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Summary: A recent workers’ compensation ruling by the Montana Supreme Court has been attracting national attention. While decisions from other states’ courts do not directly control workers’ comp law in Alabama, they can be influential in our own courts’ decisions.

The case caught press attention largely for the unusual story, but the decision touches on important issues in workers’ compensation law nationwide, including the definition of “employee” and the question of whether an employee’s own negligence or poor behavior has any bearing on whether he should be compensated after a workplace injury.

Brock H. was feeding caged grizzly bears at a private drive-through nature park in 2007 when he was mauled by a large male bear named Red. He had been smoking marijuana when the attack occurred. The giant grizzly knocked him to the ground, sat on him and bit him on his buttocks and legs. A second bear bit the first, and Brock was able to escape, and he was treated for cuts and puncture wounds.

The exchange of money for tasks constitutes employment, not charity

When Brock applied for workers’ comp, he encountered a number of barriers to his claim. First, the nature park, Great Bear Adventures near West Glacier, Montana, was not insured through Montana’s workers’ compensation program. Therefore, his claim went to the Uninsured Employer’s Fund of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, which denied it.

Second, the owner of the park, Russ K., asserted that Brock was not actually an employee. Russ felt bad for Brock, who was facing jail after smoking marijuana while on probation, so he agreed to allow Brock to voluntarily perform odd jobs at the bear park and gave him money out of the goodness of his heart, not as wages.

“There is a term of art used to describe the regular exchange of money for favors – it is called employment,” wrote Montana Workers’ Compensation Court Judge Jeremiah Shea in shooting down Russ’s argument.

Making safe-lift programs a priority at long-term care facilities could be the key to reducing injuries and worker compensation costs, according to a new report.

The University of Maryland and the National Council on Compensation Insurance collaborated on a study to test the impact of safe lifting programs on worker’s compensation costs. Long-term care workers have the highest injury rates within the healthcare industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2009, long-term care facilities had an injury rate of 8.4 per 100 full-time equivalent workers.

Researchers talked to directors of nursing in 200 different facilities that had been using mechanical lifting devices for a minimum of three years.

They found long-term care facilities with specific procedures and policies in place performed the best. For example, some facilities only allowed the use of lifts for immobile residents. Other facilities told CNAs that proper use of the lifts would be a component of their job performance evaluations.

The results showed that at the end of the survey period, close to 95% of facilities had powered mechanical lifts and 80% used them regularly. The investigators concluded that an emphasis on safe lift programs did appear to lower worker’s comp costs and decrease the incidence of workplace injuries.

New York City, NY (CompNewsNetwork) – New York State Workers’ Compensation Board Chairman Robert Beloten today announced that the newly adopted New York State budget includes more than $200 million in assessment relief for thousands of small businesses who are members of a defaulted or inactive Group Self-Insurance Trust (GSIT).

While former members of insolvent GSITs remain responsible for their trust’s liability, they will see a nearly 20 percent reduction in the amount owed to the Board in administration and other special fund assessments. Businesses that are members of solvent, inactive trusts will see the same relief.

The budget also restructures the Group Self-Insurance program in New York to ensure its future solvency by strengthening security deposit requirements, broadening the Board’s enforcement powers and increasing transparency with more robust reporting requirements.

Group trusts must now post a security deposit at least equal to their claims amount. Failure to do so will result in their takeover by the Board. In addition, every six months the Board will report to both the governor and legislature the total amount of claims liability of insolvent group trusts; the degree to which each qualifying group trust is fully funded; and the actions the Board has taken to extinguish outstanding liabilities thorough settlements, loss portfolio transfers, and collections from defaulted group trust members.

“This is a transformational budget for the Group Self-Insurance program in New York,” Beloten said. “Small businesses across New York who were members of group trusts will see welcome assessment relief, while injured workers can rest assured that the benefits they are entitled to have been protected.”

It is expected that the assessment relief offered by this budget measure will increase the ability of members of defaulted GSITs to settle their outstanding liabilities through an Assumption of Workers’ Compensation Liability Policy (ALP). ALPs mitigate self-insurers’ long term liabilities associated with both claims and assessments by transferring that liability to a private insurance carrier. This remedy allows businesses that were part of a defaulted GSIT to settle long term exposure for a fixed price.

“The ALP approach helps businesses by capping future claims liability and simultaneously ensuring the uninterrupted flow of benefits to their injured workers in the future,” Beloten concluded.

The Board executed its first ALP on behalf of a defaulted group trust earlier this month.

The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board is responsible for administering both Individual and Group Self-Insurance programs for workers’ compensation in New York. For more information on the new Group Self-Insurance requirements and the Assumption of Workers Compensation Liability Policy program please contact the Office of Self-Insurance at 518-402-0247.

Even as the memory of late-pregnancy back ache fades into relative oblivion, the daily demands of infant and child care can continue to wreak havoc on new parents’ backs.

Infants don’t weigh much of course, but the smaller the baby the more paraphernalia parents find themselves shlepping around. Happily, this new Sherpa role need not result in chronic back pain. Being mindful of the requirements of the daily tasks can help protect your back from these unfamiliar routines.

Consider some of the ways your back is taxed as part of routine child care:
• bathing the baby
• changing and dressing the baby on a changing table
• Toting the baby in a baby carrier or backpack carrier.
• getting the baby in and out of a stroller or car seat
• transporting baby’s stuff in and out of car trunks
• lifting a baby or toddler from a play yard

Recent recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics that parents keep children in rear-facing car seats until they’re two, means that parents will be contorting, bending and lifting even longer. And of course your little one gets heavier with each passing month.

What to do to avoid back aches and pains?

The basic concept to remember, suggest physicians, is using legs and thighs, rather than arms, when lifting and carrying your baby.

“One of the most common causes of injuries is lifting the child the wrong way,” said Jennifer Solomon, M.D. a physiatrist (spine specialist), Women’s Sports Medicine, at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery. “It’s about using the legs, and keeping the baby nice and close.

Repetitive bending at the waist or reaching with the arms, are common causes of back pain. Tall parents need to adjust surface heights to make the lift easier. If you share a baby carrier with a partner, be sure to adjust the straps and buckles so the carrier fits comfortably when it’s your turn to carry the baby.

Karen Sutton, M.D., assistant professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at Yale University School of Medicine, suggests that parents use baby carriers that can be tightened more around the stomach to increase support for your back. “As the baby gets older and heavier, you need to have good support,” she said. Wearing the right shoes—clogs, rubber-soled walking shoes— offers additional support as well.

Carrying the baby on your hip can trigger or aggravate back strain. Alternate hips, or switch to a different way of carrying the baby.

Anything that causes you to stretch your arms or twist your body is likely to lead to back ache.

Placing a child into a car seat needs to be done carefully.

“We all tend to reach over to the car seat,” said Dr. Solomon. “You need to get as close as possible to the seat, bracing yourself prior to lifting the child.”

Try to kneel on the rear car seat instead of standing outside; if you can’t, at least bend your knees and use your lower body to buckle in the baby. Similarly, when you’re putting the baby into the crib, or lifting him out, get as close as possible. And be sure to use your legs rather than your arms, for any of these lifting maneuvers.

However exhausted you may be, don’t neglect your own exercise regimen, or your own needs for adequate rest and nutrition.

“Post natal yoga or Pilates helps with keeping weight down after having the baby,” said Dr. Sutton. “Weighing less is better for back injury prevention.”

Remember, too, that you don’t have to be a beast of burden by yourself.

“Accept help from others,” said Dr. Sutton.

Whiplash is the most common injury associated with motor vehicle accidents, affecting up to 83 percent of those involved in collisions, and is a common cause of chronic disability.
The Quebec Task Force (QTF) on Whiplash Associated Disorders defines whiplash as “bony or soft tissue injuries” resulting “from rear-end or side impact, predominantly in motor vehicle accidents, and from other mishaps” as a result of “an acceleration-deceleration mechanism of energy transfer to the neck.” It is estimated that as many as four per 1,000 people may experience a whiplash-related injury and associated pain syndromes. The overall economic burden of whiplash injury, including medical care, disability and sick leave, is estimated at a staggering $3.9 billion annually in the U.S. alone.

The mechanism of injury suggests that whiplash may occur as a result of hyperextension (excessive backward bending) of the lower cervical spine (neck) in relation to a hyperflexion (excessive forward bending) of the upper cervical vertebrae, producing a force of impact “whipping” through the body. The result is soft-tissue damage, inflammation and muscle spasm.

whiplash skeleton Whiplash is associated with a wide variety of clinical symptoms including neck pain, neck stiffness, arm pain, jaw pain, headaches and paresthesias (tingling/numbness), problems with memory and concentration, and psychological distress. Symptoms of whiplash may not present until several weeks after the causative incident. Frequently people experience little pain and discomfort in the early stages. However, after several weeks the body begins to manifest symptoms. It is this delayed onset of symptoms and lack of early treatment intervention which may cause the condition to become chronic and debilitating.

Whiplash Prevention

While a whiplash injury may be unavoidable if you’re involved in a crash, there are simple but effective precautions you can take to minimize the risk. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Head restraint: If more than one person uses a car, it is better to adjust the head restraint for each driver and make sure that it’s positioned according to the convenience of each driver. Not adjusting the head restraint for each driver greatly increases the likelihood of injury. The head restraint must be locked when driving. If the head restraint is not locked, it may move during an accident, taking away protective support when needed most and resulting in substantial injuries to the neck.

Evidence suggests that being the driver increases the chances of head injury by double and also shows that women suffer from whiplash injuries more than men because they tend to sit more upright and closer to the steering wheel. A study by Brian Stemper, PhD, assistant professor of neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, found: “Auto head restraints positioned less than 2.4 inches (6 cm) from the back of the head kept ligament stretch within the physiologic range – meaning that no injury would occur. However, as the restraint distance increased beyond 2.4 inches, the ligaments began to exceed failure thresholds, meaning that whiplash injury was more likely to occur.”

http://www.toyourhealth.com/mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=1424