Despite Progress, Three-quarters of a Million Infections Threaten Hospital Patients Each Year

Hospital Acquired Infections are a compensable condition and significantly raise treatment costs and time to recuperate from a work related accident or disease. Today's post is shared from the US CDC.

On any given day, approximately one in 25 U.S. hospital patients has at least one infection picked up during the course of their care, adding up to about 722,000 infections, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This information is an update to previous CDC estimates of healthcare-associated infections.

The agency released two reports today – one, a New England Journal of Medicine article detailing national healthcare-associated infection estimates, and the other an annual report on national and state-specific progress toward U.S. Health and Human Services HAI prevention goals. Together, the reports show that progress has been made in the effort to eliminate infections that commonly threaten hospital patients, but more work is needed to improve patient safety.

"Although there has been some progress, today and every day, more than 200 Americans with healthcare-associated infections will die during their hospital stay,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “The most advanced medical care won’t work if clinicians don’t prevent infections through basic things such as regular hand hygiene. Health care workers want the best for their patients; following standard infection control practices every time will help ensure their patients’ safety."

OpEd from CDC Director, Dr. Frieden on Fox News (includes 5 patient stories): http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/03/26/cdc-director-progress-in-war-on-hospital-infections-but-battle-far-from-over/

What Patients Can Do: Six Ways To Be A Safe Patient

Study: Healthcare-linked infections cost US $10 billion a year

Sep 05, 2013

For HAI incidence estimates, the investigators used the National Healthcare Safety Network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which includes 1,700 reporting sites. By conducting a systematic literature ...

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

Protecting Healthcare Workers is a Goal of NIOSH

May 09, 2013

Some infections are contracted during treatment such as infection that are acquired during hospital stay. Those are called Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI). These infection are expensive to treat and are a major concern to .

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

3 Ways Infections Become Compensable in Workmens Comp

Jun 09, 2011

Those are called Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI). These infection are expensive to treat and are a major concern to insurance carriers and government insurance programs such as Medicare. Medicare plans to impose ...

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

Workers' Compensation: CDC Reports Hospital Infections (MRSA ...

May 31, 2013

Some infections are contracted during treatment such as infection that are acquired during hospital stay. Those are called Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI). These infection are expensive to treat and are a major concern to .

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

….

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). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Combating Corporate Fraud: Issue Every Employee a Workers Compensation Insurance Card

A NY Grand Jury Report Recommends: Issue Every Employee a Workers Compensation Insurance Card to Combat Employer Fraud

Read the complete report: http://tinyurl.com/kduwfew

Realtwd Stories: Read more about "corporate fraud" and workers' compensation:

Workers' Compensation: A Real Mess

9 hours ago

Corporate fraud is a majr problem in the workers' compensation system.Today's guest post authored by David Depaola is shared from http://daviddepaolo.blogspot.com and highlights a very serious problem with the nation'a ...

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

OSHA: Corporate Fraud Contributed To Nation's Economic Problems

Nov 03, 2011

"Fraudulent practices by publicly held corporations have contributed to the economic difficulties currently facing our nation," said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "The best way to prevent this from happening in ...

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

Corporate Workers Compensation Fraud: California Targets

Jul 12, 2012

Corporate Workers Compensation Fraud: California Targets Underground Economy. Sweep targets contractors operating in California's underground economy. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today announced that a ...

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

Former CEO for Missouri Employers Mutual and Attorney Sentenced

Jul 11, 2012

OSHA: Corporate Fraud Contributed To Nation's Economic Problems. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration will publish interim final rules in the Nov. 3 Federal Register that revise the .

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

….

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). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Critics Say Chevron Flouted Pay-to-Play Law. FEC Says It's All Good.

Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com

A recent decision from the Federal Elections Commission could overturn 70 years of precedent and defang a long-standing law that bars companies from buying favorable election results to gain federal contracts. Goodbye anti-pay-to-play laws, hello corporate America profiting off lucrative government deals based on campaign donations.

The trouble all stems from a single contribution made during the 2012 election. On October 7, 2012, oil giant Chevron donated $2.5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), a super PAC tied to John Boehner and House Republicans that spent almost $10 million in 2012, largely on ads attacking Democratic House candidates.

That raised the ire of Public Citizen, a liberal consumer advocate group. In a complaint sent to the FEC last year, Public Citizen and a handful of other groups claimed that Chevron and CLF violated a federal law (referred to as pay-to-play) that bans any corporation that holds a contract with the federal government from contributing to a political campaign. The complaint was sent after Public Citizen checked a public database of federal contractors and noticed that Chevron was listed as working with the government. Last week the FEC dismissed those complaints with an argument that could create a loophole a million dollars wide for other companies to exploit.

The FEC bought the company's argument, which is that Chevron Corporation (the organization that donated to CLF) and Chevron U.S.A. (the organization with...

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A Real Mess

Corporate fraud is a major problem in the workers' compensation system.Today's guest post authored by David Depaola is shared from http://daviddepaolo.blogspot.com and highlights a very serious problem with the nation'a workers' compensation system.

Are unions necessary?

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.latimes.com

Short answer: Yes.

The question is posed by an exchange launched by Evan Soltas at Bloomberg View, and answered by Michael Wasser of the workers rights organization Jobs for Justice. Soltas has defended himself against Wasser's response, so this could go on for a while.

The discussion was inspired by the recent defeat of a United Auto Workers drive at the Chattanooga, Tenn., plant of Volkswagen, which we discuss here. The case has inspired lots of commentary about the long-term decline of industrial unions in the U.S. and the role of that trend in the increasing of income inequality. The two trends coincide, so there really is no question that the decline of workers' voice and worker rights resulting from the decline of unions has played an important role in the rising power of the shareholding and managerial class.

One hates to say of a writer as fluent as Soltas that his analysis lacks the depth that would come from experience, but Wasser is certainly correct in arguing that Soltas' argument that the U.S. is better off without unions and "unions can't be saved" reflects the limitations of textbook-learning. A few specific issues:

To think that federal labor law has had "little to do" with union decline, as Soltas puts it, is hopelessly naive. He's misled by the fact that union membership has fallen even though we have laws guaranteeing the right to collective bargaining, and by the failure to recognize how inadequately those...

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Read more about "unions":
What really caused the decline of American unions? - Workers ...
Mar 09, 2014
In that vote the union wasn't opposed by the company but by Republican political leaders across Tennessee, who threatened to destroy the plant by withdrawing public subsidies if the union won. The vote was close, 53% to ...
http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Kansas, The Next Target: Unions expect ...
Dec 15, 2013
The project labor agreement changes stop government entities from requiring union-level wages on jobs. Unemployment benefits were changed to allow employers to avoid paying benefits if the employee broke even minor ...
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Supreme Court 2013: Court Could Cripple Unions In Major Labor ...
Nov 05, 2013
Over the next few months, the Supreme Court will hear two major cases that could prove a major setback to unions' ability to organize and collect dues -- and the conservative majority on the court is making pro-labor ...
http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

NJ Governor Chris Christie Files 4 Nominations for Workers' Compensation Judges

NOMINATIONS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION JUDGE

1. Nominate for appointment Michael M. Luther (Parsippany-Troy Hills, Morris)
2. Nominate for appointment Dawn Shanahan (Robbinsville, Mercer)
3. Nominate for appointment Maria Del Valle Koch (Perth Amboy, Middlesex)
4. Nominate for appointment Robert Thuring (Spotswood, Middlesex)

March 18, 2014

OSHA continues extensive public engagement on silica proposal Public hearings held March 18 - April 4

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today began holding public hearings for the notice of proposed rulemaking on occupational exposure to crystalline silica. This marks the beginning of an intensive three weeks of public comment on the proposal, with hearings scheduled through Friday, April 4.

"We look forward to receiving feedback from our stakeholders on our proposal, and we're grateful for the continuing high level of public engagement throughout the rulemaking," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "This is an open process and the input we receive will help us ensure that a final rule adequately protects workers, is feasible for employers, and is based on the best available evidence."

OSHA's proposed rule seeks to lower worker exposure to crystalline silica, which causes silicosis, an incurable lung disease. Leading scientific organizations, including the American Cancer Society, have also confirmed the causal relationship between silica and lung cancer. The proposal is based on extensive review of scientific and technical evidence, consideration of current industry consensus standards and consultation with stakeholders.

Members of the public may attend the sessions to listen to testimony from OSHA and other hearing participants. To learn more about the hearing procedures, visit http://www.osha.gov/silica/hearing_procedures.html. To view the hearing schedule, visithttp://www.osha.gov/silica/hearing_schedule.html. Members of the public who filed a timely written notice of intention to appear can also ask questions of agency officials and other witnesses during the hearing. Following the hearings, OSHA will publish a transcript of the hearings and make it available to the public in the rulemaking docket, and hearing participants will have an opportunity to submit additional evidence and comments.

Published in the Federal Register on Sept. 12, 2013, OSHA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silicaaims to update the inconsistent and outdated permissible exposure limits for crystalline silica in general industry, construction and shipyards, as well as to establish other provisions to better protect workers. Additional information on the proposed rule, including five fact sheets, is available at http://www.osha.gov/silica/.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

North Carolina Says Utility Pumped Millions of Gallons of Wastewater in River

Today's post was shared by The New York Times and comes from www.nytimes.com

Duke Energy, the electric utility whose massive spill of toxic coal ash into a river six weeks ago is part of a federal investigation, illegally pumped as much as 61 million gallons of coal-ash wastewater into a second river from September to last week, North Carolina regulators charged on Thursday. Both the accidental spill and the deliberate releases occurred not far upstream from municipal drinking-water intakes. The utility’s officials have said that the pumping was part of preparations for routine maintenance of two settling ponds that hold ash, the remains of coal burned to generate power. But regulators cast doubt on that claim on Thursday. “The state’s investigation revealed that the pumping activities ongoing at this plant far exceeded what would reasonably be considered routine maintenance,” said Tom Reeder, the director of the water resources division at the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. A spokeswoman for the water resources division, Susan Massengale, noted that Duke had spent 31 days emptying 17.4 million gallons of water from one ash pond and 78 days releasing 44.4 million more from a second. Peter Harrison, a lawyer for Waterkeeper Alliance, the New York-based environmental group that first uncovered the pumping, said Duke’s explanation was “absurd.” “They’ve essentially simulated a terrible coal-ash spill by pumping the pond out,” he said. Duke briefly addressed the releases in...

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Hog Wild: Factory Farms Are Poisoning Iowa's Drinking Water

Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com  This story was originally published by OnEarth.
Before I even stepped from my truck onto the gravel outside the New Fashion Pork hog confinement facility, Emily Erickson, the company's animal well-being and quality assurance manager, handed me a pair of stretchy white plastic footies to put over my shoes. It was a blustery day in September, the sky threatening snow—the first hint of winter, when cold, dry air stabilizes viruses and biosecurity becomes a topmost concern.

All of the hogs inside the confinement near Jackson, Minnesota, just north of the Iowa state line and on the headwaters of the Des Moines River, would be sold to Hormel Foods. Hormel would soon post record profits on the strength of sales of Spam to Asian markets and the expansion of the company's China operations. But Jim Snee, head of Hormel Foods International, announced that the company was making an even bigger push, to firmly establish Spam in Chinese grocery stores before products from its competitor Smithfield Foods, purchased by Shuanghui International in May, could elbow them out. As a major supplier to Hormel's Spam plants in Minnesota and Nebraska, New Fashion Pork was racing to keep pace with demand. The last thing the company could afford was an outbreak of disease.

To an outsider, the hog industry's vigilance against external pathogens—symbolized by those hygienic footies—can seem strangely at odds with its dismissal of concerns about the effects of its facilities on human...

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Delay Retiring: A ‘Smart’ Decision

Today's post was shared by CRR Boston College and comes from squaredawayblog.bc.edu

If postponing retirement can improve one’s financial security in old age, why do so many people rush to retire when they reach age 62?

Much research has explored the financial and health reasons that explain why so few people choose to retire later. Taking a different tack, a new study found that individuals with higher cognition foresee a higher probability of working longer.

There were two steps to this research.

First, participants in an Internet survey were asked if they planned to continue working full-time after age 62 and, separately, if they expected to work past 65. Participants were between the ages of 45 and 61.

Next, the researchers measured each survey participant’s “crystallized intelligence,” which is the wisdom acquired with age. This type of intelligence helps to compensate for declining “fluid intelligence” – the ability to think quickly – which peaks in young adulthood. To measure their crystallized intelligence, participants took a standard psychology test in which they are shown pictures – perhaps a goat, maracas, a sextant (an astronomical instrument) – and asked to name them.

It’s an “adaptive” test that is able to measure the gamut of cognitive abilities. If an individual labels the first set of pictures accurately, then the second set of pictures he is given is more difficult to identify.

Those who scored higher on this test were...

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Related Article:

Aging Baby Boomers Continue to Postpone Retirement, Report Finds

Oct 19, 2013

Working into retirement age is changing the way workers' compensation programs must handle claims. Developing new techniques to handle aging worker claims requires new economic and social considerations. Today's ...

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

Workers' Compensation: Delay Retiring: A 'Smart' Decision

22 hours ago

March 6, 2014. If postponing retirement can improve one's financial security in old age, why do so many people rush to retire when they reach age 62? Much research has explored the financial and health reasons that explain ...

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

Workers' Compensation: Raising the mandatory judicial retirement ...

Oct 11, 2013

The New York City Bar Association says it supports a proposal on the state's Nov. 5 ballot to amend the New York Constitution to raise the mandatory retirement age to 80 for state Court of Appeals judges and Supreme Court ...

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

Workers' Compensation: Many Americans don't expect to ever retire

Oct 26, 2013

A new Wells Fargo study found that 37% of people don't ever expect to retire, but instead will have to "work until I'm too sick or die." Survey respondents say paying the monthly bills is their highest priority, and saving for ...

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

WTC P-11 Compensation Fund To Publish Procedure on How to Add Non-Cancer Conditions to List of Eligible Claims

The website of the 9-11 Claims Fund (Zadroga Act) indicates that on March 21, 2014 the Fund will post Policy and Procedures for Adding Non-Cancer Conditions To the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions (6 pages, 352 KB)
Issue Date: March 21, 2014


About this document: This document describes the process for adding non-cancer conditions to the list of WTC-related health conditions.

The document is not yet linked to the new policy and regulations but the listing indicates a roll of potential expansion for the Fund.

Related articles:

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act of 2010

Feb 16, 2011

On January 2, 2011, President Obama signed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (“Zadroga Act”) providing a total of $4.3 billion in health benefits and financial compensation for victims, responders, and ...

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

Workers' Compensation: Zadroga 9-11 Fund to Make Payments for ...

Jul 09, 2013

On January 2, 2011, President Obama signed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (“Zadroga Act”) providing a total of $4.3 billion in health benefits and financial compensation for victims, responders, and .

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

Zadroga Health Fund: Utility Workers Suffer Increased Anxiety

Feb 24, 2011

The study may significantly increase the potential benefits that utility workers may obtain under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (“Zadroga Act”) providing a total of $4.3 billion in health benefits and ...

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

New York Dignitaries Celebrate The Zadroga Act Taking Effect

Jul 01, 2011

Signed into law in early January, the Zadroga Act provides sustained funding for the WTC Centers of Excellence and ensures that those facing 9/11-related health problems continue to receive monitoring and treatment ...

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

….
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). For over 4 decades theLaw Offices of Jon L Gelman jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have sufferedoccupational accidents and illnesses.

Low-Wage Workers Finding It’s Easier to Fall Into Poverty, and Harder to Get Out

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.nytimes.com
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — At 7 in the morning, they are already lined up — poultry plant workers, housekeepers, discount store clerks — to ask for help paying their heating bills or feeding their families.

And once Metropolitan Ministries opens at 8 a.m., these workers fill the charity’s 40 chairs, with a bawling infant adding to the commotion. From pockets and handbags they pull out utility bills or rent statements and hand them over to caseworkers, who often write checks — $80, $110, $150 — to patch over gaps in meeting this month’s expenses or filling the gas tank to get to work.

McDonald's Accused of Stealing Wages From Already Underpaid Workers

Wage are the basic factor upon which to calculate rates for workers' compensation purposes.
Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com

Fast food workers make very little money. How little money? Very little money! So little in fact that a single parent of one living in New York City would have to work 144 hours a week "to make a secure yet modest living." But apparently, those wages are not low enough, a group of McDonald's workers allege, to stop the company from also stealing from them. Wage-theft suits brought against McDonald's this week in Michigan, California, and New York accuse the chain of refusing to pay overtime, ordering people to work off the clock, and straight up erasing hours from timecards. If these allegations are true, and maybe they're not, but maybe they are, then the company has been illegally screwing people who are already being legally screwed. This is the most recent development in a months-long campaign by fast-food workers pushing for a $15/hour starting wage. You shouldn't eat fast food because fast food is bad for you but if you do eat fast food (and you will eat fast food at least once in a while because nobody can be perfect all the time), be nice to the people who serve you. They have to fight tooth and nail to make ends meet. Could you make it on fast food wages? Here's a depressing calculator. (Spoiler: Probably not!)

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Honda Recalling Almost 900,000 Vehicles Due to Defective Fuel Pump

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration posted the following notice concerning Honda's recall of vehicle. Transportation accidents are a significant cause of work related accidents and deaths in the US.

On March 6, 2014 Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (HMC) determined that a potential defect relating to motor vehicle safety exists in the fuel pump of certain 2005-2010 model year Honda Odyssey automobiles, and is providing notification to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in accordance with 49 CFR Part 573 Defect and Noncompliance Reports.

573.6(c)(1)
Name of manufacturer:
Manufacturer's agent:
573.6(c)(2)
Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA)
Jay Joseph

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM)
1919 Torrance Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90501-2746
Identification of potentially affected vehicles
See attached VIN list.

Description of the basis for the determination of the recall population:
The recall population was determined based on manufacturing records. The VIN range reflects all possible vehicles that could potentially experience the problem.
573.6(c)(2)(iv)

Identification of affected component:
Component: Fuel Pump Module
Country of Origin: United States
Manufacturer: DENSO International America Inc.

Contact Name Bridgette Larose
Address: 24777 DENSO Drive
Southfield, Ml48086-5047
Telephone: 248-372-8266

573.6(c)(3)
Total number of potentially affected vehicles: 886,815

573.6(c)(4)
Percentage of affected vehicles that contain the defect: Unknown

573.6(c)(5)
Defect description:
Prolonged exposure to acidic chemicals and a high temperature environment may cause the cover of the fuel pump strainer to deteriorate prematurely in a manner that can result in cracks in the material. Cracks in the cover of the fuel pump strainer could lead to a fuel mell being present or to leaking fuel, increasing the risk of fire.

573.6(c)(6)

Chronology:

October 1, 2012

October 25, 2012

February 19, 2013

July 30, 2013

August 7, 2013

September 23, 2013

October 9, 2013

October 16, 2013

March 6, 2014

AHM recognized a high demand of Odyssey fuel pump

replacement parts.

HMA started analyzing fuel pumps returned from the market.

The initial investigation done by the supplier showed that the

cracks in the material were the result of acid.

Honda R&D North America Ohio (HRAO) and HMA investigated

the potential for acid to come from chemicals found in car washes.

Honda R&D Tochigi in Japan (HGT) began to study the acid

attack as well as the crack propagation as possible contributing

factors based on preliminary failed part analysis.

HGT started a preliminary test of acid combined with crack

propagation.

HGT found that low PH materials are used in fertilizer and dust

control agents, a possible source of acidic compounds that gather

on the fuel pump strainer cover.

HGT hypothesized that a combination of acid and crack

propagation could be a cause for the cracks and started

confirmation testing.

HMC determined that a safety defect exists and decided to

conduct a recall.




As of March 6, 2014 Honda has received 187 warranty claims for this issue.

There have not been any fires or injuries reported. Ms. Nancy Lewis




573.6(c)(8)(i)

Program for remedying the defect:

Due to the large volume of new parts needed to repair affected vehicles, the necessary

parts will not be available until the summer of 2014. As a result, owners will be informed

of the potential existence of the defect in an initial notification letter. A second notification

letter will be sent to inform owners when parts become available.

Customers currently experiencing a leak from the fuel pump will be provided with a

replacement cover from existing original parts. All vehicles, including those receiving an

interim repair, will require replacement once updated parts become available.




573.6(c)(8)(ii)

The estimated date to e-mail preliminary notification to dealers:

The estimated date to provide service bulletin to dealers:

The estimated date to begin sending notifications to owners:

The estimated date of completion of the notification:




573.6(c)(9)

March 12, 2014

March 13, 2014

April 21, 2014

May 9, 2014

Representative copies of all notices, bulletins and other communications:

A copy of the dealer service bulletin, the final customer notification letter and other dealer

communication will be submitted to your office as soon as possible.




573.6(c)(10)

Proposed owner notification letter submission:

A draft of the owner notification letter will be submitted to your office as soon as possible.




573.6(c)(11)

Manufacturer's campaign number:

JD9-Inspection and/or preliminary parts replacement

JEO- Final parts replacement

Differences in Care at For-Profit Hospices

Today's post was shared by The New Old Age and comes from newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com

People who pay attention to hospice care, so often a godsend for the dying and their families, have noticed and wondered about two trends in recent years:

1) What began as a grass-roots movement to improve end-of-life care is becoming a business. In 1990, only 5 percent of hospices were for-profit operations; by last year, they dominated the industry, representing 63 percent of hospices. 2) We’ve also seen that hospice patients are increasingly likely to be “disenrolled” before they die. Once, this was a rare event; the greater problem was that patients waited until the eleventh hour to enroll, subjecting themselves and their families to unnecessary stress and suffering.

Contractor That Evaluated Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Keystone XL Report Had Ties to TransCanada

Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com

This story originally appeared in Huffington Post and is republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The contractor that evaluated greenhouse gas emissions for the State Department's Keystone XL report is the latest company to come under fire for its ties to TransCanada, the prospective builder of the controversial pipeline. A conflict-of-interest statement from the consulting firm ICF International, submitted to the State Department in 2012, reveals that the company had done other work for TransCanada. ICF International analyzed greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands oil, the kind that would flow through the pipeline, for the State Department's supplemental draft environmental impact statement, released in March 2013. Its website states that the firm was hired to compare life-cycle emissions associated with oil derived from Canada's tar sands to those associated with oil from conventional crude. The final environmental impact statement (FEIS), released in January 2014, also includes ICF International on its list of preparers, with ICF staffers working on the greenhouse gas and market analysis portions of the report. The FEIS concludes that the projected 830,000 barrels of oil that would flow through the pipeline every day would add between 147 million and 168 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere annually. But it also says that the pipeline would be "unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands, or...

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2 Workers Injured By Sulfuric Acid At Tesoro Refinery Near Martinez

Today's post was shared by CAAA and comes from sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com

PACHECO (KCBS)— Two people working at the Tesoro Golden Eagle refinery near Martinez were injured on Monday morning after they were exposed to sulfuric acid, according to county officials. The incident happened just before 11 a.m. when two contractors were splashed with the acid. The workers were decontaminated on site according to the Contra Costa Fire Department. Fire Inspector Steve Aubert said one worker was “saturated” and taken to John Muir Medical Center with injuries, while the other worker, who only received “minor contact” was able to walk away on his own accord. Two workers were injured at the same refinery on February 12 after they were burned by sulfuric acid. Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Specialist Maria Duazo said this incident wasn’t as serious as last month’s and that both workers were wearing full protective gear when it happened. “They were transported to UC Davis the first time, which is a more upgraded level of treatment,” she said. Tesoro initially blocked federal officials from investigating that incident. The county’s hazmat department has launched an investigation. “One of the things we want to find out is what was the cause of the incident, how can we prevent the incident, document review on if it was process related or not,” Duazo said. Tesoro representatives sent KCBS an email that stated, “The cause of the incident is under investigation and is believed to be...

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What I Learned About The ACA

Today’s post is authored by David Depaolo and appears on his blog daviddepaolo.com. As usual David hits “the nail on the head” with his objective analysis of the potential impact that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will have upon the entire workers’ compensation system. There are certain trends that Dr. Gruber has identified, that in synergy with the ACA, have the potential of causing a dynamic shift in workers’ compensation insurance. As political and social adjustments are made to the ACA those uncertainties will certainly resolve. One of the big draws for me at the Workers' Compensation Research Institute's annual meeting this year was to hear from one of the architects and authors of the Affordable Care Act, Dr. who is a professor of economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I just needed to learn. The ACA is so complex, so huge, so broad in its scope, that anyone who is not completely versed in the health care system (the vast majority of us) would have absolutely no understanding of the law, how it plays out, who it really affects, what is to come of various provisions, etc. In fact, I am willing to bet that virtually all lawmakers, including our president himself, have little to no true understanding of the law. Dr. Gruber is a health economics expert - meaning he has spent virtually all of his professional life studying health care systems and the economic underpinnings of health care. It is...

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Opinion: The real crisis in America's ERs

Editor's note: Dr. Charles H. Norman is the president of the American Dental Association and a practicing dentist in Greensboro, North Carolina. He and the association are leading a nationwide grass-roots effort called Action for Dental Health to address America's dental health crisis. (CNN) -- If you doubt there's a dental health crisis in America, walk into any emergency room. Every day, thousands of people without access to a dentist are looking for dental care in our ERs, most of which cannot provide the care these patients need. We're experiencing this alarming trend right here in Greensboro, North Carolina. For example, one of our local hospitals, the Moses Cone Health Center, finds that about 10% of ER cases are related to dental issues. Nationally, more than 2.1 million people, the vast majority of them adults, showed up in ERs with dental pain in 2010, double the number just a decade prior, according to the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Those ER visits for largely preventable issues cost the health system more than $2 billion that year. And the majority of dental ER visits, nearly 80%, were for common and preventable conditions like abscesses and cavities. The reason for this? The percentage of working-age adults -- particularly young adults -- with private dental benefits continues to decline. And more than half of lower-income adults say they haven't seen a dentist in a year or longer. So patients go without proper cleaning and examinations and...

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In Latest Metro-North Accident, Worker Is Fatally Struck by Train in East Harlem

Transportation safety continues to be a major issue. Today's post is shared from nytimes.org

A Metro-North Railroad worker was struck and killed by a train in East Harlem early Monday morning, officials said, the latest in a string of devastating accidents for the railroad over the past year.

At 12:54 a.m., the man, identified as James Romansoff, 58, of Yonkers, was struck while working on the tracks at East 106th Street and Park Avenue, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The train, from Metro-North’s Hudson line, had left Grand Central Terminal at 12:47 a.m., bound for Poughkeepsie, with 36 passengers on board.

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Monday morning that it was starting an investigation into the accident and was sending three investigators to New York. The transportation authority said that its Police Department was also investigating.

The authority said that Mr. Romansoff, who had been with Metro-North for eight years, was part of a crew restoring power to tracks that were closed over the weekend for maintenance work. Mr. Romansoff and the crew were initially working on a stretch of track that had been taken out of service, according to a source briefed on the situation by federal authorities, but for reasons that remain unclear, Mr. Romansoff crossed into a section of active track.

James Romansoff, 58, of Yonkers, was killed Monday while...

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Night Shift Work Causally Linked to an Increase in Breast Cancer

Working at night increases the risk of breast cancer according to a recent study.

Objectives The potential mechanisms that link night-shift work with breast cancer have been extensively discussed. Exposure to light at night (LAN) depletes melatonin that has oncostatic and anti-estrogenic properties and may lead to a modified expression of estrogen receptor (ER) α. Here, we explored the association between shift work and breast cancer in subgroups of patients with ER-positive and -negative tumors.
Methods GENICA (Gene–ENvironment Interaction and breast CAncer) is a population-based case–control study on breast cancer with detailed information on shift work from 857 breast cancer cases and 892 controls. ER status was assessed by immunohistochemical staining. Associations between night-shift work and ER-positive and -negative breast cancer were analyzed with conditional logistic regression models, adjusted for potential confounders.
Results ER status was assessed for 827 cases and was positive in 653 and negative in 174 breast tumors. Overall, 49 cases and 54 controls were “ever employed” in shift work including night shifts for ≥1 year. In total, “ever shift work” and “ever night work” were not associated with an elevated risk of ER-positive or -negative breast tumors. Night work for ≥20 years was associated with a significantly elevated risk of ER-negative breast cancer [odds ratio (OR) 4.73, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.22–18.36].
Conclusions Our case–control study suggests that long-term night-shift work is associated with an increased risk of ER-negative breast cancers. Further studies on histological subtypes and the analysis of other potentially relevant factors are crucial for discovering putative mechanisms

The report:  Rabstein S, Harth V, Pesch B, Pallapies D, Lotz A, Justenhoven C, Baisch C,Schiffermann M, Haas S, Fischer H-P, Heinze E, Pierl C, Brauch H, Hamann U, Ko Y,Brüning T, "Night work and breast cancer estrogen receptor status – results from the German GENICA study", Scand J Work Environ Health 2013;39(5):448-455 doi:10.5271/sjweh.3360,  2010;36(2):163-179 2010;36(2):134-141

Read more ablout "breast cancer" and workers' compensation:

Workers' Compensation: Breast Cancer Risk Doubles With ...

Jul 02, 2013

Objectives Long-term night work has been suggested as a risk factor for breast cancer; however, additional studies with more comprehensive methods of exposure assessment to capture the diversity of shift patterns are ...

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

Breast Cancer Linked to Workers' Exposure at Semiconductor Factory

Dec 15, 2012

A semiconductor plant worker, who had been exposed to solvents and radiation while working 5 years at a semiconductor factory in South Korea has been held to have suffered an compensable disease related to her ...

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/

Breast Cancer and the Environment: A Life Course Approach

Dec 05, 2012

Breast Cancer and the Environment: A Life Course Approach - Institute of Medicine: "With more than 230,000 new cases of breast cancer expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2011, many wonder about the role ...

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

Workplace Accidents and Daylight Savings Time

While everyone may be waking up a little tired for work as the clock was moved forward last night by a hour to observe Daylight Savings Time (DST), the impact on work related accidents may be minor. 

A recent study in Finland concludes: "It seems that sleep deprivation after DST transition is not harmful enough to impact on occupational accident rates."

On the other hand  others report, "The real issue, however is not the later hours or extra sunlight. Studies have shown that changing the clocks is responsible for health problems (including increased heart attack and vehicular accident risks) and leads to hundreds of thousands of hours of lost productivity in workplaces across the country. Also: It's really annoying."

See also: A Whitehouse Petition to "Eliminate the bi-annual time change caused by Daylight Savings Time

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• Another Asbestos Company Files for Bankruptcy: Rapid American / Philip Carey Manufacturing Co. (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• The Obama Agenda: The Road to Workplace Wellness (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
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Do Corporations Have a Right to Profit From Endangering Our Health?

In his farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower famously warned Americans about the growing power of the military-industrial complex. More than 50 years later, Nicholas Freudenberg, Distinguished Professor of Public Health at City University of New York, has issued a warning no less grave about “the corporate consumption complex” – the interconnected web of corporations, financial institutions and marketers that, in the name of individual rights, promote and profit from our unhealthy habits.

In Lethal but Legal: Corporations, Consumption, and Protecting Public Health, Freudenberg argues that “In a global economy that focuses relentlessly on profit, enhancing the bottom line of a few hundred corporations . . . has become more important than realizing the potential for good health.” According to Mark Bittman of The New York Times, “Freudenberg details how six industries — food and beverage, tobacco, alcohol, firearms, pharmaceutical and automotive — use pretty much the same playbook to defend the sales of health-threatening products. This playbook, largely developed by the tobacco industry, disregards human health and poses greater threats to our existence than any communicable disease you can name.”

To turn this destructive calculus around, Freudenberg told Bittman, “What we need is to return to the public sector the right to set health policy and to limit corporations’ freedom to...

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What really caused the decline of American unions?

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.latimes.com

Evan Soltas, a Princeton student writing fluently from a platform at Bloomberg View, should be praised for touching off a vigorous debate among print journalists, bloggers and other commentators (including me) over the role of unions in the U.S. economy. As for the points he's raised and on which he's now doubling down in reaction to criticism he's received, they're still wrong. It's proper to remember that what really set off this discussion was the United Auto Workers' recent defeat in an organizing vote at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. In that vote the union wasn't opposed by the company but by Republican political leaders across Tennessee, who threatened to destroy the plant by withdrawing public subsidies if the union won. The vote was close, 53% to 47%. If 44 workers out of the more than 1,300 had voted differently, today we'd be talking about a union breakthrough instead of the end of organized labor in America. The most penetrating and unsentimental analysis of the event comes from former union organizer Rich Yeselson, here and here. Among other things, he observes that union organizing is hard no matter where you are, and certainly no easier in a traditionally anti-union region, in a factory where the treatment of workers is pretty good, and by a union that has allowed itself to give too much back to management in other plants as part of its effort to preserve the domestic auto industry. Back to Soltas. His original piece is here. It...

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Report: Minimum wage hike would cut food stamp spending by $4.6 billion a year

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from m.washingtonpost.com

Raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour would reduce federal food stamp spending by $4.6 billion a year, according to a report to be released Wednesday by the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress.

The proposal, a top legislative priority for President Obama and congressional Democrats, would reduce enrollment in the food stamp program by as much as 9.2 percent, the report said.
A report last month from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said about 15 percent of the nation’s workforce would see wages rise under Obama’s plan to raise the minimum wage, adding that the increase would lift 900,000 people out of poverty.

Democrats are making a midterm election year push to raise the federal minimum wage. Reid Wilson takes a look at what that would mean for two cities. (/)

The CAP report, which was written by University of California Berkeley researchers Rachel West and Michael Reich, is the latest in a line of research highlighting the connection between low-wage work and government support programs.
Last year, a report done by researchers at Berkeley and the University of Illinois asserted that taxpayers are spending nearly $7 billion a year to supplement the wages of fast-food workers, many of whom earn the minimum wage or close to it.
“What is the best way to make people independent and be able to sustain their standard of living without having to depend on government support?,” Reich asked. “It turns out that...




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Coal Company to Pay Record Civil Fine of $27.5 Million for Water Pollution

Today's post was shared by FairWarning and comes from www.fairwarning.org

Settlement calls for Alpha Natural Resources to clean up water flowing from coal mines in five states. Under the agreement with U.S. and state regulators, Alpha will spend $200 million to reduce pollution from mines in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The company will also pay $27.5 million, the largest civil penalty ever for permit violations under the U.S. Clean Water Act, in connection with more than 6,000 such violations from 2006 to 2013. U.S. regulators said Alpha has “a long history of noncompliance with the Clean Water Act.” But a company official downplayed the extent of the violations, saying that Alpha’s ”total water-quality compliance rate,” taking into account pollutants at all of its operations, was 99.8 percent last year. The New York Times, The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette Greenpeace report says Europe’s aging nuclear power plants pose an increasing risk. The report concludes that because of Europe’s heavy dependence on nuclear energy, governments are likely to extend plant operations 20 years or more past their designed limits. It recommends that European Union policies be changed to spur repairs and discourage construction of new plants. Like most nuclear plants, European reactors were built with a 40-year expected lifetime. As they age, operators usually have two options: shut down or make repairs to extend operations. While many critics want the plants to be...

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How Proposed Part D Changes Are Playing On Capitol Hill

Officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are proposing to remove some drugs from Medicare’s prescription drug plans and limit how many plans insurers can offer. KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and CQ Roll Call’s Emily Ethridge discuss.

>> Click here to listen to audio of the conversation.

MARY AGNES CAREY: Welcome to Health on the Hill. I’m Mary Agnes Carey.

A series of proposed changes to the Medicare prescription drug program -- also known as Medicare part D -- have been getting a lot of attention on and off of Capitol Hill. Patient groups and lawmakers in both parties say easing current requirements on what drugs plan must cover could cause hardships for some patients. There’s also bipartisan opposition to a provision that would limit the number of plans insurers could offer.

With me now to discuss these issues is Emily Ethridge of CQ Roll Call. Emily, thanks so much for coming.

EMILY ETHRIDGE, CQ ROLL CALL: Thanks for having me.

MARY AGNES CAREY: Now CMS currently -- that’s the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees the Medicare part D program -- they currently require that Part D plans cover the vast majority of drugs in six specific classes. And they’re proposing to drop two of these categories next year, and another might be dropped in 2015. What are these drugs that could lose this "protected status," as they call it, and why are people so...


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