The brainiacs at the Workers Compensation Research Institute crammed more insights into a webinar than anyone could reasonably expect.

Joe Paduda

Ramona Tanabe and Rebecca Yang revealed new information on costs per claim, the health care workforce, the rapidly growing problem of heat-related injuries, Florida work comp, the impact of co-morbidities on claims, and more.

There's so much great info, I’ll have to spread it out over multiple posts.

First, heat (kudos to WCRI for being the first work comp research organization to report on the impact of climate change and heat on WC).

Anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows human-caused climate change is rapidly warming most of Earth. What we are beginning to learn is how dangerous excessive heat is.

Scientists believe the impact of heat is not yet fully grasped, and there are far more heat-related injuries and deaths than we think.

Not surprisingly, workers at the highest risk are:

• Newly hired. 
• Younger men.
• Working in construction outdoors.
• In Southern states (because it's hotter there, and many don’t have laws protecting workers from heat exposure; see Texas and Florida).

Injuries increase by more than 3% on days above 90 degrees. Given the rapidly rising temperatures, a clearly and increasingly hotter world will interrupt, or at least reduce, the long-term drop in claim frequency. 

What does this mean for you?

Continuing to deny climate change is hurting and killing workers. 

It’s OK to admit you were wrong. I’ve been married for 38 years; I’ve had lots of practice.

Joseph Paduda is the principal of Health Strategy Associates, a consulting firm focused on improving medical management programs in workers’ compensation. This column is republished with his permission from his Managed Care Matters blog.