My knee still hurts

[tieguy]

"I do agree with the "old school" thought of your reward being a paycheck at the end of the week. But too many of these guys and gals are spoiled rotten and have absolutely no idea of what things are like outside the brown world they live in."

Spoiled ain't always bad. Modern conviences were created because someone wanted to find an easier way to do a particular job. I think the majority of our people still understand there are times they need to dig in and times they need to sacrifice. They would like us to limit those times as much as possible.

 

[over9five]

It was comp. Someone from UPS (company nurse, I think) called and asked me how I thought I got it. I told her too many over 70s. There was no problem.

 

[dannyboy]

The "gift", bribe, what ever you want to call it, is not the focus of why they give it out. THey wnat safety to be a positive issue. Too many time we focus on what goes wrong with safety related issues and it ends up sounding negitive. Instead of focusing on how many people were injured, we focus on how many didnt. And believe it or not, positive reinforcement works. It also keeps safety in the fore front even when you are not having injuries or accidents.

To give some of you some Ideas on the cost to the center when you get injured.

These are full time numbers, for part time it is about 1/2.

First off, if you report the injury late, there will be a $1,000 charge if it is past 7 days, and an additional $1,000 for each additional 7 day period. So reporting it on time is a must.

There is a one time charge of $18,000 that occurs when Liberty cuts the first check to the driver. This charge is Zero if the driver is placed on TAW and is worked his/her full shift. If not worked the full guarantee, then Liberty makes up the difference, and the center gets charged the full $18,000 when they cut the first check. In addition to that there is a $600 per day charge to day 49, from days 50-100 it is increased to $900, and from days 101-149 it goes to $1100 per day. Then when you are released to go back to work, there is an Exit fee that is $6,500 dollars.

So in this case if a driver is hurt on the job and is off 149 days, the cost to the center is $156,000. THat does not include any medical bills.

Nor does that include the loss to the driver in wages or health.

Injuries cost UPS serious money. If all the programs that are in place can prevent just one, then it is money well spent. And any money that is spent on awareness and prevention is a good investment.

d

 

[upsdude]

Dannyboy..


I wonder what my injury cost?

2 surgeries, 7 days total hospital stay
23 months total disability
4 months of daily physical therapy

I may be the million dollar man

 

[upsdude]

Dannyboy & Tie

One problem Ive seen with coworkers injuries is the BS the medical facility puts them through. Example: Joe Driver reports a minor strain on a Wednesday..Joe Supervisor sends him to the local Doc in a Box..Local Doc in the Box refers Joe Driver to the Occupational Doctor..Occupational Doctor only sees patients on Tuesdays.Joe Driver has now missed at least 4 days work.UPS is now faced with 4 days lost time AND huge medical bills

The strain (in most cases) would be healed in 2 or 3 days. Why force the employee to see a doctor if they dont want or need to? If you suffered the same injury at home would you see a doctor? Doubtful.

As a side note to my previous post. The Physical Therapist that treated me finally gained approval to ride with a driver (me) and it made a huge difference in his ability to treat UPS employees. He said I did more work in 4 hours than most people do in a week. I couldnt get that in writing though! LOL!!

 

[dannyboy]

In our district management has to TAKE you to the doc in a box. The only exception to this rule is if you are taken by ambulance to the hospital, in which case they are to meet you there.

The most an injury will cost the center is the 156 grand the way I understand it. That would keep a center from going broke over several long term injuries.

Kinda like the tier 3 accidents. It would only take one driver hitting a school bus to totally wipe out a center finacially. So that is why they hit them with an average$55,000. That spreads the cost around to all the centers.

AS with injuries, prevention is the key.

How are you doing now UPSdude?

Wouldnt want you to miss all the fun!

d

 

[upsdude]

dannyboy.......

I've been back to work for 3 years. My doc gave me a 10% chance of returning. He failed to consider my strong desire to eat and buy things.


3 plates, 6 screws, and about 4 inches of wire. Not to mention the donor bone.

 

[proups]

upsdude and dannyboy: both of you exhibit in your posts the desire to do the right thing - use the methods and not get hurt.

dannyboy: your numbers are very accurate. I have seen those too. It is in all of our best interests to work safely.

I also heard that if we don't stop the bleeding with worker's comp (sorry for the pun), it will cost UPS over a billion dollars by 2007 - far more than PAS and the other technology we are implementing will save us.

 

[brownmonster]

I'm going back Mon. after 4 1/2 weeks off with Hernia Surgery. Comp. denied it and I have no proof that it happened on the job. Oh well, that's what savings are for. Enjoyed the hell out of being retired for a month though!

 

[toonertoo]

They tell you to call in every single injury, I dont anymore. I hit my head on the post that locks into the back on the floor from the back door, my fault indeed. I didnt call it in at the time, but I was bleeding profusely, so I went to deliver to a place on my route I showed it to the doc and he glued me back together. Head wounds bleed badly, and although I didnt think I hurt anything since I have been known to have a hard head, I called it in that night. Ups never even had to pay for my clinic call, there was no record, I just reported it in case I had an infection down the road. And it still haunts me. If I had done the same thing at home, No I probaly wouldnt have seeked medical help, but would have had the time to stop and evaluate it and clean it, which is not a luxury on a route. So unless I know it is something like a broken bone which I have also worked on while broken, coz I thought it was just a sprain, I wont report it, now UPS DUDE you are the bionic man......

 

[dannyboy]

Toner

Please listen to me. Do as instructed and let your sup know you were injured, even if you dont call it in for a day or so. Thats OK. But let them know. That covers you and them in case something that didnt look all that bad gets worse.

Like an infection in that head cut. Ive seen what happened to a face because of a staff infection that went untreated. But it was only a deep scratch that didnt even bleed all that much................

So please, cover yourself and protect UPS in the long run. Let your sup or safety cochair know about the injury. Unless you get a perscription to be filled, or there is something done past first aid, or you lose time, it costs your center nothing.

Please do it for yourself and for the company. They tell you do do so for a reason, trust me.

d

 

[goodoleptsup]

Every center needs a co chair like dannyboy. Someone who cares enough about themselves and their peers to make a difference. Someone who can answer their questions when they arrise. Keep it up danny@!!!

 

[proups]

All injuries need to be called in the day they occur.

This protects both the employee and the company.

For the employee, there will be no questioning by management (except the injury investigation) if you call it in the day it occurs, especially if you seek no medical attention.

For the company, there will be no denial of treatment, or suspicion that you hurt yourself elsewhere, if you call it in when it occurs.

A win-win for all of us.

 

[toonertoo]

Proups, maybe on your watch their is never anything said after the injury inquiry, but not in my case. I had not had an injury for almost 6 yrs,where I lost any time or required medical treatment, and because I reported the head injury, and a injury that occurred when I had a lg load fall on my arm, and it was black and blue for three weeks, so I showed it to mgmt and they told me to report it. Now after all this time, they decided to start getting on us people with injuries, instead of going after people I know who have been off a total of this year, over 200+ days for injuries. Same injury tho, not an actual bad injury such as a back etc. Just uses the same claim over and over and they were minor things that most of us wouldnt take a day off for. So since it is the same injury they dont count it. Before I had these non injuries, it was doc in the box, carbon monoxide poisoning from a pkg car with a cracked manifold, for 10 days and it was written up and not removed. had I been smart I would not have driven it day after day, but I wanted to work. so after going to the er and getting oxygen, and never getting the results becasue doc in the box lost my blood work, and I went back to work the next day, provided I didnt drive faulty equipment, I broke my ankle the next day, and missed five months of work... I dont feel either of those injuries were my fault, but no one wants to talk about them, they just want to tell me about how to work safely. If it were not for those two injuries, I would not be on the list. The management in place at that time is now gone, and I dont really blame them, they had no cars available, nor do I blame the mechancis as the part was on order. and the mechanice boss said it was no big deal, and I have since found out that maybe it would not bother some people, but fumes bother me. It just aggravates me that I have not had an injury, and they wanted to harrass me and call me the #2worst injury risk at our center. And the No1 guy hasnt missed any work either, but has a recurrence of shoulder injury that he reports since he has had problems in the past. If drivers, and probaly part timers reported every cut, or bruise UPS would be overwhelmed. I went against my best judgement when I reported the only injuries I ever had besides the two I just mentioned,that caused me to lose work, and it wasn't worth it.

 

[kidlogic]

I was with a metro once during the winter and I slipped and cut myself on my UPS truck. I was glad that he was with me because I never would have filed a injury report if he hadnt been with me. 2 weeks later the cut on my leg got infected and it was so bad that I spent 7 days in the hospital. The hospital bill was $7,000. You never know when something small can get out of hand.

 

[dammor]

I understand the hesitation to report an injury. I agree with tooner that if we reported every scrape it would be overwhelming. I got bit by a sneaky dog years ago and did not want to cause a fuss about it. I did report it because I was pushed to do so. Good news is I recovered and so did the dog, but had I had problems such as infection I would have been covered. Back then they didn't go out and investigate the crime scene though. I'd hate to put the dog through that.....

 

[local804]

If you get hurt on the job, plain and simple, you must fill out an injury report.If it is a small cut or a little bump, get over it and finish the day. If in doubt, just tell the suit when you come in and put the ball in his court.Atleast you made him aware there might be something wrong.There are alot better threads on this board, lets put this one to rest and please move on........

 

[ezrider]

I'd like to see a safety co-chair or a sup do the route I'm on and try to "work safely using the methods" while trying to evade stray dogs at one out of every five residential stops out in two-lane highway country in the pouring rain in a p800 with pathetic defrosting capability and 50 stops to go after dark.

Here's an idea for safety.How about getting some trucks that defrost in the winter or that actually HAVE rear cargo lighting instead of something that resembles some Mickey Mouse hallway nightlite or maybe a step leading out of the cab that wasn't about two feet off the damn ground?

Hey,here's another one.How about a 9-hour dispatch instead of 12-hours?Guys and gals,your kidding yourselves if you really think someone can't get hurt by religiously following the methods.There's too many holes in that dyke too compensate for every leak.

 

[dannyboy]

Rider

YEs you can get hurt even when following the methods. Methods will reduce the number of injuries dramaticly though, so follow them, they work.

As for getting things changed, take an active role in your safety committee. And on safety issues that are not fixed in a timely manor, file greivances. STart creating a paper trail.

Think about why you are written up with a verbal warning, then a written warning, then suspensions before termination. They are creating a paper trail for an issue they feel very strongly about.

So why do you not do the same thing on safety issues. As they become part of the safety record for your work group, it sets the stage for an investigation should something go wrong. The safety group DOES have quite a bit of power to get things done. USe it. And as the rest of the work group see that you walk the talk and get things done in spite of managements obstuctions......well just do it.

And if you need help on issues, Email me. Maybe I can help, or at least connect you with others in the system that can. I think that getting our input to make our jobs safer was a really smart move. The fact that OSHA MADE UPS do it to settle some grossly insane fines really dosnt matter.

d

 

[local804]

Very cool post ez. I am still laughing my off to that one.We ALL can relate to what you are saying.We measured one of the p-1000 steps and it was 23 1/2 inches. The driver of the car was only 5`7 which means the step was more than 1/3 his body height.I can bet sooner or later he will be out on comp for a leg,ankle or back injury for sure. Just like Danny said, open your mouth to the safety team and remember he who chirps the loudest gets the worm first.Maybe, you too, can drive a new p-1000 with a step only 12 inches off the ground with power steering, halogen lighting and with an automatic tranny.I hope you like my picture of Spiegel that I have with my posts. He reminds me of one of our old school suits(lol) telling us to make it in before 9/5.