TAN Annual Meeting Is Oct. 16 in Dallas; Registration Closes Soon

TAN Annual Meeting Is Oct. 16 in Dallas; Registration Closes Soon

The annual meeting of the Texas Alliance of Nonsubscribers is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Offices of Marsh McLennan (8144 Walnut Hill) in Dallas. There is no charge to attend for employees of member companies and guests invited by the organization. This year’s meeting will feature Division of Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Jeff Nelson, the always popular nonsubscriber legal panel discussion, an OSHA update, a report on the state of the economy, a presentation on legal reforms to be considered by the Texas Legislature, an overview of the 2024 elections in Texas, a preview of the 2025 state legislative session, and a “nonsubscriber best practices” roundtable discussion.

Lunch will be provided for attendees. The meeting always provides a great opportunity to network with others involved with nonsubscription. You may register by clicking here. If you have previously registered, you do not need to register again.

OSHA Releases Online Research Tool on Workplace Injuries

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has unveiled an online tool that gives users the ability to search the OSHA severe injury report database and view trends related to workplace injuries occurring in states covered by federal OSHA.

The Severe Injury Report dashboard allows users to search and download data by year, industry, state, establishment name, and Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System codes. The dashboard includes information on all severe injuries reported by employers covered under federal OSHA guidelines since 2015.

OSHA encourages workers and employers to use the dashboard to learn how severe injuries happen in their industries and use the agency’s available resources to help prevent workplace injuries. A brief instructional video is available to demonstrate how to use the dashboard.

Federal law requires all employers to notify OSHA of a work-related inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours of the incident. The agency’s compliance assistance specialists and on-site consultations are available across the country and in U.S. territories to help employers.

The instructional video is available here.

The full text of the regulation governing injury reporting is available here.

Survey Shows Increased Employee Productivity

Nearly seven in 10 hiring managers surveyed (68%) report an increase in employee productivity compared to one year ago, although more than one-third of workers (36%) said they are logging more hours compared to the previous year.

The survey from talent solutions and business consulting firm Robert Half highlights four trends shaping employee output:

  • Worker productivity is up. Hiring managers say improved management practices (33%), enhanced staff training (31%), and the adoption of new technologies (29%) are contributing to greater output from their teams.
  • AI plays a part. More than one-third of workers (36%) report improved efficiency due to emerging technologies such as generative AI. These tools help with laborious tasks and free up time for other projects.
  • Flexibility fuels focus. When asked about incentives that would boost engagement and productivity, workers identified hybrid work options (54%), windowed work options (46%), and a compressed weekly work schedule (20%).

The online survey was developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm in June 2024. It includes responses from more than 2,500 workers aged 18 or older in the U.S. and more than 2,500 managers with hiring responsibilities in finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources at companies with 20 or more employees in the U.S.

Using AI to Increase Workplace Safety

New safety technology is changing the way modern organizations keep workers safe. From Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its ability to rapidly process volumes of data faster than any team of workers could, to sensors that can detect a variety of dangerous situations, options for employers have expanded.

In fact, the National Safety Council’s (NSC) Work to Zero initiative has identified more than 100 relevant new environment, health and safety technologies that help mitigate workplace safety risks.

AI is the most talked-about new technology, but others include drones, computer vision, and virtual reality.

AI harnesses the power of mega computers to rapidly process data. It can discover patterns and correlations in a fraction of the time that humans can, helping to identify potential hazards. For example, sensors powered by AI can generate data in real time to issue alerts when specific safety thresholds are reached in areas such as noise levels, hazardous substance concentrations, and air quality.

AI is also being used to analyze incident reports and other safety data to identify root causes, contributing factors, and other issues that may have led to the incident.

Sensors are another technology playing key roles in workplace safety. Sensors are being used to alert workers when unauthorized people or vehicles enter restricted areas. They can detect various hazards in the workplace, such as harmful gases or pollutants. Temperature sensors prevent overheating in industrial settings and motion sensors detect when objects or people are too close to dangerous equipment.

Wearables include sensors that focus on a specific worker to provide an ergonomic or risk assessment to address worker behavior or proximity to hazards.

Some organizations use video technology synced with multiple cameras in the work facility to detect safety hazards such as spills on the floor, poor lighting, congested workspaces, or other obstacles.

You may click here for more information on the NSC’s Work to Zero program.

EPA Updates Safer Choice Label Criteria

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has updated the Safer Choice and Design for the Environment (DfE) Standard to strengthen the criteria products containing chemicals must meet to qualify for the voluntary Safer Choice label.

Major changes include updated packaging criteria to ensure primary packaging does not include any intentionally added PFAS or other chemicals of concern, strengthened sustainable packaging requirements for all Safer Choice-certified products to be recyclable or reusable, and updated criteria for wipe products to ensure certified wipes contain “Do Not Flush” language to help reduce damage to wastewater treatment systems.

The Safer Choice program makes it easier for consumers as well as purchasers for facilities like schools and office buildings to find cleaners, detergents and other products made with safer chemical ingredients. Similarly, the DfE program helps people find disinfectants that meet high standards for public health and the environment.

In addition to updated clarifying language, the final updated standard includes:

  • A new certification program for cleaning service providers that use Safer Choice- and DfE-certified products. The program will help protect workers who use cleaning products as well as the people who live or work in the spaces they clean.
  • New optional energy efficiency or use reduction criteria to encourage companies to use less water, use renewable energy, and improve energy efficiency.

This is EPA’s fourth update of the standard since its inception in 2009 and the first since 2015.

The updates to the standard are available here.

Surveys Show Decline in Emotional Health of Workers

A pair of recent surveys find workers’ emotional health and well-being declining under the pressure of toxic workplaces and economic worries.

According to a survey from Businessolver, 55% of CEOs and 50% of employees have experienced a mental health issue in the past year. Generation Z (Gen Z) self-reports the highest mental health issues at 65%. Likewise, 52% of Gen Zers say their workplace is toxic. And more than half of CEOs agree, up 10 points year-over-year (YOY).

Meanwhile, a survey from life insurer GuardianLife finds 36% of respondents rated their emotional health as “excellent” or “very good” — down from 49% in 2016. Some 24% reported an increase in anxiety, depression or other mental health needs in the past two years. One in three (34%) said their work-life balance was satisfactory.

Younger workers report worse mental health levels than their older counterparts, as 23% of Gen Z respondents said their emotional health was “excellent” or “very good” compared with 32% of all respondents. Only 23% of workers who also act as caregivers reported the same, compared with 33% of noncaregivers. Women (29%) were less likely than men (42%) to describe their emotional health as excellent or very good.

According to the Businessolver survey, respondents overwhelmingly indicated companies view someone with mental health issues as weak or a burden. That sentiment was shared by 81% of the CEOs surveyed, 72% of HR employees surveyed, and 67% of workers.

Almost twice as many Gen Z workers (65%) noted a mental health issue than did baby boomers (38%). Additionally, 60% of female respondents said they experienced a mental health issue, compared with 40% of male respondents.

The GuardianLife survey is available here.

The Businessolver survey is available here.

Employers Share Experiences in Hiring Recent College Grads

Gen Z has a reputation for being challenging to work with and difficult to manage. A recent survey shows hiring managers confirm that. Three in four companies surveyed in August (75%) say some or all the college graduates hired this year were unsatisfactory, and 60% of companies fired a recent college graduate they hired this year.

The survey was conducted by Intelligent.com and included 966 business leaders involved in hiring decisions.

This year, 94% of companies report hiring recent college graduates. Among these companies, only 25% state that all recent college graduate hires worked out well, while 62% say that only some were successful. Further, 14% report that only a few or none of the hires were successful.

The most frequently cited reasons for why these hires didn’t work out were a lack of motivation or initiative (50%), poor communication skills (39%), and a lack of professionalism (46%). Other factors included struggles with feedback (38%) and inadequate problem-solving abilities (34%).

More than one-fifth (21%) of hiring managers report that recent college graduates often can’t manage the workload. About 20% say they are often late to start work and 19% say they often don’t dress professionally. Additionally, 19% find that they often don’t use appropriate language for work, while 18% observe they are often late to meetings.

However, 84% of companies surveyed say they plan to hire recent college graduates in 2025. About 5% do not, and 10% are unsure.

More information about the survey is available here.

Study Examines "Stuck Workers'" Retaliatory Intentions

Workers stuck in jobs they want to leave are not positively impacted by organizational support and are more likely to engage in counterproductive behavior at work to retaliate against perceived organizational injustice, according to new research.

“Stuck workers” are defined as people who want to leave their current job but cannot because of a lack of job alternatives, family responsibilities, or other barriers. Recent research has found that more than half of the global workforce falls into this group.

A new study from Pennsylvania State University and the Centre for Responsible Business at the University of Birmingham (U.K.) finds that while in general a sense of company support reduces worker negativity toward their organization, it does not do so for stuck workers. Instead, stuck workers are more likely to engage in behavior that could include trying to look busy or wasting time, deliberately disobeying supervisor instructions, damaging equipment, and speaking poorly about the company to others.

The researchers surveyed 327 working adults in the United States and asked them to respond to three hypotheticals in which a business decision either protected worker safety, lowered worker safety, or was out of the CEO’s hands.

The results showed that while general perceived organizational support offered by the employer buffered employees’ negative reactions to the decisions that reduced their safety, it did not do so for stuck employees.

The study argues that this social exchange norm violation increases stuck employees’ motivation to behave negatively to restore balance in their relationship with their employer, even when perceptions of general organizational support are high.

The study is available here.

State News

Business Insurance
California Governor Signs Bill to Delay Comp Mandate for Contractors
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday signed a bill delaying by two years the implementation of a universal workers compensation coverage requirement for all contractors. Click here for full article.

The California Chamber of Commerce
CalChamber Urges Veto of Workers’ Comp Presumption Bill
The California Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of employer groups are asking the Governor to veto legislation creating a presumption that a heat-related illness or injury is caused by work regardless of any causal link between the workers’ compensation claim and the employer’s conduct. Click here for full article.

WorkersCompensation.com
Did Machinist’s Fear of Electricity After Shock Prevent him from Returning to his Job?
In Kentucky, an employee may be entitled to a three-times multiplier of his permanent partial disability benefits if he can show he lacks the physical capacity to return to the type of work he was performing at the time of injury. Click here for full article.

SHRM
Massachusetts Revises Its Workers’ Compensation Notice Requiremen
The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) has published a revised workers’ compensation notice to employees, which Massachusetts employers should use starting Sept. 16. Click here for full article.

Property Casualty 360
N.H. Worker’s Comp Sees 13th Consecutive Year of Loss Cost Reductions
In early September, the New Hampshire Insurance Department (NHID) announced that it had approved a rate proposal filed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) that would reduce voluntary loss costs by an average of 5.6%. Click here for full article.

Insurance Journal
Washington Metal Fabricator Faces Felony in $340K Workers’ Comp Scam
A Washington man who claimed he was too injured to work while operating a metal fabrication shop faces a felony charge in an alleged $340,000 workers’ compensation scam. Click here for full article.

General News

K-12 DIVE
3 Ways Districts Can Better Manage Workers’ Comp Programs
On-the-job injuries can happen at schools — and when a staff member gets hurt or becomes ill because of their job, it’s important that employees feel safe and supported when they return to work. Click here for full article.

Business Insurance
Newer Workers, Pain Sufferers Among Likely Comp Claimants Seeking Attorneys: Study
Attorney involvement in a workers compensation claims are most prevalent among workers with less than six months tenure, according to a study released Wednesday by the Waltham, Massachusetts-based Workers Compensation Research Institute. Click here for full article.

Risk & Insurance
To Reduce Litigation in Workers’ Comp, Start with the Injured Worker Experience
Why do so many injured workers seek out an attorney following a workplace injury? The Grand Bargain was formulated to prevent that kind of ongoing turmoil. Yet many injured workers seek representation for a variety of reasons. Click here for full article.

WorkersCompensation.com
Could Flight Attendant who Landed in Rehab Get FMLA Interference Claim off the Ground?
The FMLA affords employees who take medical leave the right to reinstatement once they return from leave. A case involving a United flight attendant who sent ill-considered messages to a former romantic partner who also worked at the company, addresses whether there are limits to that rule. Click here for full article.

NCCI
Impairment Ratings in Workers Compensation: Gaining Insights From Claim Demographics
This research focuses on analyzing impairment ratings, incorporating a diverse range of claim characteristics like age, medical condition, state, surgery count, and more. Click here for full article.

Insurance Business
“It Keeps Close to 90% of Injuries from Having to Become a Claim at All”
Businesses are seeing workers’ compensation rates trend upwards, with premiums becoming more expensive. Brady Ellis, chief operating officer at Whiteboard Risk & Insurance Solutions, told IB that this upward trend in rates is forcing companies to become more vigilant about how they manage their workers’ compensation programs. Click here for full article.

Insurance Business
Is Workers’ Comp at a Tipping Point?
Workers’ compensation insurance has been a competitive and profitable market for several years, with insureds enjoying lower rates and bountiful capacity from carriers. Click here for full article.

The Harvard Gazette
Weight-loss Drug Linked to Fewer COVID Deaths
A trial study has found that injections of the weight-loss drug Wegovy reduced the risk of deaths from COVID-19 by about a third while also significantly reducing risk of death from cardiovascular disease or any other cause. Click here for full article.

IFL Science
USA Failing To Learn Lessons From COVID-19 In The Face Of Bird Flu, Experts Warn
The USA is failing to learn lessons from COVID-19 as the world reconciles with a possible future bird flu pandemic, experts have warned. In a recent Perspective article, public health specialists have laid out their concerns that mistakes made during the response to COVID-19 may be repeated next time around, and that leaders in the country “seem unprepared” for such an eventuality. Click here for full article.

University of Connecticut
New Study Provides Insight to Why Covid Vaccines Hit Some Harder than Others
When you got the SARS-CoV2 vaccine to protect against COVID-19, you may have experienced severe side effects. Or maybe you didn’t. Click here for full article.

Yale Medicine
COVID Vaccines Reduce Long COVID Risk, New Study Shows
The good news is, the risk of developing Long COVID has dropped significantly since the start of the pandemic—and, according to a new study, we have COVID-19 vaccines to thank for much of this decline. The bad news is, the risk of developing this post-acute infection syndrome remains substantial. Click here for full article.

CNBC
COVID-19, Flu, RSV: Vaccine Recommendations for Fall—and the Best Time to Get Them
Fall is nearly here, and that means it’s time to schedule the vaccinations that will help bolster your immune system and better protect yourself against some of the most popular respiratory illnesses. Click here for full article.

CNN
Study Shows How the Pandemic May Have Affected Teens’ Brains
The pandemic’s effects on teenagers were profound — numerous studies have documented reports of issues with their mental health, social lives and more. Click here for full article.

CDC
Current Epidemic Growth Status (Based on Rt) for States
As of September 17, 2024, we estimate that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 3 states, declining or likely declining in 23 states, and are stable or uncertain in 22 states. Click here for full article.

Wexner Medical Center
New National Survey Shows Hesitancy About Vaccines This Fall
With flu season just around the corner and COVID-19 cases on the rise, a new nationwide survey from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center reveals hesitancy around vaccines this fall. The new data comes just as this year’s flu shot rolls out and following the FDA’s approval of an updated round of COVID-19 vaccines. Click here for full article.