Protect Your Eyes From the Sun

3b9953_cd7efaddcf234f46de29e6ed32de1f2b.jpg_1024Follow these tips to protect your eyes from the sun all year long:

  • Sun damage to eyes can occur anytime during the year, not just in the summertime, so be sure to wear UV-blocking sunglasses and broad-brimmed hats whenever you’re outside.
  • Don’t be fooled by clouds: the sun’s rays can pass through haze and thin clouds.
  • Never look directly at the sun. Looking directly at the sun at any time, including during an eclipse, can lead to solar retinopathy, which is damage to the eye’s retina from solar radiation.
  • Don’t forget the kids and older family members: everyone is at risk, including children and senior citizens. Protect their eyes with hats and sunglasses.

via The Sun, UV Radiation and Your Eye Health – Eye M.D.-approved information from EyeSmart.

Managing Employment Practices Risk

harrassmentIt may not be possible for employers to completely eliminate the possibility of an employment practices liability (EPL) lawsuit. But they can reduce the likelihood of an EPL suit, and they can prepare for a suit by positioning themselves to put forth a strong defense if one does hit.

link to: Employment Practices Loss Prevention Guidelines Manual

via Employment Practices Liability Loss Prevention.

What is Prediabetes?

DM_StoplightPeople with prediabetes have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. This condition raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Prediabetes is also called impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), depending on the test used to diagnose it. Some people have both IFG and IGT.

IFG is a condition in which the blood glucose level is high—100 to 125 mg/dL—after an overnight fast, but is not high enough to be classified as diabetes. The former definition of IFG was 110 mg/dL to 125 mg/dL.

IGT is a condition in which the blood glucose level is high—140 to 199 mg/dL—after a 2-hour OGTT, but is not high enough to be classified as diabetes.

Prediabetes is becoming more common in the United States. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that at least 57 million U.S. adults ages 20 or older had prediabetes in 2007. Those with prediabetes are likely to develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years, unless they take steps to prevent or delay diabetes.

The good news is that people with prediabetes can do a lot to prevent or delay diabetes. Studies have clearly shown that people can lower their risk of developing diabetes by losing 5 to 7 percent of their body weight through diet and increased physical activity. A major study of more than 3,000 people with IGT found that diet and exercise resulting in a 5 to 7 percent weight loss—about 10 to 14 pounds in a person who weighs 200 pounds—lowered the incidence of type 2 diabetes by nearly 60 percent. Study participants lost weight by cutting fat and calories in their diet and by exercising—most chose walking—at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

via Diabetes Overview – National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse.

What are the elements of a safety and health culture?

Safe-at-work

  • All individuals within the organization believe they have a right to a safe and healthy workplace.
  • Each person accepts personal responsibility for ensuring his or her own safety and health.
  • Everyone believes he or she has a duty to protect the safety and health of others.

via Safety and Health Management Systems eTool | Module 2 – Safety & Health Culture.

What is Preventive Medicine?

071708_doctor_stethescopePreventive Medicine is practiced by all physicians to keep their patients healthy. It is also a unique medical specialty recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Preventive Medicine  focuses on the health of individuals, communities, and defined populations. Its goal is to protect, promote, and maintain health and well-being and to prevent disease, disability, and death.

via What is Preventive Medicine? – American College of Preventive Medicine.

Meijer to Build Pedestrian Tunnel to Ensure Employee Safety

14365483-thumb_square_largeMeijer officials  plan  to build a pedestrian tunnel under 3-Mile Road west of Walker Avenue. The tunnel would allow the hundreds of Meijer employees who walk between the companys north and south buildings on the Walker campus to do so more safely.

This is good risk management and an example they care about the safety and well-being of their employees.

via Meijer to build pedestrian tunnel under 3-Mile Road in Walker | MLive.com.

How To Lose Weight Fast and Safely

89c8afd1e5b2433d_weight-lossIf you burn 500 more calories than you eat every day for a week, you should lose about 1-2 pounds.

If you want to lose weight faster, you’ll need to eat less and exercise more.

For instance, if you take in 1,050 to 1,200 calories a day, and exercise for one hour per day, you could lose 3-5 pounds in the first week, or more if you weigh more than 250 pounds. It’s very important not to cut calories any further — that’s dangerous.

Limiting salt and starches may also mean losing more weight at first — but that’s mostly fluids, not fat.

“When you reduce sodium and cut starches, you reduce fluids and fluid retention, which can result in up to 5 pounds of fluid loss when you get started,” says Michael Dansinger, MD, of NBC’s The Biggest Loser show.

via How To Lose Weight Fast and Safely – WebMD – Exercise, Counting Calories, and More.

OSHA proposed new rule to post workplace injuries and illnesses on-line

online-resourcesThe proposed rule was developed to help OSHA gather information about electronic submission of establishment-specific injury and illness data. OSHA is proposing to amend its current recordkeeping regulations to add requirements for the electronic submission of injury and illness information employers are already required to keep under existing standards, Part 1904. The first proposed new requirement is for establishments with more than 250 employees (and who are already required to keep records) to electronically submit the records on a quarterly basis to OSHA.

OSHA is also proposing that establishments with 20 or more employees, in certain industries with high injury and illness rates, be required to submit electronically only their summary of work-related injuries and illnesses to OSHA once a year. Currently, many such firms report this information to OSHA under OSHA’s Data Initiative.

OSHA plans to eventually post the data online, as encouraged by President Obama’s Open Government Initiative. Timely, establishment-specific injury and illness data will help OSHA target its compliance assistance and enforcement resources more effectively by identifying workplaces where workers are at greater risk, and enable employers to compare their injury rates with others in the same industry.

via 2013 – 11/07/2013 – OSHA announces proposed new rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses.

Maintaining Bone Health – Quitting Smoking, Limiting Alcohol

beer-cigaretteOther ways to maintain bone health include quitting smoking and limiting alcohol use. Smoking and heavy alcohol use can decrease bone mass and increase the chance of fractures. Also, maintain a healthy weight. Being underweight increases the risk of bone loss and broken bones.

You’re never too old to improve your bone health. A diet that includes enough calcium and vitamin D, and physical activity can help prevent bone loss and fractures. You can also have your bone density tested and ask your doctor about supplements or other medicines to strengthen your bones if needed.

via NIHSeniorHealth: Falls and Older Adults – Maintaining Bone Health.

Control Health Care Costs

bigstock_workers_4569205Workplace health programs can impact health care costs

An investment in employee health may lower health care costs and insurance claims. In fact, employees with more risk factors, including being overweight, smoking and having diabetes, cost more to insure and pay more for health care than people with fewer risk factors.

A workplace health program has the potential to both keep healthy employees in the “low-risk” category by promoting health maintenance, while also targeting those unhealthy employees in the higher-risk categories, therefore lowering overall health insurance costs. A systematic review of 56 published studies of worksite health programs showed that well-implemented workplace health programs can lead to 25% savings each on absenteeism, health care costs, and workers’ compensation and disability management claims costs.

Individual employees can also save money by improving their health. For example, a smoker who spends $5 per pack of cigarettes per day can save $1825 a year by giving up smoking and many companies provide lower insurance premiums for non-smokers creating additional savings.

Other insurance premiums such as life insurance are also lower when an individual has lower health risks. And by practicing a healthy lifestyle and getting recommended clinical preventive services, an individual employee may reduce the number of trips needed to go see the doctor because of an illness and the co-payments which come with those office visits, such as getting an influenza vaccine to avoid getting influenza.

via CDC – Workplace Health – Business Case – Benefits of Health Program – Control Costs.