The HAV Nots
Chris Booth just wants some help! That’s what the Central Hawkes Bay Mail article screamed out at us last month (10 March 2009 edition) on its front page. It was a plea by the former small engine mechanic battling with a BGD (big Government Department) for compensation. Compensation that will go a long way to alleviating the now daily stress of staving off creditors.
That’s right! 18 months! If it weren’t a true story I’d say it’s darn near unbelievable. 18 months of bureaucratic buck-passing and bungling. I mean how many more months could they string it out because what’s required here is action of the practical kind. A sign off on an application that in business anywhere else would have been a reasonably straight-forward matter would do!
But the BGD is cumbersome and while I appreciate and understand process it seems to me that the simple decision to pass the application based on an amended diagnosis by the required specialist IS simple. Sign on the dotted line simple. The process to Chris must feel like a nightmare game of Snakes and Ladders. One too many throws of the dice and it’s a slippery slide back to square one!
I’d keenly rephrase the writing of the CHB Mail article that reads, “The CHB Mail contacted ACC (Accident Compensation Commission) to see how far along Chris’ case is and to clarify if indeed it is necessary that ACC’s protocol requires Chris to be sent back down to Christchurch for another test by its specialist for HAVS; when the diagnosis has already been made, wasting ACC’s time, money and resources.”
First things first, this is no waste of ACC’s time, I bet my bottom dollar people in the BGD ensure their salaries are paid in a satisfactory and timely manner. Of course they are! Furthermore, ACC’s money is not ITS money! Let’s be very clear about from who and where those monies come from.
The ACC Earners’ Levy
They are monies derived from the ACC Earners’ Levy, that is: those salary and wages (overtime, backpay, holiday pay, long service leave, bonuses or gratuities and taxable allowances), shareholder-employee salaries, salaries to partners in a partnership and or income from self employment. Those monies came from everywo/man New Zealander aka you, me AND Chris.
“Until 1999, ACC operated under a ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis, collecting only enough levies each year to cover the cost of claims for that particular year. In 1999 the Government decided to change ACC from ‘pay-as-you-go’ to a ‘fully funded’ way of operating. That means they now collect enough money during each levy year to cover the full lifetime costs of every claim that occurs in that year.” EVERY claim it seems other than Chris’.
“Some people who are injured need ACC’s help for 30 years or more, so significant reserves must be built up to fund these future costs. This money is invested and earns interest that helps pay the cost of claims. This fully funded model is fairer for levy payers.” But ask Chris if he agrees with that bit of BGD speakese and I bet too it’s little more than a bitter pill to swallow! The blurb continues, “Future generations of levy payers won’t be paying for injuries that happened years before as the cost of those claims will already have been collected.” I’m thinking Chris would just like a little Present!
HAVs – A History
The history of HAVS became known in the early 19th Century after the introduction of pneumatic tools in French mines when Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome also began to be reported in Mine workers. The symptoms of vascular spasm in the hands of Italian miners using pneumatic tools were first described by Professor Loriga in Italy in 1911, although the link was not made between the symptoms and vibrating hand tools until a study was undertaken by Alice Hamilton MD (1869–1970) in 1918.
Alice Hamilton MD (1869–1970)
Hamilton was the first U.S. physician to devote herself to research in industrial medicine. She realised that little was written or understood about occupational illnesses in her homeland of the United States. In 1908, she published her first article about occupational diseases in that country and soon became a recognised expert on the topic. She formed her theory through following the symptoms reported by quarry cutters and carvers in Bedford, Indiana. She also discovered the link between an increase in HAV symptoms and cold weather as 1918 was a particularly harsh winter.
To do both Chris and this topic some degree of justice we’ll need to pick up our topic again tomorrow. Follow me, let’s learn together, let’s educate ourselves and in turn let’s educate others about this life-affecting disease. ‘When we know better, we do better!’ Indeed!
* This is 2 of a 4 part blog. The NEXT blog is entitled ‘No HAVs Been’
