HEALTH CARE WORKERS, SOCIAL SERVICES WORKERS, AND CALIFORNIA WORKERS’ COMPENSATION: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Work injuries are often studied based upon sector and occupation. Studies can impact how workers are trained and treated.  Health Care Workers and Social Assistance Workers were recently studied in the article “Occupational Injuries in California Health Care and Social Assistance Industry”  2009 to 2018.”  Kerri Wizner, Fraser W. Gaspar, Adriane Biggio, Steve Wiesner 06 June 2021 https: //doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.306

The study addressed a large variety of health care occupations including nurse, aides, assistances, service staff, administrative staff, and technicians. The study looked at the different healthcare facilities including hospitals, residential care sites, and social services providers.

The article will discuss the study’s data, conclusions and impact on Health Care Workers.

What Was the Study’s Purpose?

The study looked at injury prevention workforce health, and injury-related cost savings. Supra.

Thus, a typical risk management agenda was addressed.  In short, questions such as “what facilities have problems with work injuries?”, “what occupations have problems with work injuries?”, and “what type of work activities cause work injuries?” are addressed.

What Are the Injury Rates of Import in the Health Care and Services Fields?

Sex: Women sustain the majority of work injuries.   The data showed that “the majority of injuries were sustained by women (78.1%), with three-quarters of cases affecting individuals aged 32 to 53 years.”  Supra.  Note: This may relate to two factors.  A greater amount of women working in the field.  Also, women may have greater physical challenges of dealing with large or immobile patients.  As noted in the study, lifting was found to be a significant source of injury.

Facilities:  The injury rates differed in each industry subgroups.   Hospitals had the highest number of claims with Ambulatory Care, second, Nursing Care, third. The Social Assistance Group had the least claims.  Supra. Note: Hospitals are often less specialized that nursing care facilities.  Thus, there are more tasks and more activities performed in a non-ergonomic fashion in a hospital.  Likewise, there may be far more activity. Thus, the data is logical.

Occupation: Health care and social assistance settings each have a different proportion of job types, given the variety of health services offered. … Across all settings within California, nurses had the highest proportion of injuries (22.1%), followed by aides/assistants (20.4%), services staff (13.2%), administrative staff (11.0%), and technicians (10.3%). The highest proportion of injury occurred in nursing jobs in hospitals (32.2% vs 3.2%-20.6%), aides/assistants in nursing/residential care sites (40.2% vs 12.1%-16.7%), and social services in social assistance settings (40.6% vs 3.2%-8.0%).”  Supra. Note: This finding is not surprising as the largest percentage of injuries are reported within the most physically challenged positions.

Types of Injuries: There was an analysis of the types of Injuries reported. The study reported “[s]trains and tears (defined by the State of California as an injury of the muscle or the musculotendinous unit13), were the most common injury, representing 34.4% of all claims, followed by contusions (11.0%), sprains (injury to ligaments) (10.0%), other specific injuries (9.6%), and puncture wounds (7.7%). These injury types were similar across the industry sub-groups apart from ambulatory care, which had a higher proportion of puncture wounds than other settings (14.1% vs 3.4%-5.9%, respectively).”  Note: Most of the injuries were of a musculoskeletal nature.  The other concern in the healthcare setting is puncture wounds which can be caused by sharps and needles.

Activities Causing Injury: There was an analysis concerning what activities caused the work injuries.  The study found “[a]cross all settings, lifting injuries (10.8%) and strains NOC (9.1%) were the most common causes of injury, followed by miscellaneous NOC causes (6.6%), repetitive motion (6.0%), and injury due to being struck accidentally or on purpose by a fellow worker, patient, or other person (5.9%).”

Parts of the Body Injured:  There are an analysis concerning which body parts were most frequently injury.  Per the study, ”[t]he low back was the most frequently injured body part, representing 13.6% of all claims; followed by multiple body parts (12.8%), finger(s) (9.1%), shoulder(s) (6.8%), and knee(s) (6.1%). Nursing/residential care settings reported the highest proportion of both lifting injuries (15.8% vs 8.9%-9.9%) and low back injuries (16.9% vs 10.0%-13.1%) as compared to the other settings.” [emphasis added] Note: Most body parts injured are within the musculoskeletal systems.

Ambulatory care:

The rates for ambulatory care employee injuries were found to be increasing. Supra.  Note: Ambulatory care relates to outpatient centers.   Many hospital patients are moved to rehabilitation centers to begin the rehabilitation process.  These settings can require patients to begin performing physical activities in a weakened state.  Thus, there are significant injury risks for assisting workers.

What May Result from This Study?

The main findings were the high rates of injury in both the hospital setting as well as for ambulatory care employees.    Extra safety and training measures may likely be implemented to lower the injury rates with the setting and within the employee class.

What If I Need Advice?

If you would like a free consultation regarding workers’ compensation, please contact the Law Offices of Edward J. Singer, a Professional Law Corporation. We have been helping people in Central and Southern California deal with their workers’ compensation cases for 27 years. Contact us today for more information.

RADIOGRAPHIC WORKERS AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Radiology Workers have safety challenges when they perform their duties. They are exposed to a variety of things that make them susceptible to work injuries.

In event they get injured while performing their duties, they would be entitled to file a workers’ compensation claim to collect benefits and receive medical care.

This article will discuss the Radiology Worker Occupation, Industrial Exposures that place them at risk of industrial injury and the mechanisms of injury.

What Are Radiographic Workers?

Radiographic Workers are medical professions. They handle medical imaging of the human body.  There are many different technologies that are used to perform such imaging.  Imaging studies that that Radiologists can perform Computed Tomography Scan (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Nuclear Medicine Imaging (This includes Positron-Emission Tomography (PET)), Ultrasound, and X-Ray.

Some of these imaging studies require the patients to have dyes injected into their bodies to allow for enhanced imaging.

Radiographic Workers can work in both the public and private sections. They can work in hospitals, prisons and other medical facilities.

What Types of Medical Conditions Can Radiology Workers Be Exposed to at Work?

Radiology Workers can sustain industrial injuries to practically all body parts and systems.  Radiology Workers are at risk of infectious disease in the workplace. Radiology Workers are at risk of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace. Occupational Health and Radiation Safety of Radiography Workers Hasna Albander

What is an Infectious Exposure? Are There Different Forms?

Infectious exposure is an exposure that is transmitted from one source into a host.  The term host refers to the infected person. Thus, the Radiology Worker becomes the host of the infectious disease. Essentially, these occupational exposures enter the worker’s body and causes illness.

How Many Forms of Infectious Exposures Are There?

There are six forms of Infectious exposure.  They are Direct Transmission, Indirect Transmission via Fluids, Indirect Transmission by vectors, Indirect transmission by Vehicles ,Indirect Transmission via Vehicles, Indirect Transmission via Airborne Media, and Indirect Transmission via Droplets. Occupational Health and Radiation Safety of Radiography Workers Hasna Albander

What Is Direct Transmission?

Direct Transmission is when the infectious agent is transmitted by direct contact of the infectious agent from one individual to a susceptible host (worker. CDC)  For example, direct transmission can be skin to skin contact.

What Is Indirect Transmission via Fluids?

Indirect Transmission by Fluids. An example of indirect transmission by fluid is urine.

What is Indirect Transmission via Vectors?

Indirect Transmission by Vectors. The term vector essentially refers to insect bites. Examples of transfer by vector would be bites from mosquitos, fleas and ticks.

What is Indirect Transmission via Vehicles?

Indirect Transmission by Vehicles is essentially when an object carries the infection. Examples of vehicles include a number of items such as food, water, biologic products (blood), and fomites (inanimate objects such as handkerchiefs, bedding, or surgical scalpels). CDC.

What is Indirect Transmission by Airborne Media?

Indirect Transmission by Airborne Media is when the agents are suspended in the air.  An example of this agents includes dust and droplets that contain microorganisms or spores.  CDC

What is indirect Transmission by Droplets?

Indirect Transmission by Droplets is when there is a liquid transmission. Eye, Nose or Mouth fluids are examples of this transmission. Thus, sneezing, coughing and tearing are forms of droplet transmission.

What Types of Illnesses Can Arise from Transmission?

Per the CDC, “[w]orkers in the healthcare industry are also at risk for influenza as well as airborne (such as tuberculosis “[TB]) and percutaneously transmitted (such as HIV) infection from patients” Su CP, de Perio MA, Cummings KJ, McCague AB, Luckhaupt SE, Sweeney MH. Case Investigations of Infectious Diseases Occurring in Workplaces, United States, 2006-2015. Emerg Infect Dis. 2019;25(3):397-405. doi:10.3201/eid2503.180708

What Are Examples of Cumulative Trauma Musculoskeletal Exposures of Radiology Workers?

There are a variety of ways that repetitive trauma musculoskeletal injuries are described in literature. This includes recurrence motion injury, repeated strain and cumulative trauma disorder. Occupational Health and Radiation Safety of Radiography Workers, Hasna Albander

Cumulative Trauma injuries can be specific to the imaging that the worker performs.  For example, “[c]omputerized technologists are more likely to experience spinal stress and RSI from intensive keyboard work. Intense keyboard work. RSI keyboard affects CTD ‘s hands and grips. Like tendinitis, carpal and ganglion syndrome. Occupational Health and Radiation Safety of Radiography Workers, Hasna Albander

Sonographers are also at risk for cumulative trauma injuries due to equipment design, low posture, constant transducer pressure, difficult movements, unsatisfactory breaks, and overall stress. Occupational Health and Radiation Safety of Radiography Workers, Hasna Albander

What If I Need Advice?

If you would like a free consultation regarding workers’ compensation, please contact the Law Offices of Edward J. Singer, a Professional Law Corporation. We have been helping people in Central and Southern California deal with their workers’ compensation cases for 27 years. Contact us today for more information.

 

 

 

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