Quote of the day
"They are all devastated. I can't use any better word."
Philip Warner, attorney, about the families of Canadian miners who were mass murdered in 1992 in an underground explosion, after the NWT Supreme Court overturns a $10 million judgment
Adult ADHD May Cost Typical Sufferer 20+ Workdays Annually
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder costs the average adult sufferer 22.1 days of “role performance,” per year, including 8.7 extra days absent, according to researchers at the Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction. The majority of the lost performance was associated with reductions in quantity and quality of work rather than actual absenteeism. By Randolph E. Schmid, AP via Google
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Editorial: Deadly Safety Violations Should Be Felonies
University of Michigan law Prof. David M. Uhlmann writes that he and his colleagues were shocked to learn that an employer who breaks workplace safety laws can be charged with a crime only if a worker dies and, even then, only with a misdemeanor that carries with a maximum sentence of six months in prison. New York Times [may require registration] Go to the Full Story…
Editorial: Peach State Workers Safer on Bookend Workdays
Among Georgia state workers, the number of accidents reported on Friday is 30 percent less than those reported on Wednesday, which is the most dangerous day of the week, according to records for the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. Newnan Times-Herald
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Widows of Murdered Canada Miners Lose $10M Civil Judgment
The widows of nine replacement miners killed in one of Canada’s worst mass murders lose a $10 million civil judgment, after the Northwest Territories Supreme Court overturns a trial judge’s ruling that parties including the Canadian Auto Workers union and the territorial government shared blame for the 1992 underground explosion that a striking miner deliberately set. In 1994, the territory’s Workers’ Compensation Board filed a lawsuit to try to recoup some money to help support the widows and their 17 children.
Go to the full story by Bob Weber, Canadian Press
Go to the full story by Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald
Developing a Safety Culture Can Save Money
As the cost of doing business continues to rise, one major area where organizations can improve or control costs includes worker health and safety. Recent National Safety Council statistics on the costs of worker injuries and illnesses identified annual costs per incident at approximately $39,000. By Gary Ganson, TFM
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Maine Firm Studies WSI’s Incredible Financial Recovery
A Maine-based accounting and consulting firm is exploring how North Dakota’s Workforce Safety and Insurance agency dug itself out of a $200 million hole in the early Nineties, to its current surplus of almost $500 million. The state’s audit manager says supporters credit a change in WSI’s management structure. KFYR-TV (Bismarck)
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Disabled S.A. Smelters Report Threats of Termination
While South Africa’s Department of Labor resumes its inquiry into potential worker exposures to poisonous manganese fumes at a smelting plant, a group of disabled employees say they have been threatened with dismissal. SABC News
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