CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK and TEXAS: THREE AMIGOS HIT HARD BY WORKERS’ COMP OUTLIERS
SAYS WLDI REPORT ON US GOVERNMENT SURVEY
Work Loss Data Institute – 4/22/02

Corpus Christi, TX – A new report on lost workdays due to occupational illness and injury from the Work Loss Data Institute (WLDI) confirms California, New York and Texas, joined at the frontlines by Puerto Rico, experience larger concentrations among injured workers of those out more than 6 weeks at a time than all other States for which data is available.  Furthermore, the three juggernauts, led again by sleeper Puerto Rico, also hold longer median durations of occupational lost work than each of the remaining 37 states for which data is available. 

The WLDI report is based on the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OSHA Form 200, primarily for 1999, the most recent year for which complete data is available.  The Survey of OII is a Federal/State program in which employer reports are collected annually from private industry establishments and processed by State agencies in cooperation with BLS, the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the field of labor economics and statistics.  The Survey of OII, Form 200 and the latest Form 300 also serve in part as a foundation for Official Disability Guidelines.

While large and belabored states, California, New York and Texas may experience strain on their respective workers’ compensation systems, do not expect these goliaths to falter, as some remodeling in recent years seems to be paying off, and much of the best work may be yet to come, with HB 2600 in Texas, for example.  In each of the three States since 1994 the annual number of occupational illness and injury cases has been on a steady and significant decline.  It may further benefit these and other hard hit institutions to emulate States like Minnesota and Iowa in the workers’ comp arena, which demonstrate excellent ratings in terms of median lost workdays and concentration of outlier cases.

Some of the most intriguing data within the OSHA Durations Report is focused on the national level, in sections devoted to Industrial and Event classifications.  For example, “Offices and clinics of dentists” experience median lost work durations greater than 97% of the 675 SIC codes (Standard Industrial Classification), and equal to that of “Oil and gas extraction”.  The question begs: what are all these dentists up to?  Regarding Event classifications, some distinctions include the following:  Among 3 digit classification codes (hierarchical codes range from 1 to 4 digits), the most common events are defined as “Overexertion in lifting”, “Fall to floor (walkway or other surface)” and “Struck by falling object”, all with comparatively interesting lost work distributions.  Among 4 digit codes, the most common event is defined as “Struck by slipping handheld object”.  Heads up!  Finally, within the 25 most common event codes, “Repetitive motion” has by far the longest median duration, at almost twice the length of the nearest remaining median for fellow 2 digit code “Fall to lower level”.  Specific events within these 2 digit category codes offer some valuable insight into their different distributions.

The 55-page WLDI special report, entitled OSHA Durations Report: Return-to-Work by State, Industry & Age (plus Diagnosis, Body Part, Event, Gender and Length of Service) investigates the differences, norms, distributions and outliers in days away from work for 1,702,470 occupational illness & injury cases from the year 1999 across 275 diagnostic classifications, 40 available states, 675 Standard Industrial Classifications, 8 age groups, 130 body part classifications, 236 event classifications, 3 gender categories (male/female/not reported) plus 5 different classifications measuring length of service.  It is available in both electronic and hardcopy formats for $250.

Work Loss Data Institute is an independent database development company focused on workplace health and productivity, and publisher of Official Disability Guidelines and Employer Health Register.

To purchase the OSHA Durations Report ($250), visit www.disabilitydurations.com/specreportorder.htm, or contact WLDI at 800-488-5548 (760-753-9992).