Occupational Safety and Health Data Collection

And Injury Prevention Work Group

 

Minutes

 

Bureau of Labor Standards

First Floor Training Room

December 15, 2004

9:30 – 11:30 A.M.

 

 

Present: Bill Peabody, Chair (Maine Department of Labor), Gary Baxter (Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Company), Brian Doe (Hannaford), Peter Doran (Maine Occupational Research Agenda), Carol Grenier (sitting in for Stefanie LaRose, Cannon Cochran Management Services, Inc.), Jeff Levesque (Workers’ Compensation Board), Kim Lim (Maine Department of Labor), Louise Morang (Maine Association of Occupational Nurses), John Rioux (Maine Department of Labor).

 

Absent: Brad Brown (Maine Bureau of Insurance), Denise Dumont (US HealthWorks), Vanessa Santarelli (Maine Department of Labor), Saskia Janes (Maine Public Health Association), Stefanie LaRose (Canon Cochran Management Services, Inc.), Steve Minkowsky (Workers’ Compensation Board), Pat Philbrook (Maine State Nurses Association), Ralph Tucker (McTeague-Higbee), Dave Wacker (Maine Department of Labor), and Leslie Walleigh (Workplace Health)

 

Staff:  Ted Bradstreet (Maine Department of Labor) & Terry Hathaway (Maine Department of Labor)

 

Guests: Ann Beaulieu (Maine Department of Labor) & Steve Laundrie (Maine Department of Labor)

 

                                          

Chair Bill Peabody opened the eleventh meeting of the Occupational Safety and Health Data Collection and Injury Prevention Work Group at 9:41 A.M.

 

Approval of November 17, 2004 Minutes.  Peter Doran made a motion to accept the minutes. Louise Morang seconded the motion. Vote, unanimous.

 

BLS Coding of First Reports.  Ann Beaulieu, a statistician in the Research and Statistics Unit, Bureau of Labor Standards, explained the coding system used to process the First Report of Occupational Injury or Illness.  Handouts included the coding structure, an example of profiles, a brochure on Occupational Injury and Illness Data Profiles, “Report of Fatal Occupational Injuries 2003”, and “Characteristics of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses in Maine 2002”. Ann explained the changes due to EDI as well as the Claim SIC, Claim SRC, Occupation Code, Nature, Part, Source, Type, and Severity. There are only three (3) types of severity: lost time, no lost time, and fatality. The Research and Statistics Unit provides profiles upon request. Kim Lim advised the group that the Research and Statistics Unit has the data and the resource can be utilized.

 

The “Characteristics of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses” publication is based on the First Report of Occupational Injury and Illness data.

 

Peter Doran asked if there was access to marketing consultations. Bill Peabody responded by saying that it can be done under contract, but due to budgetary constraints it has not happened for some time.

 

Dirigo Health Questions. Jeff Levesque handed out a list of questions for Dirigo. The question was asked as to how will Dirigo use the information and how the work group can link to it. The list should be limited to ten (10) questions, which will be used in the initial in-take questionnaire when a person first enters the Dirigo system. The main purpose of these questions is to determine if the person’s health is affected by what they do at work.

 

Peter Doran suggested two or three work group members get together with the Dirigo contact person. The following folks are interested – Jeff Levesque, John Rioux, Louise Morang, and Brian Doe. They will report back to the work group at the January meeting.

 

Finish Review of Occupational Safety and Health Data Series Summary – John Rioux. The Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC) aggregate has proprietary data for those insured with MEMIC and is a subset of Workers’ Compensation and Bureau of Labor Standards’ information. They use NCCI codes and do collaborative studies. The problem is that data is collected only for those insured by MEMIC.

 

The Maine Health Information Center (MHIC) does specialized data collection projects for specific clients (MEMIC is no longer a member) and the Maine Self-Insured Guarantee Authority. The also do collaborative studies. Data is collected only for clients’ cases.

 

The National Council of Compensation Insurers (NCCI) has a range of data and coding based on samples of certain classes of cases. They also do collaborative studies, using DCI. The data is collected only for insured portion of the market (sampled data, 40-50%).

 

The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) handles specified research projects with data from NCCI and supplemented from other sources as needed. They do collaborative studies, but are private. Their data is aggregate and mostly for large states (California, Wisconsin, & Massachusetts). They are not a source for details, but could do research if approved by a committee.

 

John Rioux asked if members knew of any other new data sources.

 

At the next work group meeting, Bill Peabody will have a synopsis of the overview for the OSH data series.

 

Next Meeting. The next meeting of the Occupational Safety and Health Data Collection and Injury Prevention Work Group will be held on Wednesday, January 19, 2004, 9:30 to 11:30 A.M., in the Third Floor Conference Room, Bureau of Labor Standards, Hallowell.

 

Adjournment. Mr. Peabody adjourned the meeting at 11:32 A.M.

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Terry M. Hathaway

Recording Secretary