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9/11 workers struggle to get workers’ comp |
Half a dozen doctors testified on his behalf. Experts on
9/11-related diseases confirmed his claims. A picture of him working
on a smoldering pile of rubble at ground zero offered hard
evidence…Still, for Joe Picurro, it wasn’t enough. The New York
State Workers’ Compensation Board ruled he still hadn’t proven his
health problems were due to his 28 days as a volunteer during the
9/11 cleanup. He hadn’t even proven he’d actually worked at the
site, they said, saying the photograph could have been doctored. |
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1998 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
|
Give information
and site information for downloading public use data and
documentation for the 1998 NHIS |
178 kb pdf |
|
Actuarial Aspects of Dread Disease Products
|
Dread
Disease/Critical Illness insurance has attracted much attention
because it differs significantly from other life products in that
the benefit is paid upon occurrence of a specific disease rather
upon death |
526 kb pdf |
|
Arizona statutes under the heading "Communicable Disease Related
Information" |
A person who obtains communicable disease related information
in the course of providing a health service or obtains that
information from a health care provider pursuant to an authorization
shall not disclose or be compelled to disclose that information
except to the following:
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Australia Occupational Exposure |
The data on occupational injuries and diseases contained in the
National Workers' Compensation Statistics database have been
compiled by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC)
from information supplied by Commonwealth, State and Territory
workers' compensation authorities. These agencies processed workers'
compensation claims received from insurance companies, self-insurers
and some government departments |
|
|
BLOODBORNE PATHOGENS EXPOSURE CONTROL PLAN |
Department of
the Army control plan- To prescribe policies, responsibilities and
procedures for implementation of the Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure
Control Plan (BBPECP) to meet the letter and intent of the OSHA
Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030). OSHA has enacted
this standard to "reduce occupational exposure to Hepatitis B Virus
(HBV), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and other bloodborne
pathogens". This plan details measures WRAMC and its employees will
take to decrease the risk of transmission of bloodborne pathogens
and provide appropriate treatment and counseling should an employee
be exposed to bloodborne pathogens. |
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Bombay Police test positive
|
"Around 450 policemen have tested positive for HIV," Prem Kishan
Jain, joint police commissioner for administration, said. The figure
is initial, with medical data not yet compiled for much of Bombay's
40,000-strong police force. |
|
|
Carbondale
Elementary School District 95-Illinois |
An employee with a communicable or chronic infectious disease
shall be evaluated by the District's Superintendent and the
employee, and a representative selected by each if so desired by
the employee. The employee's medical condition shall be held in
strictest confidence by the Superintendent, with only the employee's
direct supervisors being informed of the employee's medical condition
if deemed necessary by the Superintendent.
|
|
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CDC report on occupational exposure to Blood Pathogens
|
Explanation of the
reporting system and what to do |
37 kb pdf |
|
Changes in
workers' compensation laws during 2001 |
The
issue of coverage under workers' compensation laws received a great
deal of attention in 2001. For example, extending presumptions of
coverage for certain diseases suffered by law enforcement officers
or firefighters, or both, occurred in Arizona, California, Florida,
Maryland, and Virginia. |
|
|
Code of practice for funeral workers: managing
infection risk and body bagging |
There is substantial variation in the advice given to funeral
workers on handling bodies with infection risk. Inconsistent advice
results in inappropriate practice. A model code of practice is
presented that uses risk assessment in response to statutory and
executive responsibilities to provide health and safety advice to
funeral workers. The code of practice should increase compliance
with safety requirements, avoid unnecessary bagging and allow
bereaved families freer access to the deceased. |
Pdf 37 kb |
|
COMPENSATION FOR OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE: HIDDEN
AGENDAS |
This article explores the values implicit in the long-standing
debate over the mechanisms for compensating victims of occupational
disease. We begin by reviewing the: treatment of workers’ health and
safety at common law, the background for modern remedies. We then
turn to workers’ compensation, which today provides the basis for
most of the payments to victims of workplace injury. Finally, we
look at possible future solutions to the problems of disease
compensation. |
Pdf 112 kb |
|
Costs of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses |
Most Americans
between the ages of 22 and 65 spend 40 to 50 percent of waking hours
at work. Every year millions of Americans suffer injuries and
thousands experience deaths in our workplaces. Yet little effort has
been made to estimate either the extent of these injuries, deaths,
and diseases or their cost to the economy. Thus, important questions
about workplace safety and the economic resources expended due to
workplace health problems remain unanswered. In this study, we
address these questions by presenting estimates of the incidence,
prevalence, and costs of workplace-related injuries, illnesses, and
deaths for the entire civilian workforce of the United States in
1992. We also consider controversies surrounding cost methodologies,
estimate how these costs are distributed across occupations,
consider who pays the costs, and address some policy issues |
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Direct Cost of Follow-up for Percutaneous and Mucocutaneous
Exposures |
Published by the
International Health Care Worker Safety Center at the University of
Virginia |
48 kb pdf |
|
Disease
management. |
Research report
compiled for the insurance industry to manage diseases |
211 kb pdf |
|
Epidemiological Notes on Occupational
Exposure |
As of
March 14, 1988, a total of 55,315 adults with AIDS had been reported
to CDC. Occupational information was available for 47,532 of these
persons, 2,586 (5.4%) of whom were classified as health-care workers |
|
|
Estimating Future Hepatitis C Morbidity, Mortality, and Cost in the
United States |
Objectives: This
study estimated future morbidity, mortality, and the costs resulting
from hepatitis C virus |
133 kb pdf |
|
Exposure of healthcare workers in England,
Wales, and Northern Ireland to bloodborne viruses between July 1997
and June 2000: analysis of surveillance data |
The transmission of bloodborne viruses to healthcare workers can
have serious consequences not only for clinical practice but also,
because of the requirements of health and safety legislation, for
their employers. In spite of guidance and education, however, many
healthcare workers continue to be exposed to bloodborne viruses
from percutaneous, mucocutaneous, or other injuries. An enhanced
system of surveillance of occupational exposure to bloodborne
viruses was introduced in mid1997, developing the passive system
that was set up after the first reported case (in 1984) in the
United Kingdom of HIV seroconversion associated with needlestick
injury. |
Pdf 360 kb |
|
Exposure to Blood: What Healthcare Personnel Need to Know |
Exposures occur
through needlesticks or cuts from other sharp instruments
contaminated with an infected patient’s blood or through contact of
the eye, nose, mouth, or skin with a patient’s blood. Important
factors that influence the overall risk for occupational exposures
to bloodborne pathogens include the number of infected individuals
in the patient population and the type and number of blood contacts. |
364 kb pdf |
|
Eye of the Needle-Hep B, Hep C, HIV- United
Kingdom Surveillance of Significant Occupational Exposures to
Bloodborne Viruses in Healthcare Workers.
(Large
report-Increase download time) |
The active surveillance of significant occupational exposures in
England, Wales and Northern Ireland for bloodborne viruses was
implemented in July 1997.1 Under the scheme, occupational exposures
include2 percutaneous exposures, where the skin has been broken by a
needle/other sharp object, human scratch or bite and mucocutaneous
exposures, where the mucous membranes (mouth, nose or eyes), or
non-intact skin have been contaminated. A significant exposure is a
percutaneous or mucocutaneous exposure to blood or other body fluids
from a source that is known to be, or as a result of the incident
found to be, HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), HCV, or HIV positive. |
Pdf 2685 kb |
|
Financial and Risk Considerations for Successful Disease Management
Programs |
Report for the
insurance industry-this paper introduces disease management risk
concepts in general, along with a discussion of risk and financial
evaluation considerations, and a brief case study illustrating these
principles. |
211 kb pdf |
|
GUIDELINES
FOR HIV TESTING IN VA FACILITIES FOLLOWING OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES |
This information
letter provides guidance concerning Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) testing in occupational exposure situations; clarifies
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy about testing for HIV,
and includes a collection of consensus recommendations of a
Committee that included experts in the field of HIV, Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and occupational safety. |
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HAS THE POINT BEEN MADE? |
There is a
growing awareness within the health service of the impact of
needlestick injuries and the need to introduce policies and
procedures that will reduce their occurrence, in conjunction with
the use of anti-needlestick devices. SafeGard Medical is a company
that specialises in providing these devices. |
|
|
Hazards of needlesticks-Sharp End
|
Needlestick
injuries are up there with slips, trips and falls as one of the top
accident risks in UK hospitals. Safer devices are available and
would remove a possibly lethal infection hazard-so why aren’t
hospitals using them? |
144 kb pdf |
|
HEALTH CARE WORKERS AND HEPATITIS C VIRUS
|
Health care workers
are at occupational risk for acquiring this infection because Hepatitis C Virus is
transmitted by direct percutaneous exposure to blood. The CDC
recommends that individual health care institutions consider
establishing policies and procedures for follow-up of infection with
Hepatitis C Virus after percutaneous or permucosal exposures to blood.
|
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Health care workers infected with HIV, Hepatitis B or
Hepatitis C-Australia |
This circular extends policy on health care workers
infected with blood borne viruses to include hepatitis C. All
health care workers in New South Wales who perform exposure prone
procedures are required to know their blood blorne virus status.
A HCW who either HCV PCR positive or HIV positive or HbeAg positive
or HBV DNA positive must not perform exposure prone procedures. |
45 kb pdf |
|
Healthcare Exposure
|
Deals with
poisoning and Toxicity with areas of the insurance industry that are
found in the work area |
471 kb pdf |
|
HEALTHCARE WORKERS: PROTECTING THOSE WHO PROTECT OUR HEALTH |
Healthcare-worker protection has lagged behind that afforded
other workers with similarly increased risks. Possible
explanations for the delay in focusing on occupational hazards
faced by healthcare workers are many and likely include the
focus of curative rather than preventive medicine in the
hospital environment; the focus on patient health over worker
health; and the focus within occupational health on
traditionally male occupations and hazards rather than female
workers. |
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|
Healthcare Workers and Hepatitis C
|
Health care workers
are at occupational risk for acquiring this infection because Hepatitis C Virus is
transmitted by direct percutaneous exposure to blood. Reported in
‘American Family Physician’ |
223 kb pdf |
|
HEALTHCARE WORKERS SORE OVER NEEDLES FDA WON’T BAN KIND THAT CAUSE
MOST INJURIES |
A nursing safety
expert asked how many hundreds of medical workers need to die from
contaminated needle sticks before the agency bans standard needles
and syringes that are causing the injuries |
|
|
Hep C in
the Fire Service: |
Do fire, rescue
and EMS personnel face a higher risk of being infected by Hepatitis
C than the general population? They're often exposed to victims’
blood and only recently have the precautions been put in place to
protect them from exposure to blood-borne diseases. The answer to
that question would seem obvious. |
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|
HEPATITIS C AND POLICE WORK |
There have been many
articles published on the risks of transmission of hepatitis C. All
"emergency workers" are high risk. Not only do police officers work
with the sector of the population most at risk (prison, drug users,
drunks) but they are also first responders to motor vehicle
accidents and domestic disputes. |
|
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HEPATITIS C and the
fire service: assessing the risk |
The
news that Philadelphia (PA) Fire Depart-ment (PFD) firefighters
screened for hepatitis C (HCV) in 1999 had an infection rate almost
three times the average for the U.S. population vividly reminded the
fire service that complacency in the health and safety arena can be
as deadly as complacency on the fireground. The revelation moved
fire departments to look more closely at their infection-control
policies and means for protecting their members against the
insurance industry and supporting those who already have become infected. |
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Hepatitis C & HIV Co-Infection: an update-Sept. 2003 |
More than 3
percent of the world’s population, about 2 percent of the US
population, and up to 10 percent of US health care workers are
currently infected with the Hepatitis C virus. |
327 kb pdf |
|
Hepatitis C Infected Health Care Workers |
Implementing Getting Ahead of the Curve: action on blood-borne
viruses |
|
|
HIV AND THE HEALTH CARE WORKER: Transmission of HIV
in the Health Care |
By
December 31, 1995, the cumulative number of AIDS cases reported in
the U.S. had exceeded 500,000. The CDC currently estimates that 1
million Americans are HIV-infected. Nearly all health care workers (HCWs)
will be involved in some way with the care of these persons who
require frequent visits to clinics and hospitals. This fact is
illustrated by the "Sentinel Hospitals" study which measured HIV
prevalence among hospitalized patients who were not known to be
HIV-infected. The seroprevalence at these 26 hospitals varied from
0.1 percent to 7.85 percent and was as high as 21.7 percent in men
aged 25 to 44 at one hospital1. Well-documented cases of
occupationally acquired HIV infection have understandably raised
concerns among HCWs regarding their own safety. This article reviews
the current data on occupational transmission of HIV infection, the
current methods in place to protect HCWs, and the management of an
occupational exposure to HIV when it occurs |
|
|
HIV,
Hepatitis-B, Hepatitis-C: Blood-borne Diseases |
Nurses
constantly balance occupational risks with their primary goal of
providing quality health care to all persons. Because threats to
personal well-being may affect practice, nurses must promote a
safe and healthy work environment to protect themselves, their
loved ones, patients, and coworkers. As
front-line providers of health care, nurses have long been
exposed to blood-borne pathogens on the job. The AIDS epidemic
has heightened awareness of this and has broadened our knowledge
of other bloodborne diseases, notably hepatitis-B (HBV) and
hepatitis-C (HCV). |
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HIV test made mandatory for city Police
|
Alarmed at the increasing number of HIV positive cases in the
force, the Mumbai police has decided to make it mandatory for each of
the 38,000 constables and officers up to the rank of inspector to
undergo a HIV test every six months |
|
|
HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis B and C: Preventing Exposure at Work |
This booklet is
for employers and workers who are not expected to come in contact
with blood and body fluids at their workplaces-but who could have
contact with these fluids in rare, isolated incidents that can’t be
foreseen |
637 kb pdf |
|
HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis B and C: Preventing Exposure at
Work-Canada |
Most workers won’t ever contact, at work, blood and
certain body fluids that can spread HIV and the hepatitis
B and C viruses. But even employers and workers in
setting where contact with blood and these fluids is not
expected should be aware of some basic precautions.
This is because it is possible to become infected from a
single exposure incident—that is, harmful contact with
infected blood and body fluids. |
825 kb pdf |
|
HIV/AIDS in the Workplace |
The spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide, and the growing number
of people affected, makes it very likely that few, if any, global
companies will escape its impact. As the pandemic progresses, an
ever-wider sphere of business operations is being touched by the
disease. Although Africa and Asia have been the hardest hit, every
continent has seen significant consequences due to HIV/AIDS.
Estimates by the World Bank suggest that the macroeconomic impact of
HIV/AIDS may reduce the growth of national income by up to a third
in countries where the prevalence among adults is 10 percent.
Additionally, rates of HIV infection worldwide are highest for the
young and for women, who are major contributors to the workforce |
|
|
HIV/AIDS Technical Assistance Guidelines |
The impact of HIV/AIDS in the workplace is felt in many
areas, for example the loss of productivity, increased cost of
employee benefits, high production costs and lower workplace morale
due to prolonged staff illness, increased absenteeism and mortality
rates. This, in turn, impacts negatively on the economy of the
country as it slows down economic growth with less economically
active persons able to contribute to the economy. |
274 kb pdf |
|
Hospital blunder allowed sick firefighters to keep working |
What is particularly
devastating for the firefighters who have unknowingly lived with
hepatitis-C for the past three years is they don't know how much
damage has been done to their liver in that period of time. Nor do
they know if they have unknowingly passed it on. |
|
|
Human
rights approach to AIDS. |
Southern African
Development Community's Code on HIV/AIDS and Employment |
426 kb pdf |
|
|
|
ILO- Recording and notification of occupational accidents |
The absence of reliable information about the incidence of
occupational accidents and disease is a major obstacle to curbing
the appalling toll of work-related deaths and injuries that
continues to plague humankind. Despite enormous advances in
technology, preventive medicine and the means to prevent accidents,
the ILO and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that each
year around 1.2 million work-related deaths, 250 million accidents
and 160 million work-related diseases occur worldwide. Death,
illness and injury on such a scale impoverish individuals and their
families, and undermine attempts to improve working conditions |
|
|
Information for Individuals Who May Have Been Exposed to HIV, the
AIDS Virus |
Health care
workers and public service workers may be exposed to the HIV virus
through their work. Even though safer work practices incorporating
barrier precautions and safer needle devices will decrease the risk
of exposure, they will not completely eliminate it…There are other
ways of being exposed to HIV, for example through human bites or
sexual assault. |
71 kb pdf |
|
Job-related hepatitis C infections are hard to prove |
Many
people with hepatitis C suffer from a double whammy: They
have a potentially deadly virus, which can simmer
undetected for decades - and that makes it hard for them
to prove how they got it. As a result, veterans,
health-care workers, firefighters and others who think
they got hepatitis C by being exposed to blood on the job
can't easily trace it. |
|
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Job-related infections hard to prove |
When hepatitis C ruined Mike Coghlan's
liver, the Department of Veterans Affairs helped him get
a new one. Then it paid for expensive medications to
help him recover. But when the 45-year-old Philadelphia
man got too sick to work and asked for disability
benefits, the VA told him no. He couldn't prove he got
the disease while he was in the service, so he was
jobless and finally out of luck. |
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|
Law protects emergency workers |
Compulsory tests for those who expose police,
firefighters, EMTs to bodily fluids |
|
|
Lost Lives: Work-related
deaths in British Columbia
(large report-increase download time) |
Under
the requirements of the Workers Compensation Act, a worker must
report an injury or a disabling occupational disease as soon as
possible to the employer. The employer must report
work-related injuries, occupational diseases, and work-related
deaths to the WCB within three days. A worker may not make an
agreement with the employer to give up WCB benefits. |
3606 kb pdf |
|
Maine
Injured Workers Ass. |
Occupational
disease is the insurance industry's bugaboo. The dark revelation
that more than 100,000 Americans are dying each year from this cause
has frightened insurance executives. They are apprehensive about the
increasing awareness of the contribution of the work environment to
the development of many diseases. Substances that we regarded as
safe are now known to cause cancer. Heart disease once thought to be
strictly non-work-related, is now being linked to stresses at work.
If workers' compensation insurers had to pay for any large
percentage of the appalling toll of occupational disease, their
margins of profit would be seriously affected. |
|
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Management of healthcare workers after occupational exposure to
hepatitis C virus |
Needlestick injuries pose a potential occupational risk
to healthcare workers, particularly through transmission of
bloodborne viruses, such as hepatitis B and C viruses and HIV.
An effective vaccine is available to prevent hepatitis B virus (HBV)
infection, and post-exposure antiviral prophylaxis is effective in
reducing HIV transmission. However, currently there are no
measures that reduce hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission.
|
|
|
Manual for Healthcare workers on Viral Blood Borne
Occupational Diseases |
This
module is meant for all Health-care workers (HCW).It gives recent
relevant information on Hepatitis B and C and HIV, without going
into details of symtomatology, differential diagnosis and treatment.
The references used for preparing the document are given at the end
of the document and can be procured from any medical college’s
library in India. A notable feature of some of the references is
that they are in the public domain, the names of hospitals, where
occupationally acquired viral infections have occurred-being clearly
mentioned--a far cry from the situation in India where such
incidents are held secretive. There have been anecdotal evidence of
occupationally acquired HIV infection to health-care workers in
Mumbai, Ahemedabad and Vellore. |
|
|
Minnesota-occupational exposure |
Occupational diseases are considered personal injuries under
Minnesota workers’ compensation law. Diseases account for 1 percent
of indemnity claims in Minnesota…contagious diseases accounted for 8
percent of disease indemnity claims |
20 kb pdf |
|
Missouri Revised Statutes Workers' Compensation Law
(Large report-increased down-load time) |
287.067. 1. In
this chapter the term "occupational disease" is hereby defined to
mean, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the
context, an identifiable disease arising with or without human fault
out of and in the course of the employment. Ordinary diseases of
life to which the general public is exposed outside of the
employment shall not be compensable, except where the diseases
follow as an incident of an occupational disease as defined in this
section. The disease need not to have been foreseen or expected
but after its contraction it must appear to have had its origin in a
risk connected with the employment and to have flowed from that
source as a rational consequence. |
|
|
Model-based estimates of risk of disease transmission and
economic costs of 7 injection devices |
When
not properly sterilized, or if contaminated, needles and syringes
can produce local abscesses and can transmit bloodborne infections
between patients. Needlestick injuries can transmit infectious
agents from patients to health care workers, while incorrect
disposal can transmit disease to the community as a consequence of
both needlestick injuries and improper reuse. |
360 kb pdf |
|
MPFFU on Hepatitis C |
At the recent
MPFFU biennial convention, delegates adopted Resolution #35, which
addresses firefighters and Hepatitis C. The resolution calls for
MPFFU to provide its members with: Education and training to
increase their awareness of the dangers of hepatitis C in the
workplace, investigate the feasibility of a statewide program for
testing firefighters, and introduce legislation to include
infectious disease presumption law covering firefighters who are
exposed to hepatitis C and other job-related the insurance industry. |
|
|
National Surveillance System For Health Care Workers
|
Needlestick and
other percutaneous injuries (PIs) pose the greatest risk of
occupational transmission of bloodborne viruses to health-care
workers (HCWs). The annual number of
PIs sustained by U.S. HCWs have been estimated using a variety of
methods and have ranged from 100,000-1,000,000.
|
|
|
Needlestick and hepatitis C transmission |
The first
is a case presentation of needlestick transmission of hepatitis C
with a review of some aspects of transmission and treatment. For the
purposes of this abstract data on transmission rates from a review
(search strategy not given) of hepatitis C transmission studies is
abstracted. The second study is a report of hepatitis C transmission
in 14 workers with needlestick injuries in which the source patients
were positive for both the hepatitis C antibody and RNA. |
|
|
Needlestick Injuries Among Healthcare Workers |
This statement
summarizes the scientific issues related to needlestick injuries,
including what we know about the number of workers affected, what
can happen to a worker's health as a result of such an injury, how
these injuries occur, and ways to prevent them. In addition, it
describes what CDC is doing to address this serious public health
problem. |
|
|
Needlestick Injuries among Health Care Workers in Washington State,
1996-2000 |
Executive Summary
only: Health care workers are vulnerable to serious the insurance
industry such as HIV, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus
following a needlestick injury…trend analysis showed an annual
average increase of 5.84%. |
17 kb pdf |
|
NEEDLE STICK RISK
|
Hundreds of medical
workers become infected with the AIDS or hepatitis viruses from
accidental punctures each year. |
|
|
Needlestick prevention bill includes new workplace rules
|
The measure is
expected to help guard physicians against injuries but also adds
regulations for them to follow as employers |
|
|
New Zealand Sex Industry-a guide to Occupational Health and Safety |
This guide has been
written for everyone involved in the New Zealand sex industry: sex
workers both employed and self-employed, operators, owners and others
such as sex worker organizations. |
408 kb pdf |
|
Nurse,
operating room |
This datasheet
lists, in a standard format, different hazards to which nurse, operating
rooms may be exposed in the course of their normal work…With the
knowledge of what causes injuries and diseases, is easier to design and
implement suitable measures towards prevention |
89 kb pdf |
|
Nurses' Working Conditions: Implications
for Infectious Disease |
Staffing patterns and nurses' working conditions are risk factors for
healthcare-associated infections as well as occupational injuries and
infections. Staffing shortages, especially of nurses, have been
identified as one of the major factors expected to constrain hospitals'
ability to deal with future outbreaks of emerging infections. These
problems are compounded by a global nursing shortage. Understanding and
improving nurses' working conditions can potentially decrease the
incidence of many infectious diseases. Relevant research is reviewed,
and policy options are discussed. |
|
|
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE – UNDERSTANDING THE LAW |
The statutory
formula for compensability for occupational disease is similar to that
for accidental injuries, that is, “compensation for personal injuries to
or for death of such employee by any “compensable” occupational disease
arising out of and in the course of the employment.” There appears to
me to be three essential elements of Section 30. There must be an injury
or death – due to a “compensable” occupational disease – which must
arise out of and in the course of the employment. There is an exception
for willful self-exposure but that exception has never been established,
to my knowledge |
|
|
OCCUPATIONAL
EXPOSURE |
The risk of HIV
transmission to medical personnel has been recognized since 1984, with
the first reported case of HIV transmitted to a health care worker (HCW)
following needlestick injury (Anonymous, 1984). Since that time,
information regarding occupational exposure and outcomes has been
collected. As of October 1998, there were 187 reported cases in the
medical literature of HIV transmission in the United States (CDC, 1998a)
and 264 cases worldwide (Ippolito, 1999), presumably related to
occupational exposure. A HCW is defined as any person whose activities
involve contact with patients or with blood and/or body fluid from
patients in a health care setting or laboratory setting. An exposure is
defined as a percutaneous injury (needlestick or other cut with a sharp
object), mucous membrane or nonintact skin (e.g., chapped or abraded
skin, dermatitis), or prolonged contact and/or contact involving an
extensive area with blood, tissue, or certain other body fluids. |
|
|
Occupational Exposure and Hepatitis C
|
There were 148 patients (88 men, 60
women) aged 18 to 72 years (mean 45 years).Only 5% had no known risk
factor, and the most commonly found known risk factors were injected
drug use, sharing razors and toothbrushes, body piercing, being a
recipient of blood products, sexual exposure and occupational exposure
to blood in 48% to 32% of cases. Tattooing was associated with 17% of
cases. |
|
|
Occupational Exposure to Blood Borne Pathogens-for
correctional employees |
Significant exposures to correctional staff can occur in
the course of providing healthcare, contact with sharps while
cleaning or searching cells, during physical altercations, and by
intentional “gassing” in which staff members are deliberately
exposed to a patient’s body fluids |
226 kb pdf |
|
Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens; Needlestick and Other
Sharps Injuries |
The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration is revising the Bloodborne
Pathogens standard in conformance with the requirements of the
Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act. This Act directs OSHA to
revise the Bloodborne Pathogens standard to include new examples in
the definition of engineering controls along with two new
definitions; to require that Exposure Control Plans reflect how
employers implement new developments in control technology; to
require employers to solicit input from employees responsible for
direct patient care in the identification, evaluation, and selection
of engineering and work practice controls; and to require certain
employers to establish and maintain a log of percutaneous injuries
from contaminated sharps. |
|
|
Occupational Hazards of Dentistry |
In carrying out
their professional work, dentists are exposed to a number of
occupational hazards. These course the appearance of various
ailments, specific to the profession, which develop and intensify
with years. In many cases they result in diseases and disease
complexes, some of which are regarded as occupational illnesses. |
97 kb pdf |
|
OCCUPATIONAL INJURY OR DISEASE UNDER WISCONSIN WORKER’S COMPENSATION
LAW |
Workers often
sustain an injury or contract a disease arising out of their
employment for which the employer and worker’s compensation insurer
deny worker’s compensation benefits, on the grounds that the worker
cannot identify a specific traumatic event that caused or
precipitated the injury or disease. Such a denial may be contrary
to fact and law. It is not always necessary for the worker to be
able to identify a specific event or date of injury, in order for
the claim to be compensable. The purpose of this essay is to
explain the concept of “occupational injury or disease,” for which
worker’s compensation benefits may indeed be awarded. |
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Occupational Risks Magazine
|
Gives information
on how to underwrite those claims and calculate them |
458 kb pdf |
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Occupationally Acquired Infections in
Health Care Workers
|
Occupational transmission to health care workers was
identified for numerous diseases, including infections caused
by bloodborne organisms (human immunodeficiency virus,
hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, Ebola virus),
organisms spread through the oral-fecal route
(salmonella, hepatitis A virus), and organisms spread
through direct contact (herpes simplex virus, Sarcoptes
scabiei). Most outbreak-associated attack rates range from
15% to 40%. Occupational transmission is usually
associated with violation of one or more of three basic
principles of infection control: handwashing, vaccination
of health care workers, and prompt placement of
infectious patients into appropriate isolation. The risk
for occupationally acquired infections is an unavoidable
part of daily patient care. Occupationally acquired
infections cause substantial illness and occasional
deaths among health care workers. Further studies are needed
to enhance compliance with established infection control
approaches. As health care is being reformed, the risk
for and costs of occupationally acquired infection must
be considered. |
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Occupationally Acquired HIV: The Vulnerability of Health Care
Workers under Workers ' Compensation Laws
|
Approximately 800
000 needle-sticks and other sharp injuries from contaminated medical
devices occur in health care settings each year, of which an
estimated 16000 are contaminated by human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV). Health care workers who are Occupationally infected by HIV
are at risk of being left without workers' compensation coverage. In
some states, the definition of an occupational disease is so
restrictive that infected health care workers are unlikely to
qualify for benefits. For those who are able to meet the definition,
compensation is often inadequate. Recourse is also limited by
statutory provisions that preclude health care workers from bringing
civil suits against their employers |
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Occupational Transmission of HIV |
Summary of Published
Reports, Dec. 1999 Series of tables and charts with several
different break-downs |
461 kb pdf |
|
OCCUPATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF HIV AND HEPATITIS C VIRUS AFTER A PUNCH |
Awareness of the
risk of occupational transmission of HIV to health care workers
dates back to December 1984, when the first case of needlestick-transmitted
HIV infection was reported |
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Oregon Ruling for Occupational Disease Claims |
Unlike a workers’ compensation claim, the occupational disease claim
can expose the employer to whatever economic and non-economic
damages, including pain and suffering and loss of lifestyle damages,
the plaintiff can convince the jury to award. The employer may be
exposed to punitive damage claims in some cases |
28 kb pdf |
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OSHA instructions for exposure
|
This instruction
establishes policies and provides clarification to ensure uniform
inspection procedures are followed when conducting inspections to
enforce the Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens Standard
|
1,297 kb pdf |
|
OSHA rules for injury in the Work area
(LARGE
REPORT-INCREASED DOWN-LOAD TIME) |
The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is revising its rule
addressing the recording and reporting of occupational injuries and
illnesses (29 CFR parts 1904 and 1952), including the forms
employers use to record those injuries and illnesses. The revisions
to the final rule will produce more useful injury and illness
records, collect better information about the incidence of
occupational injuries and illnesses on a national basis, promote
improved employee awareness and involvement in the recording and
reporting of job-related injuries and illnesses, simplify the injury
and illness recordkeeping system for employers, and permit increased
use of computers and telecommunications technology for OSHA
recordkeeping purposes |
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Police infected with AIDS
|
About three thousand (3,000) police officers and
men from across the nation have been discovered to be living with HIV/AIDs. |
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Police to get help fighting hepatitis C |
When police and
firefighters respond to an accident, officials
said, they face the risk of being infected with hepatitis C, exposed
through the blood and bodily fluids of victims. |
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Post Exposure
Management of Occupational Exposure to Blood and Body Fluids |
Occupational Health
and safety procedure and guidelines for Canadian Calgary Health Region |
83 kb pdf |
|
Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Guidelines |
In 1994, a large
international study showed that administration of ZIDOVUDINE to an
HIV-infected mother during pregnancy and labor, and subsequently to the
baby after delivery reduced the risk for the baby becoming infected with
HIV from about 25% to 9%. A second case-control study of healthcare
workers, who had suffered needlestick exposure to HIV-infected blood,
showed that ZIDOVUDINE post-exposure prophylaxis was associated with a
decrease in the rate of seroconversion by 79%. These two studies
demonstrate a potential benefit of using antiretroviral therapy at the
time of, or shortly after, exposure to HIV. |
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Probability Tables for disability |
Mathematical
descriptions and methods used for determining the probability of
disability used by the Rand corporation |
230 kb pdf |
|
Profiles of Occupational Injuries and Diseases in
Michigan |
Work-related injuries
and illnesses cost 1.5 billion dollars annually in workers’ compensation
claims in Michigan, and the indirect costs of these conditions may be as
much as five times greater (7.5 billion dollars). |
1832 kb pdf |
|
Protocol for follow-up after Exposure |
A protocol for the follow-up of healthcare workers exposed to hepatitis
C virus is desperately needed, but limited data on occupational risk,
transmission risk, and the benefits of therapy are hampering efforts to
fashion one, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC). |
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Recognizing Occupational Disease |
Occupational
exposures contribute to the morbidity and mortality of many
diseases. However, occupational diseases continue to be
underrecognized even though they are responsible for an estimated
860,000 illnesses and 60,300 deaths each year. Family physicians can
play an important role in improving the recognition of occupational
disease, preventing progressive illness and disability in their own
patients, and contributing to the protection of other workers
similarly exposed. This role can be maximized if physicians raise
their level of suspicion for workplace disease, develop skills in
taking occupational histories and establish routine access to
occupational health resources. |
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Recognizing Occupational Disease -Taking an Effective
Occupational History |
The
patient with a possibly work-related illness frequently seeks care
initially from a family physician. The physician's recognition of a
possible link between work and disease often determines the
diagnostic tests that are performed and the treatment that is
recommended. Early diagnosis of an occupational illness may prevent
progressive morbidity and disability from conditions such as
occupational asthma and may facilitate the reversal of adverse
effects from exposures to substances such as lead. The
identification of an occupational illness in one patient also
provides the physician with an opportunity to protect other patients
with similar exposures. |
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Risk & Management of Blood-borne
infections-Healthcare
(Large report-increased
down-load time) |
Exposure to
blood-borne pathogens poses a serious risk to health care workers (HCWs).
We review the risk and management of human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and
hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus) infections in HCWs and also discuss
current methods for preventing exposures and
recommendations for postexposure prophylaxis |
|
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Safety Precautions in Health Care Settings |
In addition to the need to continue to fund programs aimed at
stopping sexual transmission of HIV, HIV transmission in health care
settings requires immediate and sustained attention. Every year more
than 500,000 people contract HIV in health care settings. According
to numbers endorsed by the World Health Organization, every year at
least 260,000 people become infected through unsafe medical
injections, and at least 5% of new infections, or 255,000 people,
become infected through unsafe blood transfusions. |
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Six health workers get HIV |
The inquiry found
health-care workers had a one in three chance of
acquiring hepatitis B from contaminated "sharps", one in 30 of
getting hepatitis C and one in 300 of HIV. |
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South Africa: Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases
Amendment Bill |
COSATU wishes to
use the opportunity of its submission to Parliament’s Labour
Portfolio Committee on the Compensation for Occupational Injuries
and Diseases Amendment Bill ("COIDA Amendment Bill") to re-emphasise
the need for effectively enforced legislation to provide for the
compensation of South African workers who are injured or who
contract disease in the course of their employment. |
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Surveillance of Health Care Workers with HIV/AIDS
|
These cases
represented 5.1% of the 453,462 AIDS cases reported to CDC for whom
occupational information was known |
42 kb pdf |
|
Surveillance of occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens in
health care workers: the Italian national programme |
Health care workers
(HCWs) face a serious risk of acquiring bloodborne infections, in
particular hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (Hepatitis C Virus), and
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), all of which are associated with
significant morbidity and mortality. In 1986 the coordinating centre
of the Italian study on occupational risk of HIV Infection
|
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Surveillance is The First Step to Solving the Problem-EPINet |
Power Point
Presentation explaining a computer program that can be used as a
management tool to identify key areas where needlesticks occur
frequently, thus targeting areas for reduction of risk |
331 kb |
|
The Myth of Workers' Compensation Fraud |
In recent years,
the insurance industry's focus on cheaters and malingerers helped
push through national workers' compensation reform, a profitable
cost-cutting campaign supported by outrage over alleged abuse of the
system. The problem, however, is that the fraud image is false for
the vast majority of workers' compensation cases. Studies show that
only 1 to 2 percent of workers' compensation claims are fraudulent.
Certainly, the tens of thousands of workers killed every year were
hardly aiming for a free ride on their employer's tab. |
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The
needle-stick epidemic |
The
International Health Care Worker Safety Center (University of
Virginia) estimates more than 1 million accidental needle sticks
occur per year. Higher rates have been reported by the Centers for
Disease Control and medical journals. Although nearly invisible to
the public, this epidemic of accidental needle sticks is infecting
thousands of American medical workers with potentially lethal
diseases. It has reached a crisis stage, as each day medical workers
suffer some 2,400 accidental sticks. |
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The rate of transmission to susceptible health care workers
|
Gives probability
for infection |
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Through the Looking Glass
|
Report from Canada
on the results of acquiring Hepatitis C Virus thru blood transfusions and the
changes in lifestyle and standard of living |
305 kb pdf |
|
Unaffordable medication
|
Testimony of Alan
Sager on winning affordable medications for all Americans
|
27 kb pdf |
|
US Federal employees: Reporting Occupational Injuries, Illnesses and
Diseases |
The Federal
Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) provides monetary compensation,
medical care, vocational rehabilitation and Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) retention rights to Federal employees who sustain
disabling injuries, illnesses or diseases as a result of their
employment with the Federal Government. |
|
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What is the risk of acquiring hepatitis C for health care workers
and what are the recommendations for prophylaxis and follow-up after
occupational exposure to |
Hepatitis C virus (HCV)
is most efficiently transmitted by large or repeated percutaneous
exposures to blood, such as through the transfusion of blood or
blood products from infectious donors and sharing of contaminated
needles among injection drug users. Other bloodborne viruses, such
as the hepatitis B virus (HBV), are transmitted not only by overt
percutaneous exposures, but by mucous membrane and in apparent
parenteral exposures. Although these types of exposures are
prevalent among health-care workers, the risk factors for HCV
transmission in this occupational setting are not well-defined. |
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Work-related Death: A continuing Epidemic
|
Work-related
illnesses and injuries kill approximately 1.1 million people per
year. In 1992, an estimated 65,000 people in the United States died
of occupational injuries or illness |
71 kb pdf |
|
Worker's Compensation |
Too often,
employers and insurance carriers are able to avoid their
responsibility to injured workers simply because the workers do not
know their rights under the Workers' Compensation Act. Next to being
aware of the hazards of your particular workplace, the most
important weapon you can have to protect yourself in the event of a
work-related injury or fatality is your knowledge of your rights
under the Workers' Compensation Act. |
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|
Workers Compensation list |
List of Workers
Compensation offices throughout the US |
|
