Strains and sprains account for a majority of workplace injuries and lost work time. The injuries are often caused by lifting, pushing, pulling or overreaching and usually affect the back, shoulders, and arms. Preventing strain and sprain injuries is a lot easier than correcting them.
Reaching
Strain increases in proportion to the distance of the work from your body. There’s less strain on your body if the work is positioned between your shoulders and knees, with a waist-high level being the most neutral and comfortable. So, try to work with your arms below your shoulder level and stay as close to the work area as possible. You may need to raise or lowere yourself with a stool or ladder for better positioning. When reaching down, put one hand on your thigh to support you back.
Bending
Strains and sprains can occur from activities performed in awkward postions or when bening over and relying on your back for support rather than your leg muscles. When performing activities below you waist, bend your knees and squat down to position yourself closer to the work. If the task requires you to maintain a squatting position for a while, alternate kneeling down on one knee to transfer the load off your legs or back and onto the floor.
Pushing or Pulling
Sometimes equipment can put more strain on you body if you push or pull it incorrectly. If given the choice, push rather than pull a load. But, in both cases, get as close to the load as possible. When pushing a load, use both hands and arms keeping them in close to your body: keep your back straight and lean into the load; then, use your whole body weight and leg muscles to walk the load as you pull.
Your body works best when it’s used as it was designed. When you force your body to do things beyond its capability, you risk a strain or sprain injury. How can you prevent these injuries? The obvious thing is to keep yourself in good physical condition and work within your limits.
Check Out State Fund’s Online IIPP Builder
Since 1991, the California Code of Regulations has required employers to establish, implement, and maintain an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) to ensure that all California employers meet their legal obligation to provide and maintain a safe and healthy workplace for their employees.
An IIPP is a written plan that details the required steps employers must take to protect their employees from workplace hazards. If a Cal/OSHA inspector visits a workplace, one of the first things he/she will ask is to see the company’s IIPP. The benefits of having an effective IIPP include: reducing work-related injuries and illnesses, decreasing financial losses resulting from work-related injuries, and avoiding costly Cal/OSHA fines.
As a service to our policyholders, State Fund has developed an online tool called the IIPP Builder. This interactive tool enables you to create an Injury and Illness Prevention Program specific to your business operation and allows you to download various forms and checklists to use when implementing your IIPP. The IIPP Builder contains tutorials that will guide you through the steps necessary to compose your customized safety program. The IIPP Builder will not only enable you to create and update your IIPP, it’s also designed to help you understand IIPP requirements and to determine if your IIPP meets Cal/OSHA requirements.
The IIPP Builder – which requires either Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher or Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or higher – is available exclusively to our policyholders through State Fund Online (a free online resource tool that allows you to quickly and easily manage your policy round-the-clock). If you’re not currently a State Fund Online user, register now at www.scif.com and begin your IIPP today.
State Fund recognizes that an employer’s loss control efforts help to decrease the frequency and severity of illnesses and injuries in the work environment. We are committed to the belief that a safe workplace can increase productivity and lower workers’ compensation costs and are proud of our role in helping you develop and enhance your safety programs.
For questions about the IIPP Builder, contact your State Fund Loss Control Consultant, call State Fund Online Support at 1-866-721-3498, or email us at iipp@scif.com. The IIPP Builder is just one of many products State Fund has developed to help you control costs as well as lower employee work-related injuries and illnesses. To find out about additional products and services available to State Fund policyholders, visit www.scif.com.
INJURY, ILLNESS & POLLUTION IN THE AUTO REPAIR INDUSTRY
Why are auto repair hazards a concern?
Every day, auto shops use chemicals and equipment that can cause serious health problems,
environmental pollution, and disabling injuries.
Understanding the health hazards of chemicals, choosing safer products, and complying with
regulations to protect workers and the environment is a tough job.
Shop hazards harm more than workers. Families, employers, and society all share in the
costs of medical care, lost productivity, chemical contamination, fires, and the reduced quality
of life.
Can injury, illness, and pollution be prevented?
YES!
Develop and implement an injury, illness, and pollution prevention plan for your shop.
Identify chemical, fire, noise, safety, and environmental hazards. Train workers on the
hazards and on the shop’s methods to control hazards.
Switch to water-base cleaners and other safer products whenever possible. Dispose of
hazardous waste properly.
Inspect tools and other equipment regularly. Maintain them in good working condition.
Encourage early reporting of hazards and symptoms.
HOW TO PROTECT AGAINST COMMON HEALTH HAZARDS
Switch to water-based cleaners and other safe products, ensure proper ventilation, and use safe work procedures to prevent nervous and reproductive system damage, and cancer caused by toxic solvents. Keep dust wet at all times and do not clean with compressed air when repairing brakes and clutches to protect against cancer and lung disease from asbestos that is still used in some vehicles. Connect hoses (leading outside) to vehicle exhaust pipes and minimize running engines indoors to protect against carbon monoxide poisoning from engine exhaust, and to prevent lung cancer and asthma from diesel engine exhaust. Wear protective gloves, like nitrile, to prevent skin rash (dermatitis) from solvents, oil and grease, and burns from acids and caustics. Thin, low-cost, disposable nitrile gloves are available. Latex gloves are not protective and can cause allergic skin rash and asthma.
PREVENT INJURIES FROM COMMON SAFETY HAZARDS
Adjust tongue guards and work rests on grinders and wear face shields to prevent eye injuries caused by metal fragments and other foreign bodies getting into the eye. Provide well-designed and maintained tools, mechanical lifts, and training to prevent back and arm injuries from heavy lifting, overexertion, working in awkward positions, and forceful and repetitive use of tools. Keep shops clean and orderly, use spill prevention equipment, and clean up spills promptly to prevent slip and trip injuries caused by spilled oil, grease and water on floors and objects left in walking paths. Keep ignition sources away from flammable liquids and follow other safety procedures to prevent fires. Use well-maintained auto lifts and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)-approved jack stands when working under raised vehicles to prevent deaths and disabling bodily injuries.
WHERE TO GET HELP
HESIS (Hazard Evaluation System & Information Service) answers questions about chemicals and other workplace hazards and has many free publications. For information on workplace hazasrds: (510) 622-4317. For HESIS publications: (510) 622-4138, or visit www.dhs.ca.gov/ohb Cal/OSHA (California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Investigates workers’ complaints and makes enforcement inspections. Complainants’ identities are kept confidential. Go to www.dir.ca.gov/DOSH/districtoffices.htm Cal/OSHA Consultation Service helps employers who want free, non-enforcement help to evaluate with workplace and improve health and safety conditions. Call (800) 963-9424 or go to www.dir.ca.gov/DOSH/puborder.asp Cal/EPA and the U.S. EPA have pollution prevention information for auto repair and maintenance shops. Call (916) 322-3670 or go to www.epa.gov/regiono9/p2/autofleet
The Most commonly Asked Questions About the CAl/OSHA Targeted inspection and Consultation Fund (TICF)
Q1. What is the origin of the TICF Assessment?
The Cal/OSHA Targeted Inspection and Consultation Fund (TICF) is part of the workers’ compensation insurance reform legislation passed by the California Legislature in July of 1993. The legal mandate for the assessment is codified at California Labor Code §62.7 and §62.9.
Q2. Which California employers are subject to a TICF Assessment?
Insured employers with an experience modification rating (ExMOD) of 125% or more. See Labor Code
§62.9(b) (1).
Q3. How often are TICF assessments made?
Annually. The first TICF Assessment was sent in September of 1995. Typically, TICF assessments are mailed to employers in March or April of every year. See Labor Code §62.9(l).
Q4. Will I be subject to a TICF Assessment each year?
Only if your ExMOD remains 125% or more. Once your ExMOD drops below 125%, you are no longer subject to a TICF assessment.
Q5. How is the amount of the TICF assessment calculated?
The amount of your assessment is based on your total payroll as reported to your workers’ compensation insurance carrier. The more payroll you have, the more the assessment you pay up to a maximum of $2500 if you have a payroll of $3.5 million or more. See Labor Code §62.9(a).
Q6. The ExMOD in my Billing Notice doesn’t seem accurate. How was it determined?
The ExMOD used was based on relevant data (three years of workers’ compensation loss history) reported to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) by your workers’ compensation insurance carrier. If you dispute your ExMOD, please contact your insurance broker or carrier (Or previous insurance carrier if you have changed carriers recently) to verify your ExMOD data. For the 2008 TICF Assessment, the 2007 policy year ExMOD was used.
Q7. The payroll on my Billing Notice doesn’t seem accurate. How was it determined?
The payroll used was reported to the WCIRB by your workers’ compensation carrier. The payroll represents the last policy year for which accurate workers’ compensation payroll is available from the WCIRB, For the 2008 TICF Assessment, 2005 policy year worker’s compensation payroll was used. The payroll listed covers all entities listed under your workers’ compensation policy. If you dispute your payroll, please contact your insurance carrier (or previous insurance carrier if you have changed carriers recently) to verify your payroll.
Q8. What is the TICF Assessment money used for?
The money supports Cal/OSHA’s “High Hazard Employer Program” (HHEP). The HHEP provides consultative assistance, free of charge, to employers with high ExMODs to help them decrease their preventable work-related injuries and illnesses and their workers’ compensation losses.
Q9. How can I get HHEP Consultative Assistance?
If you wish to receive HHEP Consultative assistance, please call the High Hazard Consultation Program o
Q10. How much time do I have to pay my TICF Assessment?
The law says you must pay the assessment within thirty (30) days from the date of the Billing Notice. See Labor Code §62.9(c) (3).
Q11. What happens to me if I don’t pay my TICF Assessment in 30 days?
You will receive a Notice of Delinquency asking for payment of your TICF Assessment within 15 days from the date of the Notice of Delinquency. If payment is not received in 15 days, your case will be referred for collection activity. See Labor Code §62.9(c) (5).
Q12. If I receive a TICF Assessment for a business that I no longer own, what should I do?
In general, the assessment is owed to the extent you were in business during some or all of the period of time for which you have been assessed. However, each case differs. If you’ve been assessed for a business you no longer own, please contact our Cal/OSHA TICF Assessment Unit at (510) 286-6880 or email the Unit at doshticf@dir.ca.gov to discuss the details of your case.
Q13. Where do I send my check for the TICF Assessment?
Remit a check made payable to the “Department of Industrial Relations, Fund 096.01”to the following
address and be sure to include your Billing Notice Invoice Number on your check to get credit for your
payment!
Department of Industrial Relations
Accounting – TICF 096.01
P. O. Box 420603
San Francisco, CA 94142-0603
You may also pay by credit card on-line, at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/ticf.html
Q14. If I have any more questions about my TICF Assessment, who do I call or email?
If you should have any other questions regarding your TICF Assessment, please contact our Cal/OSHA TICF Assessment Unit at (510) 286-6880 or email the Unit at www.doshticf@hq.dir.ca.gov.
Required Employer Responsibilities
California law requires that:
“Every employer…shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous location frequented by employees and where (it) may be easily read by employees during the hours of the workday, a notice which shall state the name of (the) current compensation insurance carrier…”
The notice must also contain information regarding employee rights and responsibilities and must”…be posted in both English and Spanish where there are Spanish-speaking employees.”
Additionally, the law requires employers to provide a form on which employees may indicate the name of their personal physician or personal chiropractor. The form must be provided to new hires either at the time the employee is hired or by the end of the first pay period.
If you would like free copies, in English or Spanish, of the required posting notice, the brochure explaining an employee’s workers’ compensation rights or the physician predesignation form, call State Fund’s toll-free customer service number at 1-877-405-4545.
Reporting Work-Related Injuries
State Fund’s Claims Reporting Center (1-888-222-3211) is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for policyholders to report injuries as soon as they occur. Agents will do the necessary paperwork to get the claim started and refer the injured to the designated physician or provider.
Within 8 hours of any serious illness or injury (requiring hospitalization over 24 hours, other than for medical observation or where there is permanent employee disfiguration) or death occurring in the workplace or in connection with employment, employers must report the incident to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
* Some or all articles were reprinted by permission from State Compensation Insurance Fund.
