Area of Interest: OSHA to Develop Ergonomics Guidelines for Retail Grocery Stores, Poultry Processing and Nursing Homes

WASHINGTON - Grocery stores and poultry processing will be the focus of the next two sets of industry-specific guidelines to reduce ergonomic-related injuries, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health John Henshaw announced today. Representatives from both industries will work with OSHA to develop the guidelines.

"The number of ergonomic-related injuries suffered by workers in the retail grocery store industry continues to rank near the top of the list," Henshaw explained. "While the rates in poultry processing aren't as high, workers still suffer from too many upper extremity disorders, such as tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

"Several stakeholders within the retail grocery and poultry processing industries have committed to working with us in developing the guidelines," Henshaw said. "Furthermore, many employers in both industries have already begun identifying and addressing ergonomic hazards. We applaud them for stepping forward and taking a proactive stance for their workers."

Draft guidelines for each of these industries are expected to be ready for public comment later this year. The guidelines will be made available for review on OSHA's website; a Federal Register notice will announce when the guidelines will be posted.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced April 18 that OSHA would work with representatives of the nursing home profession on the first set of ergonomic guidelines. That announcement set into motion the agency's comprehensive plan to reduce ergonomic injuries in the workplace which focuses on a combination of industry-targeted guidelines, tough enforcement measures, workplace outreach, advanced research and dedicated efforts to protect Hispanic and other immigrant workers.

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

State: California

Area of Interest: State Employee Arrested for Worker's Compensation Insurance Fraud

SACRAMENTO - Investigators with the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Criminal Investigations Branch's Fraud Division announced the arrest of a Sacramento resident earlier this week on charges of insurance fraud and attempted perjury.

Benjamin L. Barnes, 35, surrendered on Tuesday and was booked into the Sacramento County Jail. Bail was set for $5,000. If convicted, Barnes could face up to five years in state prison and/or a maximum fine of $50,000. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case.

On November 11, 2000, Barnes experienced leg and back pain while working as a Motor Vehicle Technician for the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). He filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits with the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) on December 2, 2000. Barnes told the claims adjuster and five doctors he was unable to sit, walk, stand, bend, or drive as usual. Barnes, who is also a minister at New Life Family Worship Center, was later videotaped performing all of those activities without limitations. He continues to claim he is unable to work.

According to investigators, Barnes also denied prior injuries of a similar nature to treating doctors and during a sworn deposition. The investigation revealed Barnes filed a workers' compensation claim in 1993 with the same symptoms of back pain radiating down his leg. That claim was resolved when Barnes received an $8,000 settlement from SCIF for his alleged injuries.

DMV and SCIF have paid over $21,000 in medical payments and leave benefits for Barnes' current claim.

Source: State of California

Area of Interest: Teenager use of Safety Belts

ARLINGTON, VA -- Belt use among high school students is lower than among other occupants in passenger vehicles. Even when adults are driving and using belts themselves, many teens riding with them aren't buckling up. This is a finding of a recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety survey of teenage belt use.

When teenagers were being dropped off at school in the morning by adults, nearly half (46 percent) weren't using safety belts. Half the time the unbelted teens were riding with an adult who was buckled up. Only 8 percent of the time was the opposite true -- teens were buckled up in vehicles in which the adult drivers weren't using belts.

The survey was conducted at 12 high schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Researchers observed teenagers in the morning going to school and in the evening just before a football game. The observations focused on four groups -- teenage drivers, teen passengers in vehicles with teen drivers, teen passengers with adult drivers (presumed to be the teens' parents in most cases), and the adult drivers.

Recreational settings like football games could be expected to correspond with lower belt use. But that generally wasn't the case. The survey found that male teenage drivers were the only group whose belt use rates were lower at the football games than when arriving at school in the morning. Allan Williams, Institute chief scientist and author of the study, says "it's still possible that teenagers' belt use might drop off more in other recreational settings, especially social settings where parties and alcohol might be involved."

Among teenagers observed in both settings, arriving at school and going to a game, about a third were inconsistent about using safety belts. Some teenagers who used belts on the way to school weren't using them at the football game, and the reverse also was true.

Belt use was lower among male teen drivers compared with adult males, while the differences among adult and teen female drivers were negligible. But belt use tended to be even lower among teen passengers, both male and female. In the morning going to school, only 50 percent of male teens and 56 percent of female teens riding with adult drivers were using their belts. When another teenager was driving, teen passenger belt use fell to 42 percent among the males and 52 percent among females. However, teen passengers were much more likely to be using belts when the driver, whether an adult or another teenager, was buckled up.

Adding belt use provisions to graduated licensing systems might help increase teenagers' buckle up rates. North Carolina's graduated licensing law, for example, calls for a fine of up to $100 for belt violations, compared with $25 for older drivers who aren't using belts. Violations also can delay a young person's graduation to full driving privileges.

"If states publicize and enforce such penalties, it could make a difference," Williams says. "Parents also need to do more to get their teens to use their safety belts. It's remarkable that so many parents who make the effort to protect themselves by buckling up aren't insisting that their sons and daughters do the same."

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

RIMS Supports Senate Passage of Terrorism Insurance Bill

NEW YORK, NY - After many months of pushing for a terrorism insurance backstop, the Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS) is pleased that the Senate approved the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 yesterday. RIMS is hopeful that many of the provisions in the Senate bill, including the cost-sharing approach and per-company retention level, will prevail in the conference committee with the House.

Since September, RIMS members have diligently worked sending letters and e-mails to legislators, attending meetings with lawmakers and, when possible, making public their difficulties in obtaining terrorism insurance coverage.

"The hard work has paid off," said Michael Phillipus, RIMS Vice President - Communications & External Affairs. " We are hopeful that the conference committee will quickly complete the work that it has to do and will send this legislation to President Bush for his signature. Let's not waste a single day, because that is one more day that thousands of U.S. companies are going without terrorism insurance."

As the policyholders and purchasers of terrorism insurance, RIMS members endured difficult renewal processes. Legislation is sought, not to bail out the insurance industry, but to protect and preserve their corporations and the U.S. economy in the event of another major terrorism attack.

Approximately 70 percent of all reinsurance policies expired at the end of 2001. Most reinsurers refused to include terrorism coverage in 2002, leaving the insurance industry without the financial backstop that reinsurance provides. Nearly all state insurance commissioners approved exclusions for terrorism insurance coverage at the beginning of 2002, which left thousands of U.S. companies without adequate coverage.

RIMS represents the entire spectrum of American business, 84 percent of the Fortune 500 companies and approximately 950 small employers.

The Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the practice of risk management, a professional discipline that protects physical, financial and human resources. Founded in 1950, RIMS represents nearly 4,000 industrial, service, nonprofit, charitable, and governmental entities. The Society serves 8,000 risk management professionals around the world.

Source: Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc

State: Minnesota

Area of Interest: Ergonomics Task-Force established; meetings planned

St. Paul, Minn. -- The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has established an Ergonomics Task-Force to recommend approaches DLI can take to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in Minnesota. The task force will review Minnesota's current approach to ergonomic issues, review ergonomic approaches used in other jurisdictions, listen to public testimony and submit its recommendations to the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

The 20 task-force members were selected for their interest, expertise and experience with ergonomic issues and musculoskeletal disorders. They represent stakeholders from labor, business, government, trade associations, academia, the medical field and insurance companies.

The U.S. Department of Labor defines a work-related MSD as an injury or disorder of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage or spinal discs. MSDs do not include disorders caused by slips, trips, falls, motor-vehicle accidents or similar accidents. During 1993 to 2000, MSDs generally accounted for 41 percent of all Minnesota workers' compensation indemnity claims (those that resulted in the payment of wage-loss or disability benefits). Back injuries usually account for more than half of the MSD claims, with arm and hand injuries accounting for another quarter. MSDs potentially occur as a result of awkward postures, repetitive motion, repeated impacts, or heavy, frequent or awkward lifting.

Public testimony will be taken at five of the six Ergonomics Task-Force roundtable meetings. Due to the heightened interest in this topic, DLI has established public testimony guidelines:

Source: Minnesota OSHA

State: New York

Area of Interest: Governor Supports Decision to Uphold State's Consumer Rights
External Review Law Protected, Consumers Keep Right to Appeal HMO Decisions

Governor George E. Pataki today hailed the United States Supreme Court's decision to protect the rights of New York's health insurance consumers by allowing them to request an independent review of a health plan's denial of coverage on the basis of medical necessity or because services are considered experimental or investigational. The 5-4 decision held that state external appeal programs are not preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

"I am gratified that our State's External Appeal Law will continue to provide the protection New Yorkers need to ensure they are not wrongly denied coverage for important medical treatments," Governor Pataki said. "The External Appeals Law is working for New York's families by providing a prompt, consistent and fair process to ensure that treatment decisions are made for the right reasons."

The case, Rush Prudential HMO, Inc. v. Moran et al., questioned whether the Illinois external appeal law, in permitting patients to obtain an independent review of an HMO's medical necessity denial, established an alternative remedy to ERISA so that the Illinois Law would be preempted. The Court found the Illinois Law to be a mechanism for the state to regulate insurance, similar to mandated benefit requirements, and permissible under ERISA.

This case has been monitored closely because of the potential impact on state external appeal programs. By the end of 2001, 42 states, including the District of Columbia, had enacted external appeal laws. The United States Supreme Court decision protects the rights of a significant number of consumers in New York and throughout the United States by upholding the essential remedy of independent medical reviews for health plan denials.

New York's landmark External Appeal Law went into effect on July 1, 1999, providing New Yorkers the right to obtain an independent external review when a health plan denies services on the basis of medical necessity or if the services are considered
experimental or investigational. From inception of its program, New York has received the highest number of external appeal requests of states with external appeal programs in place. As of June 2002, the New York State Insurance Department received over 4,400 external appeal requests, and state certified external appeal agents have overturned health plan denials, in whole or in part, in 47 percent of cases.

Source: State of New York