MTM Manufacturing Technology Mutual Insurance Company P.O. Box 9150 Farmington Hills, MI 48333 Phone 248.488.1172 www.mtmic.com Monthly Newsletter for May 2017 In This Issue: R From the desk of John Karlen CPCU, APA, ARe R Are you Predisposed to Injury? R Temporary Worker Initiative R Annual Meeting Featured Speaker From the desk of John Karlen, CPCU, APA, ARe W ith spring weather finally arriving, many companies are now hiring summer interns or have youth employment. There are some tricky pieces to young employment that are worth sharing with you. First be advised or warned that youth employment rules are strictly enforced. Regulators take great care of providing an extra layer of protection for employees under 18 years old. Let me cover some of the restrictions that apply to employees under 18. The law is clear about occupational duties that are restricted based on age. Employees under the age of 18 are prohibited from working in ANY hazardous or injurious occupation. The regulations then specify some of the items included in their hazardous or injurious tasks: driving, working power equipment, exposure to hazardous substances or chemicals, driving hoisting apparatus such as lift trucks or Bobcats, running any power driven metal forming, punching, or shearing machines, running circular saws or band saws or involvement in any building maintenance such as roofing or painting. There is a narrow exception of some of the above tasks. The exceptions are permitted in order for students to be enrolled in state approved career or technical education training or apprentice programs. They must be specifically approved and documented. 1 The Michigan child labor laws also require adult supervision for any employee under 18 years of age. These rules become even more strict if the employee is under the age of 16. The good news for the summer is that the many rules dealing with limited hours during the school year are not a factor. But just a red flag for the rest of the year, the child labor laws are very specific to make sure that the hours are limited and do not infringe upon youth school activities. At the beginning of this topic I mentioned regulator enforcement is aggressive and punishment for violations is significant and severe. A first violation is imprisonment for one year, and a fine of $2,000. A second violation is a $10,000 fine and 10 years of imprisonment. The Department of Labor takes seriously their role in requiring safe environment for employees under the age of 18. Even with these restrictions, student interns are a helpful resource and a benefit for both the company and the youth employee. At MTM we use interns to help us with mass mailings, filing, and other office duties. The youth gets to build some experience for their first resume and the company gets some tasks taken care of that are difficult to accomplish during the regular business day. I expect that our member shops have seen the same rewards for both their company and for their kids that are involved. If you run across a question on this, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can go over it in more detail with you. The law is four pages, single-spaced, we are happy to share that with you for those that are interested. Until next month, I hope you enjoy the spring weather and we will get ready for the warm days just around the corner. Q Participant in the Michigan Property & Casualty Guaranty Association
Transcript
MTM Manufacturing TechnologyMutual Insurance Company
P.O. Box 9150Farmington Hills, MI
48333Phone 248.488.1172
www.mtmic.com
Monthly Newsletter for May 2017
In This Issue:
RFrom the desk of
John KarlenCPCU, APA, ARe
R
Are you Predisposed to Injury?
R
Temporary Worker
Initiative
R
Annual Meeting Featured Speaker
From the desk of
John Karlen, CPCU, APA, ARe
W ith spring weather finally arriving, many companies are now hiring summer interns or have youth
employment. There are some tricky pieces to young employment that are worth sharing with you. First be advised or warned that youth employment rules are strictly enforced. Regulators take great care of providing an extra layer of protection for employees under 18 years old. Let me cover some of the restrictions that apply to employees under 18. The law is clear about occupational duties that are restricted based on age. Employees under the age of 18 are prohibited from working in ANY hazardous or injurious occupation. The regulations then specify some of the items included in their hazardous or injurious tasks: driving, working power equipment, exposure to hazardous substances or chemicals, driving hoisting apparatus such as lift trucks or Bobcats, running any power driven metal forming, punching, or shearing machines, running circular saws or band saws or involvement in any building maintenance such as roofing or painting.
There is a narrow exception of some of the above tasks. The exceptions are permitted in order for students to be enrolled in state approved career or technical education training or apprentice programs. They must be specifically approved and documented.
1
The Michigan child labor laws also require adult supervision for any employee under 18 years of age. These rules become even more strict if the employee is under the age of 16. The good news for the summer is that the many rules dealing with limited hours during the school year are not a factor. But just a red flag for the rest of the year, the child labor laws are very specific to make sure that the hours are limited and do not infringe upon youth school activities.
At the beginning of this topic I mentioned regulator enforcement is aggressive and punishment for violations is significant and severe. A first violation is imprisonment for one year, and a fine of $2,000. A second violation is a $10,000 fine and 10 years of imprisonment. The Department of Labor takes seriously their role in requiring safe environment for employees under the age of 18.
Even with these restrictions, student interns are a helpful resource and a benefit for both the company and the youth employee. At MTM we use interns to help us with mass mailings, filing, and other office duties. The youth gets to build some experience for their first resume
and the company gets some tasks taken care of that are difficult to accomplish during the regular business day. I expect that our member shops have seen the same rewards for both their company and for their kids that are involved.
If you run across a question on this, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can go over it in more detail with you. The law is four pages, single-spaced, we are happy to share that with you for those that are interested. Until next month, I hope you enjoy the spring weather and we will get ready for the warm days just around the corner. Q
Participant in the Michigan Property & Casualty Guaranty Association
S cott Smith from ATI Physical Therapy will be one of our featured speakers at the October 19th Annual Meeting. Scott graduated from the University of Michigan – Flint with a Masters of Physical Therapy in 1999. He is the Sr. Regional Director
for ATI Physical Therapy. Scott has worked with a wide range of patient populations including the industrial athlete and work comp populations with the goal of returning the injured worker back to an optimal level of function. He has taken several continuing education courses to further gain knowledge on orthopedic pathologies and sports medicine. His clinical experience includes treating patients for pre and post-operative care, musculoskeletal pain, work hardening, and postural/body mechanics education for further prevention of injury. In his free time, Scott enjoys tennis, golf, mountain biking, and participating in youth sports coaching. Q
AnnualMeeting
Featured Speaker Scott Smith, MPTSr. Regional DirectorATI Physical Therapy
More Happy Dividend Check Recipients!
P.O. Box 9150, Farmington HIlls, Michigan 48333 Phone 248.488.1172
2
www.mtmic.com
3
A s our economy is ramping back up, and our facilities are becoming busy again, the decision to hire permanent workers or use temporary
workers is a factor that you must debate. When reviewing this decision, you should be aware of MIOSHA’s new initiative regarding temporary workers and what your responsibilities are as an employer.
MiOSHA considers both host employers and staffing agencies are responsible to comply with the workplace health and safety requirements. The key is to ensure that the staffing agency has conducted a general safety and health training to determine what is missing. The host employer is responsible for providing specific training tailored to the particular workplace hazard or equipment operation. The key is communication between both the agency you’re working with and you the host employer to ensure that the necessary training is provided.
Since staffing agencies are not experts on your specific workplace hazards, nor does MIOSHA believe that they should become experts on your specific hazards, but they should be aware of the workplace conditions of your facility, what hazards are present, or may be encountered by their temporary workforce and how you plan on protecting them.
MIOSHA firmly believes that the host employer must treat the temporary worker like any other workers in terms of training and hazard protection. This is also stated in MIOSHA Act 154 Rule 408.1005 that defines “employee” as a person permitted to work by an employer” and “day to day supervision” as when the employer “supervises not only the output. Product, or result to be accomplished by the person’s work, but also the details, means, methods, and processes by which the work objective is accomplished.”
What does this mean for you? It means, that if you
decide to use temporary workers as your workforce, MIOSHA considers them to be under your supervision, therefore if they are injured at your facility, you are also open to compliance violations if the injury results due to inadequate training or protection of the temporary worker.
Just be aware, that the adage “I only hire experienced workers” is no longer is accepted by a compliance officer, they believe even experienced employees need training too. The host employer by law can’t assume experienced personnel know “what to do or how to do it.” It is the host employer’s responsibility to verify the newly assigned employee can do the job as intended or expected, in a safe manor.
Therefore, we are stressing communication and developing a partnership as the key to success between you and your staffing agency to provide a safe work environment for them and your full time employees. It’s also important that your staffing agencies understand your facility and what you do. This will keep both your temporary workforce and your permanent workforce on the same page regarding safety and expectations in safe work practices that you have already established.
If you have any questions regarding this new initiative, please contact your loss control consultant for more information or help identifying training gaps. Q
Ruth Kiefer, Loss Control Manager,
MSc, ARM
Temporary Worker
Initiative
Have you ever watched people as they walk down a street, or walk through the mall, or sit in a waiting room? Almost everyone has their
cell phone in their hand. Notice the position of their head while they stare at the phone screen. Their head is bent forward! This position causes a strain to the muscles and tendons in the neck and shoulders; and possibly the low back. This position changes the natural curvature of your neck. Your neck moves forward, your shoulders round forward or lift up toward your ears and your neck and shoulder muscles spasm (contract). Neck muscles are designed to support the weight of your head, about 10 – 12 pounds. According to the Cleveland Clinic, research shows that for every inch you drop your head forward, you double the load on those muscles. Looking down with your chin to your chest can put approximately 60 pounds of force on your neck. Dr. Dean Fishman, a Chiropractor in Plantation, Florida has coined this condition, this repeated stress injury, as: Text Neck.Excessive texting and playing of video games can result in what is known as: Black Berry Thumb. (So named
after the mobile device.) A strained tendon, tendonitis or triggering.
The digital age has given us the cell phone, iPad, E-Readers, Tablets, Lap Top Computers which all require you to look downward, bend your head forward. As screens tend to decrease in size, additional strain is put on your eyes. Dry, itchy and/or burning eyes, blurry vision, headaches; a condition now known as: “Digital eye strain or Computer Vision Syndrome.” As we age and have to wear prescription eyewear, these conditions can exacerbate.
Improper posture, or slouching, restricts your lungs’ ability to expand, impairing lung capacity. Inhaling less oxygen means your heart needs to pump harder to distribute more oxygen carrying blood through your
body. This can lead to vascular disease. Gastrointestinal problems can be caused by pressure placed on the organs in a bad posture.
The above conditions occur in people of all ages, now also including children. Recovery takes longer in people in their 50’s & 60’s, as they have “less tissue tolerance”. Add work to all these “social” functions and you can
see that it is possible that we are all predisposed to injury. That is why work place ergonomics, ergonomic education and safety training is so important. Workers’ Compensation is not meant to pay for pre-existing conditions and in order for a pre-existing condition to be considered “aggravated” under the Workers’ Compensation Act, there must be a “medically distinguishable change in pathology”. An allegation of pain alone is not sufficient. And that is why we ask so many questions while investigating injury claims submitted to our office. Q
Donna Motley Vice President of Claims
Are you Predisposed to Injury?
P eriodically we are asked if we are affiliated with any other companies. In other words, do our policy holders have to belong to any
other organizations or associations to become a member of MTMIC? The answer is NO.
Did you Know?
P.O. Box 9150, Farmington HIlls, Michigan 48333 Phone 248.488.1172
2
www.mtmic.com
3
A s our economy is ramping back up, and our facilities are becoming busy again, the decision to hire permanent workers or use temporary
workers is a factor that you must debate. When reviewing this decision, you should be aware of MIOSHA’s new initiative regarding temporary workers and what your responsibilities are as an employer.
MiOSHA considers both host employers and staffing agencies are responsible to comply with the workplace health and safety requirements. The key is to ensure that the staffing agency has conducted a general safety and health training to determine what is missing. The host employer is responsible for providing specific training tailored to the particular workplace hazard or equipment operation. The key is communication between both the agency you’re working with and you the host employer to ensure that the necessary training is provided.
Since staffing agencies are not experts on your specific workplace hazards, nor does MIOSHA believe that they should become experts on your specific hazards, but they should be aware of the workplace conditions of your facility, what hazards are present, or may be encountered by their temporary workforce and how you plan on protecting them.
MIOSHA firmly believes that the host employer must treat the temporary worker like any other workers in terms of training and hazard protection. This is also stated in MIOSHA Act 154 Rule 408.1005 that defines “employee” as a person permitted to work by an employer” and “day to day supervision” as when the employer “supervises not only the output. Product, or result to be accomplished by the person’s work, but also the details, means, methods, and processes by which the work objective is accomplished.”
What does this mean for you? It means, that if you
decide to use temporary workers as your workforce, MIOSHA considers them to be under your supervision, therefore if they are injured at your facility, you are also open to compliance violations if the injury results due to inadequate training or protection of the temporary worker.
Just be aware, that the adage “I only hire experienced workers” is no longer is accepted by a compliance officer, they believe even experienced employees need training too. The host employer by law can’t assume experienced personnel know “what to do or how to do it.” It is the host employer’s responsibility to verify the newly assigned employee can do the job as intended or expected, in a safe manor.
Therefore, we are stressing communication and developing a partnership as the key to success between you and your staffing agency to provide a safe work environment for them and your full time employees. It’s also important that your staffing agencies understand your facility and what you do. This will keep both your temporary workforce and your permanent workforce on the same page regarding safety and expectations in safe work practices that you have already established.
If you have any questions regarding this new initiative, please contact your loss control consultant for more information or help identifying training gaps. Q
Ruth Kiefer, Loss Control Manager,
MSc, ARM
Temporary Worker
Initiative
Have you ever watched people as they walk down a street, or walk through the mall, or sit in a waiting room? Almost everyone has their
cell phone in their hand. Notice the position of their head while they stare at the phone screen. Their head is bent forward! This position causes a strain to the muscles and tendons in the neck and shoulders; and possibly the low back. This position changes the natural curvature of your neck. Your neck moves forward, your shoulders round forward or lift up toward your ears and your neck and shoulder muscles spasm (contract). Neck muscles are designed to support the weight of your head, about 10 – 12 pounds. According to the Cleveland Clinic, research shows that for every inch you drop your head forward, you double the load on those muscles. Looking down with your chin to your chest can put approximately 60 pounds of force on your neck. Dr. Dean Fishman, a Chiropractor in Plantation, Florida has coined this condition, this repeated stress injury, as: Text Neck.Excessive texting and playing of video games can result in what is known as: Black Berry Thumb. (So named
after the mobile device.) A strained tendon, tendonitis or triggering.
The digital age has given us the cell phone, iPad, E-Readers, Tablets, Lap Top Computers which all require you to look downward, bend your head forward. As screens tend to decrease in size, additional strain is put on your eyes. Dry, itchy and/or burning eyes, blurry vision, headaches; a condition now known as: “Digital eye strain or Computer Vision Syndrome.” As we age and have to wear prescription eyewear, these conditions can exacerbate.
Improper posture, or slouching, restricts your lungs’ ability to expand, impairing lung capacity. Inhaling less oxygen means your heart needs to pump harder to distribute more oxygen carrying blood through your
body. This can lead to vascular disease. Gastrointestinal problems can be caused by pressure placed on the organs in a bad posture.
The above conditions occur in people of all ages, now also including children. Recovery takes longer in people in their 50’s & 60’s, as they have “less tissue tolerance”. Add work to all these “social” functions and you can
see that it is possible that we are all predisposed to injury. That is why work place ergonomics, ergonomic education and safety training is so important. Workers’ Compensation is not meant to pay for pre-existing conditions and in order for a pre-existing condition to be considered “aggravated” under the Workers’ Compensation Act, there must be a “medically distinguishable change in pathology”. An allegation of pain alone is not sufficient. And that is why we ask so many questions while investigating injury claims submitted to our office. Q
Donna Motley Vice President of Claims
Are you Predisposed to Injury?
P eriodically we are asked if we are affiliated with any other companies. In other words, do our policy holders have to belong to any
other organizations or associations to become a member of MTMIC? The answer is NO.
Did you Know?
MTM Manufacturing TechnologyMutual Insurance Company
P.O. Box 9150Farmington Hills, MI
48333Phone 248.488.1172
www.mtmic.com
Monthly Newsletter for May 2017
In This Issue:
RFrom the desk of
John KarlenCPCU, APA, ARe
R
Are you Predisposed to Injury?
R
Temporary Worker
Initiative
R
Annual Meeting Featured Speaker
From the desk of
John Karlen, CPCU, APA, ARe
W ith spring weather finally arriving, many companies are now hiring summer interns or have youth
employment. There are some tricky pieces to young employment that are worth sharing with you. First be advised or warned that youth employment rules are strictly enforced. Regulators take great care of providing an extra layer of protection for employees under 18 years old. Let me cover some of the restrictions that apply to employees under 18. The law is clear about occupational duties that are restricted based on age. Employees under the age of 18 are prohibited from working in ANY hazardous or injurious occupation. The regulations then specify some of the items included in their hazardous or injurious tasks: driving, working power equipment, exposure to hazardous substances or chemicals, driving hoisting apparatus such as lift trucks or Bobcats, running any power driven metal forming, punching, or shearing machines, running circular saws or band saws or involvement in any building maintenance such as roofing or painting.
There is a narrow exception of some of the above tasks. The exceptions are permitted in order for students to be enrolled in state approved career or technical education training or apprentice programs. They must be specifically approved and documented.
1
The Michigan child labor laws also require adult supervision for any employee under 18 years of age. These rules become even more strict if the employee is under the age of 16. The good news for the summer is that the many rules dealing with limited hours during the school year are not a factor. But just a red flag for the rest of the year, the child labor laws are very specific to make sure that the hours are limited and do not infringe upon youth school activities.
At the beginning of this topic I mentioned regulator enforcement is aggressive and punishment for violations is significant and severe. A first violation is imprisonment for one year, and a fine of $2,000. A second violation is a $10,000 fine and 10 years of imprisonment. The Department of Labor takes seriously their role in requiring safe environment for employees under the age of 18.
Even with these restrictions, student interns are a helpful resource and a benefit for both the company and the youth employee. At MTM we use interns to help us with mass mailings, filing, and other office duties. The youth gets to build some experience for their first resume
and the company gets some tasks taken care of that are difficult to accomplish during the regular business day. I expect that our member shops have seen the same rewards for both their company and for their kids that are involved.
If you run across a question on this, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can go over it in more detail with you. The law is four pages, single-spaced, we are happy to share that with you for those that are interested. Until next month, I hope you enjoy the spring weather and we will get ready for the warm days just around the corner. Q
Participant in the Michigan Property & Casualty Guaranty Association
S cott Smith from ATI Physical Therapy will be one of our featured speakers at the October 19th Annual Meeting. Scott graduated from the University of Michigan – Flint with a Masters of Physical Therapy in 1999. He is the Sr. Regional Director
for ATI Physical Therapy. Scott has worked with a wide range of patient populations including the industrial athlete and work comp populations with the goal of returning the injured worker back to an optimal level of function. He has taken several continuing education courses to further gain knowledge on orthopedic pathologies and sports medicine. His clinical experience includes treating patients for pre and post-operative care, musculoskeletal pain, work hardening, and postural/body mechanics education for further prevention of injury. In his free time, Scott enjoys tennis, golf, mountain biking, and participating in youth sports coaching. Q
AnnualMeeting
Featured Speaker Scott Smith, MPTSr. Regional DirectorATI Physical Therapy
