Source: Catherine Rampell, New York Times Economix Blog, March 1, 2010
State and local government workers are much more likely to get hurt on the job than private sector workers, according to a new report from the Labor Department.
Among workers in the private sector, there were 113 nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses per 10,000 full-time workers in 2008. In state and local government, the incidence rate was 170 cases and 195 cases per 10,000 employees, respectively.
Source: VitalSmarts, 2010
This study probes below the surface by looking for unsafe conditions that are broadly recognized yet allowed to continue because of cultural norms and social taboos. The ugly secret behind most workplace injuries is that someone is aware of the threat well in advance, but is either unwilling or unable to speak up. Our study shows the greatest danger today is not from ignorance or inattention to risks--but from silence. The next leap forward in workplace safety will come not just from additional changes to processes, technology, or policies, but from changes to behavior. Unless and until the code of silence is broken, we'll continue to suffer completely avoidable losses in both health and performance.
See also:
- Executive Summary
- US report is aimed at the wrong workplace safety target
Source: Kevin Jones, Safety at Work Blog, February 23, 2010
From the press release:
The white paper, Workers at Risk: Regulatory Dysfunction at OSHA, describes OSHA's descent into dysfunction:
In its early years, OSHA acted with great vigor, establishing important standards for occupational health and safety that have prevented hundreds of thousands of injuries and illnesses. But the agency has not aged gracefully. Today its enforcement staff is stretched thin and the rulemaking staff struggle to produce health and safety standards that can withstand industry legal challenges. In short, OSHA is a picture of regulatory dysfunction....
The white paper notes that in the last decade, "OSHA has dropped more standards from its
regulatory agenda than it has finalized," attributing OSHA's failure to regulate to a lack of
sufficient budget authority. At the same time, the authors write, "the agency's enforcement
program has assessed such paltry fines for even fatality-related violations of the law that many employers see no incentive in addressing hazards, much less developing precautionary health and safety programs."
Source: Andrew Steptoe, European Heart Journal, Vol. 30 no. 21, November 2009
(subscription required)
From the http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/extract/30/21/2560:
The cardiovascular risks associated with night shift work in medical staff have been suspected for several years. Kawachi et al. analysed coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence in 79 109 women from the Nurses Health Study, and observed raised rates among night shift workers, particularly those who had worked for ≥6 years on rotating shifts (51% increased risk). Effects remained significant after controlling for smoking, history of hypertension, body mass, and other factors. Prospective studies have also demonstrated an increased incidence of the metabolic syndrome in shift workers.
See also:
Source: Inga M. Zadvinskis, Susan L. Salsbury, Western Journal of Nursing Research, Vol. 32 No. 1, published on February 1, 2010
(subscription required)
From the abstract:
Nursing staff are at risk for musculoskeletal injuries because of the physical nature of patient handling. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a multifaceted minimal-lift environment on reported equipment use, musculoskeletal injury rates, and workers' compensation costs for patient-handling injuries. The pilot study consists of a mixed measures design, with both descriptive and quasi-experimental design elements. The intervention consists of engineering (minimal-lift equipment), administrative (nursing policy), and behavioral (peer coach program) controls. The comparison nursing unit has received engineering controls only. The convenience sample includes nursing staff employed on two medical-surgical nursing units, who provide direct patient care at least 50% of the time. Nursing staff employed in a multifaceted lift environment report greater lift equipment use and experience less injury, with reduced worker's compensation costs.
Source: Konstantinos Pouliakas, Ioannis Theodossiou, IZA Discussion Paper No. 4734, January 2010
This paper engages in an interdisciplinary survey of the current state of knowledge related to the theory, determinants and consequences of occupational safety and health (OSH). First, it synthesizes the available theoretical frameworks used by economists and psychologists to understand the issues related to the optimal provision of OSH in the labour market. Second, it reviews the academic literature investigating the correlates of a comprehensive set of OSH indicators, which portray the state of OSH infrastructure (social security expenditure, prevention, regulations), inputs (chemical and physical agents, ergonomics, working time, violence) and outcomes (injuries, illnesses, absenteeism, job satisfaction) within workplaces. Third, it explores the implications of the lack of OSH in terms of the economic and social costs that are entailed. Finally, the survey identifies areas of future research interests and suggests priorities for policy initiatives that can improve the health and safety of workers.
Source: Scott Wallask, HealthLeaders Media, January 26, 2010
There is a lot of focus on patient safety, emergency management, and other hot-button issues, but needle-related injuries still present significant regulatory risks for hospitals. For at least the 10th year in row, the latest OSHA statistics show that the agency's bloodborne pathogens standard was the most cited in general acute care hospitals in fiscal year 2009.
From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation summary:
Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has become a major problem in U.S. hospitals already dealing with high levels of hospital-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA). Using antimicrobial drug susceptibility data for 1999-2006 from The Surveillance Network, the authors characterized the relationship between outpatient and inpatient levels of CA-MRSA nationally. In outpatients, the frequency of CA-MRSA isolates has increased more than seven times during 1999-2006, which suggests that outpatients have become a major reservoir for CA-MRSA. However, contrary to results in other reports, although CA-MRSA increases are associated with decreases in the frequency of HA-MRSA in hospitals, the decreases are only modest. This finding suggests that instead of replacing HA-MRSA in the hospital, CA-MRSA is adding to the overall presence of MRSA already found within the hospital population.
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-10-10, October 15, 2009
From the summary:
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Department of Labor's (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for protecting the safety and health of the nation's workers. The act requires DOL to collect and compile work-related injury and illness data. GAO was asked to determine (1) whether DOL verifies that employers are accurately recording workers' injuries and illnesses and, if so, the adequacy of these efforts, and (2) what factors may affect the accuracy of employers' injury and illness records. GAO analyzed OSHA's audits of employers' injury and illness records, interviewed inspectors who conducted the audits, surveyed occupational safety and health practitioners, and obtained the views of various stakeholders regarding factors that may affect the accuracy of the data.
DOL verifies some of the workplace injury and illness data it collects from employers through OSHA's audits of employers' records, but these efforts may not be adequate. OSHA overlooks information from workers about injuries and illnesses because it does not routinely interview them as part of its records audits.
Data about the effectiveness of the surgical mask compared with the N95 respirator for protecting health care workers against influenza are sparse. Given the likelihood that N95 respirators will be in short supply during a pandemic and not available in many countries, knowing the effectiveness of the surgical mask is of public health importance. Among nurses in Ontario tertiary care hospitals, use of a surgical mask compared with an N95 respirator resulted in noninferior rates of laboratory-confirmed influenza.
Related:
IDSA: N95 versus Surgical Mask Findings Retracted
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