Kudos to the Workers Compensation Research Institute. It is the first workers’ comp research organization to give center stage to the impact of climate change — primarily heat — on claims.

Joe Paduda

Dr. David Bonauto of Washington’s Department of Labor & Industry led a session on the state's analysis of climate change’s effects on workers. A few quick takeaways:

• There have been three studies on heat-related illness (HRI) in Washington based on 16 years of data. There were only about 850 accepted HRI claims out of 1.7 million, but the hidden impacts of heat are just beginning to be understood.
• Heat increases the absorption of chemicals through the skin and potentially increases toxicity, a major concern for ag workers around insecticides and fertilizers.
• Heat and wildfire smoke increases cardiovascular disease. It appears that the mechanism is chronic inflammation.
• Excessive heat leads to “incredibly diminished productivity.”
• There is a much higher risk (67%) of injury when temperatures are above 82-86 degrees compared to a baseline of 76 degrees.
• The most vulnerable industry? Public administration. My guess is this is driven by first responders and firefighters.

L&I isn’t the only organization doing credible research. WCRI found 14% more claims occurred at times of high heat; think of these as indirectly related injuries. Falls off ladders are an example. 

Great to see WCRI dig into this, although it would have been even better if we had this information several years ago.

The second employer session at WCRI's recent conference provided much-needed perspective from executives dealing with the fallout from climate change.

Joann Moynihan from Travelers said the industry needs to broaden this discussion. It’s not heat claims specifically, but heat-related claims. Moynihan’s words to the effect of “This is an indication of where the industry is headed” should be a wake-up call to stakeholders who are mostly sleepwalking through massive changes to the work environment. 

Chrissy Lynch of the Massachusetts AFL/CIO described how workers in her state are now dealing with forest fires: "We never thought we would,” that and it “doesn’t really snow here anymore" and "We are trying to figure things out on the fly."

What does this mean for you?

Wake up. 

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.