Recently in Freaky Comp Fridays Category

Fred Hosier of SafetyNewsAlert.com reports that a jury in Chicago has awarded the largest individual verdict in a popcorn lung disease case. A jury awarded $30.4 million to Gerardo Solis who has worked for about 20 years in plants that processed diacetyl, a butter flavoring commonly used as a popcorn flavoring. Read the entire story Jury awards $30.4 million in worker's popcorn lung lawsuit.  

Physician Dispensing in Florida

For an interesting take on physician dispensing in Florida, read Joe Paduda's recent blog post on the topic -- MCM's Investigative Reporting -- physician dispensing in Florida. Not only does Joe give you his honest opinion on why this topic should be causing you heartburn, he provides an excellent "peek behind the curtain" in terms of some of the players in the current political race for the governor's office in Florida. Very interesting reading.

Remembering Katrina

And if you haven't yet had enough of the news networks' review of what happened five years ago when Katrina redesigned New Orleans, here is a great piece by Julie Ferguson of Workers' Comp Insider, see Remembering Katrina. She does a fantastic job of correlating the devastation Katrina caused to the health issues that still prevail in the area. Sadly, while there has been a great deal of rebuilding of the physical structures there, and much has been accomplished, the toll has been very high on the health and emotional well-being of the residents there.

And one final thought on Katrina, watch the trailer for The Big Uneasy, a film by Harry Shearer, actor/comedian and New Orleans resident. The film played on the big screen for one day, August 30, to mark the five year anniversary of Katrina. It is a documentary film that explores whether or not the devastation Katrina caused was a natural or a man-made disaster. Hoping it will be available on DVD soon...

As reported by Fred Hosier at SafetyNewsAlert.com, here is yet another tale of a worker falling victim at his job. This time, a worker at Birdsong Peanuts in Suffolk, VA fell into a 50-foot tall storage tank filled with peanuts as he was checking the level of the nuts with a co-worker. The poor fellow was submerged 15 feet under the nuts by the time rescue workers arrived. Firefighters were able to get a self-contained breathing apparatus to the man as they were concerned he may suffocate buried under the peanuts. Luckily, the worker was eventually able to climb down a ladder on his own and seems to be fine.

Unfortunately, workers becoming entrapped in storage facilities that hold grains and similar materials is something that happens more often than you'd like to think. In related news, OSHA recently sent a letter to Grain Storage Facility Operators that clearly outlines the responsibilities of the storage facility operators to keep workers safe.

Today's blog post is directing you to Workers' Comp Insider where Julie Ferguson did a fantastic job earlier this week of pointing out the shortcomings in the way the media reported a recent farm accident involving two teen boys. Read Two farming teens killed in silo: media is mystified. I agree with Julie, rather than classifying accidents such as these as "mysteries" or "freak accidents" the media should rather emphasize the importance of proper safety precautions in order to minimize the risk of future accidents and deaths.  

In this case the two teens, one who worked on the Michigan farm for 4 years, and another teen who had only worked on the farm for a month, were found dead inside a silo that had been used to store a molasses mixture for cow feed. The teens were supposed to be washing the exterior. A ladder was found on the inside along with the two teens dead bodies.

A massive factory in the Southern Chinese city Shenzhen is known for assembling widely popular electronic goods such as Apple's iPhone and iPad as well as other products consumed by Americans from Sony, Hewlett Packard and Dell. Recently, a dark cloud has emerged over the factory where young workers have thrown themselves to their deaths. As a result, the Foxconn factory has recently been under intense scrutiny for its labor practices, where working conditions have been under fire for years.  

What is Foxconn?

Foxconn is a very successful Fortune 500 company that employs some 420,000 workers in Shenzhen alone. The company is a subsidiary of the Hon Hai Group, a Taiwan-owned company. Foxonn is the subcontractor for many of Apple's popular products on the market now.

Some Young Workers Would Rather Die

The dead have all been young migrant workers performing assembly-line work at the factory. Most workers earn the city's minimum wage which is $130 per month and most live on on-site dormitories with no family and very little time to make personal connections of any kind. The average shift is 10 hours per day, but many work significant overtime hours. As can be imagined, the work is long, monotonous and boring. Foxconn runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in an attempt to keep up with the demand for the products manufactured there.

Suicide Rate at Foxconn Less than National Average

Some reports show that compared to the national suicide rate for China, Foxconn's suicide rate is actually lower than the norm. However, some question if it is a fair comparison given that the most recent suicide statistics for China are from 1999.

Read the full story as reported by Time Magazine, Chinese Factory Under Scrutiny as Suicides Mount or read Something Rotten at Apples Core? as reported by the Daily Mail Online.

Even if you don't really like soccer, you can't help but get caught up in all the hype of World Cup Soccer. It only comes around once every four years. This year, the games are being held in South Africa. If you've caught a glimpse of the games, you can't help but notice the really annoying sound that persists through the duration of the game. It is deafening even through the television speakers.

Vuvuzelas: FIFA sanctions signature South African horn

Well, the Niosh Science Blog recently posted an article called Vuvuzelas: What's the Buzz? discussing the potential hazards of the noisemakers in question. They are called vuvuzelas. The vuvuzela is a plastic, meter-long South African horn and it has been sanctioned by FIFA as part of the "signature South African World Cup" games.

South African Medical Journal Study Says: Too Loud!

The article mentions a study published in the South African Medical Journal that found that the noise output created by the vuvuzela, an average of 131 decibels, is dangerously high. The maximum peak level can reach as high as 144 decibels. By comparison, a jet engine at takeoff measures between 130 and 140 decibels. Wow. That's loud! The study also found significant changes to participants hearing and cochlear responsiveness after being exposed to such high levels of noise. Thus, the results of the study led researchers to recommend hearing protection for football match spectators.

Fans go crazy for World Cup Soccer and consider themselves extremely lucky to be able to attend a game. But what about the players, event workers, broadcasters and referees who are repeatedly exposed to such high levels of noise? Let's hope they are wearing ear plugs.

Ban the Horns?

The study and Niosh warn that hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears) are potential hazards due to such exposure and can significantly interfere with communication and quality of life. Some soccer teams are calling for a ban of the horns. However, vuvuzelas continue to be allowed at the games and pose major hearing hazards to anyone exposed to the obnoxious noise.

Want to catch the buzz? Go get some ear plugs and visit ESPN shows live streaming videos of World Cup Soccer.

In SafeteyNewsAlert's post Pot-smoking worker mauled by grizzly,  we learn of a worker at a Montanna bear park who was mauled by a grizzly bear as he attempted to feed the bears. The problem is, he treated himself to some pot smoking before starting his day at work.

When Brock Hopkins filed a workers' comp claim for his severe injuries, his claim was initially denied. Montanna law states that "An employee is not eligible for benefits otherwise payable under this chapter if the employee's use of alcohol or drugs not prescribed by a physician is the major contributing cause of the accident."

Hopkins appealed the decision and ultimately won workers' comp benefits for the injuries he sustained. The judge on the case ruled that although evidence was presented that showed he was impaired, due to smoking pot, it did not mean that his impairment was the major contributing cause of the attack.

Would you consider impairing your judgement before interacting with grizzly bears? As usual, the posted comments are very entertaining.

There is a video circulating the web of Steven L. Newman, CEO of Transocean, performing a dance in Mubai, India, reportedly to celebrate the improved safety record of Transocean's India Division. Who's Transocean? They owned the drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and unleashing the environmental disaster we now see growing bigger every day on the news. The Newman Safety Dance is posted on the company's online magazine called Beacon.

Comp Time posted about it last week in their post Transocean's Bollywood Safety Dance and it is also seen on SafetyNewsAlert.com in Do videos shine light on oil drilling company's safety culture? Safety News Alert's post digs a little deeper into the issue that OSHA is currently exploring. They are investigating how far companies will go to provide incentives to employees to hide or cover up injuries or problems in order to improve their safety records. As Fred Hosier reported in his post, OSHA assistant secretary Dr. David Michaels would prefer to see a focus on reducing hazards, not a decline in injuries. Listen to a webcast with Dr. Michaels called "What to do About Safety Incentives."

Perhaps Transocean's CEO should spend less time dancing and more time considering whether or not the company is doing enough to protect workers from injury or death. Do you also wonder what he's doing to prevent or avoid disasters like the one we are witnessing right now?

Earlier this week, Jon Coppelman made a post titled Dueling Disabilities on Lynch Ryan's weblog Workers' Comp Insider. In the article, he discusses the complexities involved in a case where two employees have severe allergic reactions. The accommodation made for one employee, Emily who is highly allergic to paprika, allows her to bring her assistance dog to work. Her dog is trained to sniff out paprika, and although awkard at times, allows her to have a somewhat normal life. The dog is trained to alert her to any impending paprika encounters.

So, what's the rub? Even though Emily's assistance dog was approved by her employer, the City of Indianapolis Department of Code Enforcement, the first day Emily brought her dog to work, it caused an asthmatic reaction in a co-worker who has severe allergies to dogs. So, Emily's boss made an on-the-spot decision to nullify Emily's accommodation. Emily filed suit, citing discrimination and failure to accommodate.

This poses a real problem for management. What's the best solution? In this case, as Mr. Coppelman points out, by creating a safe workplace for one individual, another is put at risk. We have written about allergies and workers' compensation before. See our post titled Smell This. As allergies worsen and more cases like this emerge, I predict allergies is a topic we'll see more often in the wonderful world of workers' compensation.