Workers' Compensation

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Workers Compensation Benefits Awarded for Breast Cancer

The Nevada Supreme Court has awarded workers' compensation benefits to a firefighter who alleged that her occupational exposure at work to toxic substances caused her breast cancer. The court held that there was substantial evidence that supported the finding that her exposure to known carcinogens was causally related to her breast cancer.

The injured worker was employed for the City of Las Vegas in 1992 and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997. She under whet treatment and lost 8 to 9 months of work. In 2004 she suffered a recurrence of the breast cancer and under when a double mastectomy and chemotherapy.

The Nevada statute defines what a "carcinogen" is based upon the definition of the International Agency for Research on Cancer [IARC] or the National Toxicology Program [NTP]. The former firefighter alleged that she was exposed to benzene, a know carcinogen. One of her expert witnesses, Dr. James Melius, testified that, "Several studies have found occupational exposure to benzene to be associated with breast cancer risk in both males and females."

Also her treating physician causally related her medical condition to her occupational exposure to carcinogens. He advised her to cease work as a firefighter.

City of Las Vegas v. Lawson, No. 53900, 126 Nev. Adv. Op. 52, 2010 WL 542282 (Nev. 2010) Decided December 30, 2010.

Too Old to Get Workers Compensation

Washington's Governor, Chris Gregorine has proposed legislation to retire older totally disabled workers from the state's workers' compensation system. About 8% of the state's totally disabled workers would have the option of receiving a lump sum benefit to opt out of the system of periodic benefits. The senior beneficiaries amount to 85% of the present systems' cost and amount to only 8% of the total beneficiaries.

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Thursday, January 6, 2011

EPA Urged to Shut Down Dangerous Asbestos Removal Method

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Inspector General has just signed an "Early Warning Report" that will shut down a dangerous and unapproved asbestos removal method that two EPA offices have been testing for the past seven years.

The report supports what Public Justice has been arguing -- that the method both endangers public health and doesn't work.

The approved method requires all asbestos to be removed from a building by trained specialists wearing protective gear before it is demolished. Under the unapproved method, called the "Alternative Asbestos Control Method," or AACM, most of the asbestos-containing materials are left in place during demolition. Water with added surfactants is sprayed on the building to try to suppress asbestos release and contamination.

Read more about the EPA Asbestos Report:

For over 3 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, January 5, 2011

NIOSH Proposes New Digital Classification for Pneumoconiosis

Monitoring the health of individuals involved in dusty work is intended to provide assurance to the worker that ongoing exposure controls are adequate. Recognition of minor health abnormalities serves as an early warning to both workers and managers when there is need for more effective measures to prevent work-related impairment and disability. Since 1970, NIOSH and other organizations have successfully applied traditional film screen chest radiography, interpreted using the ILO International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconiosis, toward these objectives.

Imaging of interstitial lung diseases such as the pneumoconiosis represents one of the most difficult challenges in diagnostic radiology, and comprehensive attention to technological, methodological, and human factors is required to assure that the image quality and interpretation are satisfactory for achieving early disease detection.

This NIOSH Guideline is based upon accepted contemporary professional recommendations, and provides technical and operational guidance for radiographic facilities and physician readers who obtain digital chest radiographs for the evaluation of pneumoconiosis. The intent is to assure that the recognition of pneumoconiosis using digitally-acquired chest radiographs is at least as safe and effective as traditional film screen radiography. The Guideline should not be considered a mandate for medical practice; however participating practitioners and facilities who deviate from the specifications should have a sound medical rationale for alternative approaches.

The ILO system has been used extensively in the diagnosis of asbestos related disease.

Friday, December 31, 2010

NIOSH Focuses On Safety of Nanotechnology

On Wednesday, April 8, 2009 [74 FR 15985], the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced in the Federal Register plans to evaluate the scientific data on carbon nanotubes and to issue its findings on the potential health risks. A draft Current Intelligence Bulletin entitled ``Occupational Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers'' has been developed which contains an assessment of the toxicological data and provides recommendations for the safe handling of these materials. NIOSH is seeking comments on the draft document and plans to have a public meeting to discuss the document. The draft document and instructions for submitting comments can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docket/review/docket161A/ default.html.

NIOSH has interest in:

(1) Identification of industries or occupations in which exposures to carbon nanotubes and nanofibers can occur;

(2) Trends in the production and use of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers;

(3) Exposure measurement data;

(4) Case reports or other health information demonstrating possible health effects in workers exposed to carbon nanotubes or nanofibers;

(5) Reports of experimental in vivo and in vitro studies that provide evidence of a dose-relationship between exposure to carbon nanotubes and nanofibers and biological activity;

(6) Reports of experimental data on the airborne characteristics of carbon nanotubes or nanofibers, including information on the amounts that are inhalable and respirable;

(7) Criteria and rationale for including workers in a medical surveillance and screening program;

(8) Description of work practices and engineering controls used to reduce or prevent workplace exposure to carbon nanotubes and nanofibers; and

(9) Educational materials for worker safety and training on the safe handling of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers.

This announcement follows an earlier conference by NIOSH in July 2010.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

The World Trade Center Health Program Expands The Path to Federalization

Yesterday the US Congress passed and sent to the President, The World Trade Center Health Program, marking yet another advance on the path to federalize the nation's workers' compensation program. The Federally funded and administered program provides for medical evaluation and treatment of occupational medical conditions that have been neglected or ignored by other benefit programs.

The legislation specifically provides for medical monitoring and treatment to eligible emergency responders and recovery and cleanup workers, including those who are Federal employees, who responded to the September 11, 200, terrorist attacks. Furthermore, the program will provide initial health evaluations, monitoring, and treatment to residents and other building occupants and area workers in New York City who were directly impacted and adversely affected by the attacks.

H.R. 847 Health and Compensation Act of 2010
Click Here for C-Span Video http://tinyurl.com/2ax3htq

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

OSHA Issues Bulletin on the Hazards of Exposure to Flavoring Substances

DIACETYL - BASED FLAVORS

The following flavors may contain diacetyl

Dairy Flavorings	Hybrid Dairy Flavorings (Contains a substantial dairy content)	Brown Flavorings	Alcohol Flavorings	Other Flavorings	Fruit Flavorings
Butter	Butter Pecan	Butterscotch	Brandy	Nutmeg	Strawberry
Cheese	Strawberry Crème	Caramel	Rum	Honey	Cranberry
Cream Cheese	Vanilla Crème	Vanilla	Whisky	Graham Cracker	Raspberry
Cheesecake	Other Crème Flavors	Coffee	Pina Colada	Vinegar	Blackberry
Milk	Root Beer Float	Tea		Meat flavors (e.g. gravy	Boysenberry
Yogurt	Chai	Toffee		Malt	Other berry flavors
Ice Cream		Chocolate (esp. milk chocolate)		Wine	Fruit flavors -nearly any kind (e.g., banana, apple, grape, pear)
Egg		Cocoa		Beer	Cider
Ranch Dressing		Cocoa Butter		Tequila	Tomato
Sour Cream		Maple
Buttermilk		Brown Sugar
Mayonnaise		Marshmallow
		Peanut Butter
		Praline
Starter Distillate or Butter Starter Distillate		Hazelnut & other nut flavors

This Safety and Health Information Bulletin (SHIB) is addressed to employers and workers involved in the manufacture of "flavorings," (as defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 21 CFR 101.22)¹ in flavoring, food and beverage manufacturing. The SHIB provides information about the potential health effects associated with exposure to flavoring substances or its substitutes. It is important that all manufacturers and users of flavorings understand that even though a flavoring is considered safe to eat, it does not mean that the flavoring is also safe to breathe or handle in occupational settings.

Many substances are used in the manufacture of flavorings. Diacetyl is a substance widely used in food and beverage flavorings. Diacetyl is used in a wide variety of food flavorings, although flavor manufacturers have begun to reduce or eliminate the amount of diacetyl in some kinds of flavorings because of health concerns. The principal types of flavorings that use diacetyl are dairy flavors (e.g., butter, cheese, sour cream, egg, and yogurt flavors) and the so-called "brown flavors" (e.g., caramel, butterscotch, brown sugar, maple or coffee flavors). Some fruit flavors (e.g., strawberry and banana) may also contain diacetyl (Table 1). There are also a variety of special uses of diacetyl such as in vanilla, tea, and other flavorings that are difficult to categorize broadly. Industries where some firms are known to use these flavorings include, but are not limited to, candies, snack foods, prepared canned or frozen foods (especially with sauces), some dairy products, bakeries, animal foods, soft drinks, and flavored cooking oils. Some foods (e.g., dairy products, wine and beer) contain naturally occurring diacetyl.

The occurrence of severe lung disease among workers in workplaces where diacetyl is manufactured and used has led some manufacturers to reduce or eliminate the amount of diacetyl in some kinds of flavorings, foods, and beverages. They have begun to use substitutes such as acetyl propionyl (2,3 pentanedione) and acetoin. These substitutes, some of which are structurally similar to diacetyl, have not been well-studied and there is growing concern that they also pose health risks for workers. There is additional concern that combinations of chemicals may increase the harm.

OSHA does not have permissible exposure limits (PELs) for most flavoring substances, including diacetyl and acetoin. The SHIB provides recommendations for controlling exposure to diacetyl, diacetyl substitutes and other flavorings to protect employees from serious respiratory disease.

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011