Alcohol Testing for Truck and Bus Drivers Lessens Alcohol Involvement in Fatal Crashes
A Relatively Simple Choice to Lower Work Comp Cost — T E S T
Recent studies published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, indicates mandatory alcohol testing programs for truck and bus drivers is a factor in lessening alcohol involvement in fatal crashes.
Dr. Guohua Li, professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and colleagues at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, reported there are about 4,000 fatal crashes involving heavy trucks and buses each year and approximately 3% of the motor carrier drivers and 27% of non-motor-carrier drivers in these fatal crashes are discovered to be under the influence of alcohol. (workersxzcompxzkit)
The study encompassed 70,000 motor carrier — heavy trucks and buses — drivers and more than 83,000 non-motor-carrier (car) drivers. A further look at the study estimates the net effect related to the mandatory alcohol testing programs for drivers of heavy trucks and buses was a 23% decreased risk of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, health care, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He can be contacted at: Robert_Elliott@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com or 860-786-8286.
We are accepting short articles* (400-1200 words) on WC cost containment. Contact us at: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com. *Non-compensable.
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workman’s comp issues.
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$6.2 Million in Disability Lawsuit Settled or the EEOC Gets Their "Man" As noted many times in this blog, it more than just the monetary penalties (usually large) but the hidden costs of losing a discrimination lawsuit. See the italicized areas pointing to what the employer did not do and what actions they are now FORCED to take, plus pay the money. A record-setting consent decree resolving a class lawsuit against a major retailer under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) for $6.2 million and significant remedial relief is announced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The consent decree represents the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history. The EEOC's suit alleged the retailer maintained an inflexible workers' compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, as ADA violation. "The facts of this case showed that, nearly twenty years after the enactment of the ADA, the rights of individuals with disabilities are still in jeopardy," said Commission Acting Chairman Stuart Ishimaru. "At the same time, this record settlement sends the strongest possible message that the EEOC will use its enforcement authority boldly to protect those rights and advance equal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities." EEOC Chicago District Director John Rowe, who supervised the agency's administrative investigation preceding the lawsuit, said the case arose from a charge of discrimination filed with the EEOC by a former service technician of the employer. According to Rowe, the individual was injured on the job, took workers' comp leave, and, although remaining disabled by the injuries, repeatedly attempted to return to work. The retailer, Rowe said, "Could never see its way clear to provide the individual with a reasonable accommodation which would have put him back to work and, instead, fired him when his leave expired." It was revealed in pre-trial discovery that hundreds of other employees on workers' comp leave were also reportedly terminated by the retailer without seriously considering reasonable accommodations to return them to work while they were on leave, or seriously considering whether a brief extension of their leave would make their return possible. The era of employers being able to inflexibly and universally apply a leave limits policy without seriously considering the reasonable accommodation requirements of the ADA are over investigators said. Just as it is a truism that never having to come to work is manifestly not a reasonable accommodation, it is also true that inflexible leave policies which ignore reasonable accommodations making it possible to get employees back on the job cannot survive under federal law. Today's consent decree is a bright line marker of that reality. In addition to providing monetary relief, the three-year consent decree includes an injunction against violation of the ADA and retaliation. It requires the retailer will amend its workers' comp leave policy, provide written reports to the EEOC detailing its workers' compensation practices' compliance with the ADA, train its employees regarding the ADA, and post a notice of the decree at all Retailer locations. (workersxzcompxzkit) According to Greg Gochanour, EEOC supervisory trial attorney in Chicago, "This is not merely a garden variety so-called 'cost of litigation' settlement. We discovered well over a hundred former employees who wanted to return to work with an accommodation, but were terminated by the retailer – and some of them found it out when their discount cards were rejected while shopping the employer's store. We believe the retailer's decision to accept this decree makes good sense."
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers' Compensation costs, including airlines, health care, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He can be contacted at: Robert_Elliott@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com or 860-786-8286.
We are accepting articles about this case. Contact us at: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com. *Non-compensable.
Pending Workers’ Comp Policy Change for Police and Firefighters
The New Brunswick (Canada) government is leaning toward the elimination of a current three-day waiting period for workers’ compensation benefits for police and firefighters, but does not expect to offer related legislation this fall according to OHS Canada.
“Our premier and our government are committed to it, but at the same time we have to be responsible in how we move forward,” said Donald Arseneault, New Brunswick’s minister of post-secondary education, training and labor. The principle of removing the three-day wait period for police officers and firefighters, while supported by the government also has a lot of opposition to it.”
The waiting period was put into place in the early 1990s during a time when the province’s workers’ comp board (now WorkSafeNB) was facing a “significant financial crunch,” according to Shelly Dauphinee, director of policy and planning for WorkSafeNB.
The wait period policy, applying to all claimants, requires injured workers receive no compensation benefits for the three days after an injury. However, there are two exceptions:
1. Employees who are off work for three weeks or more working days are reimbursed for the initial three days.
2. Workers who are hospitalized as in-patients obtain benefits immediately.
The New Brunswick Police Association, are lobbying the government to eliminate the wait period for police officers and firefighters. Dean Secord, the association’s president, says the union was told legislation would be introduced this fall to bring about the change.
According to Arseneault, there is no known timetable when the necessary legislation would be put forward.
According to Secord, the rationale for police officers deserving an exemption is they cannot legally refuse unsafe work under the provincial Police Act, thus hindering their ability to stay away from possible injuries in the first place. (workersxzcompxzkit)
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, in its presentation to the board, labeled the wait period as a “fair and reasonable way to manage costs – especially since the system is 100% employer paid.”
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, health care, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He can be contacted at: Robert_Elliott@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com or 860-786-8286.
We are accepting short articles* (300-800 words) on WC cost containment. Contact us at: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com. *Non-compensable.
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