Occupational Health Management Archives – March 1, 2009
March 1, 2009
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Ready to take on safety role? It's part of "job enlargement"
As an occupational health professional, you need to have skills and competencies in clinical and primary care, case management, environmental issues, regulatory and legislative issues, disease prevention, and health promotion. -
Document this to prove your impact on safety
Have you been given an expanded safety role in your organization? If so, your first step should be to analyze the top loss drivers by frequency and severity, according to Christine R. Zichello, RN, COHN-S, CSHM, ARM, FAAOHN, senior risk control specialist at PMA Companies' Mount Laurel, NJ, branch office. Armed with this information, Zichello says you can "drill down" to establish an action plan for each loss driver. -
To avoid disasters, be ready to answer these questions
A company with 100 employees dedicates an entire floor of the building to a fitness center, but like many companies, has had financial setbacks due to the recession. Suddenly, the employee gym looks like a very bad investment. -
Don't make these 4 financial mistakes
When asking for resources for an occupational health initiative, you need to prepare a realistic program with solid goals and objectives; otherwise, you risk the program failing and your credibility diminished. -
How to predict workers' risk of chronic disability
Will an employee suffer from long-term disability after a back injury? The answer depends on many factors, according to a recent study. -
Shift workers can have a more 'normal' schedule
Night shift workers often are reluctant to sleep days on a strict schedule, even on their days off, and a new study indicates they might not need to. -
These changes can help your night shift workers
How can you aid shift workers to help their body clock adjust to the night shift? The answer depends on the individual worker and the type of shift work being done, according to Mark Smith, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at Rush University Biological Rhythms Research Lab in Chicago. -
Is a no-fit respirator on the horizon?
Imagine a disposable respirator that fits well right out of the box. Or perhaps even a respirator that's inexpensive and requires no annual fit-test. -
Questions about pandemic use of respirators
In an influenza pandemic, health care workers might find their respirators difficult to tolerate for long hours. Without additional training, they also are likely to forget how to don the respirator properly or even which respirator model they should wear. -
Low-carb diets can affect dieters' cognition skills
A study from the psychology department at Tufts University shows that when dieters eliminate carbohydrates from their meals, they performed more poorly on memory-based tasks than when they reduce calories, but maintain carbohydrates. When carbohydrates were reintroduced, cognition skills returned to normal. -
Flu syringe debacle points to priority of sharps safety
When a local public health department in California opened packages of FluVirin pre-filled syringes to start the flu immunization campaign, the vaccine administrators were stunned. Contrary to federal law and regulation, the syringes had a fixed needle with no safety device. -
Tell employers: Don't use nonsafety syringes
While the role of manufacturers in sharps safety may be debated, there's no question about an employer's responsibility.