Workers in health care settings may face the hazard of influenza infection quite frequently in the flu season.

Most experts believe that flu viruses spread mainly by droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby. Less often, a person might also get flu by touching a surface or object that has flu virus on it and then touching their own mouth, eyes or nose.

You may be able to pass on the flu to someone else before realizing you are sick, as well as during illness. Most healthy adults may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 5 to 7 days after becoming sick. Some people, especially young children and people with weakened immune systems, might be able to infect others for an even longer time.

What are the primary steps to protecting yourself? Your regular work activities may involve contact with patients, their family/attendants, and co-workers who have flu or symptoms manifesting as influenza-like-illness. Consider the following measures depending upon your facility or specific health care setting:

• Limit the number of persons who interact with ill persons.
•  If reasonably practical maintain a physical distance, and keep interactions with ill persons as brief as possible.
• Ask the ill person to follow good cough and sneeze etiquette and hand hygiene, and to wear a facemask, if it can be tolerated. If not, provide tissues and ask the ill person to cover his or her mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. Used tissues should be disposed of immediately in a disposable container (plastic bag) or a washable non-touch trash can.

Health care personnel (HCP) will want to follow these commonly used practices as applicable to each care situation, particularly any procedures likely to generate infectious respiratory aerosols.

• Influenza Vaccine: Receive the annual vaccinations
• Hand Hygiene:  HCP should perform hand hygiene frequently, including before and after all patient contact, contact with potentially infectious material, and before putting on and upon removal of personal protective equipment, including gloves. In healthcare settings perform this by washing with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rubs. If hands are visibly soiled, use soap and water, not alcohol-based hand rubs.
• Gloves: Wear gloves for any contact with potentially infectious material. Remove gloves after contact, followed by hand hygiene. Do not wear the same pair of gloves for more than one patient. Do not wash gloves for the purpose of reuse.
• Gowns:  Wear gowns for any patient-care activity when contact with blood, body fluids, secretions (including respiratory), or excretions is anticipated. Remove gown and perform hand hygiene before leaving the patient’s environment. Do not wear the same gown for care of more than one patient.
• Droplet Precautions:  Use precautions (i.e., wearing a mask for close contact), in addition to Standard Precautions, when examining a patient with symptoms of a respiratory infection, particularly if fever is present. These precautions should be maintained until it is determined that the cause of symptoms is not an infectious agent requiring precautions.

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Picture this scenario. You are walking through your operation and notice a puddle of oil on the floor. Hopefully, you recognize that this is a safety hazard and proceed to clean up the oil. Feeling that you have done all you can to prevent an accident from occurring, you return to your usual job. But did you really do everything you could have done to prevent an injury? How about if I told you that the next day your co-worker slips and falls on the same puddle of oil and injures his back? You may contend that you had cleaned up the puddle of oil the previous day. What went wrong? True, you did clean up the oil, but you did not “take two” minutes to figure out how the oil got there in the first place. In other words, the root cause was not determined; and therefore, oil puddles on the floor still remained a hazard. Take Two is a safety process where you take two minutes to think about the hazard. In this case, the root cause of the hazardous oil puddle was a leaking hose fitting. The T-A-K-E (Talk, Actions, Knowledge, Equipment) Two plan is an effective method in investigating and preventing accidents. Let’s use the incident with the oil on the floor as an example. Your first step should have been to Talk with others, including your supervisor, to determine what caused the leak and how and when repairs will be made. The next step is to take Action and conduct a formal incident investigation and gather facts about the hazard. The process of talking to others and performing an incident investigation brings you Knowledge about the incident- when and how it occurred, its cause and appropriate corrective actions. Lastly, you would realize (in this case) that a leaky hose fitting (Equipment) was the root cause. The Take Two process could be used in a variety of operations and settings to prevent accidents. Take a few minutes and ask yourself and your fellow co-workers the following questions:

Have we put ourselves or a co-worker in an unsafe situation because we thought we had fixed a hazard, but we really had not?

What was really the root cause(s) underlying the hazard? Did an accident happen – and what corrective action was taken?

Why do we seek quick fixes and easy answers to problems?

What procedures can we follow to conduct a thorough investigation that will uncover root causes? To start off effectively applying the Take Two process, understand that we live in a “quick fix” society and that we have become conditioned to look for easy answers. Sometimes answers to problems are not so obvious. They take time and a little detective activity on your part. After all, in the long run, a “permanent fix” that eliminates hazards is better than a “quick fix”, isn’t it?

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 There will always be earthquakes. Because of this, there will always be a need for citizen and employee preparedness. It is vital that we are all prepared both physically and mentally to meet a crisis situation. The actual movement of the ground is seldom the direct cause of injury or death. Most injuries result from falling objects, building collapses, flying glass, and fires. Because we cannot simulate a severe earthquake, we must properly prepare ourselves so that if disaster does strike, we will act accordingly. Here are some procedures we should all follow in the event of an earthquake:

IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE, MOVE TO THE OPEN AREA THAT IS DESIGNATED AS THE SAFETY/MEET-UP AREA.

Do not reenter the building until someone has determined if it is safe to return. Be watchful for falling bricks, glass or debris in urban areas.

IF YOU ARE IN YOUR CAR–Stay in your vehicle until the shaking has stopped. Pull to the side of the road if possible. Stay away from trees, signs, overpasses and power lines. If evacuation is necessary, your supervisor will notify all employees as to what to do. It is important that each of us understands the emergency procedures that have been developed, including the location of all exits, fire extinguishers and first aid supplies. Be sure that you ask your supervisor if you need information. Know the plan for emergency response at your work location. If you work at various job sites, you will need new emergency plan information whenever you change location. At most construction sites the general contractor oversees the emergency plan and communicates it to all trades and subcontractors on site. If your geographic location is not earthquake prone, you can use the same concepts to be prepared for tornadoes, floods or other disasters. There are many community resources on-line to help you prepare for when disaster strikes, whether you are at work, at home or at play.

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Theft of unattended property from office spaces, both the employees’ personal and employers’ business property is an increasingly common crime. Thefts occur during normal business hours when access is often the easiest, and employees are the least expectant. Taking just a few minutes to act upon these security tips can help prevent theft.

Maintain good key and access control, whether the office has traditional locks or a card-key type system.

Have a guest log book and visitor pass system.

Arrange office space so unescorted visitors can be easily noticed.

Make regular announcements of security breaches that happened due to poor security awareness.

Don’t leave valuables unsecured on counter tops.

Mark valuables with invisible ink.

Don’t leave cash drawers unlocked or within reach of customers at the counter.

Don’t leave valuables on counter tops unattended.

Don’t leave valuables unsecured in a lobby, even for a few moments.  If you see someone in your area you are not familiar with, ask “May I help you?” You may help someone who is lost or you may scare a potential thief away.

If you bring personal items to the office, keep a record of your belongings, and mark them.

Lock your purse in a cabinet or drawer. An unlocked drawer is not secure, because it’s one of the first places a thief will look.

Never allow strangers alone in your office. Beware of the potential thief canvassing for valuables.

Never allow anyone to remove equipment without checking first.

Data Security: Lock your computer station; put paper files with sensitive information in locked cabinets. (This includes employee personal information, trade secrets, delivery logs of valuable goods, and so on.)

When you leave your office, check that all doors and files are locked. Leave nothing of value or sensitive information in plain view. (Good advice for your personal vehicles too)

Don’t leave deliveries or supplies in the hallway for extended periods of time or overnight.

Report suspicious people, unattended objects, or activity to your building security or other appropriate authority.

Elevator: don’t board with a suspicious person. At night, don’t ride alone to basement or isolated area.

Parking Lot: Lock your car; look around you! Don’t walk to car alone at night; Use a well-lit parking space at night. Many of these steps can help prevent workplace violence and possible employee injury by ensuring only authorized people are allowed into your workplace.

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Most people in this country think of “work hours” as the daylight hours from 8 or so in the morning until 5 or so in the afternoon. But more than 20 million Americans work a different schedule. For many reasons, their work day either starts in the afternoon and ends late at night, or begins around midnight and ends in the early morning. If this applies to you, be aware that your safety is just as critical as the day crew, but that conditions and hazards may be different. If you work a nonstandard shift, it may be because you need to care for family members during the day; you may have more than one job; it may be the best work you can get at the time; or you may simply prefer to work at night. Whatever the reason, you should realize that the potential for accidents and injuries tends to be significantly higher on night shifts than during the day.

Special Challenges Associated With Shift Work:

The type of work may be different. Some companies schedule inherently heavy or more hazardous work at night when fewer people are around. This reduces risk for the many, but not necessarily for those on a graveyard or swing shift.

It’s more difficult to see in the dark. Artificial light can’t illuminate every surface, which can result in more trips and falls. This also makes night driving more hazardous.

Shift work may result in psychological problems for shift workers who fail to eat, rest and sleep adequately. Research indicates that shift workers may suffer depression, increased alcohol use, and even symptoms of physical illness.

The potential for criminal behavior may increase the need for security by both the company and employees, since the cover of darkness is often used to help people commit crimes.

Night workers who lack seniority for day shift assignments may be less experienced and less aware of safe work practices. This can make them more hazardous to themselves and others.

Fatigue – The Number One Shift Work Safety Problem Your normal “body clock” wants you to be awake, alert, and productive during daytime. It can be hard to adjust to a different schedule than what your body naturally wants. People “off schedule,” can feel tired and less alert. They are less likely to notice a potentially dangerous condition, or to respond quickly in an emergency. For example, more than 50,000 motor vehicle accidents per year are believed to be caused by sleepy drivers.

Tips For Dealing With Fatigue: Engineering controls can help–such as improved lighting, ventilation, proper temperatures and noise control. But the key to dealing with fatigue lies with individual employees, who should:

Keep a regular bedtime schedule. Your body can’t adjust if you don’t give it a chance.

Keep your bedroom dark and quiet – have your family or roommates cooperate with noise control.

Avoid excessive use of alcohol, tobacco and caffeine–especially during the pre-sleep hours.

If possible, try not to rotate shifts, which make it more difficult for your body to adjust.

Eat regular meals, but don’t consume a heavy meal right before retiring–eat a light snack.

Maintain a regular exercise routine, which improves sleep and helps reduce overall stress.

Most important of all, get enough sleep for your own, personal body needs.

Stay alert during your shift, and go home safely — whatever the time may be!

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When cold weather hits, many employers, often construction trades, will be using temporary heating devices on job sites. When used correctly, these heaters can make your working environment much more comfortable. When used incorrectly, they present a significant risk of fire or explosion. Other primary hazards you must be aware of include electrocution and asphyxiation. Before using any space heater or other temporary heating device make certain it is approved for the environment in which you plan to use it. Can it properly be set on wooden floors? Does it consume oxygen? Does it radiate heat or force heated air across the room? The manufacturers’ specifications will tell how the heater may be safely used. Never use a heater in a manner not approved by the manufacturer. Make certain there is adequate ventilation in the room in which the heater will be placed. Where the natural supply of fresh air is inadequate, mechanical ventilation must be provided. A type 4A:40-B:C or better rated fire extinguisher shall be readily available when a temporary heating device is being used. Temporary heating devices must be installed to provide clearance to combustible materials as described in the following table:

TYPE OF HEATER SIDE CLEARANCE REAR CLEARANCE CHIMNEY CONNECTOR Room heater Circulating type 12” 12” 18” Room heater radiant type 36” 36” 18” Temporary heating devices with lesser clearances may be used in accordance with manufacturers’ approvals. Heaters not intended by their manufacturer for use on wood floors cannot be set on wood or other combustible materials. If this type of heater is used it must be set on suitable heat insulating material or at least 1″ concrete or equivalent. The insulating material must extend beyond the heater 2 feet or more in all directions. Heaters must be placed at least 10 feet from combustible canvas, tarpaulins or similar coverings. All coverings have to be securely fastened to prevent the wind from blowing them where they could upset the heater or be set on fire by it. The heaters must be set horizontally level unless other use is permitted by the manufacturer. Flammable liquid fired heaters have to have a primary safety control to stop the flow of fuel in the event of flame failure. A barometric or gravity oil feed is not a primary safety control. Heaters designed for barometric or gravity feed may be used only with the integral tanks. Heaters specifically designed and approved for use with separate supply tanks may be directly connected for gravity feed or an automatic pump from a supply tank. Be sure to get authorization for use of any temporary heating device. Always use them in accordance with the manufacturers’ specifications and with caution for the specific conditions where you will be using them. Make certain all co-workers and other trades are aware of their presence and their safe use.

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 “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” Never has this phrase been so true as when it comes to housekeeping at work. The negative impressions and implications of poor housekeeping can affect you and co-workers for a long time to come. Morale is lowered for most people who must function every day in a messy, disorderly work environment, although they may not be aware of the cause. Safety is the key issue connected to housekeeping. If your housekeeping habits are poor, the result may be employee injuries—or even death, citations by OSHA (or another regulatory agency), and even difficulty in securing future work. How can such a “minor” issue have such serious consequences?

Here are some results of poor housekeeping practices:

Injuries, when employees trip, fall, strike or are struck by out-of-place objects;

Injuries from using improper tools because the correct tool can’t be found;

Lowered production because of the time spent maneuvering over and around someone else’s mess, and time spent looking for proper tools and materials;

Time spent investigating and reporting accidents that could have been avoided;

Fires due to improper storage and disposal of flammable or combustible materials and wastes;

Substandard quality of finished products because of production schedule delays, damaged or defective finishes, ill-equipped employees, etc.;

Lack of future work due to a reputation for poor quality;

“Wall-to-wall” OSHA inspections due to the “first impression” of the compliance officer. General housekeeping rules to remember are:

Clean up after yourself. Pick up your trash and debris and dispose of it properly, or place it where it will not pose a hazard to others. Institute a routine cleaning schedule.

Keep your work area clean throughout the day. This will minimize the amount of time needed to clean a “larger mess” at the end of the day.

Dispose of combustibles and flammables properly. If improperly discarded, they will increase the potential for a fire.

Remove protruding nails and other sharp objects or hammer them flat to prevent someone from stepping on them or snagging themselves.

Stack materials and supplies orderly and secure them so they won’t topple. Do you value your health and safety, your work reputation, as well as your future employment? If you do, practice these general housekeeping rules.

A properly maintained workplace shows respect for those who work there. Help keep it that way!

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How do you feel about employee drug and alcohol testing programs?

Unnecessary?

An invasion of privacy?

A good thing?

Important for safety?

If drug and alcohol use did not interfere with the company you work for, testing programs would be unnecessary. The fact is that substance abuse does affect your employer, even if the drugs or alcohol are consumed on personal time. A couple of beers during a non-paid lunch hour may not seem like anything notable, but things change when the whistle blows and it is time to return to work. At that point, an employer begins paying for that lunchtime behavior. Behaviors become “abuse” when they affect work performance. Statistics gathered over a ten year period show that substance abusers are four times more likely to be involved in work incidents, 2-3 times more likely to be absent from work on any particular day and three times more likely to file for sick benefits. They are found to function at about 67% of their work potential and have a higher turnover rate than co-workers. This certainly affects employers, and can cause additional difficulty for them in today’s economy. The individual can also lose out financially. Since substance abusers have a high turnover rate, they probably have trouble holding a job for any length of time. They miss out on advancement and raises because they operate at a fraction of their actual potential. Even an average worker stands out in comparison. Because of drug or alcohol use, retained earnings will be less than the non-abuser. Finally, do substance-testing programs affect incidents and workers’ compensation claims? Incident Rate measures the number of injuries in relation to hours worked. A number of our policyholders are employers with such testing programs. Data from our records shows a significantly improved Incident Rate and frequency of accidents for these employers. Of course, not everyone who is injured on the job is a substance abuser. But drug testing programs if carried out skillfully can be highly effective. They help assure higher productivity, which is good for everyone’s job security. They help protect the work place from a higher risk of injury. And chances are greater, if your company doesn’t have such a testing program, there will be more substance abusers working alongside you than exist at other companies.

Does this affect you?

Sure enough. Drug and alcohol abusers put everyone at risk. Don’t be hurt by the actions of others. Support your employer’s program.

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 Recently the news has featured stories about air traffic controllers asleep on the job. Many industries are vulnerable to significant accidents or errors. These can stem from employee sleep disorders, which can be related to shift work. An estimated 50–70 million U.S. adults have chronic sleep and wakefulness disorders, and the percentage who report less than 7 hours of sleep on average has increased since the 1980s to approximately one third of all U.S. adults. Shift work lets employers of all kinds use the full 24 hour clock by dividing work into blocks of time assigned to corresponding sets of workers. These shifts can take many patterns. Multiple shifts each 24 hours are most often found in industry (production & manufacturing); retail (24 hour convenience, grocery or other store); media (broadcast & print); services (healthcare & hospital, restaurant & hotel); transportation (motor, rail and air) and public service (law enforcement, firefighting, utilities, sanitation and roadwork). An editorial published in the New England Journal of Medicine says up to 20% of workers in industrialized nations work either night or rotating shifts. Some strategies to help the shift worker include:

Decrease the number of night shifts worked in a row.

Avoid extended shifts (double shifts) and excessive overtime.

Avoid frequently rotating shifts; keep a regular schedule.

Keep a brightly lighted workplace to promote alertness.

Limit caffeine to the start of your work shift, so it does not interfere with sleep after work.

A shorter commute will decrease your total working time and get you home to sleep.

Stay away from sunlight and bright light on the way home from work which can delay your sleep.

Limiting caffeine, nicotine and alcohol after work will promote better sleep.

Have persons in the household keep noise down & not otherwise disturb your sleep.

Use dark blackout curtains in your sleeping room. Keep it at a comfortable temperature.

Get the right sleep on your days off (7 hours or more) and between shifts on working days. Ask your medical provider if you need other suggestions. Use the above strategies as practicable in your situation. The Center for Disease Control reports that sleep impairment is linked as a contributing factor to motor vehicle crashes, industrial disasters, and medical and other occupational errors. Persons experiencing sleep insufficiency are more likely to have chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, or obesity.1 The National Sleep Foundation suggests that healthy adults need 7–9 hours of sleep per day. Information regarding sleep health and safety is available from the National Sleep Foundation at http://www.sleepfoundation.org.

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