Categories: Construction, Transportation, Vehicle safety
October 5th, 2012 1:56 pm ET -
Stephanie Pratt, PhD
- A 45-year-old salesperson was killed in a motor vehicle crash while traveling to meet with clients.
- A 26-year-old emergency medical technician died when the ambulance she was in was struck head-on by a pickup truck traveling more than 70 miles per hour in the wrong lane of a two-lane road.
- A 42-year-old construction foreman lost his life as his company truck plowed into a slower-moving petroleum tanker.
- A 21-year-old highway worker died after a dump truck loaded with asphalt backed over him during a nighttime paving operation.
These are only a few examples of lives lost due to motor vehicle crashes at work. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of work-related death in the United States. Risk of work-related motor vehicle crashes cuts across all industries and occupations. Workers who drive on the job may be “professional” drivers whose primary job is to transport freight or passengers. Many other workers spend a substantial part of the work day driving a vehicle owned or leased by their employer, or a personal vehicle.
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Categories: Emergency response
September 11th, 2012 9:13 am ET -
Jim Spahr, MPH
When disaster strikes, the nation depends on emergency response workers who are prepared and trained to respond effectively. This need is particularly clear as we observe the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and honor the responders who performed heroic service during that somber time. Response work can range from well-contained, localized efforts to massive, diffuse mobilizations and involves a broad array of activities including search, rescue, investigations, assessment, recovery, cleanup, and restoration. Such work is carried out by individuals from emergency management, fire services, law enforcement, emergency medical services, public health, construction and other skilled support, disaster relief, mental health, and volunteer organizations.
To ensure that workers can meet the challenges of disasters, every effort must be made to protect emergency workers from the safety and health risks inherent in the work. A new National Response Team technical assistance document, “Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance” is now available which provides a recommended health monitoring and surveillance system. The Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance system includes specific recommendations and tools for all phases of a response, including the pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment phase (see Figure 1). The intent of medical monitoring and surveillance is to identify exposures and/or signs and symptoms early in the course of an emergency response. Early detection can prevent or mitigate adverse physical and psychological outcomes; helping to ensure that workers and volunteers are not harmed in the course of their response and are able to maintain their ability to respond effectively.
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Categories: Total Worker Health
September 7th, 2012 12:17 pm ET -
Ebi Awosika, MD, MPH
How can we help keep employees from becoming office potatoes? It is a fact that a person who leads a sedentary lifestyle (commonly referred to as a couch potato) is at a higher risk of health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and certain cancers, but lately we have been hearing that sitting still for more than four hours a day is an independent risk factor on its own, despite regular exercise (van der Ploe, Chey, et al, 2012). So, even if you work out for the recommended 30 minutes each day, sitting behind a desk all day still puts you at risk for major health problems.
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Categories: Sports and entertainment
September 6th, 2012 10:58 am ET -
Everett Lehman, MS
It’s that time of year again—football season. While pro, college and pee wee football players and fans across the country prepare for the annual rituals of the game, questions of safety linger on the sidelines. A new study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) finds that National Football League (NFL) players may be at a higher risk of death associated with Alzheimer’s and other impairments of the brain and nervous system than the general U.S. population. These results are consistent with recent studies by other research institutions that suggest an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease among professional football players.
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