387 The effects of ambient temperature on work-related injuries in adelaide, australia– workers’ compensation claims increase with high temperatures

ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of ambient temperature on compensation costs due to work-related injuries, and to provide an evidence base about the economic benefits of developing workplace heat prevention strategies in a warming climate.MethodsWorkers’ compensation claims obtained from SafeWork South Australia for 2000–2014 were transformed into daily time series format and merged with meteorological data. The relationship between temperature and compensation costs were estimated using a generalized linear model after controlling for long-term trends, seasonality, and day of week. A piecewise linear spline function was used to account for non-linearity.ResultsA total of 4 64 139 workers’ compensation claims were reported during the 15 year period in South Australia, resulting in AU$14.9 billion dollars compensation payment. Overall, it is a reversed V-shaped temperature-cost association. A 1°C increase in maximum temperature was associated with a 1.1% (95% CI, 0.2%–2.0%) increase in daily injury compensation expenditure below 35.2°C. Specifically, significant increases of injury costs were observed in males (1.4%, 95% CI 0.3%–2.5%), young workers (3.0%, 95% CI 1.2%–4.9%), older workers≥65 years (2.4%, 95% CI 0.5%–4.4%), labourers (2.7%, 95% CI 0.5%–4.8%), machinery operators and drivers (3.5%, 95% CI 1.6%–5.3%) and the following industries: agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (12.3%, 95% CI 2.2%–23.3%); construction (7.8%, 95% CI 0.02%–16.3%); and wholesale and retail trade (2.4%, 95% CI 0.5%–4.4%). Costs for compensating occupational burns and ‘skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases’ increased by 3.1% (95% CI 1.2%–5.1%) and 2.7% (95% CI 0.1%–5.4%) respectively, with a 1°C increase in maximum temperature.ConclusionThere is a significant association between temperature and work-related injury compensation costs in Adelaide, South Australia for certain subgroups. Heat attributable workers’ compensation costs may increase with the predicted rising temperature.

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Comorbid Conditions in Workers' Compensation

Guides Newsletter ◽

10.1001/amaguidesnewsletters.2019.sepoct02 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (5) ◽

pp. 8-13

Author(s):

Marcos Iglesias

Keyword(s):

Heart Disease ◽

Disease Process ◽

Cardiac Risk ◽

Case Managers ◽

Uncontrolled Hypertension ◽

Workers Compensation ◽

Comorbid Conditions ◽

Work Related ◽

Compensation Claims

Abstract A comorbidity is a concomitant but unrelated pathological or disease process, and comorbid conditions are coexisting medical conditions that are not necessarily compensable in a work-related injury but may affect the individual's treatment and recovery. Many comorbid conditions also are chronic health conditions that may interact with the sequelae of a compensable injury or illness and/or may affect the individual's health and abilities. In addition to the normal physiological changes of age, advancing age increases the number and severity of comorbid conditions, and this article examines three: obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Obesity is associated with increasing workers’ compensation claims, medical and indemnity claim costs, and lost workdays; it is also a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and numerous other chronic and serious diseases. Hypoglycemia associated with diabetes can lead to falls and accidents, and diabetes may delay healing, predispose to infection, and cause peripheral neuropathies. Uncontrolled hypertension may be present in half of people with hypertension, leading to increased cardiac risk, especially if procedures or operations are needed. Claimants with comorbid conditions should be identified early in the claims process so claim handlers can use available comorbidity calculators to better plan for higher costs, longer disability, and more complex medical management. Nurse case managers can help the injured worker navigate the health system and act as a liaison between claims staff and medial providers.

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Examining the epidemiology of work-related traumatic brain injury through a sex/gender lens: analysis of workers’ compensation claims in Victoria, Australia

Occupational and Environmental Medicine ◽

10.1136/oemed-2014-102097 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 71 (10) ◽

pp. 695-703 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Vicky C Chang ◽

Rasa Ruseckaite ◽

Alex Collie ◽

Angela Colantonio

Keyword(s):

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Workers Compensation ◽

Work Related ◽

Compensation Claims ◽

Gender Lens

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Physical Therapists Who Claimed Workers' Compensation: A Qualitative Study

Physical Therapy ◽

10.1093/ptj/83.12.1080 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 83 (12) ◽

pp. 1080-1089 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Jean E Cromie ◽

Valma J Robertson ◽

Margaret O Best

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Physical Therapists ◽

Compensation System ◽

Workers Compensation ◽

Employment Opportunities ◽

Small Minority ◽

Compensation Claims

Background and Purpose. Although most physical therapists experience work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) at some time, only a small minority claim workers' compensation. This article describes the experiences of a group of therapists with WMSDs who made compensation claims. Methods. Interviews were used to document the experiences of physical therapists who reported that they had changed their career because of WMSDs. Results and Discussion. Therapists described their experiences in negative terms and found dealing with the workers' compensation system frustrating and unpleasant. They encountered attitudes that labeled them as malingerers and felt their credibility was questioned. Conclusions. Physical therapists' experiences of the workers' compensation system were negative, and they were keen to become independent of it. Those who claimed workers' compensation perceived that a compensable claim could limit their employment opportunities, making confidentiality an important issue when treating other health care professionals.

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The Costs of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Automotive Manufacturing

NEW SOLUTIONS A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy ◽

10.2190/y93q-deaq-feu2-8b26 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 403-426 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Laura Punnett

Keyword(s):

Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Labor Turnover ◽

Recent Experience ◽

Workers Compensation ◽

Manufacturing Companies ◽

Automotive Manufacturing ◽

Compensation Claims

Inadequate application of ergonomic principles to the design of workplaces and individual jobs has adverse consequences for worker health and safety, especially in terms of strains, sprains, and other musculoskeletal disorders. In addition to the human pain and suffering, other losses are externalized to workers, with adverse financial and psychosocial impacts. There are also costs to employers through workers' compensation claims, scrap, and decreased production quality, medical insurance premiums, labor turnover, and adverse impacts on labor relations, although many of these are not linked by traditional accounting methods to ergonomic problems per se. Data collected in five plants of two major U.S. automotive manufacturing companies in the last decade have been used to estimate some of the costs associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), only some of which resulted in workers' compensation claims. In one plant in 1984–85, the payroll cost of all back and shoulder disorders was at least $320 per year per worker, not including workers' compensation premiums or claims paid. A large proportion of these costs were accrued by “unreported” cases, that is, cases that either had never been reported to the plant clinic or had been reported in the past and were considered administratively to have recovered. In the other four plants, annual costs associated with in-plant medical visits for MSDs in 1989–93 were almost as high as those resulting from compensation claims. At least one-half of these disorders were estimated to be attributable to physical ergonomic exposures in the workplace and thus preventable. These data are consistent with estimates by others that the real costs to employers are at least two to three times the amount paid in workers' compensation cases, and that at least 50 percent of all work-related musculoskeletal disorders among the working population could be prevented by appropriate ergonomic job design. Furthermore, recent experience with ergonomics programs in various manufacturing and service settings shows that they are cost-effective in reducing morbidity, work absenteeism, and workers' compensation claims; payback periods for workplace modifications can be as short as a few months. Further investigations should explore the reasons that monetary costs and other impacts on profitability do not always motivate employers to improve working conditions.

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