Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis. Silicosis, particularly the acute form, is characterized by shortness of breath, cough, fever, and cyanosis (bluish skin). It may often be misdiagnosed as pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs), pneumonia, or tuberculosis.

Silicosis resulted in at least 43,000 deaths globally in 2013, down from at least 50,000 deaths in 1990. Since 2019, over 100 workers in California have developed the deadly disease silicosis from cutting artificial, man-made stone. Artificial stone is commonly used for countertops in new construction projects.

Early recognition of the potential for industrially related came from the granite cutters of Vermont in the early 1900s. Dr. Alice Hamilton, a pioneer in occupational medicine, documented their plight, and by the 1930s, granite workers had secured safety measures like ventilation. However, this progress wasn’t universal.

The Hawk’s Nest Tunnel disaster near Gauley Bridge West Virginia, also in the 1930s, stands as a grim reminder. Workers, primarily immigrants, drilled through a mountain rich in silica with minimal protection. The horrific outcome: over 700 deaths from silicosis.

Following such tragedies, regulations emerged. However, enforcement remained lax, and silicosis re-emerged in the 1970s among sandblasters and oil field workers. More recently, engineered stone countertops have become a new source of concern. Workers fabricating these materials develop silicosis at alarming rates, often young and unaware of the risks.

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is increasing awareness of the dangers of being exposed to silica dust while working with man-made and natural stone.

Sacramento California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is increasing efforts to address the growing number of silicosis cases among stone workers in California. Man-made stone that is frequently used contains higher concentrations of crystalline silica that can severely scar lung tissue when inhaled.

With cases of silicosis increasing in California, Cal/OSHA has further intensified its enforcement and education efforts. On December 14, 2023, an emergency temporary standard was adopted to enhance existing guidelines for respirable crystalline silica hazards. Since then, Cal/OSHA has closed several stone cutting shops in the state that were not providing proper safety protections for their employees. A public meeting is scheduled on May 16 to consider a revised proposal for readoption of the emergency temporary standard for an additional 90 days in to protect workers from the hazards of silica dust.

DIR and Cal/OSHA recently launched a bilingual public awareness and education campaign that offers employers and workers resources and information about the proper use of safety equipment and safe worksite practices. The campaign website, worksafewithsilica.org also provides vital information for workers on workplace safety rights and how to report safety violations.

Cal/OSHA’s workplace safety laws and emergency temporary standard are key components to ensure that workers are safe. Increasing awareness to employers and employees of the dangerous effects of inhaling respirable crystalline silica dust from tasks like grinding, drilling and cutting, can help save lives and avoid incurable health conditions like silicosis, lung cancer and kidney diseases.

According to DIR Director Katie Hagen “the startling uptick in deadly silicosis cases in our state underscores the necessity to protect workers from this fatal disease. Man-made stone products with high silica content, like countertops, can only be fabricated safely with proper safety equipment and practices, such as water systems, safe cleaning of dust and debris and the use of the best respiratory protection available. Failure to follow these life-saving practices can have grave consequences for some of California’s most vulnerable workers. Our department, through Cal/OSHA, is proactively working to educate employers on safe worksite practices, enforcing regulatory standards, and warning workers of its hazards.”

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has announced its plans to address e-filing practices that result in repeated system errors in EAMS, DWC’s electronic case management system. These errors cause significant delays in document processing.

DWC’s planned corrective actions will include, but are not limited to, suspension or removal of e-filing privileges and/or sanctions aimed at users who disregard regulations, e-filing instructions, and document discrepancy notifications.

These corrective actions have become necessary because many users continue to e-file defective batches despite receiving error notifications and receiving ongoing problem-solving training in the system’s unprocessed document queue (UDQ).

The most frequently encountered e-filing errors include:

– – Using incorrect document titles for filing or submitting documents with incorrectly titled attachments.
– – Making duplicate submissions of documents already in FileNet.
– – Repeatedly submitting failed batches to the UDQ.
– – Filing duplicate documents both electronically and by hard-copy (including emailing documents directly to a judge).

DWC will evaluate users who continually violate the EAMS rules and guidelines over the next few months. Users who receive notification of impending suspension or removal of their e-filing privileges will be given an opportunity to first take corrective action.

Information on how to properly file documents may be found on the DWC website.

Just a few days on a night shift schedule throws off protein rhythms related to blood glucose regulation, energy metabolism and inflammation, processes that can influence the development of chronic metabolic conditions.

The finding, from a study led by scientists at Washington State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, provides new clues as to why night shift workers are more prone to diabetes, obesity and other metabolic disorders.

“There are processes tied to the master biological clock in our brain that are saying that day is day and night is night and other processes that follow rhythms set elsewhere in the body that say night is day and day is night,” said senior study author Hans Van Dongen, a professor in the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. “When internal rhythms are dysregulated, you have this enduring stress in your system that we believe has long-term health consequences.”

Though more research is needed, Van Dongen said the study shows that these disrupted rhythms can be seen in as little as three days, which suggests early intervention to prevent diabetes and obesity is possible. Such intervention could also help lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, which is elevated in night shift workers as well.

Published in the Journal of Proteome Research, the study involved a controlled laboratory experiment with volunteers who were put on simulated night or day shift schedules for three days. Following their last shift, participants were kept awake for 24 hours under constant conditions – lighting, temperature, posture and food intake – to measure their internal biological rhythms without interference from outside influences.

Blood samples drawn at regular intervals throughout the 24-hour period were analyzed to identify proteins present in blood-based immune system cells. Some proteins had rhythms closely tied to the master biological clock, which keeps the body on a 24-hour rhythm. The master clock is resilient to altered shift schedules, so these protein rhythms didn’t change much in response to the night shift schedule.

However, most other proteins had rhythms that changed substantially in night shift participants compared to the day shift participants.

Looking more closely at proteins involved in glucose regulation, the researchers observed a nearly complete reversal of glucose rhythms in night shift participants. They also found that processes involved in insulin production and sensitivity, which normally work together to keep glucose levels within a healthy range, were no longer synchronized in night shift participants. The researchers said this effect could be caused by the regulation of insulin trying to undo the glucose changes triggered by the night shift schedule. They said this may be a healthy response in the moment, as altered glucose levels may damage cells and organs, but could be problematic in the long run.

“What we showed is that we can really see a difference in molecular patterns between volunteers with normal schedules and those with schedules that are misaligned with their biological clock,” said Jason McDermott, a computational scientist with PNNL’s Biological Sciences Division.

“The effects of this misalignment had not yet been characterized at this molecular level and in this controlled manner before.” The researchers’ next step will be to study real-world workers to determine whether night shifts cause similar protein changes in long-term shift workers.

The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) has released its Quarterly Experience Report. This report is an update on California statewide insurer experience valued as of December 31, 2023.

Highlights of the report include:

– – After five consecutive increases, the projected loss ratio, including the cost of COVID-19 claims, dropped 2 points in accident year 2022, driven by a significant increase in premium due to higher payrolls and very modest changes in claim frequency and severity.
– – The accident year 2023 loss ratio is modestly higher than 2022, driven by the declining impact of COVID-19 claims and generally flat claim frequency and severity trends.
– – The average charged rate for 2023 continues to decrease; it is 5% lower than 2022 and the lowest in decades.
– – Indemnity claims had been settling more quickly through the first quarter of 2020, primarily driven by the reforms of Senate Bill No. 863 (SB 863) and Senate Bill No. 1160 (SB 1160).
– – Average claim closing rates declined sharply beginning in the second quarter of 2020 due to the pandemic.
– – Average claim closing rates have flattened in 2022 and 2023 and remain below the pre-pandemic level.
– – Projected severity on indemnity claims for 2023 is 3% higher than 2022 and 22% above 2017. – – The average severity in 2023 is the highest it has been in more than a decade, since before the SB 863 reforms.
– – Average Medical Cost Containment Program (MCCP) costs per claim have decreased by 14% since 2013, corresponding with the decline in average medical costs following the SB 863 reforms. Although MCCP costs increased modestly in 2023, MCCP cost levels have been generally declining over the last several years.
– – Pharmaceutical costs per claim decreased by 88% from 2012 through 2023. After increasing during the early pandemic period in 2020, average pharmaceutical costs per claim reverted to the pre-pandemic trend in 2021 and declined another 12% in 2022 and 2023.
– – Projected total statewide ultimate losses for 2005 through 2023 evaluations are below insurers’ reported amounts.

Join WCIRB actuaries to discuss the highlights of the September 1, 2024 Pure Premium Rate Filing and December 31, 2023 experience. They will also discuss their research into the impact of economic changes on the California workers’ compensation system. Please submit your questions when you register so that we may answer them during the webinar on Thursday, May 16, 2024, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PT. Please register for the webinar.

When Andrew Reynosa was employed by Advanced Transportation Services on March 3, 2017, he signed the company’s Arbitration Agreement which provided in part that he would arbitrate disputes he had with his employer.

On April 26, 2019, Reynosa filed a “complaint for damages” against ATS with the superior court of Tulare County. On July 8, 2019, the parties stipulated Reynosa would submit his claims to binding arbitration pursuant to the aforementioned agreement and the court proceeding would be stayed pending completion thereof.

On September 9, 2019, Reynosa filed a demand for arbitration with arbitration provider Judicate West. Under the heading “WHAT RULES OF ARBITRATION DO YOU PREFER,” he marked the checkbox for “CCP § 1280 et se[q].” Retired judge John L. Wagner would serve as the neutral arbitrator.

Certain arbitration fees were paid by the parties, and in July 2019 the case proceeded to unsuccessful mediation, and then multiple arbitration hearings at various states of discovery. Interim invoices were prepared along the way by Judicate West, and payments were made and posted.

On March 20, 2023, Reynosa filed a “motion to terminate arbitration and request for monetary and evidentiary sanctions” with the court. In the motion, Reynosa – citing section 1281.98 – asserted ATS materially breached the arbitration agreement because (1) it was given invoices on July 21, 2021, and December 12, 2022, respectively; (2) each payment was due within 30 days after the date of receipt; and (3) each payment was rendered after the grace period elapsed. Hence, Reynosa was “statutorily entitled to unilaterally withdraw his claims from arbitration and proceed in court . . . .”

In an attached declaration, Reynosa’s attorney, Deborah P. Gutierrez, averred that on March 17, 2023, she “inquired with [Judicate West’s case manager] if ATS had timely paid the arbitration fees in this matter” and the case manager “confirmed that Defendant had . . . paid the December 12, 202[2] [invoice] on February 22, 2023 . . . .”

In a minute order, Retired Judge Wagner conceded ATS’s payments were late but noted Reynosa “did have the opportunity to request this relief before significant work was done and non-refundable arbitration fees were paid” and nonetheless “elected on numerous occasions to proceed with the arbitration process after the alleged tardy payments occurred.” Wagner stated: (1) “[t]he first tardy payment was made on September [17], 2021, more than 18 months ago,” but Reynosa “sat on his rights under § 1281.98 and did nothing”; and (2) “[t]he last tardy payment was on February 22, 2023”; during the March 7, 2023 case management conference, Reynosa “successfully resisted [ATS]’[s] request for a continuation of the present April 17, 2023, hearing date” and Wagner “shortened the refundable date for the arbitration hearing fees to March 20, 2023”; and Reynosa “waited until that very date to file [his] Motion to Terminate Arbitration and advised [Wagner] of the filing of that motion on March 24, 2023, after the shortened non-refundable period had ended,” prejudicing ATS financially. Wagner vacated the hearing dates and stayed the arbitration proceeding “pending a decision on [Reynosa]’s Motion to Terminate Arbitration by the Tulare Superior Court.”

On April 18, 2023, the superior court held a hearing on Reynosa’s withdrawal motion and it was denied. The Court of Appeal reversed in the published case of Reynosa v. Superior Court -F086342 (May 2024).

The opinion noted that the clear and unequivocal language of section 1281.98, subdivision (a)(1) “establishes a simple bright-line rule that a drafting party’s failure to pay outstanding arbitration fees within 30 days after the due date results in its material breach of the arbitration agreement.” § 1281.97 “contains no exceptions for substantial compliance,unintentional nonpayment, or absence of prejudice”

Nevertheless, the superior court concluded the parties “mutually agreed upon” the February 23, 2023 due date, emphasizing Reynosa “did not object to the extended payment deadline when proposed.”

Under section 1281.98, subdivision (a)(2), “[a]ny extension of time for the due date shall be agreed upon by all parties.” The verb “agree” – of which “agreed” is the past participle – is essentially undefined by the statute.

“In our view, the construction of ‘agreed’ in section 1281.98, subdivision (a)(2) advanced by ATS and adopted by the superior court undermines the legislative intent: by letting a claimant’s silence, failure to object, or other seemingly acquiescent conduct (not amounting to direct expression) constitute a sufficient manifestation of his or her agreement to an extension, the need for the arbitration provider or the business/employer to actively procure such consent – e.g., by having the claimant sign an acknowledgement form – is obviated.”

“Reynosa did not directly express agreement with the February 23, 2023 due date. Therefore, pursuant to section 1281.98, subdivision (a)(2), the December 12, 2022 invoice was due upon receipt. Pursuant to section 1281.98, subdivision (a)(1), ATS had until January 11, 2023, to pay the arbitration fees and costs. By submitting payment on February 22, 2023, the company materially breached the arbitration agreement.