Category: Health

Older Drivers – How Aging Affects Driving

As people get older, their driving patterns change. Retirement, different schedules, and new activities affect when and where they drive. Most older adults drive safely because they have a lot of experience behind the wheel. But when they are involved in crashes, they are often hurt more seriously than younger drivers. Age-related declines in vision, hearing, and other abilities, as well as certain health conditions and medications, can affect driving skills.

via NIHSeniorHealth: Older Drivers – How Aging Affects Driving.

Healthy Aging: Benefits of Exercise

Like most people, you’ve probably heard that physical activity and exercise are good for you. In fact, being physically active on a regular basis is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. Studies have shown that exercise provides many health benefits and that older adults can gain a lot by staying physically active. Even moderate exercise and physical activity can improve the health of people who are frail or who have diseases that accompany aging.

via NIHSeniorHealth: Exercise: Benefits of Exercise – Health Benefits.

The 10 Objectives of a Safety Committee

In order to accomplish these objectives, the successful Health and Safety Committee should:

  1. Develop a written mission statement and charter.
  2. Clearly define the duties and responsibilities of officers and general members.
  3. Identify and prioritize goals and establish action plans to achieve each goal.
  4. Include representation from different levels and areas of the organization.
  5. Meet at least quarterly/monthly.
  6. Record and disseminate minutes of each meeting, documenting attendance, problems and issues and corrective action proposed and actions taken to address each issue.
  7. Make attendance mandatory with the penalty of removal for repeated absences.
  8. Develop methods to increase and maintain safety awareness.
  9. Organize special sub-committees to address specific issues and projects.
  10. Communicate the purpose, activities and accomplishments of the committee to all employees.

via Safety Committee Guidelines.

Risk of Falling Increases With Age

Risk of Falling Increases With Age

Many people have a friend or relative who has fallen. The person may have slipped while walking or felt dizzy when standing up from a chair and fallen. Maybe you’ve fallen yourself.

If you or an older person you know has fallen, you’re not alone. More than one in three people age 65 years or older falls each year. The risk of falling — and fall-related problems — rises with age.

Falls Lead to Fractures, Trauma

Each year, more than 1.6 million older U.S. adults go to emergency departments for fall-related injuries. Among older adults, falls are the number one cause of fractures, hospital admissions for trauma, loss of independence, and injury deaths.

Ways to Prevent Falls

Exercise to improve your balance and strengthen your muscles helps to prevent falls. Not wearing bifocal or multifocal glasses when you walk, especially on stairs, will make you less likely to fall. You can also make your home safer by removing loose rugs, adding handrails to stairs and hallways, and making sure you have adequate lighting in dark areas.

Falls are not an inevitable part of life, even as a person gets older. You can take action to prevent falls. Your doctor or other health care providers can help you decide what changes will help.

via NIHSeniorHealth: Falls and Older Adults – About Falls.

The 7 Reasons For A Safety Committee

Health and Safety Committees should be established for the following purposes:

  1. To increase and maintain the interest of employees in health and safety issues.
  2. To convince managers, supervisors and employees through awareness and training activities that they are primarily responsible for the prevention of workplace accidents.
  3. To help make health and safety activities an integral part of the organizations operating procedures, culture and programs.
  4. To provide an opportunity for the free discussion of health and safety problems and possible solutions.
  5. To inform and educate employees and supervisors about health and safety issues, new standards, research findings, etc.
  6. To help reduce the risk of workplace injuries and illnesses.
  7. To help insure compliance with federal and state health and safety standards.

via Safety Committee Guidelines.

What Is a Heart Attack?

Every year, more than 1 million Americans have a heart attack – a sudden interruption in the heart’s blood supply. This happens when there is a blockage in the coronary arteries, the vessels that carry blood to the heart muscle. When blood flow is blocked, heart muscle can be damaged very quickly and die. Prompt emergency treatments have reduced the number of deaths from heart attacks in recent years.

via Heart Disease Pictures Slideshow: A Visual Guide to Heart Disease on MedicineNet.com.

Hazard Communication Required

Hazard Communication Standard

In order to ensure chemical safety in the workplace, information about the identities and hazards of the chemicals must be available and understandable to workers. OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) requires the development and dissemination of such information:

  • Chemical manufacturers and importers are required to evaluate the hazards of the chemicals they produce or import, and prepare labels and safety data sheets to convey the hazard information to their downstream customers;
  • All employers with hazardous chemicals in their workplaces must have labels and safety data sheets for their exposed workers, and train them to handle the chemicals appropriately.

via Hazard Communication.

Health Consequences of Overweight and Obesity

Research has shown that as weight increases to reach the levels referred to as “overweight” and “obesity,”* the risks for the following conditions also increases:

  • Coronary heart disease
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
  • Hypertension (high blood pressure)
  • Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
  • Stroke
  • Liver and Gallbladder disease
  • Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
  • Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
  • Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)

*Overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher; obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or higher. For more, see Defining Obesity.

via Obesity and Overweight for Professionals: Adult: Causes – DNPAO – CDC.