Occupational Health Management Archives – May 1, 2010
May 1, 2010
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Workers' comp cost: Getting the devil out of the details
Trying to determine exactly what drives your biggest workers' compensation costs? The devil is in the details. -
Is wellness data too dismal to share? Don't be so sure
Imagine showing higher-ups statistics indicating that thousands of dollars were spent on a weight loss program you implemented recently, but unfortunately, none of the participants actually lost any pounds. Or would you be eager to spread the news that only two employees attended a diabetes lunch-and-learn? -
Look beyond your role in workers' comp
When Emily Wallace, RN, BS, COHN-S, currently a Sanford, NC-based occupational health consultant, began her career as an occupational health nurse in the clinic of a large textile firm in Georgia with over 2000 employees and a terrible safety record, she learned something very quickly. -
Use team approach to ID worker's comp costs
Consider yourself a member of the "worker's compensation team" as a strategy to reduce costs, says Mary (Penny) B. Nicholls, RN, CCM, COHN-S, a disability consultant with Alabama Power Company in Birmingham and a member of the advisory board for the Deep South Center for Occupational Health & Safety at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. -
Want to maximize results? Ask what employees want
After a disappointing turnout at a wellness event, the saying "we threw a party and no one came" may come to mind. As for why employees didn't attend, you'll never know unless you ask. -
Survey says: Workers want more wellness
When Minneapolis, MN-based General Mills surveyed employees about wellness, they got some good news. "We were quite surprised by finding that employees were very positive, and in fact, wanted more health and fitness activities and events," says Tim Crimmins, MD, vice president of Health, Safety and Environment. -
Use this info to plan programs
Susan A. Randolph, MSN, RN, COHN-S, FAAOHN, clinical assistant professor of the Occupational Health Nursing Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says that you should plan occupational health programs and services with these factors in mind: -
Are you compliant with genetic screening law?
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which prohibits discrimination against a job applicant or employee based on the individual's genetic information, as well as the improper acquisition or use of such information, has important implications for occupational health. -
Make these changes to comply with GINA
Kathleen Liever, an Employment Law Associate at Fowler White Boggs in Tampa, FL, says that you should take these steps now to comply with the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008: -
To protect patients, test viral load of infected HCWs
Do some health care workers infected with HIV or hepatitis B or C pose a risk to their patients? Should they be restricted from performing exposure-prone procedures? -
SHEA identifies invasive, exposure-prone procedures
New guidelines for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) for health care workers infected with bloodborne viruses include the following procedures at greatest risk of transmission to patients. -
PAPRs end frustration of fit-test failures
At DuBois (PA) Regional Medical Center, employees were failing N95 fit tests in alarming numbers.