I smile whenever I see a program that integrates occupational health and employee assistance services. Having considerable exposure to both of these disciplines, I can see the sheer logic behind integrating them.
IN three years' time, the United States' perspective of public safety has dramatically shifted. Decades of relative stability within our country's borders have been usurped by the threat of violence, illness, and economic uncertainty.
THE emphasis on designing workplaces to accommodate individuals having a variety of physical differences has increased due to the knowledge and public awareness surrounding ergonomics. As both manufacturers and consumers understand, work environments that are more comfortable to use and adjustable to individual needs can reduce discomfort, the potential for fatigue, and cumulative trauma, as well as increase job productivity.
THERMAL imagers (TIs) are sweeping through the North American fire service as more and more municipal fire departments adopt the technology. The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently reported approximately 25 percent of municipal fire departments have TIs.
IN 2001, at an exotic animal ranch in Florida, a 550-pound crossbred Siberian tiger mauled to death a 49-year-old volunteer worker. According to the Associated Press, the worker was attempting to qualify for his own license to keep "big cats" when the tiger broke through a chain link, grabbed the worker by the neck, and pulled him to the ground. The official report of the incident said the man died in seconds of a broken neck.
Editor's note: Ambassador Medical Services Inc. of Marlton, N.J., a third-party administrator of federally required testing programs, has seen its business shift from 100 percent DOT testing at startup in 1988 to a 40 percent DOT/60 percent non-DOT mix today.
A large construction company was building a multi-story office building in St. Louis. Partway through the job, a worker fell more than 30 feet through a hole in a partially decked floor. He died as a result of severe injuries a few hours later.
I supervise electrical distribution line workers. We start each week with a safety meeting. Being the highly effective supervisor that I am, I have a folder of safety stuff I draw from when we don't have a video or speaker.
LIFE just keeps getting more and more complicated. Between advancements in industrial technologies, increasing productivity pressures, and a general "need-for-speed," most safety professionals are constantly adjusting their thinking and processes.
WHAT is your company's agenda when an employee cuts himself while handling a knife (or any other incident that induces bleeding)? What happens if an employee contracts Hepatitis B (HBV) or the HIV virus while rendering first aid or CPR to a critically injured employee?
THE American public buys more than five billion over-the-counter drug products each year. A June 2003 national survey examining use of OTC medications indicated more of us are reading labels and checking out possible side effects, but we still have far to go, the National Council on Patient Information and Education noted last fall when it launched its latest consumer education campaign, "Be MedWise Prescription for Taking OTC Medicines."
SLIPS and falls are one of the leading causes of workplace injuries in the country. In fact, the National Safety Council reports more than 300,000 injuries occur each year as a result of slips, trips, and falls in the workplace, averaging almost $7,000 per accident in lost compensation and medical costs.
DEVELOPING standards to protect workers' well-being is a great way to get started on the path toward a healthy and injury-free workplace. But as any safety expert will tell you, it takes dedication, perseverance, and a desire to make sure every employee is as safe as can be while on the job.
IN the world of occupational heat stress, including professional sports such as American football, employers and employees must find some accommodation between reasonable productivity and reasonable heat stress illness prevention.
THE final rule on recording hearing loss (HL) was published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2002. It is a revision of 29 CFR 1904, Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements, as they pertain to recording HL. Details are reported in the Federal Register (Vol. 67, #126, pp. 44037-44038). Major provisions are the following: