Report: N.Y. Private Sector Occupational Injuries Cost Economy $10.9B in 2010-12

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Private sector occupational injuries in New York cost the state economy $10.9 billion between 2010 and 2012, according to a report released this month from the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

The report, titled “Aim Higher: New York Should Reform its Workers’ Compensation Laws to Reduce Injuries,” recommends that the state require that all employers implement “workplace safety and loss prevention” programs. These programs are currently required only for a sliver of private employers, Public Citizen said in its report.

“Safety should not be optional. The economic and health toll of avoidable workplace injuries is unconscionable, and the state must act now to improve this appalling situation,” said Keith Wrightson, worker safety and health advocate at Public Citizen and the report’s author.

“New York should require that all employers implement the workplace safety and loss prevention programs. Other states that have required the programs for all employers have decreased worker injuries while lowering costs, and New York should seize that opportunity as well,” Wrightson said.

From 2010 to 2012 (the most recent data available), the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 463,400 injuries and illnesses among private sector employees in New York. Of these, 245,600 workplace injuries and illnesses were considered serious incidents of worker injury that caused days away from work, job transfer or restriction of duties.

In 2012 alone, New York reported 146,300 private industry injury and illness cases, 79,500 of which were considered serious injuries, involving days away from work, job transfer or restriction of duties. Service-providing industries accounted for 83 percent of the injuries and illnesses that year, disproving a common misconception that service sector jobs are less of a concern for worker safety.

Overexertion (due to lifting and moving) was the leading event in the state that caused a workplace injury in the service sector. These injuries often strike service sector workers, such as hotel workers lifting mattresses to change sheets.

Currently, New York law requires only some employers to implement workplace safety and loss prevention plans, sometimes known as injury and illness prevention programs.

Covered employers must develop a comprehensive plan to identify and address workplace hazards before they cause injuries or illnesses. Typically, these plans involve employers and workers collaborating on an ongoing basis to achieve optimal safety conditions in the workplace. Under the existing law, only employers who have particularly high injury rates – as determined by assessed workers compensation premiums that are at least 20 percent higher than average – are required to have such programs.

Public Citizen recommends that New York reform its workers’ compensation regulation to require that all private sector employers have such safety programs.

The new report says these programs are needed in part because federal worker safety programs have minimal resources and rules have not kept up with new workplace dangers in a service-oriented economy.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) budget for fiscal year 2012 was $583 million, amounting to about $4 per U.S. worker.

In 2012, there were only 115 OSHA inspectors assigned to inspect 592,148 New York state workplaces (including state and local government workplaces). The federal agency inspected 5,511 New York workplaces in 2012, just 0.93 percent of the state’s workplaces. At this rate, the report says, it would take OSHA approximately 110 years to inspect each workplace in New York state once.

Source: Public Citizen

http://www.scribd.com/doc/225659697/Public-Citizen-New-York-Should-Reform-Its-Workers-Compensation-Laws-to-Reduce-Injuries

Topics Trends New York Workers' Compensation

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