The other reasons

Today's column is written by Bill Griffing, head of the Environmental Safety and Health Section.

Bill Griffing

No one wants to experience the pain and suffering of an injury -- whether on
the job or at home. That alone provides ample motivation to
do whatever it takes
to avoid getting hurt. Beyond that fundamental reason, though, there are other motivations that you may not have thought about for avoiding a work-related injury.

When an employee is injured on the job, "productive" time naturally changes to "nonproductive" time. Work normally assigned to the injured employee is distributed to co-workers who may not be able to keep up with the additional workload, causing schedule slippages and other undesirable consequences.

There is also a financial burden associated with treating injuries and compensating injured workers. I find that many employees mistakenly believe that Fermilab, like private corporations, pays a workers' compensation premium to an insurer who underwrites Fermilab's losses. This is not true. As a government-funded organization, we are self-insured. This means that dollars spent on treating work-related injuries and compensating workers for their losses come directly from Fermilab's "fringe" reserves, funds set aside for this and other purposes.

Although Fermilab is self-insured, the laboratory is required to process workers' compensation claims through Wausau, an insurance company, which adds a fee for every claim processed on our behalf. Although we have done remarkably well to lower the number of workers' compensation claims over the last decade, the medical costs per claim for the treatment of injuries continues to increase due to rising health care costs. Wausau makes adjustments periodically in the size of the reserve they require Fermilab to hold for payment of workers' compensation expenses based on our history of losses. Such increases naturally affect our fringe rate and lower the level of operating funds available to carry out our scientific mission.

As you go about your work each day remember that there are many reasons why working safely is important to you, to your coworkers, and to our scientific mission here at Fermilab.

Due to a recent vulnerability in the MIT Kerberos telnet service, Fermilab is blocking inbound telnet sessions from offsite until patches can be applied. This means all offsite users who attempt to use telnet to connect to any machine onsite will be unsuccessful. Telnet from an onsite machine to an offsite machine will not be affected. Please work with your local operating system support staff or vendor to obtain the required patches when they are available.

There are several alternatives to using telnet from offsite, including ssh and vpn. It is expected that this block will need to remain in place for at least several days while patching is completed. Contact the Computer Security Team through the Helpdesk with any questions.

Kodee, a Brittany breed, escaped from his yard across Kirk Road on Sunday afternoon and ran onto Fermilab property near the Pine Street entrance. He was last seen running into the woods near the Lederman Science Center by a Fermilab security guard. His family would appreciate any information that would lead to the recovery of their pet. Please e-mail Fermilab Today or call the Office of Public Affairs at x6733 with more information.

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Kyuki-Do classes will start on April 9. This martial art combines the strikes of Taekwon-Do, the throwing and grappling techniques of Judo and Jujitsu, the joint locks of Hapki-Do, and the practice of Kobudo (traditional weapons). Classes are held on Monday and Wednesday from 5 - 6 p.m. at the Recreation Facility in the Village. Teacher Bruce Worthel will focus on a practical self-defense that can be used by women or men. You will learn kicks, blocks, hand techniques, throws, pins, self-defense, and forms that will teach you balance, power, and grace. Register through the Recreation Office; classes cost $45 per 6-week session. You must be a member of the recreation facility to join.

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