Risk Management 365 – Page 15 – Risk Profile Improvement

The Hidden Costs of Accidents at Work

Accidents are more expensive than most people realize because of the hidden costs. Some costs are obvious — for example, Workers’ Compensation claims which cover medical costs and indemnity payments for an injured or ill worker. These are the direct costs of accidents.

But what about the costs to train and compensate a replacement worker, repair damaged property, investigate the accident and implement corrective action, and to maintain insurance coverage? Even less apparent are the costs related to schedule delays, added administrative time, lower morale, increased absenteeism, and poorer customer relations. These are the indirect costs — costs that aren’t so obvious until we take a closer look.

Studies show that the ratio of indirect costs to direct costs varies widely, from a high of 20:1 to a low of 1:1. OSHA’s approach is shown here and says that the lower the direct costs of an accident, the higher the ratio of indirect to direct costs.

via Safety and Health Management Systems eTool | Module 1 – Safety and Health Payoffs – Costs of Accidents.

Are E-cigarettes Harmful?

Electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, are battery-operated products that deliver nicotine, flavor and other chemicals. They turn nicotine, which is highly addictive, and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user. Most e-cigarettes are manufactured to look like conventional cigarettes, cigars or pipes. Some people believe that e-cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes, but their safety has not been fully studied. People who currently use e-cigarettes have no way of knowing how much nicotine or other potentially harmful chemicals they are inhaling.

via Smoked Tobacco | TheRealCost.gov.

Recommendations to Prevent Workplace Violence

The following are seven useful recommendations to help you prevent and resolve conflicts that could emerge within your organization.

Adopt and promote a prevention and reparation policy against harassment.

Create a prevention policy involving each level of the organization: management, employees and union representatives. For further assistance, feel free to consult the sample policies found on this website.
Make sure information about the new policy is widely distributed, that all employees know the policy and encourage everyone to make it their own.
Put a system in place to record all acts of violence by creating, for example, an Event Report Form.
Set up procedures to handle complaints impartially, confidentially and quickly. These should include measures to prevent any recurrence of harassment and other types of workplace violence. It is critical to ensure that the victim feels safe against retaliation and has the right, if needed, to be represented when interviewed by an independent and qualified investigator. Keep in mind that, in this case, lodging a formal complaint is not always the best solution since it often involves lengthy delays.
And finally, establish measures to support the victims and the alleged perpetrators.

Establish clear codes of conduct.

Define and communicate a clear code of conduct like ‘Zero-tolerance’ with respect to moral harassment and other types of workplace violence.
Make sure all employees know your organization’s code of conduct. These measures should reflect your organization’s commitment to preventing and responding to external acts of violence.
Try to reduce and even eliminate behaviour that contravenes your code of conduct by exercising dissuasion and enforcing sanctions.

Organize awareness and training sessions.

Take time to organize and provide access to awareness and training sessions on the prevention of workplace violence.
Open the necessary lines of communication to achieve your prevention objectives.

Do not allow conflicts to escalate into harassment or acts of violence.

Monitor the training of work teams. Working in teams highlights interpersonal relations and may give rise to some situations that could cause tension among people.
Deal with conflicts swiftly, and from the moment they begin. Harassment and violence stem from unresolved conflicts that fester. They can degenerate and turn the workplace into a hostile environment and create negative occurrences that are violent and costly.

Set up effective lines of communication.

Open effective lines of communication, because aggressors thrive on the silence of victims and witnesses. Communication is a key factor in the well-being of employees.
Promote communication and regular meetings of your work teams. Strong lines of communication will not only rally employees against violence, they also reduce the risk of workplace violence by defusing tensions and clarifying situations and misunderstandings.

Pay special attention to the quality of relationships among members of a work team.

Ensure that work is meaningful for each worker.
Manage work teams to help prevent and resolve violent situations.

Encourage the acceptance of individual differences.

Communicate the idea that the strength of a team resides in individual differences (We need each other to make a winning team. The “differences” in each team member makes the strength of the team and enhances the team’s performance.)
Where possible, plan social or training activities that help team members get to know each other and discover each other’s strengths and weaknesses, from a standpoint of openness to such differences and of acceptance of each team member’s willingness to improve interpersonal relations.

via Basic recommendations for preventing violence in the workplace.

Tips for Runners Staying Safe on the Roads

Take these precautions to protect yourself when you’re walking and running outside.

Leave word. Tell somebody or leave a note at home about where you plan to go and how long you plan to be out. That way your loved ones will know to come look for you if needed.
Identify yourself. Run with proper ID, and carry a cell phone with emergency contacts taped to its back.
Pretend you’re invisible. Don’t assume a driver sees you. In fact, imagine that a driver can’t see you, and behave accordingly.
Face traffic. It’s easier to see, and react to, oncoming cars. And cars will see you more clearly too.
Make room. If traffic gets heavy, or the road narrows, be prepared to move onto the sidewalk or shoulder of the road.
Be seen. Wear high-visibility, brightly colored clothing. When out near or after sunset, reflective materials are a must. (If you don’t own reflective clothing, a lightweight reflective vest is a great option.) And use a headlamp or handheld light so you can see where you’re going, and drivers can see you. The light should have a bright LED (drivers see blinking red as a hazard).
Unplug your ears. Avoid using iPods or wearing headphones—you need to be able to hear approaching vehicles. If you do use headphones, run with the volume low and just one earbud in.
Watch the hills. When they crest hills, drivers’ vision can suddenly be impaired by factors like sun glare or backdrops.
Beware of high-risk drivers. Steer clear of potential problem areas like entrances to parking lots, bars, and restaurants, where there may be heavy traffic.
Watch for early birds and night owls. At odd hours be extra careful. Early in the morning and very late at night, people may be overtired and not as attentive.
Mind your manners. At a stop sign or light, wait for the driver to wave you through—then acknowledge with your own polite wave. That acknowledgement will make the driver feel more inclined to do it again for the next walker or runner. Use hand signals (as you would on a bicycle) to show which way you plan to turn.

via 11 Tips for Staying Safe on the Roads | Runner’s World.

What Makes a Good Supervisor?

It takes personal confidence to become a successful supervisor. Building that level of personal confidence requires learning supervisory skills. A supervisor’s job is to establish goals and lead a team of people to achieve them. Leadership requires stepping out in front with new, creative ideas that save money, increase productivity and establish credibility and respect from employees.

via Define Supervisory Skills | Chron.com.

Cost to Treat Hepatitis C -$1000 a Pill

Sofosbuvir (brand name Sovaldi) is a drug developed by Gilead Sciences used to treat hepatitis C infection. In combination with other therapies, Sofosbuvir can effectively cure hepatitis in 90 percent of patients. It inhibits the RNA polymerase that the hepatitis C virus (HCV) uses to replicate its RNA. It was discovered at Pharmasset and developed by Gilead Sciences.

The cost of Sofosbuvir is $1000 per pill taken daily for 12 to 24 weeks. That is $84,000 to $168,000 for a course of treatment.

via Sofosbuvir – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Foot Comfort and Safety at Work

Why is foot comfort important?

As the old saying goes, “When your feet hurt, you hurt all over.”

There are two major categories of work-related foot injuries. The first category includes foot injuries from punctures, crushing, sprains, and lacerations. They account for 10 percent of all reported disabling injuries. The second group of injuries includes those resulting from slips, trips and falls. They account for 15 percent of all reported disabling injuries. Slips and falls do not always result in a foot injury but lack of attention to foot safety plays an important role in their occurrence.

These two categories of foot injuries, however, do not exhaust the whole range of foot problems at work. There are also other conditions such as calluses, ingrown toenails or simply tired feet that are common among workers. Although these may not be considered as occupational injuries in the strictest sense, they can have serious consequences for health and safety at the workplace. They cause discomfort, pain and fatigue. Fatigue sets up the worker for further injuries affecting the muscles and joints. Also, a worker who is tired and suffering pain is less alert and more likely to act unsafely. An accident of any kind may result.

via Foot Comfort and Safety at Work : OSH Answers.

The Cost of Inactivity

Exercise and physical activity benefit the body, while a sedentary lifestyle does the opposite – increasing the chances of becoming overweight and developing a number of chronic diseases.

Only about 30 percent of adult Americans report they get regular physical activity during their leisure time—and about 40 percent of Americans say they get no leisure-time physical activity at all.
The Nurses’ Health Study found a strong link between television watching and obesity. Researchers followed more than 50,000 middle-aged women for six years, surveying their diet and activity habits. Findings showed that for every two hours the women spent watching television each day, they had a 23 percent higher risk of becoming obese and 14 percent higher risk of developing diabetes. It didn’t matter if the women were avid exercisers: The more television they watched, the more likely they were to gain weight or develop diabetes, regardless of how much leisure-time activity and walking they did. Long hours of sitting at work also increased the risk of obesity and diabetes.
Researchers at Tokyo Medical University found an association between spending less time watching television and a lower risk of overweight and obesity in older adults, regardless of whether participants met physical activity guidelines. The study followed 1,806 participants between the ages of 65 and 74. Participants were put into one of four categories based on television viewing time. The less time spent watching television, the lower the participants’ risk of becoming overweight or obese.
Another study analyzed the global effect of inactivity on the increase of diseases. The researchers estimated that physical inactivity accounts for 6% of the burden of heart disease, 7% of type 2 diabetes, 10% of breast cancer, and 10% of colon cancer. Inactivity also causes 9% of premature mortality. These staggering statistics put the true dangers associated with inactivity into a global perspective.

via Staying Active | The Nutrition Source | Harvard School of Public Health.

Prevention through Design

One of the best ways to prevent and control occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities is to “design out” or minimize hazards and risks. NIOSH leads a national initiative called Prevention through Design (PtD). PtD’s purpose is to promote this concept and highlight its importance in all business decisions.

via CDC – Prevention through Design – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.

Strike a Better Work-life Balance

As long as you’re working, juggling the demands of career and personal life will probably be an ongoing challenge. Consider these ideas to find the work-life balance that’s best for you:

Track your time. Pay attention to your daily tasks, including work-related and personal activities. Decide what’s necessary and what satisfies you the most. Cut or delegate activities you don’t enjoy or can’t handle — or share your concerns and possible solutions with your employer or others.
Take advantage of your options. Ask your employer about flex hours, a compressed workweek, job sharing, telecommuting or other scheduling flexibility. The more control you have over your hours, the less stressed you’re likely to be.
Learn to say no. Whether it’s a co-worker asking you to spearhead an extra project or your child’s teacher asking you to organize a class party, remember that it’s OK to respectfully say no. When you quit accepting tasks out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you’ll have more time for the activities that are meaningful to you.
Leave work at work. With the technology to connect to anyone at any time from virtually anywhere, there might be no boundary between work and home — unless you create it. Make a conscious decision to separate work time from personal time. When you’re with your family, for instance, keep your laptop in your briefcase.
Manage your time. Organize household tasks efficiently, such as running errands in batches or doing a load of laundry every day, rather than saving it all for your day off. Put family events on a weekly family calendar and keep a daily to-do list. Do what needs to be done and let the rest go.
Bolster your support system. At work, join forces with co-workers who can cover for you — and vice versa — when family conflicts arise. At home, enlist trusted friends and loved ones to pitch in with child care or household responsibilities when you need to work overtime or travel.
Nurture yourself. Eat a healthy diet, include physical activity in your daily routine and get enough sleep. Set aside time each day for an activity that you enjoy, such as practicing yoga or reading. Better yet, discover activities you can do with your partner, family or friends — such as hiking, dancing or taking cooking classes.

via Work-life balance: Tips to reclaim control – Mayo Clinic.