Sleep, Pain, and Hospital Workers

The health care employment sector is increasing as the US becomes an "aging nation" of seniors. Safety of health care workers is a growing concern. Today's post was shared by NIOSH Transportation and comes from blogs.cdc.gov

We know that decreased sleep duration and extended shifts in healthcare workers are linked to workplace injuries.  The effects of decreased sleep on pain in the workplace are less clear.  New research from the Harvard Center for Work, Health and Wellbeing  –one of four NIOSH Centers of Excellence funded to explore and research the concepts of Total Worker Health™- examines the question: Does lack of sleep increase pain and limit function among hospital care workers?    The study, published in the American Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, finds that sleep deficiency (including short sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, sleep insufficiency, or all three) is significantly associated with pain, functional limitations of daily living tasks due to that pain, and difficulty performing work tasks due to that pain, among hospital care workers. These effects may impact productivity or the ability to perform demanding health care work such as patient handling. This study is in agreement with a growing body of research linking poor sleep with pain. For example, laboratory studies have shown that restricting sleep duration can increase reports of new pain, consistent with the higher pain reports associated with insomnia. Other studies have shown that sleep-deprived persons respond differently to a standard pain...

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To Promote Wellness, Public Health Departments Are Launching Apps. Will They Work?

Employee health concerns will soon be advanced by technology. Knowledgeable use of "apps" will assist workers' in identifying occupational conditions and hazards. Today's post was shared by RWJF PublicHealth and comes from healthland.time.com

Courtesy of Alabama Department of Public Healt The Alabama Department of Public Health is venturing into the mobile universe as the first state with a health app for residents. “Normally Alabama comes in last when it comes to health indicators, but we were one of the first states to be on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube. This is just another goal for us,” says Jennifer Pratt Sumner, the director of the digital media branch of the department. The app, which is free to download from Google Play or iTunes, brings all of the social media feeds put out by the various public health divisions into one place. It also provides health news alerts and information about wellness events, such as the annual Alabama Youth Rally. Some recent tips included educational conferences open to the public, and tips on safely consuming shellfish in the state. (MORE: Two-Faced Facebook: We Like It, but It Doesn’t Make Us Happy) “As more and more Americans use their smartphones to gather health information, I think we’ll see a greater number of health departments rolling out their own apps,” says Alexandra Hughes, an account director at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, who wrote an analysis on social media effects entitlted “Using Social Media Platforms to Amplify Public Health Messaging” [PDF]. “Consumers are already flocking to apps to do things like count calories, prepare healthier...

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A fatal trend: N.J. train deaths have increased since state launched safety initiative

Transportation accidents continue to be a major cause of work-related accidents. Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.nj.com

Spurred by the deaths of three teenage boys on the train tracks in a 24-hour period in 2011, the state Department of Transportation and NJ Transit redoubled safety efforts. The agencies extended fencing, stepped up patrols and placed new warning signs at stations. They increased education in schools and filmed hard-hitting public service announcements, one of them bluntly titled "You’re Dead." They even took to social media, targeting kids and adults alike with the message that a train is a brutally efficient killer. But more than a year after that safety initiative was launched, the deaths continue to mount. Worse, they have accelerated.

UConn Health Center Study: Conn. Occupational Illnesses Above National Average

Occupational injuries remain compensable conditions. Most occupational conditions remain unreported and undiagnosed. Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from mansfield.patch.com

There were 7,265 unique cases of occupational illnesses reported to either the Workers’ Compensation Commission or the Department of Public Health in 2011 based on a study by the UConn Health Center prepared for the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission. This is in addition to cases of traumatic occupational injury reported by the Connecticut Labor Department in its annual survey. The overall 2011 rate of occupational illness in Connecticut is 27.8 illnesses per 10,000 workers, 35 percent higher than the national average, based on the standardized survey compiled by the Connecticut Labor Department. Both numbers of illnesses and rates of illnesses increased over 2010 for all three data sources for the report, although one of those sources was incomplete for the earlier year. Occupational Disease in Connecticut, prepared for the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission by occupational and environmental expert Tim Morse of the Health Center, reviewed information for the 2011 reporting year from three sources: the State Labor Department/Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey; the  Reports of First Injury to the Connecticut Workers Compensation Commission; and the  physicians reports to the Connecticut Department of Public Health under the Occupational Illnesses...

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Statement on malignant mesothelioma in the United Kingdom

Asbestos exposure is causally related to mesothelioma, a fatal cancer. Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from thorax.bmj.com

Malignant mesothelioma is one of the more difficult diseases that doctors, patients, and families have to face. It is almost always caused by inhalation of asbestos fibre many years before presentation. Diagnosis can be difficult, there is little hope of a cure, and the disease has the potential for extremely unpleasant symptoms. The incidence is increasing rapidly and the position of mesothelioma in the league table of cancer related deaths is rising. However, few doctors have managed sufficient numbers of patients to have acquired comprehensive clinical experience of the disease. Furthermore, the relative rarity of the condition and lack of extensive research mean that clinicians do not have reliable evidence on which to base their practice.

What's Your Labor Worth? For Most of Us, Less Than It Was in 2000

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.dailyfinance.com

A confused man, holding a pen, sitting amidst piles of binders Historically, Labor Day is a day for celebrating America's workers -- a factor that influenced everything from its founding to the date on which it was placed. Coming roughly midway between Independence Day and Thanksgiving, it was intended to give workers a respite to break up the long holiday-free stretch in the latter half of the year. (Of course, since Labor Day is a national holiday, the makes the first Monday in September a prime date for merchants hoping to attract customers -- a factor that doesn't work out all that well for the estimated 11 percent of American workers employed in retail sales.) So, as we honor America's workers, we're taking a peek at some of the factors, good and bad, affecting American labor.

One Claim Going OTOC

Today's post was shared by WorkCompCentral and comes from daviddepaolo.blogspot.com

By now you've likely heard of this claimant fraud case as reported in the San Diego County News Yolandi Kohrumel, 35, went to work for Staples about 10 years ago. After three months on the job she claimed a box fell on her big toe and broke it. She received treatment and benefits. But the big toe is connected to the foot bone, which is connected to the leg bone, which is connected to the hip bone, which is connected to the back bone.... An EAMS search on her claim reveals wrist, back, lower extremities, nervous system and "other body systems" claimed. The party service list is filled with very familiar names to those who do workers' compensation litigation in Southern California. Eventually Kohrumel even got approval for 24 hour care, provided for, of course, by relatives - her husband at first and then her father. You get the picture. Claim out of control. Which means either something is REALLY wrong with this lady, or it's fraud. The claims administrator, ESIS, followed the law and did what it could to dispute elements of the claim that didn't add up - such as the 24 hour care provided by her South African husband who did not have a work permit (so dad stepped in to "provide care"). Surgeries, pain pills, lots of doctors, crutches, wheelchairs, lots of TTD payments. She even convinced the claims administrator that she needed a bigger place to live for her wheelchair access and the administrator went for it. Well, that became Kohrumel's undoing because the...

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