More Thoughts about Workers Compensation and EAPs

Employee assistance practitioners have a history of offering services in what may be called the "traditional" areas of their craft ... alcohol abuse, drug use, mental health services, and other personal problems associated with these conditions.

And yet, research has demonstrated a close correlation between "traditional" employee assistance services and indicators not normally considered a part of that total picture--workers' compensation claims, for example.

Workers' compensation claims my, in fact, be among the most significant indicators of workplace health and wellness, as well as very good clues as to the presence or absence of alcohol, drugs, or mental health problems.

If you're marketing employee assistance services, seek to discover the types of industries with the highest accident rates. Also, be sure to turn to OSHA. OSHA maintains a fresh list of high accident troubled companies. This is list is available, and you may discover some of the companies are near you. Why? There are 20,000 of them--at least--every year. So, go for the high accident businesses, not the high numbers of employees. You may find more motivated employers who will be interested in your services.

And approaching prospective clients along the workers' compensation chain can bring into your service orbit the self-insured as well as those who pay premiums, since both can realize substantial savings through the coupling of worker's compensation programs with employee assistance services.

The higher a work organization's accident rate, the higher the premiums it pays for workers' compensation. The organization is therefore motivated to reduce accident rates, on of the jobs employee assistance services are designed to do.

Media Event! We Have An Expert on that Subject!

1. Throughout the year the major media will visit health subjects that have broad appeal to the public. They will also report on major calamities and news stories of many kinds. By and large, however, media outlets choose the stories they will cover based upon their biases and what constitutes public trends of interest.

To illustrate this, imagine how many earth tremors occur in California per year, versus how many are actually reported. Answer: Thousands of tremors occur than are reported. Only certain Rector Scale values will be reported, or where significant damage occurs. The truth is however, that minor tremors knock things off the shelves in people’s houses in quake prone areas of California all the time. But these quakes are never reported. The same quack on the east coast would be huge news.

2. You will notice that specific topics appear in the news periodically, but predictably. For example, you can predict that approximately once a year the topic of alcoholism will emerge. It might be a news event on its cause, a new drug to fight cravings, a story about the genetic brain, or some other related topic. Many other topics related to social problems also will appear in the media. Pay attention.

Listen attentively to the news. When you hear news that relates to your field of expertise, immediately fax to the local television stations your biography (a half page and photo). Fax your photo even though they will not be able to see it. Or have one drawn like you see the photos of people computer drawn in the Investors Business Daily. Also call the news room to say that you are an expert on that subject, you are faxing a bio right now, and you are ready to meet immediately or at their convenience.

You will marvel at how often they will ask you to come to the studio immediately or phone you to visit your office location. This is a great way to get publicity and to get on TV or the radio. And, it will make you instantly visible to your potential clients and EAP customers. Television and news stations scramble to find experts on subjects when the news hits. They don’t have much time and you will be their rescuer. You are doing them a favor, not the other way around. So, act like it on the phone. Act like you have done this all the time and that you "have cleared time from your schedule to make yourself available."

3. If it is national news, you will have extra time to respond because it will take longer for local stations to run "local expert" interviews. National news filters down to local significance to what is relevant in the immediate community. Again, if it is local news, your window of opportunity is much smaller, possibly an hour or less.

DO THIS: Prepare ahead of time by getting phone and fax numbers, and contacts lined up. Then, wait for the "big one." When “it” happens start dialing for dollars and the free publicity.

Note: Everything I discussed above, I have also done numerous times.

Yes, Your Own Blog Can Pay Off! Pay Attention to Marina London

Hi everyone, yes, it is true. Blogging pays. If you are at the EAPA Conference taking place in Tampa right now, and you are participating in the seminar on blogging, pay attention.

Blogging is awesome and it can really, really help the EAP field---and your EAP.

But let me give you a tip. Select a niche!!! Don't blog about anything and everything. Of course, I am blogging about EAP related issues, but I could just as easily blog about EAPs and Workplace Violence.

Let's discuss this for a moment. Can you guess how many times the phrase "workplace violence" is Googled each month? I will tell you.....looking it up now as I type.......the answer is 49,500 times per month.

Impressive? Yes. But let's say you blogged on Workplace Violence every 7 days. No big deal -- just 100 words on how EAPs can play a positive role in reducing the risk of workplace violence. What would happen?

Here what would happen. Because your blog begins to accumlate highly relevant content, you would slowly but almost assuredly find yourself on page one of Google.

Do you realize the implications of this?

It means traffic---and that means anyone interested in the topic would slowly  begin to view you as the expert on this topic and witha  link to your website on your blog, discover you and your EAP. Search engines will rank you high because you are consistently talking about this topic. The rest is your message. But with 49,500 searches and you being on page one of Google, do you think you would get a few interested customers? Duh.

The Official Dietary Bible Every EAP Should Own (FREE)

You probably know more about alcoholism, psychotherapy, and managing job stress than human nutrition, correct? There are many subjects that come up when counseling employees and let's face it, we don't always feel in command of every topic.

There are some topics you need to be competent to handle however. One of them is nutrition.

Well there is no reason that you have to be an EAP professional who is an ignoramus about nutrition any longer. You can now download the official federal government bible on all this stuff! Nutrition, Health, Exercise -- it all in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

I am talking about having a serious grounding in human nutrition that you can offer to your clients and then be sure you are correct and legally safe in offering those dietary recommendations. You can't get that from a book at Borders. (Well you could, but your risk when offering this advice is reduced when you can reference federal government sources, right?)

I am not saying that you should play doctor, by the way.

For example, in your counseling office, could you intelligently comment on things like offering nutritional recommendations for overweight children, being aware of what pregnant women should be concerned about regarding their diet. What the risks there are in weight reduction for new mothers that jeopardize the weight gain of a nursing infant. Knowing that it requires 60-90 minutes of moderate exercise PER DAY to sustain weigh loss?

There are ton of issues regarding diet that arise in the EAP office, and you are a more valuable contributor to workplace wellness and employee productivity if you have a working knowledge or command of this information.

It's easy to get. Download this "bible" of nutrition information from feds. It's usually about $13 at the Government Printing Office, but yours truly found the federal government download (free) at the following link: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/pdf/DGA2005.pdf

Check out this outline:

• Background and Purpose of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• Adequate Nutrients Within Calorie Needs
• Weight Management
• Physical Activity .
• Food Groups To Encourage
• Fats
• Carbohydrates
• Sodium and Potassium
• Alcoholic Beverages .
• Food Safety
• Eating Patterns
• Eating Plan at 1,600-, 2,000-, 2,600-, and 3,100-Calorie Levels
• USDA Food Guide
• Discretionary Calorie Allowance in the USDA Food Guide
• Food Sources of Selected Nutrients
• Food Sources of Potassium .
• Food Sources of Vitamin E
• Food Sources of Iron
• Dairy Food Sources of Calcium
• Food Sources of Calcium .
• Food Sources of Vitamin A .
• Food Sources of Magnesium
• Food Sources of Dietary Fiber
• Food Sources of Vitamin C
• Glossary of Terms .
• Acronyms

Awesome.

Amazing Drug Injury Lawsuit Case--Employee Loses

Just to see the insanity in action, and have a nice example for marketing your EAP to deal with drug cases,  get this: An employee using Meth was injured on the job. It would have been compensable, but of course, the drug test at the hospital showed he was on Methamphetamine. So, naturally, the company said, "No way" and the Workers' Compensation Insurer said--"no way, buddy, the injury was sustained while you were on Meth."

So, this drug user says, well, the fall was your guys fault. Not mine. I was on Meth, true, but the injury was still because of your negligence. But since the Workers' Comp doesn't cover injuries when someone is using Meth or other drugs, I am suing you! I am suing for thousands of dollars because Workers' Comp doesn't cover this sort of situation anyway! Okay, so I was high as a kite. But, it was your fault I got injured. Let's go to court.

Off to court they went.

How much it cost to defend this lunacy is anyone's guess. I would love to know! However, the court said the case of the injury was in fact "the jurisdiction of the Workers' Compensation plan", the only issue was, drug-related injuries aren't covered. But the WC still protects the employer from lawsuits.

So, it is not that the WC system does not have jurisdiction. It does. It is just that WC won't cover it, even though the injury is the employer's fault. Therefore there is no remedy and you can't sue the employer becuase Workers' Compensatin protects the employer against lawsuits!

The Meth user is stuck with the medical bill. Amazing case.

Could the EAP have helped? You make the call! If this employee was referred to the EAP, the EAP could have played a role in helping this employee get treatment and talked common sense into him. That may have prevented the umteen thousand dollar legal bill to defend this case.

READ IT: http://www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=510868682

Are You Giving Enough Respect to Respect Training?

If you're conducting workplace violence prevention training, be sure to not overlook subjects tangential to this topic that may be more critical in preventing a workplace violence incident than learning about the signs and symptoms of an employee prone to act violently. You know, the employee who may also have a long history of being harassed, disrespected, involved in conflicts, and who has no appropriate assertiveness skills to confront a supervisors who has bullied him or her. Are you catching my drift?

Too many training programs talk about how to spot the employee who might turn into a shooter, signs and symptoms of troubling behaviors in the workplace, and how to find the nearest exit if the bullets start flying. But preventing workplace violence is much more complex than these packages of the same old information.

There are several critical areas that need attention. Each of the following play critical roles in educating employees and supervisors in prevention of workplace violence -- conflict resolution between coworkers, respectful workplace training in general, training on the supervisor's role in supporting a respectful workplace, and training on avoiding workplace harassment and many behaviors that fall within the scope of this topic.

Then of course, the direct education and awareness about preventing workplace violence should also be include. Consider whether any of the following workplace wellness education products can assist you above.

You know what, I am going to take it one step furth and add Improving Assertiveness Skills. If you are a psychotherapist or other clinical type, you know that assertiveness is not just about asking for the last piece of pie on the table. It's about living proactively.

When one's rights are violated, stepping up to the plate to say "no" and "stop that" and if needed, heading for HR to get help could make the difference between intervention early and SWAT intervention later.

Do you need to deliver all this material at once? Of course not. And you shouldn't. Instead come back over the course of a year an sell the workplace violence prevention message by discussing these topics in their proper context. Employees will get the message, and of course the workplace tragedy you prevent will never be known. Good thing, Still take the credit. You deserve it.

Misuse and Abuse of Drugs Defined

You can be an expert on a subject and stumble over your tongue trying to explain some simple concept if you are under pressure or caught off guard. It happens to all of us. For example, can you explain in seconds the difference between misuse and abuse of drugs? I am sure you know the difference, but unless you have a rehearsed and prepared script in mind, you may back up a few times as you try to clarify the difference. It's at these special times that a handout comes in handy.

I found a great handout that discusses the difference between misuse and abuse of drugs. It was emailed to me by one of my article sources at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. There's no copyright, so you print and copy this handout and use it in trainings. It would be a good for supervisor training in workplace substance abuse or employee drug and alcohol awareness, for that matter.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/UCM220434.pdf

Have you previewed for free the two hour DOT alcohol and drug training web course available from WorkExcel.com? Email me here and I will send you the temporary link that launches the course. This web course has pop up handouts, test questions, a certificate of completion, feedback on wrong answers--the whole nine yards. And it's in sound. Click here to ask me to send it -- Dan, send me that free course link on Reasonable Suspicion