-
If you assume that your workforce has better than average health statistics due to programs for nutrition, fitness and smoking cessation, you may be sadly mistaken. On the other hand, you may have far fewer obese employees than the national average.
-
During a meeting with an employee about a worker's compensation issue, you encourage him to take advantage of a discounted YMCA membership.
-
By law, how far can you go in screening employees or altering leave policies during pandemic? The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), privacy and state leave laws still apply, limiting what employers can do, advises Nina Massen, JD, senior associate with the disability, leave and health management practice group of Jackson Lewis LLP in White Plains, NY.
-
As H1N1 and flu absences crop up in the workplace, your goal is twofold. You want employees to stay out only as long as necessary to limit lost productivity, yet you must keep them out of the workplace while infectious so they don't get others sick.
-
Imagine a diabetic worker leaving a "lunch and learn" on how to control her blood sugar who feels hunger pangs. As he or she walks past the vending machine, is that worker faced with a choice between a candy bar and a sugary pastry?
-
When occupational health professionals at Replacements, a Greensboro, NC-based supplier of old and new china, crystal, silver, and collectibles with 550 employees, did a review of their Occupational Safety and Health Administration 300 log of work-related injuries and illnesses, they found that their largest worker's compensation numbers were coming from musculoskeletal (MSD) complaints.
-
Bon Secours St. Francis Health System received nearly $2 million in denials and successfully appealed the vast majority of them during the few months the Greenville, SC, hospital was part of the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) demonstration project, says James T. Jones, PhD, RN, administrative director, case management and patient documentation for the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System.
-
Expect more regulation. Like a sleeping giant that awakens with a roar, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is moving forward with new initiatives, including the first steps toward a possible airborne infectious diseases standard and renewing proposed recordkeeping rules on musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) injuries.
-
How widespread are chemical hazards in health care? The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) seeks to find out and is proposing an online survey, which would be targeted to members of professional organizations such as the American Nurses Association.
-
Every occupational health program requires resources, ranging from tens of thousands of dollars for a fitness center to a few hours spent on educating employees. How do you decide whether these are best invested in a diabetes lunch-and-learn, a weight loss competition, or otherwise?