The CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has unveiled a new mobile application (app) for iOS devices that will measure sound levels in the workplace to help workers learn about their noise exposure and reduce the chances of hearing loss.
NIOSH estimates that 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise levels every year.
As the number of states establishing workers’ compensation drug formularies continues to increase, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has issued a position paper that focuses on how the use of properly designed formularies can improve medical quality and contain costs for injured workers.
More than 200 former Samsung factory workers contracted a wide variety of illnesses allegedly from chemicals they were exposed to, according to the Associated Press. Samsung reportedly withheld specific information about the exposures.
An Arkansas cold storage company reduced its annual workers compensation costs by about $175,000 after using OSHA’s On-site Consultation Program to improve its workplace safety and health practices.
Injured workers in Florida have more trouble accessing health care services than those in other states. Wisconsin, injured workers have higher return-to-work rates.
Posted with permission from ProPublica; this story was co-published with NPR.
A campaign by some of America’s biggest companies to “opt out” of state workers’ compensation — and write their own plans for dealing with injured workers — was dealt a major blow Friday when an Oklahoma commission ruled the alternative system unconstitutional.
Employees of U.S. companies seeking to avoid exposure to the Zika virus likely have few legal avenues to either refuse travel to affected areas or sue if they actually become sick from the virus, according to a report by Reuters news service.
Each year, food service businesses report that slips, trips, and falls are some of the most common causes of worker injury leading to time away from work. However, employers and workers can avoid slip, trips, and falls by keeping floors clean and dry, fixing flooring defects, using properly designed stairs and handrails, and, as a new study finds, by wearing slip-resistant shoes.
When an occupational injury occurs, the effects can extend far beyond the worker and the workplace. Just ask family members who may have to take care of their injured relative or do additional household chores and errands. Hypothetically, this could mean a spouse or child helping to support a much larger, injured relative to move to the dinner table or a child lugging heavy laundry and groceries or moving furniture.
Standing before a giant map in his Dallas office, Bill Minick doesn’t seem like anyone’s idea of a bomb thrower. But backed by some of the biggest names in corporate America, this mild-mannered son of an evangelist is plotting a revolution in how companies take care of injured workers.