Home & Hybrid Workers Filing More Injury Claims

John Foy & Associates is an accident-injury law firm. The lawyer group did a study in March of this year on working from home accidents. First of all, it came up with 36.1 million Americans working from home. At 22.8% it is almost a quarter of the nation’s workforce. That figure is up 6% over the number of people working from home before COVID hit in 2020.

At the same time, the report notes injury claims from those remote workers rose from 24% to 54%. The causes are listed as mostly strain, stress, issues with the eyes and falls.

"Workers' compensation law was designed for workplaces that employers control and OSHA can inspect,” the report concluded. “Injuries from poor workstations or falls over work equipment during work hours can still qualify for compensation. However, most employers do not have the documentation needed to handle these claims correctly.”

John Foy said for insurance and finance jobs, 30% of employees are working remotely all the time and 38% are doing a hybrid work system. The injury pattern for insurance and finance is consistently long hours working on devices and poor ergonomic setups.

Insurance and finance workers had 32% to 48% of the growth in claims filed.

“OSHA’s CPL 02-00-125 directive keeps employers responsible for work-related hazards in home settings, but does not allow inspections,” Foy said. “This creates an evidence gap that often leads to claim disputes. Employers who create clear reporting systems and ergonomic standards now will reduce costly disputes in the future."

Here’s more:

• 61% of remote workers say their neck, back, shoulder and wrist pain has increased because they’re working on sofas, kitchen tables and chairs that can’t be adjusted
• Women are 2.3-times more likely to report strain and they had 63% of the repetitive-motion injury claims
• 45% say they’re feeling anxious
• 40% say they are depressed
• Just 36% say they are thriving
• 42% of hybrid workers say they are thriving

Source link: PropertyCasualty360.com — https://bit.ly/3X6Vgf0