Effect of professional certification on employees' return-to-work rate after occupational injuries in Korea: focusing on vulnerable groups

BACKGROUND@#One effective way to improve return-to-work (RTW) performance may be to convince the employer that the worker has the necessary skills. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of having a professional certification among workers injured in occupational injuries on their return to work.@*METHODS@#The Panel Study of Workers' Compensation Insurance (PSWCI) targets workers who completed medical care in 2012 after an occupational injury. The study population (n = 2000) was stratified by gender, age, region, disability grade, and rehabilitation service use. A total of 1458 workers were finally selected for this study. The effect of having a certification on RTW status was calculated with an odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals using binomial and multinomial logistic regression analyses. In the binomial logistic regression analysis, the RTW group was made up as a combination of the return to original work and the reemployment groups.@*RESULTS@#The ORs of RTW among those with a certification compared to those without certification were 1.38 (1.16-1.65) in Model 1, 1.25 (1.05-1.50) in Model 2, and 1.22 (1.01-1.47) in Model 3. Among female workers with a certification, the OR of RTW was 4.60 (2.68-7.91), that of return to original work was 3.21 (1.74-5.91), and that of reemployment was 5.85 (3.34-10.27). Among daily workers with a certification, the OR of RTW was 1.32 (1.03-1.69) and that of reemployment was 1.37 (1.07-1.76).@*CONCLUSION@#In conclusion, injured workers with a certification generally had a higher RTW rate. In particular, the RTW rate was higher among female workers and daily workers with a certification than among those without.

Review of the recent Supreme Court decision on the causal relationship of occupational diseases

A theoretical study advocated for alleviating the worker's responsibility of burden of proof to establish the causality of an occupational disease, since such a responsibility is unfair to the worker. The recent judgment has adopted some of these arguments for alleviating the worker's responsibility of burden of proof, and the judgment is significant since it is the first Supreme Court decision to recognize the causality of occupational diseases. The judgment expressly confirms that it is more proactive to recognize the causal relationship between work and certain diseases, and to provide compensation for industrial accidents to employees who are exposed to harmful substances at all times. In addition, the judgment also confirms that coverage of industrial safety and health risks is in accordance with the original purpose and function of the industrial accident insurance system, which aims to share risks through public insurance.

Factors related to the physician and the employer influencing successful return to work in Korea: results from the first panel study of workers' compensation insurance (PSWCI)

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate associated factors including the physician and the employer of successful return to work (RTW) in occupationally injured workers. METHODS: This study is based on the first panel study of workers' compensation insurance (PSWCI), published in June 2014. The PSWCI is a sample survey of occupationally injured workers who completed medical care in 2012 (89,921 people). A total of 2000 subjects were sampled based on sex, age, nine metropolitan-based regions, disability ratings, duration of rehabilitation, and whether vocational rehabilitation service was used. We divided the study population into two groups: return to work (RTW) group (job retention, reemployment, unpaid family worker, and self-employment), and non-RTW group (joblessness and economical inactivity). The odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) related to differences in basic characteristics, part of physician and employer-related factors between those who succeeded to RTW and those who did not were measured using multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS: The success of RTW is 70.6 % (n = 1412) among participants. The ORs (95 % CI) of the participants belonging to RTW who received periodic recovery assessment from the medical care institution and the physician are 1.51 (1.07-2.13). The ORs (95 % CI) are 1.68 (1.05-2.69) for the RTW group who received work ability assessment and referral for vocational return. When the employer maintains the relationship with the occupationally injured worker, the worker has 1.39 times higher odds (95 % CI: 1.41-2.26) of the RTW group compared to the non-RTW group. CONCLUSIONS: The physician and the employer have a significant impact on the RTW.

Workers' Compensation Insurance and Occupational Injuries

OBJECTIVES: Although compensation for occupational injuries and diseases is guaranteed in almost all nations, countries vary greatly with respect to how they organize workers' compensation systems. In this paper, we focus on three aspects of workers' compensation insurance in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries - types of systems, employers' funding mechanisms, and coverage for injured workers - and their impacts on the actual frequencies of occupational injuries and diseases. METHODS: We estimated a panel data fixed effect model with cross-country OECD and International Labor Organization data. We controlled for country fixed effects, relevant aggregate variables, and dummy variables representing the occupational accidents data source. RESULTS: First, the use of a private insurance system is found to lower the occupational accidents. Second, the use of risk-based pricing for the payment of employer raises the occupational injuries and diseases. Finally, the wider the coverage of injured workers is, the less frequent the workplace accidents are. CONCLUSION: Private insurance system, fixed flat rate employers' funding mechanism, and higher coverage of compensation scheme are significantly and positively correlated with lower level of occupational accidents compared with the public insurance system, risk-based funding system, and lower coverage of compensation scheme.

Leisure Time Physical Activity of People with Spinal Cord Injury: Mainly with Clubs of Spinal Cord Injury Patients in Busan-Kyeongnam, Korea

OBJECTIVE: To estimate hours of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) performed by people with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) and to identify the demographic and injury-related characteristics associated with LTPA of people with chronic SCI. METHOD: Seventy nine persons with SCI living in Busan and Gyongsangnam-do were recruited. They completed a self-administered questionnaire, which consisted of items about personal characteristics, type of LTPA, hours of LTPA, LTPA intensity, and LTPA satisfaction. RESULTS: Most participants (92.4%) did not work. The respondents reported a daily mean of 3.13 hours (+/-1.47) of LTPA; however, 3.8% reported no LTPA whatsoever. Years post-injury, income sources, and type of medical payment emerged as a predictors of LTPA. Years post-injury were positively correlated with amount of leisure activity. In the case of self income, LTPA was longer than for groups with different income sources (e.g.partner, parents). For patients receiving workers' compensation insurance, LTPA was longer than for patients receiving non-WC insurance. Most LTPA was done at a moderate intensity. The three most frequently reported types of LTPA were wheeling (26%), sports (19%), and stretching exercise (15%). There was overall dissatisfaction with LTPA. CONCLUSION: Daily LTPA hours were longer than previously reported, but wheeling accounted for a large part of the activity. Intensity of activity was generally moderate. The employment rate was very low. Clearly, participating in regular LTPA for health purposes is very important to people with chronic SCI, but it is also important for them to have jobs.

Work-Related Psychiatric Injuries of Korean Workers' Compensation / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine characteristics of work-related psychiatric injuries with Korean workers' compensation data. METHODS: We analyzed the distribution of sex, age, types of work-related psychiatric disorders, type of industry and occupation. Using the data of 3175 Korean workers' compensation cases who were compensated for work-related psychiatric injuries from 2001 to 2003. RESULTS: Work-related psychiatric injuries have increased annually. 897 cases, 1099 cases and 1179 cases were compensated during three years (2001-2003). Men accounted for many more cases than women. The most common age group was 41-49. The majority of work-related psychiatric injuries were 'organic, including symptomatic, mental disorders', 'neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders' and 'mood [affective] disorders'. For accidental psychiatric injury cases construction and manufacturing were the most common industries. Manufacturing, business activities, construction and transport were common in regard to work-related psychiatric disorders. In this study there was a high frequency of craft and related trades workers, elementary occupations and plant and machine operators and assemblers in accidental psychiatric injury cases. Work-related psychiatric disorders were frequent for elementary occupations, plant and machine operators and assemblers, craft and related trades workers, service workers, legislators, senior officials and managers. CONCLUSION: This investigation provided more information about the psychiatric injuries of Korean workers. These findings should help formulate intervention and prevention strategies of work-related psychiatric disorders.