Author: Randy

The Enormous Cost of Diabetes

Diabetes-450x300Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal. Risk factors for the most common type include obesity, physical inactivity and aging. Complications can include vision loss, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, amputation of feet or legs and premature death. Patients can manage the disease through diet, exercise and medication.

Among details from the report:

• One-quarter of adults with diabetes don’t know they have it.

• More than 200,000 children and teens have diabetes.

• Diabetes is about twice as common among blacks, Hispanics, American Indian and Alaskan native adults as among whites. But pre-diabetes rates are similar among racial and ethnic groups.

• Diabetes and its complications cost $245 billion in 2012, up from $174 billion in 2010.

via CDC: Diabetes count rises to 29 million, 12% of adults.

What is an Employee Assistance Program?

hand-reaching-out1An employee assistance program (EAP) is a work-based intervention program designed to identify and assist employees in resolving personal problems (e.g., marital, financial or emotional problems; family issues; substance/alcohol abuse) that may be adversely affecting the employee’s performance. EAPs that offer medical benefits such as direct counseling and treatment, rather than just referrals for counseling and treatment, are regulated under ERISA and subject to COBRA. EAP plans are usually 100% paid by the employer and can include a wide array of other services, such as nurse lines, basic legal assistance and referrals, adoption assistance, or assistance finding elder care services. EAP services can be made available not only to the employee but also to immediate family members or anyone living in their home.

via Employee Assistance Program (EAP): General: What is an employee assistance program?.

Keep Children Safe on the Internet

kids-internet-safteyChildren use a variety of online services, and each of these services can have different safety concerns. However, there are some basic tips which you can employ no matter how your children use the Internet.

  • Keep the computer in a high-traffic area of your home.
  • Establish limits for which online sites children may visit and for how long.
  • Remember that Internet technology can be mobile, so make sure to monitor cell phones, gaming devices, and laptops.
  • Surf the Internet with your children and let them show you what they like to do online.
  • Know who is connecting with your children online and set rules for social networking, instant messaging, e-mailing, online gaming, and using webcams.
  • Continually dialogue with your children about online safety.

via Basic Internet Safety.

Employer Liability for Harassment

angry-bossThe employer is automatically liable for harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action such as termination, failure to promote or hire, and loss of wages. If the supervisor’s harassment results in a hostile work environment, the employer can avoid liability only if it can prove that: 1) it reasonably tried to prevent and promptly correct the harassing behavior; and 2) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer.

The employer will be liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.

When investigating allegations of harassment, the EEOC looks at the entire record: including the nature of the conduct, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination of whether harassment is severe or pervasive enough to be illegal is made on a case-by-case basis.

via Harassment.

Prevent Golf Cart Accidents

 

placer-320x205About 13,000 golf cart-related accidents require emergency room visits each year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Types of injuries include concussions, internal injuries,bleeding in the brain, spinal cord injury, or acute respiratory compromise. Some of these injures result in death.

The following golf cart safety tips are from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine:

  • Drive at a reasonable speed, considering the weather and terrain.
  • Brake slowly, especially on downhill slopes.
  • Avoid sharp turns at high speeds.
  • Passengers should put both feet firmly on the golf cart’s floor, keeping their arms and legs inside the cart at all times.
  • Sit back in the seat so the hip restraints can help.
  • Be prepared to use the handgrip to prevent a fall.
  • Use seatbelts, if they’re available.
  • Consider not letting let kids younger than 6 ride in golf carts and not letting kids younger than 16 drive golf carts.

 

 

 

What is the application of HAZCOM to an office environment?

23Office workers who encounter hazardous chemicals only in isolated instances are not covered by the rule. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) considers most office products (such as pens, pencils, adhesive tape) to be exempt under the provisions of the rule, either as articles or as consumer products. For example with copy toner OSHA has previously stated that intermittent or occasional use of a copying machine does not result in coverage under the rule. However, if an employee handles the chemicals to service the machine, or operates it for long periods of time, then the program would have to be applied.

via Frequently Asked Questions: HAZCOM.

Motor Vehicle Injuries

car-crashingMotor vehicle-related injuries are a leading cause of death for people in the United States. Worldwide, road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 29. CDC is using science to better understand this problem and develop programs and policies that will change behavior to keep drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians safe on the road every day.

via CDC – Winnable Battles – Motor Vehicle Injuries.

The Risk of An Insufficient Culture of Safety at CDC

anthrax200-4fb7972d257056ed1fd6aee68b38e0249028755f-s6-c30Government watchdogs have warned for years about weaknesses in federal labs dealing with dangerous bugs. The CDC’s own report on the June incident details four other times that pathogens inappropriately left high-security labs since 2006, including an earlier case involving anthrax. While investigating the latest mishap, CDC Director Tom Frieden also discovered that a contagious strain of avian flu was unintentionally shipped to a lower security Department of Agriculture lab in March.

“What we’re seeing is a pattern that we missed, and the pattern is an insufficient culture of safety,”

via CDC’s Tom Frieden Says Agency Culture Contributed to Anthrax Lapse – Businessweek.

One Reason Businesses Fail – NO MARGIN FOR ERROR

sailover

One  reason businesses fail is simply that they sail too close to the wind. All they need is a little bit of bad luck – a tough six months, a key client who pulls their account, a senior staff member who leaves for a rival firm, and they find that they simply don’t have enough cash to survive.

Too often businesses have fabulous sales, but just didn’t have enough cash in reserve. The result? They go under.

Warren Buffett likes to call this ‘Margin Of Safety’. When he invests in a business he makes sure the deal makes sense even if the company performs well below expectations. he doesn’t just depend on things going right, he builds in the chance that things will go very wrong.

We all need to do the same.

via Why Businesses Fail..