Occupational Safety and Health Data Collection

And Injury Prevention Work Group

 

Minutes

 

Bureau of Labor Standards

First Floor Training Room

November 17, 2004

9:30 – 11:30 A.M.

 

 

Present: Bill Peabody, Chair (Maine Department of Labor), Brad Brown (Maine Bureau of Insurance), Peter Doran (Maine Occupational Research Agenda), Carol Grenier (sitting in for Stefanie LaRose, Cannon Cochran Management Services, Inc.), Jeff Levesque (Workers’ Compensation Board), Louise Morang (Maine Association of Occupational Nurses), Ralph Tucker (McTeague-Higbee), Dave Wacker (Maine Department of Labor), and Leslie Walleigh (Workplace Health)

 

Absent: Denise Dumont (US HealthWorks), Gary Baxter (Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Company), Brian Doe (Hannaford), Vanessa Santarelli (Maine Department of Labor), Saskia Janes (Maine Public Health Association), Stefanie LaRose (Canon Cochran Management Services, Inc.), Kim Lim (Maine Department of Labor), Steve Minkowsky (Workers’ Compensation Board), Pat Philbrook (Maine State Nurses Association), and John Rioux (Maine Department of Labor)

 

Staff:  Terry Hathaway (Maine Department of Labor)

 

Staff Absent: Ted Bradstreet (Maine Department of Labor)

 

Chair Bill Peabody opened the tenth meeting of the Occupational Safety and Health Data Collection and Injury Prevention Work Group at 9:40 A.M.

 

Approval of October 27, 2004 Minutes.  Peter Doran made a motion to accept the minutes. Louise Morang seconded the motion. Vote, unanimous.

 

Dirigo Health Questions. Jeff Levesque will update the list and e-mail the group with the list of questions for their review and comments by the end of the week.

 

Review of Identified Occupational Safety and Health Data Series and Summary.

Bill continued the review of the identified occupational safety and health data series and summary.  The purpose of the review is to identify the current systems in place for the report to the Labor Committee. If anyone knows of any other data sources, let Bill know.

 

Discussion continued on the Workers’ Compensation Database. More research needs to be done. Currently, with EDI, First Reports of Injury (FROI) with lost time are being sent to the Workers’ Compensation Board and being coded by the Bureau of Labor Standards.  Medical Only (MO) will be included, so there will be a need for additional people. Jeff explained that when information comes to the WCB electronically, the data goes to a database and is edited; then, goes back to the insurer. Further discussion on the use of different codes and that it would be helpful if they were all the same.

 

Brad Brown handed out a copy of Title 24-A: Maine Insurance Code for review.

 

Someone will get a copy of the NCCI coding system so the work group can look at it. Perhaps, there could be a crosswalk between the various codes. Brad will bring an example of the Bureau of Insurance coding to the December meeting. Kim will also bring an example of the Bureau of Labor Standards’ coding to the December meeting.

 

Bill reviewed the ES-202 (Maine DOL, Labor Market Information Services). ES-202 lists DOL employers, number of employees, and wages paid on a quarterly basis. The data is confidential on an individual basis, but not in aggregate. Also, it excludes Agriculture, Fishing, and self-employed.

 

The Maine Bureau of Labor Standards “Gen II” includes safety consultation services for both private and public sector. The results, however, are not in Gen II. Again, the data is confidential on an individual basis, but not in aggregate. Leslie asked if the Bureau of Health could ask for information. Bill responded that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Bureau of Labor Standards and the Bureau of Health would be necessary to guarantee confidentiality of data.

 

Bill continued the review with the Maine Bureau of Labor Standards Data Warehouse, which is the basis for special studies and connects to all Department of Labor (employment data and unemployment insurance) as well as data links to Workers’ Compensation. This also includes confidential data.

 

The Maine Toxics List (Maine Department of Environmental Protection) lists 400 facilities and their toxic releases, use, and waste and provides an inventory of toxics and potential exposure sites. The problem is that a search cannot be done by chemical exposure without going to each employer.

 

The Maine Cancer Register (Maine Bureau of Health) is a listing of diagnosed cancers registered with patient name and address; can be used for collaborative studies. However, the information is confidential and there is no variable for work-relatedness as it is not mandatory that occupation or work history be reported. This is a useful source of information for cancers.

 

The Occupational Poison Exposures (Northern New England Poison Center) has demographic data and type of poisoning and is a management site. Collaborative studies can be done and the reported poisonings include work-related; however, the data is confidential.

 

The Occupational Disease Reporting Program (Maine Bureau of Health) has certain occupational illness diagnoses reported by providers and hospitals to the Bureau of Health.

 

Next Meeting. The next meeting of the Occupational Safety and Health Data Collection and Injury Prevention Work Group will be held on Wednesday, December 15, 2004, 9:30 to 11:30 A.M., in the First Floor Training Room, Bureau of Labor Standards, Hallowell.

 

Adjournment. Mr. Peabody adjourned the meeting at 11:30 A.M.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Terry M. Hathaway

Recording Secretary