Total Worker Health


OSHA gave an October 2010 date to complete analyzing comments submitted in 2008 about a proposed confined spaces rule for the construction industry.

Construction Confined Spaces Rule Still in Proposed Stage

The latest semiannual regulatory agenda does not advance the rulemaking except to give an October 2010 date to complete analyzing comments submitted in 2008. EPA's agenda says NPRMs will be issued in July 2011 to enhance pesticide protection for applicators and agricultural workers.

FDA Launches Initiative to Reduce Infusion Pump Risks

Infusion pumps have been the source of persistent safety problems. In the past five years, FDA has received more than 56,000 reports of adverse events associated with the use of infusion pumps, including serious injuries and more than 500 deaths.

Firefighters' Cancers Studied by NIOSH, USFA

Whether cancer risk rises becasuse of their exposures to smoke, soot, and other contaminants in the line of duty is the point of the study.

Company to Offer Free Safety Screenings, DVD During 'Better Hearing Month' in May

Failing to hear smoke detectors and take quick action is the major reason adults 65 or older are more than twice as likely as any other age group to die in a home fire.

Agricultural Health Study Rolls On

The first 15 years of investigations involving 89,000 individuals in Iowa and North Carolina were completed last year.

Night Shift Linked to Sleep Problems in Younger Workers

Sleep problems were most apparent in workers in their 30s and 40s. Former shiftworkers had more sleep problems than those who had never done shiftwork.

FDA phasing out certain inhalers

Seven Inhalers That Use CFCs Being Phased Out

FDA originally proposed to phase-out the seven metered-dose products in 2007 and reached a final decision after reviewing more than 4,000 public comments and information submitted as part of a public meeting. The earliest deadline, affecting two of the inhalers, is June 14.

NQF: U.S. Health Care Not as Safe as It Should Be

Communication failures between patients and health care providers are at the root of systems failures and human errors that lead to harm, says the National Quality Forum, a nonprofit organization trying to improve the industry.



AHRQ Finds Hospital Charges Grew 88 Percent for Uninsured

The amount that hospitals charge the uninsured for inpatient care grew by 88 percent between 1998 and 2007, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The average charge for an uninsured hospital stay grew from $11,400 in 1998 to $21,400 in 2007 after adjusting for inflation.

Study Finds Doctors with Ownership in Surgery Center Operate More Often

When doctors become invested in an outpatient surgery center, they perform on average twice as many surgeries as doctors with no such financial stake, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System.

Mary Andrus wins lectureship award

Infection Preventionist Honored for Oratory Prowess, Epidemiology Efforts

In addition to her ability to present a dynamic lecture on the science of infection control, Mary Andrus, BA, RN, CIC, has received the 2010 Elaine Larson Lectureship Award "for her breadth of knowledge and experience working to prevent health care-associated infections," said APIC President Cathryn Murphy.

Researchers Reaffirm Link between Effective Nurse Communication, Patient Safety

A systematic review of nursing handoff literature has determined that minimal research has been done to identify best practices, despite well-known negative consequences of inadequate nursing handoffs. The article was published in the April issue of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN).

Walking

Study: Walking Lowers Women's Stroke Risk

In a nearly 12-year follow-up study, women who walked two or more hours per week had a significantly lower risk of stroke than women who didn’t walk.

April is Stress Awareness Month

Relax. Stress Awareness Day is Still a Week Away

"Although it is not possible to give a universal prescription for preventing stress at work, it is possible to offer guidelines on the process of stress prevention in organizations," NIOSH says.

Study Links Sleep Apnea to Increased Risk of Stroke

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with an increased risk of stroke in middle-aged and older adults, especially men, according to new results from new research supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Overall, sleep apnea more than doubles the risk of stroke in men.

Fatal Injuries Rise in Older Americans

The risk of dying from injuries is increasing for Americans ages 65 and older according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Injury Research and Policy.

Study: Tweets on Antibiotics Can Go Viral

Researchers from Columbia University and MixedInk studied the health information content of Twitter updates mentioning antibiotics to determine how people are sharing information and assess the proliferation of misinformation.

The Two-Minute Drill

Here is the wellness gig in a nutshell. Health care costs really are out of control. How do we win this out-of-control game?

On-site health clinics

On Site, On Track

Today's on-site occupational health centers are the fruition of an evolution that began soon after the OSH Act was signed into law 40 years ago, when the chief task involved was treating work-related injuries. Medical surveillance was part of the package, then and now, but nonwork- related acute care and health management are now important components, said Stu Clark, executive vice president of Comprehensive Health Services Inc. (CHS), based in Reston, Va.

It is estimated more than 3 billion syringes generated outside of health care are discarded in regular trash annually.

Assessing the Hidden Problem of Medical Waste Disposal

Throwing sharps containers, red bags, and spill cleanup materials into the trash sends up a red flag to commercial or municipal trash collectors because they are not allowed to take this waste.

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