Author: Patty Busse

Why you have to stay vigilant on work injuries

Posted on by Patty Busse

Ideally, your employees will let you or a supervisor know right away any time they are injured at work, even if it’s a minor injury.

But what if they don’t? Can you be legally required to report an injury that was never reported to you?

In many states, the answer is yes. If you become aware of an injury by seeing it occur, or even suspecting it, it can be considered “constructive notice.” In other words, you should have known.

This matters because there are state deadlines that limit how much time can elapse between the time you become aware of an injury and when workers’ compensation benefits must be paid or denied.

This means that as soon as you’re aware of an injury, it’s important to report it to SFM so your claims representative can investigate and make a determination on whether workers’ compensation benefits are due.

Following are a few things you can do to make sure work injuries are reported right away at your organization:

  • Train your supervisors to watch out for work injuries and report them immediately. Make sure they know it’s their responsibility to report all injuries as soon as they learn of them. It’s not up to the employee to decide whether to report.
  • Help supervisors remember how to report injuries through the SFM Work Injury Hotline by hanging posters and through other communications.
  • Make sure supervisors and employees know that all work injuries, no matter how minor, should be reported immediately.
  • If you suspect that the employee was not injured as reported, it’s still important to report the injury right away. Let your claims representative know your concerns. We have the resources to investigate fraud.

What happens when you choose the SFM Work Injury Hotline nurse option?

Posted on by Patty Busse

When you report a work injury by calling the SFM Work Injury Hotline at (855) 675-3501, you’ll have the option to let your employee speak with a nurse. This is a good option if your employee is unsure whether to seek medical treatment.

Here’s what happens when you call and choose the nurse option:

1. A nurse will answer.

The registered nurse will talk first with the supervisor, and then ask to speak with the employee.

2. The nurse will ask the employee questions about the injury.

These questions will help to determine severity of the injury and the best way to address it. The nurse uses patented software to assist them in asking injured workers the right questions to determine what type of medical care the employee needs.

3. The employee will get a treatment recommendation.

This could range from self-care to a clinic referral or even emergency treatment. If the nurse recommends self-care, instructions can be emailed or faxed to the workplace.

After the call, the nurse will send the report to SFM.

Injured workers who choose to self-treat can call back for further advice if their condition changes or worsens.

 

How the nurse service is provided

To make nurses available to injured workers, SFM partners with Medcor, a Midwest-based company that has pioneered workplace injury triage since 1997.

Medcor’s nurses are specially trained in responding to work injuries, and they operate under the supervision of a full-time medical director who is board certified in emergency medicine.

They use software that supports the company’s patented methods for making the best triage recommendations for injured employees.

The Medcor call center is accredited by URAC, an independent nonprofit health care standards organization.

 

Common questions about the nurse option

Here are answers to some of the questions you might have about the hotline:

  • What if the injured employee doesn’t speak English?
    The nurses can access interpreters for more than 200 languages.
  • Are third-party administrator, high-deductible and assigned risk plan policyholders included in this program?
    Clients whose claims are administered by SFM Risk Solutions (as a third-party administrator) or Superior Point (for the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Plan) are NOT included in this program. Policyholders with deductibles over $100,000 can choose whether to participate. If you are a third-party administration client and need to report, go to the Report a TPA injury page. If you are insured through the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk plan, report your claims on the Superior Point website .
  • Is there any fee for this service?
    No, it is free for most SFM policyholders to call the SFM Work Injury Hotline. The only exception is policyholders with deductibles over $100,000 that choose to participate.
  • What if an injured employee disagrees with the nurse’s recommendation?
    It is still up to the employee to decide whether to follow the nurse’s advice.

Four reasons why you should report work injuries immediately

Posted on by Patty Busse

If there was an easy way to ensure better medical treatment and a faster, smoother recovery for each of your organization’s injured workers, would you do it?

What if it was as simple as making sure that employees at your organization report injuries as soon as possible after they occur?

Here are four key benefits to reporting work injuries to your workers’ compensation insurer as soon as possible:

  • Better medical care.
    Sometimes injured workers are unsure whether they need medical care. That’s why we offer the option for workers to speak with a nurse when you report injuries by phone. This helps prevent both under-treatment and over-treatment.
  • Better accident investigation.
    Figuring out what caused an accident is important because it helps you determine how to best prevent a similar one in the future. Investigating an accident can also help bring your attention to the rare case in which an employee is committing fraud. Talking with witnesses and the employee right away will help you get the best picture of what happened, or misstatements in the employee’s story, before memory of the incident fades.
  • Better contact with medical providers.
    When you learn about work injuries before your employees seek treatment, you have the chance to be proactive in working with medical providers. You can give the injured employee a work ability report to be completed by the doctor so that you know which work restrictions the employee has, and you can let the doctor know you offer light-duty work.
  • Better communication with injured employees.
    Staying in contact with injured employees, and assuring them they’ll have jobs to return to is the number one way to prevent litigation. Injured employees tend to seek out attorneys when they feel their livelihood is in jeopardy. When your employees report their injuries right away, you get the opportunity to assure them right away that they will be taken care of.

Avoid fines by reporting injuries right away

An additional benefit of reporting injuries right away is avoiding fines.

Even if a claim isn’t compensable, insurers — and ultimately employers in some cases — face fines for late denial of liability if claims aren’t reported on time.

Fines range from $100 to $5,000.

Penalties can be twofold. Depending on the state, insurers can be charged both for reporting late and making late benefit payments to injured workers, so reporting late can cause fines to add up quickly. If there is a penalty due to the employer reporting late, the insurer may seek reimbursement from the employer, depending on the state. In some states, the employer may be fined directly by the regulatory agency.

If you question the legitimacy of a claim, still report it right away and let the claims representative look into it.

If you’re like most professionals, you have so much to do each day that some tasks must be delayed for another day. Don’t let injury reporting become one of those tasks. Instead, report right away to save yourself time in the long run and ensure the best outcome for your injured employee and your organization.

Need to know how to report an injury? If you’re an SFM policyholder, visit the Report an Injury page for details.

 This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

Laptop and tablet ergonomics

Posted on by Patty Busse

Ever notice how working on your laptop from the comfort of your own couch often leads to discomfort in your neck?

Mobile devices like laptops, tablets and cell phones allow you to work anytime, anywhere. But this can make it harder for you to be sure you’re doing it safely.

These devices all pose ergonomic challenges, but there are ways to minimize the risk.

The ergonomic problems with laptops

The ergonomic challenge laptops present is simple. Because the keyboard and monitor are attached, either the keyboard is too high to properly position your wrists and arms, or the monitor is too low to look straight ahead as you work. So, if you use your laptop computer in your lap, as the name suggests, neck pain will likely follow.

How to use a laptop on a desk at home

If you’re working on your laptop at a desk in your home office, you can use either a docking station, or an external keyboard and mouse with a riser to work comfortably. A docking station connects your closed laptop to an external keyboard, mouse and monitor. Risers lift the laptop monitor up to eye level, and the external keyboard can be positioned so your arms and wrists are in a neutral position. A riser can simply be a few books to set the laptop on, or any other means of raising the level of the monitor.  It is best to have the remote keyboard and mouse at the same level, to ensure proper posture with both wrists.

What to look for to achieve a neutral position:

  • Eyes looking straight ahead at the monitor, not up or down
  • Upper arms resting comfortably at your sides
  • Elbows bent at a 90- to 100-degree angle
  • Wrists are straight and flat when using your keyboard and mouse, not flexed, or deviated sideways, up or down.

If multiple people are using the same workspace, you may need to get an adjustable riser.

How to comfortably use a laptop on the go

Unless you carry a riser and external keyboard around with you, it’s not likely that you’ll be able to create an ergonomic setup at a coffee shop, library or inside your car. Minimize the amount of time you spend working on your laptop in these environments. If you need to move around while entering information into your laptop for some reason, such as doing inventory, use a cradle that goes over the shoulders.

It is important also to reduce any glare that may be coming from nearby windows or if working outdoors in the sun.  This glare can make it difficult to view the screen and, over time, could result in headaches.

Choosing an ergonomic laptop bag

When you’re choosing a laptop bag, remember, two straps are better than one — making a backpack a good choice — and carrying the bag over your shoulder is better than carrying it in your hands. People tend to carry things in their hands at the end of their fingertips, which pulls on their tendons.

Make sure not to overextend your reach when moving the bag in and out of your car.

Avoiding ‘tablet neck’

Reading on a tablet computer isn’t ergonomically worse than reading a book. Anytime you’re holding your head forward for a prolonged period of time, it’s going to cause neck discomfort. So what’s the issue with tablets?

“It’s not apples to apples because these machines can keep you a lot more captivated than a book can,” said SFM Loss Prevention Representative Jason Clausen. “You’re on it all the time.”

And while tablet computers weren’t really built for doing a lot of data entry, they’re being used more and more for productivity.

If you find yourself using your tablet more like a laptop, use an external keyboard and follow the guidelines above to properly set up your workstation. Also, consider using dictation software to minimize typing on the device.

In other cases when you’re using a tablet for an extended period of time, take short breaks to stand up and stretch your neck and arms. For more on stretching, see our page on preventing strains and sprains.

Tips for any mobile device

In today’s society, it’s not realistic to think you will never work with your computer on your lap or your head bent over your tablet, but it’s important to limit the amount of time spent working in these less-than-ideal positions and take regular micro breaks while doing it.

“If you give yourself short, periodic recovery periods, you can really reduce the chance for musculoskeletal disorders,” Clausen said. “Ergonomic risk factors are largely a function of repetition, force and duration.”

More resources:

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Research finds stress is bad for workers, bad for business

Posted on by Patty Busse

Work-related stress has significant costs for worker health and for a business’s bottom line. Three studies looked at stress in the workplace from different angles.

The workplace and health study

A workplace and health study described in the Harvard Gazette reported widespread stress at work, with 43 percent of workers saying their job is bad for their stress, and only 16 percent saying work had a positive impact on their stress levels. Forty-six percent of working women say their job has a bad impact on their stress level, compared to 40 percent of men.

The poll, conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, National Public Radio and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found that, “One in five working adults (20 percent) say they have experienced a great deal of stress at work in the past 12 months, while 37 percent have experienced some stress at work.”

Workers facing challenging circumstances, such as workers caring for a sick family member, working 50 or more hours per week or those in self-reported dangerous jobs, were more likely to report that work harmed their stress levels. For the workers who described their job as dangerous, 52 percent say their job had a negative impact on their stress level.

Stress influences workers’ compensation claim frequency and cost

One large study of nearly 17,000 employees across multiple industries examined relationships between employee health risk factors and workers’ compensation claims.

The study by the Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health, “Health risk factors as predictors of workers’ compensation claim occurrence and cost ,” was published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

Researchers found that workers who experienced stress at work were more likely to experience a workplace injury, and certain sources of stress influenced the overall cost of the workers’ compensation claim.

“Stress at work is predictive of workplace accidents — if you want to prevent workers’ comp claims, you need to look at causes of stress in the work environment,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Natalie Schwatka, in Risk & Insurance .

Mortality and health costs attributed to workplace stress

The third report analyzed 10 sources of stress and their impact on health care costs.

Professors Joel Gol, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Stefanos A. Zenios determined that workplace stress contributes to a staggering 120,000 deaths a year and costs from $125 to $190 billion a year in their paper, “The relationship between workplace stressors and mortality and health costs in the United States.”

The stress factors related to the workplace included lack of health insurance, work-family conflict, job insecurity and high work demands. According to their mathematical model, job insecurity and high work demands each contribute to about 30,000 deaths a year. High demands at work results in an estimated $48 billion in health care spending.

The Harvard Business School reported on the results, saying, “All of these numbers point to conclusions that they suspected — that workplace stress is a significant contributor to both health problems and costs.”

When looking at all three studies together, the research paints a picture of just how expensive stress can be, both for workers’ health and for their employers.

Retirement presumption can affect workers’ comp benefits

Posted on by Patty Busse

By Jessica Stoeckman, Esq.

When injured workers receiving permanent total disability (PTD) benefits advance to retirement age, the impact on their benefits differs by state.

For example, in Wisconsin and South Dakota, PTD benefits are owed for life. In Iowa and Nebraska, PTD benefits are owed as long as the individual remains disabled.

In Minnesota, depending on the date of injury, an employee receiving PTD benefits under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act will either have benefits for life, will be presumed retired at the age of 67 or 72, or will be eligible for only five years of PTD benefits.

Injuries prior to October 1, 1995

For injuries prior to this date, Minnesota Statute 176 did not provide a presumption of retirement, hence, employees were eligible for lifetime PTD benefits.

Injuries from October 1, 1995 to September 30, 2018

On October 1, 1995, Minnesota Statute 176.101, subdivision 4 was revised to include a presumption of retirement at the age of 67. This presumption is rebuttable, or in other words, the employee could dispute this presumption based upon the employee’s testimony and the totality of the circumstances surrounding retirement.

Factors to be considered include:

  1. The employee’s expressed intent to retire or continue working;
  2. Whether an application for Social Security benefits was made;
  3. Evidence of financial need for employment income and the adequacy of retirement income;
  4. Whether the employee had initiated discussion of retirement;
  5. Whether the employee engaged in or sought vocational rehabilitation; and
  6. Whether the employee was working after age of presumption.


Davidson v. Thermo King, 64 W.C.D. 380 (W.C.C.A. 2004).

If it was clearly established that an employee that was injured beyond the age of 67 had rebutted the presumption of retirement, that employee could receive PTD benefits through his or her lifetime.

Injuries after October 1, 2018

Due to the trend of employees working later in life, for injuries occurring after October 1, 2018, the presumption of retirement was pushed to age 72. 

Additionally, the updated legislation provides a cap of five years if an employee was injured after the age of 67. In other words, if an employee was injured at the age of 69 and deemed permanently and totally disabled, that employee could receive PTD benefits from the age 69 through 74, rather than the potential lifetime of benefits under the earlier legislation.

Tip for employers: Document employees’ references to retirement

If any statement is made by an employee about intent to retire, make a note of the statement for future reference. Employers also should document the circumstances of any retirement discussions, such as who raised the issue and whether the employee approached the employer.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

Information for employers: Injuries while working from home

Posted on by Patty Busse

By Aaron Schmidt, Esq.

With more employees working from home due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, many policyholders have turned to SFM for answers on liability questions concerning the home office. 

As a starting point, many state courts view the home office as an extension of the workplace. 

In general, injuries sustained by an employee during normal working hours, and during the actual performance of work activities while at home are compensable. This does not, however, mean that injuries sustained by employees in a home office at the employee’s residence are necessarily afforded the same presumption of work relatedness as injuries occurring at the employer’s office. Therefore a careful analysis of the facts is necessary. 

Activities such as maintaining and setting up a home office, snow blowing a driveway, and shoveling snow from the driveway to allow for business travel have been found to be compensable in some states. Furthermore, the travel between an employee’s home and another portion of the employment premises have also been found compensable. 

It is important to note as well that the personal comfort doctrine, which holds compensable injuries sustained on the employer’s premises while attending to personal needs and comforts, has been extended to employees in some states where they were injured in their own homes while on breaks from work in their home office.  As an example, Minnesota courts have found compensable an employee that was injured when he fell down the stairs after leaving his home office on the way to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee.

To learn more about this topic, see our workers’ compensation and the home office telecommuter blog post.

SFM also has a number of other resources related to telecommuting and COVID-19 on our COVID-19 resources page.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

Cumulative injury coverage under workers’ comp

Posted on by Patty Busse

Some work injuries don’t occur at a specific time, but rather they are the result of a degenerative process that takes place over months or years. These are known as repetitive-motion or cumulative injuries.

In Minnesota, they are called “Gillette” injuries, a term that comes from the 1960 Minnesota Supreme Court case of Gillette v. Harold, Inc.

The Gillette case involved an employee who worked as a sales clerk at Harold Department Store. She underwent surgery on her left big toe for a condition that wasn’t work-related. Two months after the surgery, she returned to work and was performing all of her regular duties, which required her to be on her feet most of the day. As time went by, she experienced increasing pain in her right toe. Eventually her doctor said she couldn’t work because the prolonged walking and standing her job required was aggravating her toe. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the employee had sustained an injury that was compensable and defined a Gillette injury as, “a personal injury arising out of and in the course of employment as a result of the cumulative effect of repetitive minute trauma over a period of time.”

Deciding whether a compensable cumulative injury has occurred

To determine whether a Gillette injury has occurred, the court looks at:

  • The employee’s specific work activity.
  • How that work activity affects the employee.
  • The symptoms the employee experienced in doing the work over and over.
  • The physician’s opinion as to whether the employee’s work activity was a substantial contributing factor to his or her injury.

Determining the date of injury

Even though a cumulative injury isn’t the result of a specific incident, determining a date of injury is still required. The date of injury is significant because it is typically the insurer covering the employer at the date of injury that is responsible for providing workers’ compensation benefits. The general rule holds that a Gillette injury has not occurred or “culminated” until the employee has either lost time from work, required a change of duties because of his or her physical condition or sought medical treatment. There are frequent exceptions to this rule depending on the facts of each individual case.

For more information on Gillette injuries, download the following SFM resources:

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

Ergonomic and safety tips when working from home

Posted on by Patty Busse

By Stacie Goodrich, M.A., OTR/L, CDMS, QRC

Whether you work from home occasionally or exclusively, it’s worth taking a little time to set up your space in a way that allows you to be safe working from home and have a comfortable work set-up.

Follow these guidelines to avoid pain and strain while working from home.

Set up desk space to support neutral posture

Do your best to find a chair that supports your back, and positions you with at least a 90-degree angle at your hips. If available, use a table or desk surface that allows you to maintain a 90-degree angle at your elbows. Refer to our Ergonomic Workstation Education handout for the ideal positioning.

Ergonomic recommendations for laptops

The ergonomic challenge with laptops is that because the screen and keyboard are attached, using a laptop for a long time requires you to make a tradeoff between using a neutral head/neck posture and hand/wrist posture. Using a separate keyboard, mouse and monitor can help combat this.

Follow these recommendations when using a laptop to avoid pain and strain:

  • Find a comfortable chair that supports your back
  • Monitor your hand/wrist posture and height (see the Ergonomic Workstation Education handout for proper positioning)
  • Angle the laptop screen allowing for optimal viewing with your neck in as neutral alignment as possible
  • Use a separate keyboard, mouse and monitor, if available
  • Plan for frequent positional changes and postural breaks to allow for muscle recovery

Avoid neck strain when using your phone

If you use your phone often when working from home, use a headset or the speaker phone option to prevent neck strain. Avoid cradling a handset or mobile phone between your shoulder and head.

Take breaks often to move and stretch

Take frequent breaks to change up your posture and stretch throughout the workday. This is key to working comfortably for long periods of time.

Check out the videos on our Get Up & Move page to learn simple stretches that you can do during quick breaks throughout the workday.

Incorporate exercise throughout your workday by taking a few 10-minute walks. Remember that exercise is cumulative, so three 10-minute walks are just as beneficial as one 30-minute walk.

Check your home office environment for hazards

When working in an office, you likely have others examining the space for safety hazards, but when working from home, that is most likely up to you.

Check your surrounding environment for safety hazards:

  • Ensure the area surrounding your home workspace is free from clutter and tripping hazards
  • Evaluate your workspace for adequate lighting and position screens/monitors to minimize glare
  • Ensure your environment is free of excessive noise and private enough for you to work securely

Working from home should not be any less safe or comfortable than being in an office environment. Thinking through these considerations can help you stay free of pains and strains after a day at the home office.

Even unpaid interns may be eligible for workers’ comp

Posted on by Patty Busse

Remember when you were willing to work for little or no pay just to get some “real-world” experience in your chosen field?

If your organization helps students and recent graduates gain work experience by offering internships, be aware that even unpaid interns could be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

Paid interns are almost always covered by your workers’ compensation policy. Statutes and case law relating to unpaid interns vary by state.

A key issue in determining compensability is whether the student is under the control of the employer as far as work schedule and duties as well as the presence of room, board or other allowances. If so, that could give legal grounds to identify the unpaid intern as an employee.

Unpaid intern or volunteer?

Another issue is differentiating between an unpaid intern and a volunteer. While unpaid interns may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, volunteers generally aren’t. Interns are typically characterized as advanced students or recent graduates who are learning a professional field.

Some states get specific on interns who qualify for workers’ comp

Some state laws specifically list certain types of interns who are eligible for workers’ compensation.

For example, Minnesota law specifically states that, for purposes of workers’ compensation, student teachers are considered employees of the schools where they’re working. South Dakota law  stipulates that vocational program students working off school premises are considered school employees unless the offsite organization where they are working pays them or otherwise elects to cover them.

Contract between school and workplace key

When there’s a question whether an intern is eligible for workers’ comp, SFM’s attorneys often look to the contract between the intern’s school and the organization where the intern is working. In some cases, the contract explicitly states that the employer will provide workers’ compensation coverage. 

Related resource:

This fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Labor provides general information to determine whether interns must be paid minimum wage and overtime.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

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