Study: Workers cite trust issue with injuries

A new study has found that some workers fear they will be laid off or fired after sustaining an on-the-job injury.

The study from the Workers' Compensation Research Institute examined predictors of worker outcomes that can help Iowa public officials, insurers, and health care providers improve the treatment and communication an injured worker receives after an injury.

The study asked workers if they were concerned about being fired as a result of a workplace injury. Thirty-nine percent said they were somewhat or very concerned that they would be fired or laid off after they were injured. Sixty percent reported no such concern.

The study also identified workers with specific medical conditions that exist simultaneously with, but are usually independent of the work injury. Workers were asked if they had received treatment for hypertension, diabetes, lung conditions and heart problems in the year before their injury.

Hypertension was the most common existing medical condition (24 percent). Diabetes was reported by 9 percent of workers and lung conditions were reported by 7 percent.

66 percent of injured Iowa workers reported having at least one existing medical condition or having smoked for 10 years or more. 22 percent of the workers surveyed reported having more than one significant existing medical condition.

The study was based on telephone interviews with 412 injured workers in Iowa. The surveys were conducted in 2014 for injuries in 2011.

All workers who were interviewed had received workers' compensation benefits and experienced more than seven days of lost time from work. On average, the injuries for the workers surveyed had occurred about 2.9 years before the interviews.

Cambridge, Mass.-based WCRI provides information about public policy issues involving workers' compensation systems.