PRIME Occupational Medicine - PRIME News Updates

24 Oct 2016

OSHA announces new guidance for heath & safety programs

24 Oct 2016 Safety, Workplace

For years—decades really—OSHA has reinforced the same recommendations for programs to improve workplace safety and health. Twenty-seven years after the initial guidance, the agency has tweaked those recommendations. Keep reading to find out what’s changed and why it matters.

19 Oct 2016

Millennials took adderall to get through school. Now they have taken their addiction to the workplace.

Millennials’ Adderall Addiction

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19 Oct 2016 Lifestyle, Medical

In 2010, when Raphael was a first-semester college freshman struggling to get through finals, he did what it seemed like all his friends were doing: he got an Adderall from a fellow student and holed up in the library. It was the first time he’d tried the stimulant—a mixture of amphetamine salts often prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—which is often used off-label as a “study drug” by those not diagnosed with the disorder.

28 Sep 2016

Opioid-Related Insurance Claims Rose More Than 3,000 Percent From 2007 to 2014

Tips and Tactics for a Stronger Safety Committee

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28 Sep 2016 Lifestyle, Workplace

Of course you have a safety committee. But how effective is it? Does it satisfy a state requirement with minimal creativity or innovation? Is it your ticket to a discount on your workers’ comp coverage? Or does it actually enhance your safety performance, giving employees at all levels an opportunity to lead and engage in the safety process?
What elements go into making a safety committee successful? This Compliance Report delivers reminders, tips, and best practices. Be sure to share the content with your committee and use it as a departure point for improvements at your site or company.

18 Sep 2016

NSC Report: Causes and Consequences of Employee Fatigue

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18 Sep 2016 Lifestyle, Medical

Fatigue is a growing problem affecting the workforce. Research estimates that 13% of workplace injuries can be attributed to fatigue.

A new report from the National Safety Council, Fatigue in the Workplace: Causes and Consequences of Employee Fatigue, breaks down a probability-based survey of more than 2,000 working adults and their experience with fatigue. The report shows that 97% of workers have at least one workplace fatigue risk factor, while more than 80% have more than one risk factor. When multiple risk factors are present, the potential for injuries on the job increases.

25 Aug 2016

Employee waited a month before reporting injury

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25 Aug 2016 Safety, Workplace

A construction worker says he tripped, fell and hurt his back. However, he waited a month to get any treatment for the alleged injury. How did his workers’ comp claim turn out?

William Rogers, 48, worked for Russell Construction Co. Inc. in Wyoming. On Nov. 19, 2013, Rogers, his supervisor and another worker were pouring concrete at a work site. The chute of the concrete mixer truck momentarily caught on a piece of wire attached to some rebar and then popped up with some force.

24 Aug 2016

Five Steps to an Injury-Free Culture

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24 Aug 2016 Safety

Getting to injury-free performance requires rethinking how we approach safety activities, the measures we use to monitor progress and define success, and the way we approach engagement of employees at all levels.

15 Aug 2016

Opiod-related insurance claims rose more than 3,000% in 7 years

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15 Aug 2016 Lifestyle, Medical

Health insurance claims for people hooked on prescription painkillers and heroin skyrocketed as the number of Americans who fatally overdosed on those opioids hit record highs, a new analysis reveals.

26 Jul 2016

3 Questions to Ask After a Spill

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26 Jul 2016 Medical, Safety, Workplace

What happens if there’s a chemical leak or spill in your workplace? Are your workers ready to contain it? Workers at Nestlé’s Willy Wonka candy manufacturing plant in Itasca, Illinois were quick to react to a lithium chloride spill, containing the 5-gallon mishap. Unfortunately, containing the spilled liquid didn’t eliminate the hazard to workers—just a few hours after the spill, workers complained of respiratory symptoms. Emergency responders treated 17 workers and transported 11 to the hospital, where they were treated and released.

Here are three questions your workers should ask immediately after a spill in order to minimize the hazards to workers and the environment.

20 Jul 2016

Final Rule Issued to Improve Tracking Workplace Injuries

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20 Jul 2016 Safety, Workplace

Why is OSHA issuing this rule?

This simple change in OSHA’s rule-making requirements will improve safety for workers across the country. One important reason stems from our understanding of human behavior and motivation. Behavioral economics tells us that making injury information publicly available will “nudge” employers to focus on safety. And, as we have seen in many examples, more attention to safety will save the lives and limbs of many workers, and will ultimately help the employer’s bottom line as well. Finally, this regulation will improve the accuracy of this data by ensuring that workers will not fear retaliation for reporting injuries or illnesses.

26 Jun 2016

Preventative Measures for HEAT STRESS

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26 Jun 2016 Medical, Safety

Responding is Alsie Nelson, associate product manager, Ergodyne, St. Paul, MN.

…Although the measures to prevent heat-related illness are similar in both environments, there are other considerations indoor workers must take into account to protect their health and safety.

The human body is constantly trying to find balance by regulating internal and external variables. Maintaining a normal body temperature of 98.6° F is important to ensure the body functions properly. Heat waves cause stress on the body when too much heat is being absorbed and not enough heat is being lost through the body’s normal cooling processes. When this happens, the body’s means of controlling its internal temperature begins to fail. Once the body temperature reaches 99.7° F, heat stress has begun to affect the body. If it hits 104° F, you become susceptible to developing a heat-related illness. Just 30 minutes of exposure at that temperature is enough to cause permanent disability or brain damage.

Although heat stress is typically associated with outdoor work settings during the summer months, heat is a year-round hazard in indoor workplaces such as foundries, commercial bakeries, kitchens and laundries. Workers in these environments are often near sources of radiant heat or inside buildings with limited cooling capabilities. These jobsites are typically regulated by building codes that require sufficient ventilation, but several states specifically address heat stress prevention strategies in indoor applications. Indoor workers may also be wearing impermeable clothing such as a Tyvek suit, coveralls or layers of PPE, significantly reducing airflow and trapping heat.

As with outdoor work environments, it’s important to develop a prevention plan to handle potentially hazardous indoor heat. An indoor heat stress prevention plan should include the following:

Encourage employees to stay hydrated and recommend drinking 1 cup of water every 20 minutes or 1 quart per hour.
Set acceptable exposure times and allow employees sufficient recovery time in cooler areas such as an air conditioned break room or rest area.

Give new and back-to-work employees time to acclimate. Just because indoor work settings typically have a more predictable temperature than those working outdoors doesn’t mean that certain individuals don’t need time to acclimate to the environment. Acclimatization is one of the most important steps an employer can take to ensure overall employee safety and productivity. Educate workers about the symptoms of heat-related illnesses and the proactive measures they can take to protect themselves.
Enact an emergency plan so everyone knows what to do in the event of a crisis.

Determine proper personal protective equipment or cooling products for the job. If airflow is limited, an evaporative cooling product may not provide the necessary relief. Alternative cooling products such as phase change vests work well under coveralls or impermeable suits.

Even if a jobsite is shielded from direct sunlight, oppressive and stifling environmental heat can still pose a real threat to worker safety. But employers who know the different heat stress hazards posed by indoor and outdoor jobsites will be able to better equip their crews to handle them.

Editor’s note: This article represents the independent views of the author and should not be construed as a National Safety Council endorsement. (Read entire article: safetyandhealthmagazine.com)

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