Mental injury, PTSD, Types of injuries, Work Injury

PTSD in the Aftermath of a Work Injury

PTSD following a work injury can be compensable

Today’s post comes from guest author Charlie Domer, from The Domer Law Firm.

Note: in Washington State, coverage issues are very similar to those Mr. Domer describes in Wisconsin. – kc

Recovery from a work injury is more than just the physical aspect.  After bones heal, joints are repaired, and spines are fixed, many workers still face psychological scars from the injury’s impact.  Some workers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a trauma.  Workers with PTSD need to heal psychologically too.

The silver lining is that the Wisconsin workers’ compensation law covers that psychological treatment.  An “injury” under Wisconsin law can be either physical or mental harm from the effects of an injury.  If a worker experiences a psychological diagnosis (and need for treatment) stemming from a traumatic physical injury, the applicable legal standard is the same, as those for a physical injury.  Specifically, the psychological care, and corresponding benefits (for lost time and permanency), is compensable if the physical work injury is the direct cause of the need psychological care or even if the injury aggravated, accelerated, and precipitated a pre-existing psychological condition beyond its normal progression.  (i.e., if the work event made the person’s psychological condition permanently worse).    

A purely mental/emotional stress injury, however, has a different, higher standard.  These are claims where the worker alleges their workplace environment (without a physical injury) causes their psychological condition (examples would inlcude witnessing a horrendous event, a berating supervisor, or an unbearable workload).  In these “mental-mental” circumstances, the worker must meet the extraordinary stress test–showing their experience was greater than the day to day emotional strains all workers must undergo.   Suffice to say, this is a tough standard for most workers to meet, making these claims difficult to pursue.

In stark contrast, if a worker suffers a physical injury and then begins to experience PTSD, such claims and medical treatment expenses generally are compensable–if the psychologist or psychiatrist provides their support.   Medical support for the psychological condition and care is key.

A recent article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel offers excellent insight for PTSD sufferers following a traumatic incident: Life After a Car Crash: Could You Be Experiencing PTSD?  In the article, Dr. Terri deRoon-Cassini seeks to spread awareness of the prevalence of PTSD symptoms and need for treatment after an accident.  She offers a litany of specific symptoms that individuals may experience in their post-injury recovery, including:

  • intrusive flashbacks/nightmares
  • avoidance behaviors
  • hyper-arousal, or
  • negative mood/thinking.

More importantly, Dr. deRoon-Cassini higlights the need for proper and timely psychological care–along with the ability to achieve a positive recovery. 

Workers can receive compensation during their psychological recovery, as well as vocational benefits if their psychological limits do not allow a return to their pre-injury employment.   No matter what, injured workers need to be aware of their psychological/emotional state and to not be afraid to get the needed psychological care.

government, Legislation

No Accident: How To Protect Yourself Against An Uninsured (Or Underinsured) Driver

Today’s post comes from guest author Catherine Stanton, from Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano.

Note: While this topic reaches all drivers, there are related issues that overlap with workers’ compensation scenarios, as well. – kc

As an attorney who has been practicing law for more than 27 years, I always try to keep myself updated on issues that affect not only my practice, but more importantly, my clients. In order to fully understand the numerous changes, I belong to a number of bar associations that offer continuing legal education programs, as well as the opportunity to lobby at both the state and federal level on issues that impact many New Yorkers.

During my last round of lobbying in Albany, one of the bills being proposed was the New York Driver and Family Protection Act. It deals with Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists insurance (SUM Insurance) and it is likely that many of you have very little idea of what this is. I didn’t either until it was brought to my attention.

While every driver in New York State is required to have auto insurance, some opt for the minimum coverage required under the law, which is $25,000. Others purchase more than the minimum coverage so that in the event of an accident resulting in serious injuries, there will be a better chance that their policy will cover the medical expenses and injuries of the other driver. We do this to protect our personal assets in the event we are sued as result of an accident. What many do not realize is that if you are seriously injured by another driver who only has minimum coverage, you can only collect up to the $25,000 policy maximum, regardless of the extent of your injuries.  

SUM Insurance provides coverage to New Yorkers who are injured in an accident with a driver who is not insured or is underinsured. Unfortunately, many New Yorkers are unaware of their ability to purchase this additional insurance. Since I had not been advised of this insurance by my broker and had no idea it was available, I was one of those drivers who didn’t know it was an option. Once I found out about this, however, I immediately added it to my policy and was surprised to see how relatively inexpensive it was.

The bill would require insurers to provide information to consumers about this type of coverage at the time they are purchasing insurance, which would enable them to make a fully informed decision. Once consumers are aware of the coverage, they could decide to opt out of purchasing it but at least they would know that it’s even an option to begin with. Additionally, this bill would protect motorists by amending the Insurance Law to establish that drivers’ underinsurance (SUM Insurance) equal their liability coverage. If drivers opt to decline the additional SUM Insurance coverage, they may waive it only after they fully understand what type of coverage is available – and then they must do so in writing. 

This bill makes sense because if anyone is injured by a driver who only has the minimum coverage, the injured party will still need treatment. Oftentimes this will fall onto Medicaid and other programs that are essentially taxpayer funded. Once people are fully informed, it makes sense that those who take more than the minimum coverage would opt to take some amount of coverage for SUM Insurance.        

For those who are concerned about rising insurance rates due to this bill, you shouldn’t worry. SUM Insurance is low cost and according to insurance experts, will not raise insurance rates.

As of this writing, the SUM bill passed both the Senate and the Assembly in Albany, and now is waiting to be called up by Governor Andrew Cuomo for his review and hopefully his signature into law. It seems clear that this bill would help all New Yorkers make informed decisions on issues that impact them in their day-to-day lives. While we all hope we never have to use it, if anyone of us or a loved one is involved in a serious accident, it would be nice to know that we at least don’t have to worry about proper coverage.

 

Catherine M. Stanton is a senior partner in the law firm of Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP. She focuses on the area of Workers’ Compensation, having helped thousands of injured workers navigate a highly complex system and obtain all the benefits to which they were entitled. Ms. Stanton has been honored as a New York Super Lawyer, is the past president of the New York Workers’ Compensation Bar Association, the immediate past president of the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group, and is an officer in several organizations dedicated to injured workers and their families. She can be reached at 800.692.3717.

Uncategorized

Feds might force table-saw makers to adopt radically safer technology

Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from arstechnica.com

Enlarge John Loo

In 2015, 4,700 people in the US lost a finger or other body part to table-saw incidents. Most of those injuries didn’t have to happen, thanks to technology invented in 1999 by entrepreneur Stephen Gass. By giving his blade a slight electric charge, his saw is able to detect contact with a human hand and stop spinning in a few milliseconds. A widely circulated video shows a test on a hot dog that leaves the wiener unscathed.

Now federal regulators are considering whether to make Gass’ technology mandatory in the table-saw industry. The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced plans for a new rule in May, and the rules could take effect in the coming months.

But established makers of power tools vehemently object. They say the mandate could double the cost of entry-level table saws and destroy jobs in the power-tool industry. They also point out that Gass holds dozens of patents on the technology. If the CPSC makes the technology mandatory for table saws, that could give Gass a legal monopoly over the table-saw industry until at least 2021, when his oldest patents expire.

At the same time, table-saw related injuries cost society billions every year. The CPSC predicts switching to the safer saw design will save society $1,500 to $4,000 per saw sold by reducing medical bills and lost work.

"You commissioners have the power to take one of the most dangerous products ever available to consumers and make it vastly safer," Gass said at a CPSC public…

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

NY Times

NYTimes: Europe’s Journeymen Keep the Past Alive

By MELISSA EDDY AUG. 7, 2017 – New York Times

Cleaving to the Medieval, Journeymen Ply Their Trades in Europe

They hitchhike across Europe, instantly recognizable in the wide-bottomed, corduroy trousers, white shirts and colored jackets that identify them as bricklayers, bakers, carpenters, stonemasons and roofers.

They are “Wandergesellen,” or journeymen — a vestige of the Middle Ages in modern Europe — young men, and these days women, too, who have finished their required training in any number of trades and are traveling to gather experience. Most are from German-speaking countries.

In the past, journeymen traveled under the auspices of a trade association, and today many still do. But many also take up the practice freely, though still adhering to the strict, often arcane, rules handed down largely through word of mouth to preserve the tradition.

According to custom, young men and women wishing to become journeymen find someone already on the road to sponsor them and help organize their trip. Prospective journeymen are debt-free, unmarried and no older than 30. They agree to stay away from home for at least as long it took to complete their traineeship — usually two or three years — plus a day, and to live by their wits, their trade and the generosity of strangers.

Read the rest of the NY Times article – and see the fantastic photos! – here…

Photo: Journeymen restoring the roof of a building where they have volunteered to work. Credit Tomas Munita for The New York Times

 

Affordable Care Act

NYTimes: Trump Administration Sharply Cuts Spending on Health Law Enrollment

Officials said advertising and counseling to help people find and choose health plans is often ineffective. Supporters decried the decision as sabotage.

The Trump administration is slashing spending on advertising and promotion for enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, a move some critics charged was a blatant attempt to sabotage the law.

Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services, who insisted on not being identified during a conference call with reporters, said on Thursday that the advertising budget for the open enrollment period that starts in November would be cut to $10 million, compared with $100 million spent by the Obama administration last year, a drop of 90 percent. Additionally, grants to about 100 nonprofit groups, known as navigators, that help people enroll in health plans offered by the insurance marketplaces will be cut to a total of $36 million, from about $63 million.

The officials said the administration believed that the cuts were necessary because of “diminishing returns” from advertising. They said the number of first-time enrollees in Affordable Care Act coverage fell by 42 percent this year, compared with 2016. In addition, they said that many navigator groups failed to meet their enrollment targets last year, despite sometimes receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funds.

The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, denounced the cutbacks. “The Trump administration is deliberately attempting to sabotage our health care system,” he said. “When the number of people with health insurance declines and costs skyrocket, the American people will know who’s to blame.”

Since Republicans in Congress failed to pass legislation to repeal and replace the law, a longstanding goal of the party, President Trump has stepped up attacks on the legislation and repeatedly insisted it was failing and insurance markets were imploding.

Over all, 12.2 million people selected or automatically re-enrolled in marketplace plans for 2017, although the Trump administration said in June that the number of customers who paid their premiums had dropped to 10.1 million. Similar drops have occurred in previous years after people lost coverage after they failed pay their premiums.

The administration officials who briefed reporters on Thursday said it made no sense to continue spending as much on promoting the law’s coverage options because most Americans know about them already. Instead of television ads, the administration will run radio and digital ads and send emails and texts to existing enrollees, they said. They added that any outreach would emphasize that the enrollment period will be much shorter this year — from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. Last year’s open enrollment period ran from Nov. 1 through Jan. 31.

“People are aware the products are out there,” one official said, “and they are aware they can sign up.”

Although no navigator group will lose its funding completely, the amounts they get will be based on how close they came to meeting their enrollment goal for 2017. If a group reached only 30 percent of its enrollment goal, for example, it would receive 30 percent of the grant it got last year. 

Read the rest of the New Yort Times article here…

 

Photo credit: cybertoad via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND 

Trucking

KING5: Costco Drops Trucking Company Accused of Labor Violations

Reported by KING5:

Costco, the Issaquah-based company and one of the world’s largest retailers, has stopped doing business with a California trucking company accused of trapping drivers in debt and then using it to force them to work overtime.

The action comes as brands across the U.S. face increased scrutiny for ignoring labor abuses in their supply lines, a widespread problem first revealed in a USA TODAY Network investigation in June.

Earlier this month, four prominent Democratic Senators, led by Sherrod Brown of Ohio, sent letters to 16 retailers, calling on them to root out “shameful” labor abuses first outlined by the USA TODAY Network.

Soon after, Costco Wholesale dropped Pacific 9 Transportation, one of the biggest port trucking companies in Southern California.

Hewlett-Packard also sent an auditor to investigate the company’s labor practices.

Both retailers declined to comment on their actions. Alan Ta, chief operating officer for Pacific 9, said that even before Costco withdrew, his company had stopped leasing trucks to drivers and launched a series of reforms to improve their pay.

A wave of pressure from retailers and manufacturers has hit port trucking operations across the industry, according to drivers who say their employers have been fielding calls from clients. 

Those clients include Walmart, which pledged in a letter responding to the senators that it would cancel contracts with any trucking company that did not provide “assurances” it was following fair labor practices.

“The stories profiled in that article are deeply concerning,” Executive Vice President Jay Jorgensen wrote of the USA TODAY Network investigation, “Rigged.”

“Any motor carrier that fails to comply with law, such as those alleged in the article, would be in violation of our contract and would therefore be subject to cancellation,” he wrote.

The series revealed how port trucking companies in southern California have spent the past decade forcing drivers to finance their own trucks through company-sponsored lease-to-own programs they could not afford.

The longer drivers worked, the more trapped they felt. After just a few months, drivers typically had paid thousands of dollars towards a truck.

If drivers quit or got fired for any reason, most of them lost the truck and everything they had paid in. Many worked 20 hours a day to keep up with their truck payment and feed their family.

Read the rest of the report…

Photo credit: Pavel P. via Foter.com / CC BY

Longshore

West Coast Longshore Workers Vote to 3-Year Extension of Labor Contract

The ILWU’s Coast Balloting Committee confirmed that West Coast longshore workers at 29 ports in California, Oregon and Washington have officially ratified a three-year contract extension with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). The Committee carefully reviewed balloting results from all longshore local unions and confirmed a tally showing that 67% of members voted in favor of the extension. The current agreement was set to expire on July 1, 2019; the newly approved three-year pact will extend the expiration to July 1, 2022.

The contract extension will raise wages, maintain health benefits, and increase pensions from 2019-2022. 

The results followed a year-long debate and democratic decision-making process which allowed every registered longshore worker from Bellingham, Washington, to San Diego, California, to express their views and cast a ballot.

“The rank-and-file membership has made their decision and expressed a clear choice,” said ILWU International President Robert McEllrath. “During the past year we saw a healthy debate and heard different points of view, with concerns raised by all sides. The democratic process allowed us to make a difficult decision and arrive at the best choice under the circumstances.”

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s Coast Longshore Division represents approximately 20,000 longshore workers on the West Coast of the United States.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance recently applauded the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s ratification of the three-year extension to its contract with the Pacific Maritime Association. 

“In this incredibly competitive shipping market, a longer contract helps give certainty to importers and exporters that depend on our region to move goods and create family-wage jobs,” said Tom Albro, Port of Seattle commission president and co-chair of The Northwest Seaport Alliance. “This certainty helps us focus on attracting more cargo and growing our market share.” 

“We appreciate the cooperative efforts of our labor partners and shipping lines and terminal operators in ensuring that retailers, farmers and manufacturers can rely on our supply chain to move their goods efficiently,” said Dick Marzano, Port of Tacoma commission president and co-chair of the NWSA. “Our region depends on us pulling together.”

Taken together, marine cargo operations in the NWSA’s Tacoma and Seattle harbors support more than 48,000 jobs across the region and provide a critical gateway for the export of Washington state products to Asia.

Photo info: San Pedro, CA port scene – by Kit Case

Uncategorized

Seattle Art Museum Presents: INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH

SAM GALLERY PRESENTS: INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH

See the hidden beauty of the factories, ships, boxcars, bridges, and vintage signage of the industrial landscape at SAM Gallery during Industrial Strength.

Featured Artists

Join the artists for the free opening reception!

INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH OPENING

THU SEP 14, 6–7:30PM
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

Image credit: Iskra Fine Art, “South Holgate Gantry”

Uncategorized

CBC: B.C. Wildfire Smoke Partly to Blame for Washington State Farmworker’s Death


By Cory Correia, CBC News Posted: Aug 10, 2017

A temporary farm worker has died in Washington state and advocacy groups have blamed poor working conditions, in part due to smoke from B.C. wildfires.

Honesto Silva Ibarra, 28, of Mexico, died in a Seattle hospital Sunday after he became ill last week at the blueberry farm where he worked near Sumas, Wash., just south of the Canadian border. 

An advocacy group, Community to Community Development, said Silva became sick from dehydration, and died after going into cardiac arrest. (Silva used his second name as a surname)

The group’s executive director, Rosalinda Guillen said poor working conditions at the blueberry farm have been aggravated by wildfire smoke that has blown across the border.  

“The workers have been overworked, underfed, have not been hydrated enough, and this has been going on for weeks, and that is what led to the death of Honesto,” said Guillen.

Silva had been working as a berry picker for Sarbanand Farms since the spring. He was married with three children, all of whom are in Mexico.

Guillen said Silva fell ill last week while at work. He went to a local hospital, where Guillen said he suffered cardiac arrest. He was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died, the hospital said.

But a spokesman for Sarbanand Farms said Silva’s death was caused by complications from his diabetes. In a statement sent to local media, chief administrative officer Cliff Woolley said one of Silva’s relatives told the company that Silva ran out of medicine but did not tell anyone else.

When Silva fell ill last week at work, the company said it called for an ambulance and he was taken to hospital.

Silva’s illness sparked protests among his co-workers who complained that working conditions at the blueberry farm were unsafe. Nearly 70 workers were fired Saturday after the demonstrations.

Protests continued Tuesday after workers heard news of Silva’s death. 

Meanwhile, Guilllen said other workers have also fallen ill.

“The smoke coming in over our area has aggravated those situations already and caused the workers to say ‘We’re going to die if we don’t do something about this,’ because they were collapsing,” said Guillen.

On Monday, five people were taken to clinics, suffering from advanced dehydration, she said.

Washington state’s department of Labour and Industries is investigating the case, looking into workplace safety factors. It has not decided whether to proceed with a formal investigation. 

Read the rest of the CBC report here…

Photo credit: CBC News

Uncategorized

Suspension of OALJ Proceedings Impacted by Hurricane Harvey

Due to Hurricane Harvey, the Chief Administrative Law Judge has issued an Administrative Order, 2017-MIS-00004 (Aug. 30, 2017), postponing OALJ proceedings, and tolling hearing releated deadlines, for cases scheduled to be heard within 150 miles of Houston, Texas during the months of September and October 2017. The Administrative Order also postpones hearings and tolls deadlines for proceedings scheduled for the months of September and October 2017 in any part of the country where a party, attorney or law firm is located within 150 miles of Houston.

Published by Causey Wright