Congratulations to Florida and Texas for passing new laws barring local governments from protecting workers from heat-related injuries!

This at a time when global warming is leading to record heat waves with temperatures hitting – and staying at – record highs for days on end.

Last week WorkCompCentral informed us that Florida is about to join Texas in prohibiting local governments from instituting heat protections from workers. This from a state with record high temperatures last summer…

Florida’s move is especially egregious; Florida does not have its own occupational health regulations but relies on OSHA and Federal regulations. But, the Feds continue to drag their feet on national protections for workers exposed to excessive heat…so the new law effectively prohibits ANY protections from heat-related injuries. 

Politicians in Florida and Texas are doing their best to kill more workers. That is NOT hyperbole…and is especially hypocritical because Florida passed legislation protecting student athletes from heat.

credit WaPo

But hey, in the air-conditioned offices in Tallahassee, with the brocade curtains drawn, one doesn’t see the workers outside the windows mowing lawns and doing landscaping.

Colorado, Oregon, and Washington have rules for outdoor workers.

Minnesota and Oregon also have indoor heat standards.

A committee in California’s State Senate passed a bill doing just that two weeks ago; hopefully that bill will be signed into law.

What does this mean for you?

More deaths, more heat injuries, higher premiums, and more devastated families.

Here’s hoping the industry’s “thought leaders” weigh in on this travesty. 

Lots of good stuff to start your weekend…

First a California Senate Committee passed a bill to protect workers from heat-related injuries. SB1299 establishes a presumption that:

a heat-related injury that develops within a specified timeframe after working outdoors for an employer in the agriculture industry that fails to comply with heat illness prevention standards, as defined, arose out of and came in the course of employment.

Kudos to the Committee – this type of legislation is sorely needed – and should be promoted enthusiastically by anyone and everyone concerned about protecting workers.

And shame on the California Chamber of Commerce and APCA for their objections. The bill is clearly intended to encourage employers to comply with existing heat-related standards…yet these opponents are quibbling over minor definitional issues when they should be pushing their members hard to do the right thing.

More details on heat injuries here.

Hat tip to Workcompcentral.

Inflation – or not.

Wholesale prices edged up 2/10ths of a percent last month, significantly less than expected.

Reminder – retail price increases are closely related to increasing corporate profits. It is very clear indeed that big food is a major driver of consumer inflation.

Employment

Filings for unemployment benefits were also lower than expected, yet more evidence of a very solid jobs market.

Friends and colleagues Yvonne Guibert and Rafael Gonzalez went waaaay out on a limb and asked me to do another podcast.

I was all over the place, but Yvonne and Rafe were kind enough – and smart enough to rein me in when I diverged away from what was supposed to be the focus – impact of economics and the upcoming election on workers’ comp.

A deep dive into the economy started things off – how the House of Representatives affects physician reimbursement – and how that affects workers’ comp.

and how Medicaid dis-enrollment affects workers’ comp.

and how wage increases have outpaced inflation.

Listen on!

Kudos to WCRI – it is the first workers’ comp research organization to give center stage to the impact of climate change – primarily heat – on workers’ comp claims.

Dr David Bonauto of Washington’s Labor & Industry (state WC fund) led a session on Washington’s analysis of climate change’s affects on workers. A few quick takeaways…

There have been three studies re Heat Related Illness (HRI) in WA based on 16 years of data.  There were only about 850 accepted HRI claims out of 1.7 million…but the hidden impacts of heat are just beginning to be understood.

• Heat increases absorption of chemicals thru the skin and potentially increases toxicity, a major concern for ag workers working with insecticides and fertilizers
• Heat and wildfire smoke increases cardiovascular disease; it appears the mechanism is chronic inflammation.
• Excessive heat leads to “incredibly diminished productivity”
• There is a much higher [67%] risk of injury when temperatures are above 82-86 degrees compared to a baseline of 76 degrees.
• The most vulnerable industry?   Public administration…my guess is this is driven by first responders and fire fighters.

thanks to MTI America’s Nikki Jackson for the slide pic

WA L&I isn’t the only organization doing credible research – WCRI research found 14% more claims occurred at times of high heat – think of these as indirectly related injuries. Falls off ladders are an example.  Great to see WCRI dig into this, although it would have been even better if we had this information several years ago.

The second employer session provided much-needed perspective from executives dating with the fallout from climate change.

Joann Moynihan from Travelers said the industry needs to broaden this dicsussion…it’s not heat claims specifically, but heat-related claims…Ms Moynihan’s words to the effect of “this is an indication of where the. industry is headed” should be a wake-up call to stakeholders who are mostly sleepwalking through massive changes to the work environment. 

Chrissy Lynch of the Massachusetts AFL/CIO described how workers in Mass are now dealing with forest fires…”we never thought we would”…that and it “doesn’t really snow here any more…we are trying to figure things out on the fly.

What does this mean for you.

Wake the *&^%** up.