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 This health, safety and environment electronic update comes from Chip Dawson and the Rochester Business Alliance as a service to member organizations. |
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 Recycling Advisory Committee Wants Your Input For years, the Monroe County Recycling Advisory Committee has been plugging along adding dozens of initiatives that have significantly increased the range and quantity of recycled materials collected in the County. Now, they need to hear from you-the business community-with ideas about what to tackle next.
Today, county recycling includes e-waste, organics, pharmaceuticals, destroyed documents, cardboard and paper, plastics, tires, metals and more-much of it going to the EcoPark at 10 Avion Drive. The EcoPark is a facility exclusively for the use of county residents and is open for drop-off Wednesday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, click here. With a mission of maximizing waste recovery and reuse, the committee is open to any ideas. Herb Allen, environmental manager at Gleason's, represents the Rochester Business Alliance on the committee and would love to receive an e-mail from you with any suggestions to improve or expand the county recycling program. You can reach Herb by e-mail at HAllen@Gleason.com. |
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 NIOSH Research Points to Shift Work Risks for Pregnant Nurses
Working with the Harvard Nurses' Health Study, NIOSH researchers have found an increased risk of several adverse reproductive outcomes, including spontaneous abortion, early preterm birth, and menstrual cycle irregularities, that are related to shift work-particularly working the night shift or long hours. For a detailed discussion of the problem of sleep and work associated with several occupations and industries along with risks and solutions, click here. |
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 WISER Available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders) is a mobile application designed to assist first responders in hazardous material incidents. With WISER, the National Library of Medicine program extracts content from TOXNET's Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) and makes it available to emergency responders. It allows responders to plug in any known information about a hazardous material that then leads to material identification. To download the free program, click here. |
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 Obesity Cost Huge-Cutting Weight Could Cut Business Costs
Keeping people healthier is one of the most effective ways to reduce health care costs and addressing obesity is one of the best places to start. Medical researchers report obesity is the biggest driver of preventable chronic diseases and health care costs in the country. Two-thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight, and obesity is related to more than 30 illnesses, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer.
The Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and Micro Health Simulations conducted an analysis to examine how much the United States could save in health care costs if obesity rates were reduced by just five percent. The analysis found savings of $29.8 billion in five years, $158.1 billion in 10 years and $611.7 billion in 20 years. To download the full report, click here.
For employers, the issue of obesity in the workforce is a sensitive one. Rather than issue rules or demands, conventional wisdom suggests providing wellness programs, healthy meals and snacks, opportunities to exercise, and reasonable information about health maintenance. For workplace celebrations, consider eliminating high calorie, high sugar and fat foods and replacing them with fruits and vegetables. |
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 Office Work Can Be Dangerous
In one of my on-line forums, a participant was looking for information about office incidents where someone had died to use as an introduction to an office safety program. He claims his boss demanded something that would grab attention. While I'm not sure it's necessary to hit folks with fatalities to have them understand the importance of safety, some interesting stories turned up in response to the request. Here's a sample of recent deaths in an office environment:
- A woman was crushed by an elevator that moved before the doors closed.
- A man on his cell phone tripped and fell five floors down a stair shaft.
- A participant in an office pastry-eating contest choked and died.
- A man in a British office fell out an open window on which the safety restraints had been removed.
- A postal worker tripped in a processing facility while searching for his cell phone, fell into a storm drain and drowned.
- A county worker in Los Angles, employed in a 1,000-cubicle office, was found dead and slumped over her desk a day after she was last seen alive.
- And the final in our report-a male participant at a Merrill Lynch office party was burned to death in a toilet stall when a drunken co-worker set his Hawaiian-themed skirt on fire. A female occupying the same stall was injured. The drunk got two years in jail. Office parties-what fun!
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 D. A. Weaver Celebrates 96th Birthday
Many of you who have taken my safety management and incident investigation classes over the years know that I teach the TOR process of root cause analysis. I've long thought it to be a remarkably helpful approach to both hazard correction and strategic planning. D. A. Weaver developed TOR when he was the director of policyholder education at Wausau Insurance in the 1950's.
On Feb. 12, I called Weaver at his home in Colorado Springs to wish him a happy birthday and tell him how TOR has received an enthusiastic response in the Rochester area. He was sharp as ever and thrilled to know that his 55-year-old tool is still one of the best available to safety practitioners. The image shows Weaver on the left with Dave Weber, his successor at Wausau. |
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Needlestick and Violence Prevention Efforts Help Protect Health Care Workers
A new NIOSH-supported study finds that the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act (NSPA) and OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens standard have significantly reduced needlesticks and bloodborne disease exposure for healthcare workers. In the years immediately following the enactment of NSPA, sharps injuries dropped 38 percent. The study report is available by clicking here. The chart at the right showing reduced needlesticks is from the New England Journal of Medicine article. In addition, NIOSH has published a fact sheet to assist employers in preventing violence against home healthcare workers. Home healthcare workers face an unprotected and unpredictable environment and can be vulnerable to verbal abuse, stalking, threats of assault, and homicide. The new factsheet offers strategies for workers and encourages employers to establish a zero-tolerance policy for violence and provide workers with violence-prevention training. To download a PDF copy, click here. |
 April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month
The National Safety Council is leading the charge for the third annual distracted driving month effort. According to NSC numbers, thousands die needlessly each year as a result of distracted driving. Lots of helpful information for the celebration is available at the NSC web site by clicking here.
On the web site, you'll find several new posters that can be downloaded and printed for use around your facility. Distracted Driving Awareness Month also is the perfect opportunity for employers to implement or enhance cell phone policies to protect employees. Employers took the lead in promoting safety belt use among their employees years ago and now is the time for them to enact bans on cell phone use while driving.
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Plan Now for National Safety Month In June
Each June, the National Safety Council encourages organizations to observe National Safety Month. Since 9 out of 10 fatal injuries to workers occur off the job, this year's campaign will focus on how safety is a 24/7 endeavor. Each week of June has a theme that was selected based on the greatest number of preventable injuries and deaths as well as feedback from previous NSM participants. The weekly topics are:
- Week 1: June 3-9 Employee Wellness
- Week 2: June 10-16 Ergonomics
- Week 3: June 17-23 Fall Prevention
- Week 4: June 24-30 Driving Safety
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