Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to the 2009 – 2010 Influenza Season
     The U.S. Centers for Disease Control released a new guidance that recommends actions that non-healthcare employers should take now to decrease the spread of seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu in the workplace and to help maintain business continuity during the 2009-2010 flu season. The guidance includes additional strategies to use if flu conditions become more severe and some new recommendations regarding when a worker who is ill with influenza may return to work.
     CDC also released "Preparing for the Flu: A Communication Toolkit for Businesses and Employers." The purpose of the toolkit is to provide information and communication resources to help businesses implement recommendations from CDC's Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to the 2009-2010 Influenza Season.

     The guidance, toolkit and other critical H1N1 information can be found at:

• http://www.flu.gov/plan/workplaceplanning/guidance.html
• http://www.flu.gov/plan/workplaceplanning/toolkit.html

OSHA Small Business Forum Focuses on Pandemic Influenza and Small Business Workplace Preparedness
     Pandemic influenza workplace planning and preparedness is the subject of OSHA's next small business forum Sept. 30 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the U.S. Labor Department's Francis Perkins Building auditorium. This forum is part of a small business series that fosters collaboration between the small business community and federal government entities on safety and health management issues. An expert panel, comprised of OSHA, state and county health officials and a small business representative, will discuss the current H1N1 (swine flu) threat, explore preventive measures, and identify resources for small businesses on preparing their workplaces for a pandemic. For more information or to register, contact Charlene Crawford at 202-693-2165 or crawford.charlene@dol.gov.

OSHA Targets Nearly 4,000 Worksites Under Site-Specific Target Inspection List for 2009
     The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Site-Specific Targeting 2009 (SST-09) program will focus enforcement efforts on nearly 4,000 high-hazard worksites on the agency's list for comprehensive safety inspections. The program helps OSHA direct enforcement resources to workplaces such as manufacturing and nursing homes where the highest rate of injuries and illnesses occur.
     Changes to this year's program include dividing the primary list of establishments slated for inspection into three sectors - manufacturing, non-manufacturing, and nursing homes. Rather than using one rate for all establishments, OSHA established minimum injury and illness rates for each group, allowing the agency to inspect even more establishments that exceed the minimum rates specific to that sector. Additionally, some facilities that did not answer an OSHA Data Initiative survey will be added to the inspection list. The agency's intent is to deter employers from not responding to avoid inspection.

Click here for the full report.

Public Meeting On Respirator Standards Development
     NIOSH will hold a public meeting on September 17 at the Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport, pertaining to standards for testing and certification of respirators. Topics include respirator standards development projects for supplied-air respirators (SAR), air-fed ensembles/suits, and total inward leakage (TIL) test for half-mask, air-purifying particulate respirators.

Click here for more information.
 

Fourth Annual Drug-Free Work Week Slated for October 19-25, 2009
     A drug-free workplace program is a vital component of a safe workplace. From Oct. 19-25, 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor will stage its annual Drug-Free Work Week, dedicated to communicating the importance of working drug-free. The week is sponsored by DOL's Working Partners for an Alcohol- and Drug-Free Workplace program, but its true spirit is found at the local level in activities conducted by various organizations and in individual workplaces across the country. To get resources and specific ideas on how your organization can support the week's activities, visit the Drug-Free Work Week Web site.
     Resources available include

• About Drug-Free Work Week
• Drug-Free Work Week Tool Box
• Ideas for Employers & Employees
• Ideas for Associations & Unions
• Ideas for Community Coalitions & Neighborhood Organizations

Does It Really Work?  How to Evaluate Safety and Health Changes in the Workplace
     Businesses are continuously making safety and health changes in the workplace. But when making those changes, successful employers and managers want to be sure that they really work. What were the results? Was the change an improvement? Here are some examples of positive outcomes that employers use:

• reduced employee injury and illness
• increased employee satisfaction
• improved safe work practices
• reduced absenteeism
• reduced workers’ compensation costs or rates
• increased productivity
• improved workplace air quality

     Measuring the results of workplace safety and health changes benefits employers and employees because both gain confidence that the change results in a safer workplace. Since most changes occur by trial and error or in stages, information about the effectiveness of each stage is naturally helpful to the process. These changes often result in increased productivity and demonstrate that employee safety and health can be a good investment. Employees must be involved throughout the selection of safety changes and their measurement.

Click here to download the full report (PDF - 1MB download)

Source: NIOSH 
 

News You Can Use

Sleep Deprivation Survey: In a Bad Economy, Sleep is an Undiagnosed Health Hazard for US Workers
     A new survey released by Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) shows that the average manager is sleeping 19% less than the recommended amount of eight hours a night. The survey, conducted in five countries around the globe, showed that 40% of those questioned blame the state of the world economy as the major reason for their lack of sleep. A vast majority of respondents to the survey (61%) say they have had their work impacted negatively by lack of sleep. On average, each estimated 6.2 days per year were impacted by inadequate sleep – costing companies around the globe millions.
     According to this survey:

• Americans are more likely than other nationalities to lose sleep through stress at work with 30 percent citing it as the reason they wake up during the night
• The average amount of time it takes Americans to fall asleep – at nearly 26 minutes - is more than any other country surveyed – and American men lead the world in snoring with 29 percent snoring every single night.
• 70 percent said that their work suffered because of lack of sleep
• The number one symptom of this lack of sleep was less patience, followed closely behind by less enthusiasm and concentration.

     In addition to the findings about lack of sleep, the survey also found that while 96% of managers recognize that inadequate sleep can seriously affect a person’s health, only 29% discuss their problematic sleep patterns. Of those that do, just 27% seek professional help from a physician with the majority simply talking about their problems with family and friends.  

Click here for the full report.

Source: Philips Respironics
 

Take A Virtual Plant Tour
     This "Virtual Plant Tour" is intended to help you find regulatory information, pollution prevention case studies, and good management practices as they relate to operations found in nearly all chemical manufacturing facilities. More than 450 case studies are available, all drawn from actual chemical manufacturing plants.  

     Includes:

• Case Studies
• Good Management Practices (GMPs)
• Regulatory Information

Click here to take the tour!

Source: Chemalliance

Fire Prevention Week October 4-10, 2009 - Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned
     Testing the water before putting a child in the bath may sound like common sense. Wearing short or close-fitting sleeves when cooking on the stovetop may show foresight. This and other simple actions may be all it takes to prevent devastating burns. Fire Prevention Week 2009 focuses on burn awareness and prevention, as well as keeping homes safe from the leading causes of home fires. Sparky the Fire Dog® needs your help to help spread the word about this year's Fire Prevention Week theme: "Stay Fire Smart! Don't Get Burned."

Click here for more information.

Fact Sheet Available on Minimum Contents for Workplace First Aid Kits
     The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has compiled an easy-to-read fact sheet summarizing minimum industrial first aid kit contents according to ANSI Z308.1 as referenced in OSHA 1910.151 and 1926.50.

Click here to download.

Motivating Employees in Tough Times
     Despite tough economic times, a new white paper indicates there are steps employers can take to sustain employee engagement. Every employer and employee in the United States has been on an economic roller coaster ride for the past 2 years. Business is up. Business is down. We're hiring. We're downsizing. Many employers who wanted nothing less than 10 percent growth every year are settling for not losing money.  In this age of pay cuts and “lean” everything, employers need to remember that employees are their biggest contributing factor for success or failure in the drive to do more with less.
     According to a new white paper, “Optimizing Human Capital Assets in Tough Times,” “No matter what the business model, value propositions have become increasingly knowledge-based and service driven. Smart executives know that, rather than any new technology or product offering, it is the ability and attitudes of their people that's more likely to set a firm apart from its rivals. People spur innovation, cultivate customer loyalty, drive productivity and ignite economic growth.”

Click here for the full report.

Source: EHS Today
 

1. HANDS THAT DO WORK - Need protection from chemical, physical and electrical hazards.
2. HANDS THAT DO WORK - Need barriers to protect products and processes from contamination.
3. HANDS THAT DO WORK - Should have hand protection that is comfortable and fits properly.
4. HANDS THAT DO WORK - Can be cleaned and sanitized with safe yet industrial strength hand cleaners and lotions.
5. HANDS THAT DO WORK - Are also the hands that hug our loved ones.

Want more information on any of this month's Saf-T-Tips?  E-mail us for a prompt reply.

Victoria Johnson in her first year with Saf-T-Gard as marketing and administrative assistant.

• What Victoria likes about Saf-T-Gard: "I enjoy the people I work with and the opportunity to learn something new every day."
• What makes Victoria's day: "Finishing everything that needs to be done just as it’s time to go home."
• Victoria's outside interests are: "Spending time with my friends and family, reading, shopping and playing a good game of fetch with my 2-year old Malti-pom, Leela."