Today’s post was shared by WC CompNewsNetwork and comes from www.workerscompensation.com.
Seattle, WA (WorkersCompensation.com) – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered an Alaska aviation company to pay years of back wages, $100,000 in compensatory damages, and to reinstate a pilot who had been suspended, then fired and ostracized among the close-knit industry for reporting safety concerns at work.
Bald Mountain Air Services violated federal whistleblower laws with its actions against the employee in 2012. With 35-years of aviation experience, the pilot for the Homer-based company raised repeated safety concerns at work ranging from missed drug tests for pilots to poor recordkeeping.
“Voicing safety concerns at work should never cost someone their job,” said OSHA Acting Regional Administrator Galen Blanton. “This employee should be hired back, compensated and treated fairly from here on out.”
OSHA’s order requires Bald Mountain Air Services to:
Pay the employee back wages at the rate of $350 per day from November 2012 until he receives a bona fide offer of reinstatement.
Pay the employee $100,000 in compensatory damages for pain, suffering and mental distress.
Expunge his employment records of any reference to the exercise of his rights under federal whistleblower law, and any reference to the adverse actions taken against him.
Not retaliate or discriminate against him in any manner, nor convey to a third party any mention of the employee’s protected activity.
Today’s post was shared by Workers Comp Brief and comes from mobile.reuters.com
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen inside the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) insect pest control laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria, February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerA scientist shows a picture of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes inside the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) insect pest control laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria, February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerA biologist displays Aedes mosquito cells inoculated with virus Zika in the laboratory of Biology from University of Campinas (UNICAMP), in Campinas, Brazil, February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker
(Reuters) – Some 38 percent of U.S. multinationals, universities and non-profits surveyed by an arm of the State Department are allowing female employees to defer travel or leave countries where the Zika virus has been reported.
A fifth of the 321 respondents said they were giving male employees similar options, a sign of how employers’ travel policies are diverging as they react to the mosquito-borne virus and uncertainty about the way it is transmitted.
Scientists are investigating a potential link between Zika infections of pregnant women and more than 4,000 suspected cases in Brazil of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small head size that can result in developmental problems.
The State Department’s Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), which has a membership of more than 3,500 U.S. companies and institutions that do business abroad, surveyed its members and reported the…
The biggest cargo ship ever to call in North America, CMA CGM’s Benjamin Franklin, arrived in Seattle on February 29, 2016 after it’s inauguration in Long Beach, CA and a stop in Oakland, CA on her way north. French-based CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping firm, is taking steps to make it the market leader on trans-Pacific routes. By May of this year, it will redeploy its flagship fleet of six 18,000 TEU ships on the trans-Pacific routes. Trade with Asia provides support for West Coast port cities and cities across the nation with increased jobs from the docks to the department stores.
Shipping lines have been gradually increasing the size of vessels for decades, taking advantage of improving technology and engineering to reduce fuel and labor costs. U.S. ports, meanwhile, have struggled to keep up with the growing size of the ships, spending billions to deepen harbors, raise bridges and improve onshore infrastructure like roads and rail connections.
Jock O’Connell, an international trade economist affiliated with Beacon Economics, said CMA CGM’s move to integrate the new ships into its trans-Pacific service so rapidly was a surprise. The Benjamin Franklin calls at several West Coast ports in recent months appeared to be test runs of the ability of the ports to handle the ships.
Seattle is in the midst of a major renovation of Terminal 5 to accommodate megaships like the Benjamin Franklin, improving dockside services, installing larger cranes and dredging to increase depths to allow for the deeper draft vessels. The Benjamin Franklin, one of the largest container cargo vessels, capable of carrying 18,000 TEU, has a 52’ draft and is about a third larger than the biggest container ships that currently visit the deep water ports of southern California.
Thanks to the West Seattle Blog for other stats – besides the ship being more than twice as long as the 605-foot Space Needle is tall – it’s 177 feet wide and 197 feet high (roughly equal to a 20-story building), with its tallest antenna topping out at 230 feet.
Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from www.bls.gov
For much of its 130 year history, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)1 has collected data and published reports on occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. From the beginning, BLS has engaged in ongoing efforts to improve the breadth and accuracy of the data available for end users. As far back as 1912, the Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program published annual reports on work injuries and illnesses.2 Two of the more recent annual reports are from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), which began with publishing 1972 data in 1974,3 and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), which began with publishing 1992 data in 1994.4 The SOII covers nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses, and the CFOI covers fatal work-related injuries. In 2013, the SOII estimated that there were 3,007,300 occupational injuries and illnesses among private industry workers, a rate of 3.3 per 100 full-time equivalent workers. This was down from a rate of 5.0 a decade earlier. Likewise, CFOI data identified 4,585 fatal work injuries in 2013, down from 5,575 in 2003. BLS is continually improving collection methods to ensure that occupational injury, illness, and fatality data are accurately tracked.
The OSHS program has seen many new developments. The program has adapted to changes to the structure of jobs among American workers—moving from field to factory to office—and changing workplace safety regulations. This article…
Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from workers-compensation.blogspot.com
A recent study indicates that a new physician staging processes by weight and volume of mesothelioma tumors may be helpful in predicting outcome. Mesothelioma is a fatal rare tumor and almost always associated with exposure to asbestos fibers. The development of mesothelioma commonly is diagnosed decades after the initial exposure to asbestos fiber.
Today’s post is shared from sciencedaily.com and reports a significant development in the treatment of the disease.
A new study suggests that significant improvements could be made in the scoring system physicians use to estimate the stage (severity) of mesothelioma, an aggressive and deadly cancer.
The current scoring system incorporates such factors as the size of the tumor and whether it has spread to other parts of the body. The study’s findings suggest that, in addition, tumor weight and volume "may be valuable components for staging malignant pleural mesothelioma."
An improved scoring system could provide a more accurate prognosis and help guide treatment, said lead author Wickii Vigneswaran, MD, MBA, who now is at Loyola University Medical Center and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Dr. Vigneswaran has performed nearly 200 mesothelioma surgeries, and he is among only a handful of surgeons nationwide who treat mesothelioma surgically.
Today’s post was shared by WC CompNewsNetwork and comes from www.workerscompensation.com. This is, potentially, great news if it can avoid the stall and delay tactics sometimes encountered in an injury claim, particularly those where separate insurance companies are involved. – kc
Tumwater, WA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Amputations are among the worst on-the-job injuries. Each year, about 25 workers in Washington suffer from amputations so serious — lost arms, hands, legs or feet — that they require ongoing specialized care. The medical care and assistance these injured workers receive are key to their physical and mental recovery.
The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and Harborview Medical Center today announced a new agreement to provide focused help for the most traumatic on-the-job amputations. The two organizations have worked together to create a new Center of Excellence for medical care for amputees.
Harborview, part of UW Medicine, is already nationally recognized for its work with amputees. Thanks to the agreement, workers with amputations can now have their ongoing medical care managed by UW Medicine physicians and staff at the new Center of Excellence.
Traumatic amputations increase the complexity of patients’ medical needs. These cases often involve multiple types of health care providers working together.
"We want these catastrophically injured workers to know that we’re going to be there for them," said Joel Sacks, director of L&I. "By improving the coordination of care, workers with amputations can concentrate on recovery and not feel overwhelmed with details."
Workers will leave the hospital with a discharge plan that carefully coordinates follow-up appointments with specialists. Then the…
Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from www.erickingson.com
For only the third time in 40 years, seniors and other Social Security beneficiaries won’t get a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2016. Neither will Americans who receive Veterans and SSI benefits.
There’s no benefit adjustment this year for seniors, people with disabilities, Veterans and others. That’s just plain wrong! CEO’s got a raise — seniors deserve one, too.
This is no way to treat the 152,000 Social Security beneficiaries living in the Congressional District represented by John Katko. No way to treat 60 million Social Security beneficiaries across the country, and our Veterans, who have earned these benefits through hard work and sacrifice.
Social Security beneficiaries get an average of just $15,936 a year. That represents half or more of the income for two out of three senior beneficiaries. No wonder they can’t afford to see their benefits eaten away by inflation.
We need to rewrite the rules so that seniors and working people aren’t shortchanged while the rich get…
Today’s post was shared by WC CompNewsNetwork and comes from www.workerscompensation.com
Montpelier, VT (WorkersCompensation.com) – After a baffling Super Bowl advertisement promoting a drug to help Americans take more opiates, Gov. Peter Shumlin is calling on the two drug companies that paid for it to pull the ad off the air and instead use the money to fund opiate and heroin prevention and treatment programs. In a letter to the drug makers, the Governor called the ad poorly timed and a shameful attempt to exploit America’s addiction crisis to boost corporate profits.
The minute-long advertisement for opioid-induced constipation (OIC) – a condition brought on by long-term opioid use – comes at a time when America is battling a full-blown opiate and heroin addiction crisis. Gov. Shumlin has placed the blame for that crisis at the feet of the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) and pharmaceutical industry, which together have enabled pain management practices that in 2012 resulted in the issuing of enough opiate prescriptions to give every American their own bottle of pills.
“The irrational exuberance with which opiates are handed out in America is driving the addiction crisis in this country,” Gov. Shumlin wrote in a letter to the drug companies that paid for the ad. “Now is the time to change that, not attempt to further normalize long-term opiate use by advertising a drug to help people take even more opiates…”
The job of a construction worker remains one of the toughest around, staying safe on the job requires the right training and the right equipment. Here’s your chance to get hours of valuable training and visit exhibitors demonstrating the latest in technology and equipment to keep you safe on the job! Join us May 4, 2016 at the Washington State Fair & Events Center in Puyallup for the 9th Annual Construction Safety Day. Online registration for this event will be opening early January, 2016. Some class sizes are limited so be sure to register early!
The Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board, Construction Safety Planning Committee, is once again offering a $1,250 scholarship available to assist eligible students in the pursuit of a career as a safety professional. If you or someone you may know is interested please be sure to complete the Construction Safety Scholarship Application and return not later than March 16, 2016!
The Governor’s Industrial Safety & Health Advisory Board will host the 12th Annual Agriculture Safety Day at the Wenatchee Convention Center in Wenatchee, WA on February 24, 2016. Each year this training event just gets bigger and better!
The University of WA, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health will be presenting a four hour course on Process Safety Management: Ammonia
New this year – we will be offering Dairy/Livestock classes led by Dr. David Douphrate, University of Texas, School of Public Health and Dr. Robert Hagevoort, New Mexico State University, State Dairy Extension Specialist.
