March/April 2009
An Occupational and Environmental Health Network Publication
Welcome to OEHN’s Occupational Health Update email. At OEHN we are interested in providing valuable Occupational Health news to keep you up to date and enhance your knowledge. To this end, OEHN’s staff will research and provide current Occupational Health news worthy information. Look for OEHN’s Occupational Health Update in your email folder. We hope you enjoy and please let us know if there are any topics that you would like us to focus on.
From the White House: Health Care Reform
On health care reform, the American people are too often offered two extremes -- government-run health care with higher taxes or letting the insurance companies operate without rules. President Obama and Vice President Biden believe both of these extremes are wrong, and that’s why they’ve proposed a plan that strengthens employer coverage, makes insurance companies accountable and ensures patient choice of doctor and care without government interference.
Find out more about this White House Government document.
You have children, you have work, and you have a schedule that makes you tired just to THINK about it. It seems as if there just are not enough hours in the day. So how in the world are you going to continue to workout during the all of this rush?
First – you need to make your fitness a priority. I know there are a million other very important things going on in your life, but value the investment that you have already made in your health, and maintain some type of fitness even throughout hectic times. If you cannot workout everyday, exercising two to three times per week at a higher intensity will enable you to maintain your current level of fitness for up to three weeks. Inactivity, however, will smash your fitness level and make your return to the gym a less pleasant experience.
Read all the ten tips on how to make time for fitness in your life.
Most Disabling Workplace Injuries
The estimated direct U.S. workers compensation costs for the most disabling workplace injuries and illnesses in 2006 were $48.6 billion, according to the 2008 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index. The ten causes of the most disabling work-related injuries, ranked by cost are:
1. Overexertion maintained its first place ranking.
2. Fall on same level ranked second as a leading cause of disabling injury.
3. Fall to lower level.
Find out more about the 10 Most Disabling Workplace Injuries.
OEHN Delivers a Boutique of Occupational Health Solutions...
... for corporate and hospital occupational health departments throughout New England. OEHN has become the recognized leader in the field of occupational and environmental health by providing an expert body of knowledge to employers, insurers, employees and healthcare providers. Some of the Occupational Health solutions that OEHN offers include:
n Employee Health On-site Services
n Police and Fire Psychological Services
n Ergonomic and Industrial Hygiene
n Employee Psychological Health Assessments
Read OEHN’s Dr. Tom Winters et al article on assessing the validity of the Back Disability Risk Questionnaire (BDRQ) to predict developing chronic back disability.
Methods: Five hundred nineteen working adults (67% male) seeking outpatient care for acute, work-related back pain (≤14 days) completed the BDRQ. After the initial medical evaluation, clinicians provided prognostic impressions in a 10-item questionnaire. Pain, functional limitation, and work status were assessed at 3-month follow-up.
Conclusions: The BDRQ may provide prognostic information not observed in a routine medical evaluation for acute BP.
Read more about this very important study.
AOHC Health Conference: April 24th to 29th
Registration is now open for the American Occupational Health Conference (AOHC® 2009) which will be held in San Diego from April 24th through April 29th. AOHC is designed for physicians who specialize in or have an interest in OEM, as well as for non-physicians who are involved in the field. AOHC offers a variety of educational activities for participants new to OEM as well as for the experienced professional. OEHN’s Dr. Tom Winters and Joe Flynn will be featured speakers at this event.
Find out more about the AOHC conference.
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In This Issue |
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From the Whitehouse: Making Health Insurance Work for People and Businesses |
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This month’s Ergo Tip from Terry Snyder is ways to avoid neck injuries. |
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