L&I claims and the ergonomics idea bank
Did you know that L&I not only handles claims after work injury, but it also tries to improve the safety and health of workers? And that it has an “Ergonomics Ideas Bank”? I haven’t heard of the idea bank until today! L&I issued a bulletin that the bank will be down in November as L&I makes improvements to the bank.
What is the L&I ergonomics ideas bank?
Naturally, I had to see what this bank was all about. The bank is on the L&I website. You can search for ergonomic ideas based on risk factors or by industry. Search results include L&I publications. Moreover, the contain publications and documents from other entities like OSHA, NIOSH, calOSHA, and Work Safe BC.
Overall, as part of its improvement process, the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) is looking for feedback from users, including first time users. So please have a look at the bank and take some time to fill out the survey.
Conflicting messages from L&I and IME doctors
Often, I look at these kinds of resources from different perspectives and this is no exception. I think it is a great resource for helping employees and employers identify risk factors that can be corrected or improved through the use of ergonomics. Of course, I’m also astounded that I can quickly research a risk factor and industry to find a plethora of documents and solution ideas for activities that I have seen L&I and IME providers contend don’t cause medical conditions. Perhaps I’ll start citing documents from this bank when I’m arguing for claim or condition allowance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ms. Tara Reck is the managing attorney at Reck Law — Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in Washington State. If you would like more information, please contact Ms. Reck through the following:
* Seattle | Bellevue | Mercer Island office: (206) 395–6141
* Tacoma office: (253) 999–9828
* Renton office: (425) 800–8195
* Port Orchard office: (360) 876–4123
* Email: office@recklaw.coms
* Her Workers’ Compensation blog at https://tarareck.com/contact/
* or her company website at https://recklaw.com/contact/.
This article first appeared on https://recklaw.com/l-and-i-claim-ergonomics-idea-bank/
