This health, safety and environment electronic update comes from Chip Dawson and the Rochester Business Alliance as a service to member companies. There are currently 290 names on the list.

Latino Health Fair...The 2007 fair will be held on Sunday, July 1, from noon until 6 p.m. at the Rochester Coca Cola Bottling Company, 123 Upper Falls Boulevard. Sponsored by OSHA, the RIT OSHA Education Center and the Rochester Primary Care Network, this second-year event builds on a very successful fair in 2006 when over 5,000 participants attended. If you have Hispanic workers, this is an excellent opportunity for them to participate in Spanish-language training on scaffolding and falls, trenching and excavations, electrical safety, traffic safety, pesticide application, tool safety, fire safety and machine guarding and lockout/tagout. Stay tuned for registration details.

Assistance for Hispanic Employers...OSHA has a page for Hispanic employers and employees that covers such things as a list of Spanish-language trainers, references for trainers, dictionaries, eTools and publications. You can find it all by clicking here.

NFPA 1600 Update Available...The Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs, 2007 version, is now available for free in PDF format from the NFPA. The revised document updates the 2004 version and includes a new section on prevention. For a copy, click here.

Smoke Characterization Study Released...The Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) have completed a study that enhances the fire safety community's understanding of modern fire hazards and may eventually lead to changes in how people are kept safer from fire. The study findings point to far more complex smoke patterns due to the nature of many new home materials. Also called into question is the escape time available under smoke conditions and the types of smoke alarms installed. For a free PDF copy of the report, click here, and click on "download the report" in the body of the press release.

OSHA Bulletin Targets Needlestick Injuries...Use of Blunt-Tip Suture Needles to Decrease Percutaneous Injuries to Surgical Personnel is a new Safety and Health Information Bulletin (SHIB) published by OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The SHIB describes the hazards of sharp-tip suture needles and presents evidence of the effectiveness of blunt-tip needles in decreasing injuries. It also emphasizes OSHA's requirement to use appropriate, available and effective safer medical devices.

New CDC Web Page...On April 19, CDC unveiled a new Web design and format intended to improve the usability and performance of the CDC web page. Included in the redesign is an updated workplace safety and health site featuring NIOSH safety and health information.

Firefighter Heart Attack Risk...According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 356), firefighters involved in fire suppression activities have a 10 to 100 times greater risk of having a fatal heart attack than during non-emergency duties. Heart disease causes 45% of all on-duty firefighter deaths.

Worker Killed When Thrown from Lift...A mechanic and his supervisor were working from a JLG Model 800AJ articulating boom lift when the unit exceeded it's safe limits and catapulted the men from the basket. Two factors were involved in the death of the mechanic. First, the 5 Degree Tilt Alarm/Indicator Light was inoperative, thus giving no warning of operating outside the safe limits. Second, the mechanic did not have the leg straps on his harness fastened, allowing him to fall from the harness when thrown. The supervisor was wearing his harness fully fastened and was uninjured.

Google Offers Old Safety Films...A correspondent has told us about several historic films now on the Google site. One of general interest is "Can't Take No More," 1979 (27 minutes).

According to industrial hygienist Mark Catlin, "this quick paced history of occupational health and safety in the U.S. from the Industrial Revolution to the 1970s, narrated by Studs Terkel, was produced by OSHA and distributed in 1980.  In 1981, the newly elected Reagan Administration's OSHA recalled the film and destroyed most copies.  Organizations receiving OSHA training grants were threaten with a loss of funding if they showed this film to workers.  Rare archival footage and photos touch on some of the major issues responsible for dramatic tragedies as well as on the day-to-day dangers that cause long-term health problems." Other films include "Stop Silicosis," "Asbestos," and "Alice Hamilton" (who was the first American occupational physician).

Employers Encouraged to Participate in OSHA Challenge Program...OSHA invites companies looking for an effective tool to improve their safety and health management systems (SHMS) to consider OSHA's Challenge Program. The program is a three-stage roadmap to achieving recognition in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP)—the agency's premier recognition program for outstanding safety and health performance. Participants are provided with an online, easy-to-use gap analysis tool to compare the current status of their SHMS with the VPP requirements. On average, companies reduced their total recordable case incidence rate by 37 percent, and their days away, restricted, or transfer case incident rate by 31 percent after spending one year or more in the program. Twelve participants have graduated and four have achieved VPP "Star" status. Others are in the process of applying for VPP.

Study Finds Workplace Incidents Underreported...While government statistics show that occupational injury and illness are declining, numerous studies have shown that government counts of occupational injury and illness are underestimated by as much as 69 percent. A study published in the April 2006 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that examined injury and illness reporting in Michigan made similar findings.  The study compared injuries and illnesses reported in five different data bases – the BLS Annual Survey, the OSHA Annual Survey, the Michigan Bureau of Workers' Compensation, the Michigan Occupational Disease reports and the OSHA Integrated Management Information System. It found that during the years 1999, 2000 and 2001, the BLS Annual Survey, which is based upon employers' OSHA logs, captured approximately 33 percent of injuries and 31 percent of illnesses reported in the various data bases in the state of Michigan. This is just some of the information provided in the 16th annual version of "Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect" produced by the AFL-CIO.

Obesity and the Workplace...In our last edition of HSE Update, we cited some research at Duke University addressing the relationship between obesity and workers compensation. In the latest NIOSH eNews we're given more on this topic and some study source material. Here's what NIOSH provided: "Work, Obesity, and Public Health" discusses key areas in which work, obesity and occupational safety and health may intersect, based on available scientific evidence, and highlights the ethical, legal, and social issues related to the topic. The article, co-authored by 11 NIOSH scientists and one external partner, appears in the March 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Results from a NIOSH-funded study by Duke University researchers of the relationship between obesity and workers' compensation claims and costs appear in the April 2007 Archives of Internal Medicine.

Team Competition Idea Boosts Job Performance...Former Xerox manager Alex Eggleston was charged with getting and keeping people engaged in their work. When he read that fantasy football was costing employers millions in lost productivity, he teamed with his long-time friend Michael Svac to turn the concept positive. Both men have worked in operations safety at Xerox and have continued a strong interest in safety at GE and other companies. Their new company is called F1rst League LLC and uses the team concept to build enthusiasm for important business issues. Whether its production, quality or safety, they are reporting great success with the approach. One client, for example, reports behavioral safety-based observations have increased ten times with F1rst League (note that a "one" replaces the "i" in F1rst).

CDC Issues Flu Pandemic Mask Guidance...The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released interim guidance for the use of facemasks and respirators by the general public in certain public settings during an influenza pandemic. To see a copy of the guidance, click here.

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Lawrence H. "Chip" Dawson
Dawson Associates
Rochester Business Alliance Coordinating Consultant for HSE
6 Saddle Ridge Trail
Fairport, NY 14450-9584
(585) 425-1639