Tag: #workerhealthandwellness

Reduce lower back pain: 3 tips from surgeons group

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low-back-pain.jpg
Photo: martin-dm/iStockphoto

Rosemont, IL — In light of data showing that about 1 in 4 working adults have low back pain, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is offering tips to strengthen and protect the back.

“Good musculoskeletal health is not just about treating problems when they arise; it’s about taking proactive steps to prevent them in the first place,” Alan S. Hilibrand, an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in spine surgery, said in an AAOS press release. “By maintaining proper ergonomics at our workstations and building the strength of our core stabilizing muscles, we can significantly reduce the risk of developing debilitating chronic or debilitating back pain and related conditions.”

So, whether working from home or in an office, or a combination of both, “it’s important to invest in your musculoskeletal health and protect your back,” AAOS says. Here’s how:

1. Check your posture. “Sitting properly is the first step to protecting your back. You may not realize how often you slouch or hunch over your desk while working.” Maintaining and practicing the right posture can help prevent back pain and injury. While sitting, keep your back in a “normal, slightly arched position and your head and shoulders erect.” If needed, adjust your chair so your elbows are relaxed, your hands are resting comfortably on a table or desk, your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle, and your feet are flat on the floor.

2. Create an ergonomic workspace. “Your work environment can have a big impact on your comfort and musculoskeletal health. Instead of forcing your body to fit your workspace, set up your workspace to fit your body.” Make sure your computer screen is at eye level so you don’t need to lean forward. Invest in ergonomic office equipment that’s designed for back support and proper posture. Consider using an exercise ball (or Swiss ball) as a desk chair to help your core and protect your back.

3. Give yourself a break. Take a few minutes every hour to stand up and slowly stretch. “Carefully place your hands on your lower back and gently arch backward. Take a walk to the break room, another room in your remote workplace or take a lap around the office. You can even try some simple desk exercises like neck stretches and shoulder rolls. A break not only protects your back but can also refresh your mind so you can return to your work with sharp focus.”

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

New OSHA resource: Heat exposure and personal risk factors

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
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Photo: HadelProductions/iStockphoto

Washington — Certain personal risk factors increase workers’ risk for heat-related injury and illness, OSHA cautions.

“Although you may be exposed to similar levels of heat and engaged in the same type of work as your co-workers, personal risk factors” such as health conditions, medications, and physical and behavioral characteristics “may cause you to be at greater risk,” the agency says in a recently published document.

Conditions or medications that can cause a worker to be less likely to sense heat conditions or retain water include:

  • Diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • Heart disease
  • Obesity
  • Mental health conditions
  • Respiratory diseases such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • Blood pressure medications
  • Muscle relaxants
  • Sedatives

Additionally, some physical or behavioral characteristics may cause a worker to dehydrate more quickly. These include:

  • Age (60 and older)
  • Lower level of physical fitness
  • Pregnancy
  • Acclimatization status
  • Lower intake of water
  • Alcohol use within 24 hours of shift
  • Use of illicit drugs, such as opioids, methamphetamine and cocaine

“Ultimately,” OSHA says, “it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure the workplace is safe and healthful for workers; however, a heat injury and illness prevention plan needs the meaningful participation of workers and their representatives to be effective.”

The agency has tips to help keep workers safe in the heat:

  • Discuss with your medical provider how to best prepare to work in hot conditions.
  • Drink 8 ounces of water every 15-20 minutes, even if you aren’t thirsty.
  • Notify your supervisor if you feel ill and move to a cool space.
  • Take rest breaks in air-conditioned spaces or cool or shaded areas.
  • Check on co-workers regularly; report signs of heat illness to a supervisor, and provide water or ice while remaining with them until help arrives.
  • Wear loose-fitting, light-colored clothing comprised of breathable fabric, like cotton.
  • Know your employer’s emergency response plan; when in doubt, call 911.
  • Gradually acclimatize to the heat when returning to work after time away.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

Supporting worker mental health: New videos from OSHA

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
mental-health-discussion.jpg

Photo: U.S. Department of Labor

Washington — Three new videos from OSHA are aimed at helping employers support their workers’ mental health.

Each short video is available with Spanish-language captioning:

“Mental health touches every aspect of our lives, from the way we make decisions, from how we interact with other people, and also our performance,” Joseph Xavier, senior director of safety for Associated Builders and Contractors, says in one of the videos.

Employees who are experiencing mental health issues may show up to work late or impaired, be distracted on the job, and/or isolate themselves from their co-workers. Regularly asking workers how they and their families are doing can build a one-on-one relationship and, in some cases, get to the root cause of workplace incidents.

Along with NIOSH’s Total Worker Health Program, mental health resources such as ABC’s Total Human Health Toolkit can guide employers and assist workers. The toolkit includes a human health assessment tool; resources to engage workers during Suicide Prevention Month (observed each September); and 12 different worker-focused webpages and printable documents that cover active listening tips, how to upgrade a work-from-home routine and understanding depression.

OSHA published the videos during Safe + Sound Week (Aug. 7-13), which emphasized the importance of addressing mental health as part of every workplace safety and health program.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

OSHA announces heat hazard alert

Posted on by McCraren Compliance

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a heat hazard alert to remind employers of their obligation to protect workers against heat illness or injury in outdoor and indoor workplaces.

Federal law requires employers to provide safe, healthy working conditions

heat hazard

Photo: OSHA

The department also announced that OSHA will intensify its enforcement where workers are exposed to heat hazards, with increased inspections in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture. These actions will fully implement the agency’s National Emphasis Program on heat, announced in April 2022, to focus enforcement efforts in geographic areas and industries with the most vulnerable workers.

The action comes as President Biden announced new actions today to protect workers from extreme heat and new investments to protect communities, as historically high temperatures break records and expose millions of people to the serious dangers of heat in the workplace.

“Historically high temperatures impact everyone and put our nation’s workers at high risk,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “A workplace heat standard has long been a top priority for the Department of Labor, but rulemaking takes time and working people need help now. Today, at the President’s request, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a heat hazard alert to make sure employers follow current standards and that workers across the country know their rights. This action, combined with OSHA’s increased heat-safety enforcement efforts, shows that we are determined to protect the safety and health of millions of people whose jobs become more hazardous in harsh weather.”

Since 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 436 people have died due to workplace heat exposure, with an annual average of 38 deaths between 2011 to 2019. In addition, an average of 2,700 cases involving heat illnesses lead to days lost at work, putting an additional economic burden on workers and employers. Statistics show that people who work in conditions without adequate climate-control face higher risks of hazardous heat exposure and that these situations disproportionately expose people of color to hazardous heat.

In October 2021, OSHA began the rulemaking process to consider a heat-specific workplace standard by publishing an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings in the Federal Register.

Continue reading “OSHA announces heat hazard alert”

New video lays out the ‘business case’ for healthy work

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Los Angeles — A recently released video from the Healthy Work Campaign explains to business leaders how work stress harms their organization and employees – and what can be done about it.

Original article published by Safety+Health
healthy work

Photo: Healthy Work Campaign

The Business Case for Healthy Work focuses on issues such as chronic stress caused by greater work demands, time pressures, unreasonable workloads and low job control. That stress can lead to higher blood pressure and greater risk of cardiovascular disease.

The campaign is a public health project sponsored by the Center for Social Epidemiology, a nonprofit foundation.

“Overwork, especially working more than 55 hours per week, is also associated with burnout and depression,” Peter Schnall, CSE director and a professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California, Irvine, says in the video.

The video notes that businesses can lose billions of dollars because of problems such as employee disengagement and burnout, sickness and lost productivity, and increased health care costs. CSE provides three overarching actions employers can take to help mitigate these issues:

  • Ramp up employee participation in decision-making and problem-solving
  • Increase support and feedback from management
  • Improve communication throughout the organization

“Everyone should know that work conditions can lead to ill health,” Schnall says. “Improving working conditions and creating healthier work conditions can lead to improved mental function and increased satisfaction among workers, and it will contribute to workers who are more productive.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

‘Mental Health at Work’: DOL launches PSA

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Original article published by Safety+Health
‘Mental Health at Work’: DOL launches PSA
Photo: Department of Labor

Washington — In an effort to promote conversations – and combat stigma – around mental health at work, the Department of Labor has published a public service announcement.

The PSA – part of DOL’s Mental Health at Work initiative – features real-life stories from workers and employers, perspectives from mental health experts, and comments from acting Labor Secretary Julie Su. “We hope it can help start or deepen conversations in your own workplaces,” DOL says.

Workplace leaders “have the ability to make substantive changes,” Mike Weiner, director of EY assist for Ernst & Young’s employee assistance program, says in the PSA. That could involve simply promoting the mental health benefits available to workers.

“We knew that for over three decades that the usage of our proactive mental health benefit that offers our people no-cost counseling sessions … was very low,” Weiner says. “Low usage was actually … similar to other workplaces, and it had been like that for several decades. But since we started our campaign, the usage of our proactive mental health benefit has increased five times. It has sustained it and it began to increase for the first time in 30 years, the very same month that we began our initiative in 2016.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Most exertion-related injuries and deaths attributable to heat: study

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Original article published by Safety+Health
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Photo: Sunbelt Rentals/eLCOSH

Storrs, CT — Heat exposure and heat-related illness cause the vast majority of exertion-related injuries and deaths in the workplace, according to researchers from the University of Connecticut.

“Heat is a problem and it might not be one people automatically think of,” said Margaret Morrissey, president of occupational safety for UConn’s Korey Stringer Institute for heat safety and the study’s lead author.

The team examined data from OSHA on reports of severe injuries, categorizing nearly 59,000 reported injuries and fatalities as exertional or nonexertional. They found that heat-related cases comprised 91.9% of exertional injuries from 2015 to 2020, as well as 87.6% of exertion-related fatalities from 2017 to 2020.

Additionally, exertion-related injuries and fatalities most often were reported in the Southeast and in the construction and excavation industries, and typically involved nonunion workers.

“Not only are we seeing predominantly heat-related fatalities and injuries for exertion-related events, but we’re thinking this is underreported too,” Morrissey said in a press release. “The problem may be a lot bigger than we originally anticipated.”

Why? The researchers note that data employers report to OSHA is limited to events that occur on the jobsite, and therefore may exclude cases in which a worker suffers an injury or fatality related to workplace heat stress elsewhere. Further, the agency doesn’t include data from heat-related illness treated at the worksite through remedies such as hydration and body cooling.

“As heat stress continues to be recognized as an occupational health and safety hazard, this analysis further highlights the need for targeted interventions or further evaluation of the impact of heat stress” in worker populations, the study states.

The study was published online in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Consider employees’ personalities when creating workspaces, researchers say

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Original article published by Safety+Health

 Open bench seating                                                    Cubicle                                                                                 Private office                                                                                 

Tucson, AZ — Are you at your happiest and most productive in a private workstation? Or does sharing an open space with your colleagues sound better?

Researchers at the University of Arizona; California State University, East Bay; and the General Services Administration recommend employers take individual workers’ personalities into account as part of “an employee-centered approach” to workspace design.

The researchers examined data from GSA’s Wellbuilt for Wellbeing research project, studying more than 270 adult office workers in four federal buildings. The workers wore health-tracking sensors and answered questions sent to their smartphones that assessed their feelings at given moments.

Findings show that the workers who identified as more extroverted, or seeking social interaction, showed greater happiness and focus in offices with more open seating arrangements. Meanwhile, workers who were more introverted were more happy and focused in more private spaces.

“Our work illuminates the importance of considering both the individual’s personality and their environment in predicting important behavioral and mood outcomes, such as how happy a person is and how well a person is able to work,” Matthias Mehl, senior study author and professor in the UA Department of Psychology, said in a press release.

The researchers suggest that the approach may be sustainable as employees and job-seekers continue their call for workplaces with greater flexibility.

The study was published online in the Journal of Research and Personality.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

In new video, workers with hearing loss promote protection

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Original article published by Safety+Health
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Photo: National Hearing Conservation Association

Aurora, CO — A new video from the National Hearing Conservation Association aims to raise awareness of on-the-job hearing loss and tinnitus.

During the four-minute video, workers in various industries share testimonials, and NHCA reminds viewers that hearing loss is permanent. The video also encourages workers to:

  • Notice when it’s loud.
  • Move away from the noise.
  • Protect your hearing.

“Don’t take it for granted, because if you lose your hearing, you’re not going to be able to replace it,” Gary, a former tree trimmer, says in the video. “You can maybe help it, but you will never have good ears again.”

Adele, a one-time radio disc jockey who also worked security at music concerts, acknowledges that her hearing loss put her in “denial,” prompting her to turn up the volume on her car radio and TV and think little of it.

“We don’t think about our own health, but it is critical. It really is,” she says. “Look at your hearing protection as just as much a vital part of your PPE as a hard hat or your steel-toed boots. Because if you lose that sense, it is going to impact all areas of your life, from hearing announcements on a plane to hearing somebody whispering sweet nothings in your ear at night, you know. It really can have a profound impact.”

NIOSH notes that all industries carry the risk of hearing loss and estimates that 22 million U.S. workers face exposure to hazardous noise levels at work each year.

“Hearing is a critical, often undervalued part of quality of life,” NHCA says. “Once it is lost or degraded, communication and relationships can be impacted. There can also be a loss of enjoyment of simple activities such as listening to music, enjoying dinner with friends, watching movies and experiencing nature. A loss of hearing can also affect career progression and safety at home and on the job.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

March is Workplace Eye Wellness Month

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Original article published by Safety+Health

Photo: Prevent Blindness

Chicago — No matter where work gets done, “protecting vision should always be a priority,” advocacy group Prevent Blindness is reminding employers.

Workplace Eye Wellness Month is observed every March. Citing data from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Prevent Blindness claims 90% of the thousands of work-related eye injuries sustained each year could be prevented if workers wore proper eye protection.

The group offers resources – including fact sheets, infographics and a PowerPoint presentation – for employers.

Common causes of eye injuries include flying objects (including bits of metal and glass), tools, particles and chemicals. Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (1926.102) ranked ninth on OSHA’s list of the most frequently cited worker safety and health standards in fiscal year 2022. The top section cited within the standard, 1926.102(a)(1), states: “The employer shall ensure each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards.”

Prevent Blindness America also cautions workers who routinely use computers, tablets and smartphones about the risks of eyestrain.

“Maintaining healthy vision is a critical part of maintaining overall good health for working adults,” Prevent Blindness President and CEO Jeff Todd said in a press release. “We strongly urge everyone to talk to their eye doctor about the best ways to keep eyes healthy at their jobs today and for years to come.”

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.