News Briefs
June 1, 2000 3 minutes read
News Briefs
NSF offers free new catalog
The Itasca, IL-based National Safety Council’s free Summer 2000 Product and Services Catalog is now available. The 88-page catalog, designed as a resource for safety, health, and environmental professionals, features the council’s newest and most-requested safety and health training programs, reference manuals and publications, periodicals, newsletters, posters, booklets, videos, and software. To receive a copy of the catalog (product # 00007-1867), call (800) 621-7619, or fax your request to (630) 775-2068. Please mention key code 46071867 when ordering.
OSHA compliance tools available
Two handbooks of safety standards have been updated and given a new, larger format by CCH Inc., a Riverwoods, IL-based provider of human resources, employment, and safety law information and software. They are Occupational Safety and Health Standards for General Industry and Occupational Safety and Health Standards for the Construction Industry. The books cost $45.95 and $37.50, respectively.
Those editions reflect all of the applicable Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards through Feb. 1, 2000. "The larger size of the volumes, combined with larger and clearer graphics and charts, make these books easier than ever to use at actual job sites," says Steve Slater, marketing manager for CCH’s human resources group. To order the handbooks, call (800) 248-3248, or visit the CCH Web site, www.hr.cch.com.
Searle launches sleep issues site
Chicago-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Searle has launched a new Web site, www. searlesleepprograms.com, dedicated to helping organizations address sleeplessness at their work sites and in their communities. Searle is launching the site as part of a larger educational effort focused on raising awareness of insomnia as a health issue, according to Roy Anderson, associate director of Searle’s sleep therapeutic team. "People who have trouble sleeping rarely see it as a health problem," he says. "They don’t mention their sleep problems to their doctors — and doctors rarely ask about their patients’ sleep habits."
In addition to general information on sleep-and fatigue-related topics, the site provides a simple way to order Searle’s free sleep education programs. They include "Good Mornings!" — a turnkey kit that employers can use to provide sleep education for employees. For more details, contact Amy Christopher. Telephone: (800) 560-9944. E-mail: [email protected].
Study: Most firms offer health promotion programs
A new study from Lincolnshire, IL-based Hewitt Associates, LLC, reports that 93% of the 1,020 U.S. companies it surveyed now offer some kind of health promotion program, compared with 88% in 1994. Here are some of the other key findings:
• Financial incentive and disincentive programs continue to grow in popularity.
• 72% of companies administer health risk appraisals.
• 81% of companies indicate they currently use health screenings, compared to 78% in 1997.
• More than three-quarters of corporations offer employees special health promotion programs such as flu vaccinations, well baby/child care, and prenatal care, compared to 71% in 1996.
• 72% of companies now offer employees some kind of education or training.
To obtain a copy of the report, contact: Hewitt Associates, LLC, Attn: Publications Desk, 100 Half Day Road, Lincolnshire, IL 60069. Telephone: (847) 295-5000. The per-copy price is $100.
Carpal tunnel relief coming
A new surgical approach for carpal tunnel syndrome promises to improve recovery time and reduce complications, according to a surgeon who has adopted the technique.
The procedure is the single-portal endoscopic carpal tunnel release, an approach that involves using an endoscope to perform the surgery with minimal trauma. Endoscopic approaches are not new, but they usually have involved two incisions. The new procedure involves just a single incision near the wrist. The new procedure was made possible by a new device in use at the Yale Hand and Comprehensive Microsurgery Center that is designed so the blade does not obscure the surgeon’s vision before, during, and after the cut.
That change makes a substantial difference, says Grant Thomson, MD, associate professor of plastic surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. He has used the endoscopic approach to treat carpal tunnel syndrome for several years, but he says he recently adopted the single-portal approach.
The surgery is performed under local anesthesia and the patient can go home immediately without staying in the recovery room because no sedation is necessary, Thomson says. That aspect makes the procedure less expensive than other options for both patients and employers.
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