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Safety News
H1N1 Flu Pandemic Alert Raised to Phase 6
On the basis of available evidence and expert assessments of the evidence, the scientific criteria for an influenza pandemic have been met. The Director-General of WHO has therefore decided to raise the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6.
Guidance documents are available for
individuals
communities
national authorities
Frequently-asked-questions posted include
What is phase 6? What about severity?
What are the pandemic phases?
Use of antiviral drugs against influenza A(H1N1)
Vaccines for the influenza A(H1N1)
What is the new influenza A(H1N1)?
Is it safe to travel?
And more.
Click here to access these information resources.
CDC's LEAN Works! - A Workplace Obesity Prevention Program
In 2000, the total cost (direct and indirect) attributable to obesity was estimated to be $117 billion, and between 1987 and 2001, diseases associated with obesity accounted for 27 percent of the increases in medical costs. Medical expenses for obese employees are estimated to be between 29 percent and 117 percent greater than medical expenses for employees with a healthy weight.
What is the cost of obesity to your organization?
"CDC's LEAN Works! Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition" is a FREE web-based resource that offers interactive tools and evidence-based resources to design effective worksite obesity prevention and control programs, including an obesity cost calculator to estimate how much obesity is costing your company and how much savings your company could reap with different workplace interventions.
Click here for more information.
New Environmental Training Standard Released Z490.1-2009: Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health, and Environmental Training
American Society of Safety Engineers committee Z490 has released a new environmental training standard. This standard establishes criteria for safety, health, and environmental training programs, including development, delivery, evaluation and program management. The purpose of this standard is to provide accepted practices for safety, health, and environmental training. This standard is recommended for voluntary application by providers of safety, health, and environmental training, and it is intended to apply to a broad range of training and training programs.
Click here for more information.
Hypertension Among Lower-status Employees Lingers Well Into Retirement
Retirement from some occupations may not provide relief from the potentially devastating health effects of work-related hypertension, according to a new study from UC Davis. Published in the June issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the study is the first to show that retirement-aged Americans who held higher-status jobs — such as chief executives, financial managers and management analysts — tend to have the lowest rates of hypertension, while those who had lower-status jobs tend to have the highest rates.
Hypertension is diagnosed when blood pressure on the artery walls is consistently too high. This condition can eventually damage cells of the arteries' inner lining, leading to angina, heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, kidney failure and other serious health problems. The most important study outcome, according to Leigh, is that the pool of people thought to have job-related hypertension may be considerably larger than previously assumed. One study estimated that 12 percent of all coronary heart disease deaths can be attributed to occupation. When this estimate is applied to seniors, there could be an additional 2.1 million people in the United States with job-related hypertension.
Click here for the full report.
Source: Science Daily.
Safety 2009: How Stages of Change Influence Safety Behaviors
Whether the goal is to lose weight, become a better parent or work in a safer manner, individuals move through six stages as they try to change their behaviors and develop new habits. Dianne Stober, Ph.D., explains how safety professionals can use this cognitive-behavioral safety approach to encourage positive change in employees and create a safer workplace. “One of the prime reasons that change is really hard is that it takes energy,” said Stober, who presented this topic to attendees at the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Safety 2009 conference in San Antonio. “I think you’d all agree that getting to zero harm is a challenge most of us haven’t met or are constantly working toward.”
Stober stressed that attitudes and behavior are linked. The new hire fresh on the jobsite and the 20-year company veteran likely approach work with very different attitudes and beliefs about the work and the best way to do it. “The beliefs I have [and] the attitudes I hold are going to lead me to certain kinds of behaviors and away from others,” she pointed out.
Stober walked attendees through the six stages of the individual change process and highlighted the attitudes that accompany each stage. She stressed that safety professionals must be aware of which stages employees are in; determine how well safety systems meet employees in their current stage; and determine how well the safety systems engage employees rather than turn them off.
Click here for the full report.
SOSHA Focuses on Federal Government and Government Contractor Workers, Too
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it is continuing its nationwide program to emphasize workplace safety and health for federal workers and for those contractors whose work is supervised on a daily basis by federal agency personnel. The Federal Agency Targeting Inspection Program (FEDTARG09) directive provides the procedures OSHA field staff must follow when conducting safety inspections at some of the most hazardous federal workplaces. The federal agencies targeted have experienced a large number of lost time injuries based on data from their fiscal 2008 Office of Workers' Compensation Programs reports.
This targeted inspection program was developed in 2008 in response to a Government Accountability Office audit report. Field inspectors conducted 109 inspections of high hazard federal worksites during 2008 and found multiple violations of OSHA safety and health standards. FEDTARG09 continues OSHA's commitment to inspect the occupational safety and health programs of federal organizations.
Click here for more information.
Pneumatic Nail Gun Safety Tips
Nail guns drive nails and staples into building materials. Injuries or fatalities can result from improper use. The operator and coworkers are at risk. Eyes, hands and fingers are especially at risk.
Safe Work Practices and PPE
Follow manufacturer's tool labels and operating manual.
Wear safety glasses with side shields.
Never defeat or modify safety features.
Keep fingers away from trigger when not driving nails.
Sequential tools have reduced risk of accidental and double firing.
Avoid line of fire hazards in front of and behind material; position yourself (especially your free hand) out of the line of fire. Never point nail gun at anyone. Watch for coworkers behind the nailing surface.
Disconnect the gun to perform maintenance, move to another work area, or clear jams.
Train on safe operating procedures, proper body placement and correct PPE use.
NOTE: The tool must meet applicable OSHA guarding standardsource: EHS Today Magazine
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