emergency department visits with this percentage increasing annually. Work-related visits by blacks, in the South, to for-profit hospitals and for work-related illnesses were all more likely not to be paid by workers' compensation.

CONCLUSIONS:

Emergency department-based surveillance and research that determine work-relatedness on the basis of expected payment by workers' compensation systematically underestimate the occurrence of occupational illness and injury. This has important methodological and policy implications.

© Health Research and Educational Trust.

PMID:

 

23662682

 

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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The Vanishing Concept of a Job

While reviewing some historical cases today, I realized that what is missing from the workplace is the concept of "a job." America's economy has dramatically changed, and so have jobs that were once available in the workforce.

Even clearer is the fact that the concept of a job has disappeared. The idea of getting up in the morning and going regularly to a job has even vanished. The evolution changed slowly with the younger generation claiming that a job cycle transformed from a lifetime position to one lasting two years. Then the next stage in the evolution occurred, where the employee became a transient worker, and daily the job changed, No stable employer really exists.

This evolution has eroded the underlining framework of a functional workers' compensation program and the delivery of benefits. The injured worker becomes lost to the system, and a safe and secure workplace has become an illusion. Lost in the complexity is the adequate reporting of accidents and occupational disease, and the ability to accurately follow the evolution of latent diseases and medical conditions.

"A new trend in the U.S. labor market is reshaping how management and workers think  about employment, while at the same time reshaping the field of occupational safety  and health. More and more workers are being employed through “contingent work”  relationships. Day laborers hired on a street corner for construction or farming work,  warehouse laborers hired through staffing agencies, and hotel housekeepers supplied by  temp firms are common examples, because their employment is contingent upon shortterm fluctuations in demand for workers. Their shared experience is one of little job  security, low wages, minimal opportunities for advancement, and, all too often, hazardous working conditions. When hazards lead to work-related injuries, the contingent nature of the employment relationship can exacerbate the negative consequences for the injured worker and society. The worker might quickly find herself out of a job and, depending on the severity of the injury, the prospects of new employment might be slim. Employerbased health insurance is a rarity for contingent workers, so the costs of treating injuries are  typically shifted to the worker or the public at large. Because employers who hire workers on  a contingent basis do not directly pay for workers’ compensation and health insurance, they are likely to be insulated from premium adjustments based on the cost of workers’ injuries. As a result, employers of contingent labor may escape the financial incentives that are a main driver of business decisions to eliminate hazards for other workers."

Click here to read "At the Company’s Mercy: Protecting Contingent Workers from Unsafe Working Conditions"

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