Workers exposed to low doses of radiation have been reported to experience an increased risk to Leukemia and Lymphoma.
A study published in The Lancet reports strong evidence of positive associations between protracted low-dose radiation exposure and leukemia.
Evidence before this study:
Ionising radiation causes leukaemia. The primary quantitative basis for radiation protection standards comes from studies of populations exposed to acute, high doses of ionising radiation. Although previous studies of nuclear workers addressed leukaemia radiogenicity, questions remain about the size of the risk from protracted radiation exposure in occupational settings.
Added value of this study:
We report a positive dose–response relationship between cumulative, external, protracted, low-dose exposure to ionising radiation, and subsequent death caused by leukeamia (excluding chronic lymphocytic leukaemia). The risk coefficient per unit dose was consistent with those derived from analyses of other populations exposed to higher radiation doses and dose rates.
Implications of all the available evidence:
The present study provides strong evidence of a positive association between radiation exposure and leukaemia even for low-dose exposure. This finding shows the importance of adherence to the basic principles of radiation protection—to optimise protection to reduce exposures as much as reasonably achievable and—in the case of patient exposure—to justify that the exposure does more good than harm.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Diacetyl Emerges Again As A Serious Threat to Worker Health
Emerging again in the workplace are serious and health threatening exposures to Diacetyl. The Journal Sentinel has reported:
"Most coffee roasters have never heard of the chemical compound diacetyl. Those who have, associate it solely with its devastating effects on microwave popcorn workers and those in the flavoring industry. They don't suspect that it could be wreaking the same havoc on their own lungs.
"We don't make flavored coffee, many in the roasting business say. It's not a problem for us.
"But air sampling by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shows reason to worry.
"Tests at two midsized Wisconsin roasteries that agreed to let the news organization analyze the air in their production areas found diacetyl levels from unflavored roasted coffee that exceeded safety standards proposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"In some areas, by nearly four times the concentration.
"Workers exposed to similar levels at popcorn plants suffered serious, incurable lung disease.
Click here to read the entire article "Coffee roasters' health at risk from chemical compound, air samples suggest--But most workers don't realize their lungs may be in danger from exposure to diacetyl"
Read more about Diacetyl and workers' compensation:
NIOSH to Propose New Criteria for Diacetyl Exposure
Aug 18, 2011
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) invites public comment on a draft document, "Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione.” For public ...
Workers' Compensation: Flavoring 2,3-pentanedione ...
Aug 20, 2012
2,3-pentanedione should be added to that list. "Flavorings-related lung disease is a potentially disabling disease of food industry workers associated with exposure to the α-diketone butter flavoring, diacetyl (2,3-butanedione).
Workers' Compensation: Legislation to Protect Food ...
Sep 27, 2007
The legislation would force the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules limiting workers' exposure to diacetyl, a chemical used in artificial food flavoring for microwave popcorn and other foods.
Flavoring Workers At Higher Risk for Alzheimers
Aug 04, 2012
It found evidence that the ingredient, diacetyl (DA), intensifies the damaging effects of an abnormal brain protein linked to Alzheimer's disease. The study appears in ACS' journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.
"Most coffee roasters have never heard of the chemical compound diacetyl. Those who have, associate it solely with its devastating effects on microwave popcorn workers and those in the flavoring industry. They don't suspect that it could be wreaking the same havoc on their own lungs.
"We don't make flavored coffee, many in the roasting business say. It's not a problem for us.
"But air sampling by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shows reason to worry.
"Tests at two midsized Wisconsin roasteries that agreed to let the news organization analyze the air in their production areas found diacetyl levels from unflavored roasted coffee that exceeded safety standards proposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"In some areas, by nearly four times the concentration.
"Workers exposed to similar levels at popcorn plants suffered serious, incurable lung disease.
Click here to read the entire article "Coffee roasters' health at risk from chemical compound, air samples suggest--But most workers don't realize their lungs may be in danger from exposure to diacetyl"
Read more about Diacetyl and workers' compensation:
NIOSH to Propose New Criteria for Diacetyl Exposure
Aug 18, 2011
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) invites public comment on a draft document, "Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione.” For public ...
Workers' Compensation: Flavoring 2,3-pentanedione ...
Aug 20, 2012
2,3-pentanedione should be added to that list. "Flavorings-related lung disease is a potentially disabling disease of food industry workers associated with exposure to the α-diketone butter flavoring, diacetyl (2,3-butanedione).
Workers' Compensation: Legislation to Protect Food ...
Sep 27, 2007
The legislation would force the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules limiting workers' exposure to diacetyl, a chemical used in artificial food flavoring for microwave popcorn and other foods.
Flavoring Workers At Higher Risk for Alzheimers
Aug 04, 2012
It found evidence that the ingredient, diacetyl (DA), intensifies the damaging effects of an abnormal brain protein linked to Alzheimer's disease. The study appears in ACS' journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.
….
Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters). 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.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
NJ Supreme Court: Superior Court has jurisdiction to determine employment status
The NJ Supreme Court ruled that the NJ Division of Workers' Compensation does not have exclusive jurisdiction in determining employment status. In reversing the decision of the Appellate Decision, the NJ Supreme Court held that when a claim petition is not filed with the NJ Division of Workers' Compensation, the Superior Court has exclusive jurisdiction over who is an employee versus independent contractor.
"We conclude that when, as here, there is a genuine dispute regarding the worker's employment status, and the plaintiff elects to file a complaint only in the Law Division of the Superior Court, the Superior Court has concurrent jurisdiction to resolve the dispute."
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Colorado Supreme Court Rules Medical Marijuana Unlawful Employment Activity
The Colorado supreme court held that under the plain language of section 24-34-402.5,
14 C.R.S. (2014), Colorado’s “lawful activities statute,” the term “lawful” refers only to those activities that are lawful under both state and federal law.
Therefore, employees who engage in an activity such as medical marijuana use that is permitted by state law but unlawful under federal law are not protected by the statute. We therefore affirm 18 the court of appeals’ opinion.
Coats v. Dish Network—Labor and Employment- Protected Activities
Therefore, employees who engage in an activity such as medical marijuana use that is permitted by state law but unlawful under federal law are not protected by the statute. We therefore affirm 18 the court of appeals’ opinion.
Coats v. Dish Network—Labor and Employment- Protected Activities
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Newark gas manufacturer repeatedly exposed employees to workplace hazards
OSHA fines Welco Acetylene Corp. $57,400
Employer Name and Location: The acetylene repackaging facility of industrial gas manufacturer Welco Acetylene Corp. is located at 321 Roanoke Place in Newark, New Jersey.
Date Investigation Initiated: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated an inspection on Nov. 21, 2014, as a follow-up to its May 30, 2013, inspection.
Investigation Findings: Welco Acetylene Corp. received two failure-to-abate notices for hazards for which the employer had been cited previously: not maintaining process equipment and not adequately addressing the potential impact of a vapor cloud explosion on an occupied temporary trailer.
Additionally, OSHA found two repeat violations involving workers performing service on a compressor without placing a device on it to prevent the sudden startup or movement of equipment during service and maintenance, a procedure known as lockout/tagout. The company also did not ensure that the written process safety information included all the necessary information pertaining to the equipment. One serious violation was issued for not conducting management of change reviews as required.
Welco Acetylene Corp. has 15 business days from receipt of citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Quote: "Acetylene gas is highly flammable and if released, could cause fire and explosion hazards," said Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA's Parsippany Area Office. "The violations found during the follow-up inspection, and the ones the company failed to abate, create a hazardous environment to the employees working at the plant and should be immediately corrected."
Proposed penalties: $57,400
View the citations:
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/WelcoAcetyleneCorp908983.pdf*
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/WelcoAcetyleneCorp1021854.pdf*
Monday, June 1, 2015
GAO calls for better Medicare fee setting data and more transparency
Many state workers' compensation medical fee schedules are based upon Medicare rates. A new study from US Government Accounting Office reports that the underlying rate making scheme is biased and the GAO recommends increased transparency of the process.
The American Medical Association/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) has a process in place to regularly review Medicare physicians' services' work relative values (which reflect the time and intensity needed to perform a service). Its recommendations to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers Medicare, though, may not be accurate due to process and data-related weaknesses.
First, the RUC's process for developing relative value recommendations relies on the input of physicians who may have potential conflicts of interest with respect to the outcomes of CMS's process. While the RUC has taken steps to mitigate the impact of physicians' potential conflicts of interest, a member of the RUC told GAO that specialty societies' work relative value recommendations may still be inflated.
RUC staff indicated that the RUC may recommend a work relative value to CMS that is less than the specialty societies' median survey result if the value seems accurate based on the RUC members' clinical expertise or by comparing the value to those of related services.
Second, GAO found weaknesses with the RUC's survey data, including that some of the RUC's survey data had low response rates, low total number of responses, and large ranges in responses, all of which may undermine the accuracy of the RUC's recommendations. For example, while GAO found that the median number of responses to surveys for payment year 2015 was 52, the median response rate was only 2.2 percent, and 23 of the 231 surveys had under 30 respondents.
CMS's process for establishing relative values embodies several elements that cast doubt on whether it can ensure accurate Medicare payment rates and a transparent process.
First, although CMS officials stated that CMS complies with the statutory requirement to review all Medicare services every 5 years, the agency does not maintain a database to track when a service was last valued or have a documented standardized process for prioritizing its reviews.
Second, CMS's process is not fully transparent because the agency does not publish the potentially misvalued services identified by the RUC in its rulemaking or otherwise, and thus stakeholders are unaware that these services will be reviewed and payment rates for these services may change.
Third, CMS provides some information about its process in its rulemaking, but does not document the methods used to review specific RUC recommendations. For example, CMS does not document what resources were considered during its review of the RUC's recommendations for specific services.
Finally, the evidence suggests—and CMS officials acknowledge—that the agency relies heavily on RUC recommendations when establishing relative values. For example, GAO found that, in the majority of cases, CMS accepts the RUC's recommendations and participation by other stakeholders is limited. Given the process and data-related weaknesses associated with the RUC's recommendations, such heavy reliance on the RUC could result in inaccurate Medicare payment rates.
CMS has begun to research ways to develop an approach for validating RUC recommendations, but does not yet have a specific plan for doing so. In addition, CMS does not yet have a plan for how it will use funds Congress appropriated for the collection and use of data on physicians' services or address the other data challenges GAO identified.
Why GAO Did This Study
Payments for Medicare physicians' services totaled about $70 billion in 2013. CMS sets payment rates for about 7,000 physicians' services primarily on the basis of the relative values assigned to each service. Relative values largely reflect estimates of the physician work and practice expenses needed to provide one service relative to other services.
The Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 included a provision for GAO to study the RUC's process for developing relative value recommendations for CMS. GAO evaluated (1) the RUC's process for recommending relative values for CMS to consider when setting Medicare payment rates; and (2) CMS's process for establishing relative values, including how it uses RUC recommendations. GAO reviewed RUC and CMS documents and applicable statutes and internal control standards, analyzed RUC and CMS data for payment years 2011 through 2015, and interviewed RUC staff and CMS officials.
What GAO Recommends
CMS should better document its process for establishing relative values and develop a process to inform the public of potentially misvalued services identified by the RUC. CMS should also develop a plan for using funds appropriated for the collection and use of information on physicians' services in the determination of relative values. HHS agreed with two of GAO's recommendations, but disagreed with using rulemaking to inform the public of RUC-identified services. GAO clarified that the recommendation is not limited to rulemaking.
Click here to read the full report.
Better Data and Greater Transparency Could Improve Accuracy
GAO-15-434: Published: May 21, 2015. Publicly Released: May 21, 2015.
The American Medical Association/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) has a process in place to regularly review Medicare physicians' services' work relative values (which reflect the time and intensity needed to perform a service). Its recommendations to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers Medicare, though, may not be accurate due to process and data-related weaknesses.
First, the RUC's process for developing relative value recommendations relies on the input of physicians who may have potential conflicts of interest with respect to the outcomes of CMS's process. While the RUC has taken steps to mitigate the impact of physicians' potential conflicts of interest, a member of the RUC told GAO that specialty societies' work relative value recommendations may still be inflated.
RUC staff indicated that the RUC may recommend a work relative value to CMS that is less than the specialty societies' median survey result if the value seems accurate based on the RUC members' clinical expertise or by comparing the value to those of related services.
Second, GAO found weaknesses with the RUC's survey data, including that some of the RUC's survey data had low response rates, low total number of responses, and large ranges in responses, all of which may undermine the accuracy of the RUC's recommendations. For example, while GAO found that the median number of responses to surveys for payment year 2015 was 52, the median response rate was only 2.2 percent, and 23 of the 231 surveys had under 30 respondents.
CMS's process for establishing relative values embodies several elements that cast doubt on whether it can ensure accurate Medicare payment rates and a transparent process.
First, although CMS officials stated that CMS complies with the statutory requirement to review all Medicare services every 5 years, the agency does not maintain a database to track when a service was last valued or have a documented standardized process for prioritizing its reviews.
Second, CMS's process is not fully transparent because the agency does not publish the potentially misvalued services identified by the RUC in its rulemaking or otherwise, and thus stakeholders are unaware that these services will be reviewed and payment rates for these services may change.
Third, CMS provides some information about its process in its rulemaking, but does not document the methods used to review specific RUC recommendations. For example, CMS does not document what resources were considered during its review of the RUC's recommendations for specific services.
Finally, the evidence suggests—and CMS officials acknowledge—that the agency relies heavily on RUC recommendations when establishing relative values. For example, GAO found that, in the majority of cases, CMS accepts the RUC's recommendations and participation by other stakeholders is limited. Given the process and data-related weaknesses associated with the RUC's recommendations, such heavy reliance on the RUC could result in inaccurate Medicare payment rates.
CMS has begun to research ways to develop an approach for validating RUC recommendations, but does not yet have a specific plan for doing so. In addition, CMS does not yet have a plan for how it will use funds Congress appropriated for the collection and use of data on physicians' services or address the other data challenges GAO identified.
Why GAO Did This Study
Payments for Medicare physicians' services totaled about $70 billion in 2013. CMS sets payment rates for about 7,000 physicians' services primarily on the basis of the relative values assigned to each service. Relative values largely reflect estimates of the physician work and practice expenses needed to provide one service relative to other services.
The Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 included a provision for GAO to study the RUC's process for developing relative value recommendations for CMS. GAO evaluated (1) the RUC's process for recommending relative values for CMS to consider when setting Medicare payment rates; and (2) CMS's process for establishing relative values, including how it uses RUC recommendations. GAO reviewed RUC and CMS documents and applicable statutes and internal control standards, analyzed RUC and CMS data for payment years 2011 through 2015, and interviewed RUC staff and CMS officials.
What GAO Recommends
CMS should better document its process for establishing relative values and develop a process to inform the public of potentially misvalued services identified by the RUC. CMS should also develop a plan for using funds appropriated for the collection and use of information on physicians' services in the determination of relative values. HHS agreed with two of GAO's recommendations, but disagreed with using rulemaking to inform the public of RUC-identified services. GAO clarified that the recommendation is not limited to rulemaking.
Click here to read the full report.
Better Data and Greater Transparency Could Improve Accuracy
GAO-15-434: Published: May 21, 2015. Publicly Released: May 21, 2015.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Confronting Europe's Asbestos Disaster
Brussels, Belgium and London, UK: On 24 June, 2015, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions are hosting a joint conference on asbestos under the title: Freeing Europe Safely From Asbestos. The European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) are supporting the event together with the Belgian Asbestos Victims’ Group (ABEVA), and the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS).
The objective of this all day session is to reinforce demands by EU politicians, trade unionists, asbestos victims and campaigners for a coordinated response to the European asbestos epidemic which is claiming over 15,000 lives a year. Speakers will call for EU action on a safe removal strategy, a policy for the recognition and compensation of victims and recommendations for gold standard medical screening and treatment for Europeans at-risk of contracting asbestos-related diseases.
Topics such as EU legislation, asbestos management and/or removal, workers’ training, decontamination, screening and the human impact of Europe’s asbestos catastrophe will be covered by experts from more than a dozen countries. Commenting on this event, Ulrik Spannow Chairman of the EFBWW Occupational Health and Safety Coordination Group said: “In the past workers were exposed to asbestos, but in fact they still are. In this connection, EFBWW sees the European ban of asbestos as an important but only the first step towards an asbestos free Europe.
We therefore welcome the initiatives of the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee focusing on practical action on asbestos in the various policy areas concerned. We like to contribute to the implementation of these initiatives into practical policy action and consider the asbestos conference on 24th June as an excellent occasion to discuss the various aspects with European and national authorities.” 1
On April 30, 2015, the World Health Organization confirmed the devastation asbestos continues to cause in Europe in a media release which confirmed that 300 million Europeans are living in countries where the use of asbestos remains legal. The WHO Regional Director for Europe estimated that 15,000 lives were lost in Europe every year because of exposure to asbestos.
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