April 28: Let’s Take the Time to Acknowledge the Fallen Worker

25 Apr, 2017 Angela Underwood

                               

“Remember the dead — Fight for the living” is more than just a slogan and symbol paired with a blue ribbon to be noticed on Workers Memorial Day April 28 (Friday). It is a powerful force presently among politicians and injured workers who are working, and sometimes disagreeing, together, all over the U.S.

From legislation granting first responder coverage for cancer and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to laws that come down hard on fraud, workers’ compensation, the industry, has gained national attention, making this Friday even more significant.

Created in 1970 by the AFL-CIO, named April 28 “Workers' Memorial Day” is celebrated worldwide, with 24 hours dedicated to all those who are annually injured and killed at work. Since the holiday began, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health has created a state-by-state Workers’ Memorial Day Week Event list, for anyone interested on celebrating the holiday locally with others.

The Ohio State Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) hosts a Fallen Worker Memorial ceremony each year around Labor Day to recognize the sacrifice made by those who lost their lives in service to their employer, an event both BWC’s public relations manager Melissa Vince and administrator/CEO Sarah Morrison spoke about in an interview with WorkersCompensation.com.

“We began the annual tradition in 2011 to honor the outstanding service and sacrifice made by these Ohioans as they worked to provide for their families,” Vince said, noting the annual event brings together stakeholders, labor, management and members of the Board of Directors, all groups Vince said share an interest in protecting Ohio workers, to honor the fallen, and their families, who must move forward without them.

“This memorial is a somber, but moving and meaningful tribute to Ohio workers. This event is a solemn reminder of why we still have work to do to create a culture of safety across this state and reduce preventable injuries and fatalities,” Morrison said. “Increased safety means fewer accidents, and fewer accidents means more workers will return home safely to their loved ones each day after their shifts have ended.”

Vince explained since the first memorial in 2011, the Bureau has closed each ceremony with three bell tolls and reading the Roll of the Fallen. “In November, we dedicated a memorial bell that is displayed in our lobby and will be used at future ceremonies. In addition to honoring Ohioans lost on the job, we placed it in the lobby to remind us all of the importance of our mission to help prevent workplace injuries and deaths, and to care for those impacted by them,” said Vince.

“Workers’ Memorial Day, like our Fallen Workers Memorial, reminds us why the Grand Bargain was struck. We’ve had success in Ohio and across the country in reducing injury rates but the unthinkable does happen,” Vince said.

“More than 5 million Ohioans go to work each day but some never return. They are reminders of why getting quality care to injured workers, aiding the families of those who lost their lives, and safety education and accident prevention are such critical functions of what we do at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation,” she added.

After the holiday is celebrated on April 28, millions go on until next year’s remembrance while workers could be exposed to potential injury the other 364 days of the year. Sherry Earp knows all too well how suffering from a work-related injury causes everyday pain.

The founder and CEO of both Webquote Inc., a market, training and free lead agency, and AARK Insurance Agency, said after her work-related injury “every time I went to a new doctor, I got a new diagnosis.”

Earp explained how she sustained injury when employed in Oklahoma’s public sector. “I had been given the offer of a job in [a specific] division and but was placed in the mailroom,” she explained. Earp said she skipped breaks, lunch, and was given a key to come in early and late.

“My right arm was overworking and within about a month or so, I was in such pain that I would go to the bathroom to throw up and go back to work,” she said, adding. “During my term there, two employees told me that EVERY person who took that job ended up injured and in pain.”

Earp said though she was eventually given the job she was promised, she was injured and could not take it. “I ended up off work for almost two years, in constant pain,” she said adding, she saw several doctors for her injury. “If I told the doctor what the previous doctor diagnosed, I got the same diagnosis.  If I did not tell the doctor what the previous doctor diagnosed, I got a brand-new diagnosis, in that particular doctor's specialty,” she said.

After being branded with Cumulative Trauma Disorder, Carpal Tunnel, Cubital Canal and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, Earp ended up with elevated liver functions from too much pain medicine as well as Irritable Bowel Syndrome. She eventually lost her insurance and benefits “at the hands of a lazy attorney,” and was ultimately helped by “an amazing compassionate doctor who treated indigent patients on a government grant.”

But not everyone has a positive outcome, a theory which is supported in a 2015 investigation by NPR and ProPublica. The two major media outlets report “that in some states it’s been so drastic that injured workers have plummeted into poverty, losing their cars and even their homes,” while “battling insurance companies for surgeries, prescriptions and basic help their doctors recommend.”

Then there is the fact that “10 states since 2003 have increased use of pre-existing conditions to limit or deny care after workplace injuries.” It’s also noted that “37 states now restrict injured workers’ ability to choose their doctors,” according to the report.

With that, let’s all take a moment to acknowledge the fallen worker as we go through our workday on Friday.


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    • Angela Underwood

      Author Angela Underwood has worked as a reporter, feature writer and editor for more than a decade. Her prior roles as Municipal Beat Correspondent with Gannett and Public Information Officer for Toms Rivers government in New Jersey have given her experience on both sides of the political and media fences, making her passionate about policy and the public’s right-to-know.

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