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 285 names on the list. 

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION YIELDS GREATER SHAREHOLDER RETURN...We've posted several studies over the years that show effective safety and health efforts increasing shareholder return or profits or result in other beneficial outcomes. A new study, this by Watson Wyatt posted on the CCH HR Management NetNews, shows similar return advantages for effective communications programs. If the link to safety isn't obvious, the study reports companies with good communications practices are four times more likely to report high levels of employee engagement as companies that communicate least effectively. And, as we know, employee engagement has been found to be one of the most essential elements of effective safety. The study also reports that companies with the most effective communication programs had a 47 percent higher total return to shareholders from 2002 to 2006, compared with companies that communicate least effectively.

PROPER PRESCRIPTION DRUG DISPOSAL...With the ongoing abuse of prescription drugs, and the increasing contamination of land and water in the U. S., the government has issued instructions for the safe disposal of prescription drugs. To learn more - and to download a fact sheet - click here.

VOC EMISSION STANDARDS FOR SPRAY PAINTS ISSUED...The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently (11/15/07) enacted a new regulation for aerosol spray paints designed to help reduce smog-forming emissions. The rule limits the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which react with nitrogen oxides to form ground level ozone (smog). Click here for the final rule. This national regulation, modeled after the California Air Resource Board (CARB) regulation for reducing ozone formed from aerosol coating emissions, establishes a uniform reactivity-based standard for aerosol spray paints. The paints covered by this rule include both those used by the consumer and those used in industrial applications. For a fact sheet, click here.

ASSE JANUARY MEETING SCHEDULED...The Genesee Valley Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 7, 2008 at the Green Lantern Inn, Fairport, NY.  Speakers on the subject of security vulnerability will be Bob Wiesner, Security Manager, Monroe County Water Authority, and John Pirone, Director, Homeland Security Management Institute at Monroe Community College. Anyone interested, ASSE member or not, is welcome to attend. Call Chapter President Jay Wells at (585) 352-2832 or send an e-mail to jwells@caldwellmfgco.com for a reservation.

HOW YOU DIE IN SEVEN-TENTHS OF A SECOND...The Naval Safety Center, long a leader in operational and off-duty safety for the military, has prepared a new PowerPoint program that covers the moment by moment actions of a vehicle in a collision at 55 MPH. It's sobering...and it does give actions the driver can take to avoid such an incident. You might find it helpful for traffic safety meetings for your people. For a free, downloadable copy, click here.

STRESS AT WORK...This is the time of year when we all may feel a little more stress due to the demands of the holidays. Unfortunately, stress at work can be a year-round issue further exacerbated during these months. Stress is a prevalent and costly problem in today's workplace. About one-third of workers report high levels of stress, and high levels of stress are associated with substantial increases in health service utilization. Additionally, periods of disability due to job stress tend to be much longer than disability periods for other occupational injuries and illnesses. Evidence also suggests that stress is the major cause of turnover in organizations. To see a NIOSH stress blog, and a link to the NIOSH Stress at Work Topic Page, click here.

SURVIVING DRIVING FLIP GUIDE...Also available from Naval Safety Center is a convenient flip guide geared toward younger drivers to help them manage risk behind the wheel. "Surviving Driving" is a pocket-sized resource packed with information on how to recognize the fatal factors in car crashes, common mistakes drivers make, how to spot impaired drivers, and more. To order a copy, send an email to the Naval Safety Center public affairs officer at SAFE-PAO@navy.mil.

DHS ADDS ANTI-TERRORISM REQUIREMENTS...If you are one of an estimated 50,000 high-risk chemical facilities in the U. S., you are facing new homeland security requirements that include the preparation of Security Vulnerability Assessments, which identify facility security vulnerabilities, and the development and implementation of Site Security Plans, which include measures that satisfy the identified risk-based performance standards. As a general rule, if you currently have Risk Management Plan (RPM) requirements, this new rule will cover you. However, even if you don't, you may still fall under the umbrella. I'm told that this is a complicated rule that can well cover small facilities and educational institutions. To learn more and to have access to the final rule and support materials, click here.

MORE FROM NAVAL SAFETY...This is it for this edition of HSE Update from the Navy. If you'd like some humorous - and free - PowerPoint programs with a message (and as a discussion starter in safety meetings), you can download nearly a dozen files here. Just be sure you get discussions going to make your point(s). It doesn't work to show, laugh and leave.

OSHA @ THIRTY-FIVE...A critical look at OSHA after 35 years by Michael Silverstein, MD, MPH, and former member of the OSHA leadership team, leads to the conclusion that "the promise of worker protection remains substantially unfilled...and (improvement) can't be accomplished by simply trying harder to do more of the same." In a thoughtful discussion document available here, Dr. Silverstein suggests several new approaches for the agency and for those of us involved in occupational health and safety. Two facts stand out in the document. First, a worker still becomes injured or ill on the job every 2.5 seconds. And, the country devotes six times the resources and attention to fish and wildlife protection than to worker safety. You can also read responses to the document at the above link.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS...As we near the end of another year (and my 38th year in the safety and health business), it seems appropriate to wish you, my faithful readers, the very best of the holiday season and a delightfully safe and satisfying new year. Chip

LIST REMOVAL...If you do not wish to receive these HSE updates, please send an e-mail and include "Remove HSE Update" in the subject line.

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