Tag: wellness

What’s Next After Lean?

iStock_flow-chart_leanManufacturing-BlogDefinition of Lean:

Doing more with less by employing “lean thinking.” Lean manufacturing involves never ending efforts to eliminate or reduce ‘muda” (Japanese for waste or any activity that consumes resources without adding value) in design, manufacturing, distribution, and customer service processes.

So what’s “beyond lean” or the “next lean”. I have found that applying “lean” thinking to employee health and productivity  eliminates waste in the cost of health care, work comp, absenteeism and presenteeism (at work but not productive). To be successful you need a process or road map. The process is the five steps of risk management. They are:

  1. Identify Risk
  2. Analyze Data
  3. Control Risk
  4. Finance Risk
  5. Measure Results

Don’t make the mistake of thinking insurance is risk management. Insurance is not risk management; in fact it is the 4th step of the process. Skipping (or poor execution of) the first 3 steps leads the waste (higher cost) and poor results in step 5.

Payroll, Benefits and Work Comp are typically the highest cost a business has yet in many cases this area is often overlooked for waste.

Worksite Wellness – Sustainability

wellness(4)Quality Work and Quality Living

A positive wellness culture in the workplace contributes to the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of workers. The workplace becomes more productive and constructive when employers integrate breaks for rejuvenation. It also helps to establish clear and reasonable roles and responsibilities and respect the time and talents of individuals and their non-work demands. These steps provide the organization with more opportunity to reduce the number of sick days and health-associated costs. Are you working to make your office a healthy place for yourself and your colleagues?

Worksite Wellness at a Glance

  • Helps employees take responsibility for lifestyle choices
  • Educates workforce about hazards and opportunities for wellness
  • Enhances employee productivity
  • Reduces absences and idleness
  • Reduces health care costs
  • Shifts health care paradigm from treatment to prevention

For Employers

  • Establish programs for exercise during  the workday
  • Implement a no-smoking policy and provide resources for tobacco cessation
  • Allow flexible work schedules and telecommuting
  • Encourage personnel to take the stairs
  • Select worksites close to public transportation, walking trails, fitness facilities, and other amenities

via CDC – Worksite Wellness – Sustainability.

Clean Hands Save Lives

child-hand-washing-lgThe most important thing that you and your kids can do to help keep from getting sick is to wash hands, especially after coughing and sneezing, before preparing foods or eating, and after using the restroom. By washing your hands often, you wash away germs that you have picked up from other people, from contaminated surfaces, or from animals and animal waste. Everyone should wash their hands for 20 seconds (about the length of a little tune) to remove germs. It is the soap combined with the scrubbing action that helps dislodge and remove germs. Rinse well and dry your hands. It is estimated that one out of three people do not wash their hands after using the restroom.

via CDC – Family Health – Parents: ABCs of Raising Safe and Healthy Kids.

Five HIPAA Requirements for Wellness Programs

hipaa_complianceWhat are the five requirements for wellness programs which base a reward on satisfying a standard related to a health factor?

  1. The total reward for all the plan’s wellness programs that require satisfaction of a standard related to a health factor is limited – generally, it must not exceed 20 percent of the cost of employee-only coverage under the plan. If dependents (such as spouses and/or dependent children) may participate in the wellness program, the reward must not exceed 20 percent of the cost of the coverage in which an employee and any dependents are enrolled.
  2. The program must be reasonably designed to promote health and prevent disease.
  3. The program must give individuals eligible to participate the opportunity to qualify for the reward at least once per year.
  4. The reward must be available to all similarly situated individuals. The program must allow a reasonable alternative standard (or waiver of initial standard) for obtaining the reward to any individual for whom it is unreasonably difficult due to a medical condition, or medically inadvisable, to satisfy the initial standard.
  5. The plan must disclose in all materials describing the terms of the program the availability of a reasonable alternative standard (or the possibility of a waiver of the initial standard).

via FAQs About The HIPAA Nondiscrimination Requirements.

Uncovering a Silent Killer: Hepatitis C

What virus infects 3.2 million Americans, leads to 15,000 deaths each year, and is a major contributor to the fastest-growing lethal cancer in the U.S.?

It’s hepatitis C, and the vast majority of people who are infected don’t even know it, since the virus can be symptomless for years or even decades. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that every American born from 1945 to 1965 get tested for exposure to hepatitis C, which can lead to liver disease and liver cancer.

via Uncovering a Silent Killer: Hepatitis C | Parade.com.

Physical Changes in Aging Workers

What physical changes occur, in general, as a person ages… and how can this affect their work?

Our bodies change as we age. People reach full physical maturity or development at around the age of 25 years. Then after a period of relative stability, our bodies begin to show signs of aging. Most of these changes are first noticed at ages 40 or 50, but changes can occur (or start) as early as 20 or 25. These changes include:

  • Maximum muscular strength and range of joint movement: In general, people lose 15 to 20% of their strength from the ages of 20 to 60.
  • Cardiovascular and respiratory systems: The ability of the heart, lungs and circulatory system to carry oxygen decreases. Between the age of 30 and 65, the functional breathing capacity can reduce by 40%.
  • Regulation of posture and balance: In general people may find it harder to maintain good posture and balance. When seated or standing still, this may not be a problem. However, accidents that happen because someone loses their balance do happen more often with age.
  • Sleep Regulation: As we age, our body is not able to regulate sleep as well as it used to. How long a person sleeps, and how well they sleep, can additionally be disrupted by changing work hours or by light and noise.
  • Thermoregulation (Body Temperature): Our bodies are less able to maintain internal temperatures as well as less able to adjust to changes in external temperature or due to physical activity. This change means that older workers may find heat or cold more difficult to deal with than when they were younger.
  • Vision: Vision changes with age. We will notice we cannot see or read from certain distances as well as we used to.
  • Auditory (Hearing): Hearing also changes. We may not be able to hear as well at higher frequencies (high pitch sounds). Most often, this change is noticed as the inability to listen to a particular voice or sound in a noisy environment.

via Aging Workers : OSH Answers.

Surgery Risks Higher for Obese

Obese people have a much higher risk of potentially deadly complications following surgery, a new study shows.

Researchers found obese patients had a significantly higher risk of postoperative complications, such as heart attack, wound infection, nerve injury, and urinary tract infections.

In addition, the study showed morbidly obese patients (patients more than 100 pounds over their ideal weight) were nearly twice as likely to die as a result of complications following noncardiac surgery.

Researchers say the findings are especially troubling as obesity rates climb in the U.S. According to the CDC, more than 30% of the adult U.S. population is now considered obese.

“Our study provides further evidence of the dangers of obesity as it relates to surgery,” says researcher Olumuyiwa A. Bamgbade, MD.

via Surgery Risks Higher for Obese.

Physical Activity is Essential to Healthy Aging

As an older adult, regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. It can prevent many of the health problems that seem to come with age. It also helps your muscles grow stronger so you can keep doing your day-to-day activities without becoming dependent on others.

Not doing any physical activity can be bad for you, no matter your age or health condition. Keep in mind, some physical activity is better than none at all. Your health benefits will also increase with the more physical activity that you do.

via Physical Activity for Everyone: Guidelines: Older Adults | DNPAO | CDC.

Aging workforce: Retaining valuable nurses

The impending retirement of RN baby boomers is now a workforce reality that could have a profound impact on U.S. healthcare. The CDC and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health projected that in 2010, middle-aged and older workers would outnumber younger workers. Thus, baby boomer RNs those born between 1948 and 1964 are now in what has been traditionally known as the retirement years. Nurse administrators and educators are challenged with the task of retaining these knowledgeable, skilled nurses while aggressively recruiting generation X and millenial nurses.

via Aging workforce: Retaining valuable nurses : Nursing Management.

Herniated Disc-What Increases Your Risk

There are various risk factors for a herniated disc.

There are some risk factors you cannot change. But if you know about them, you can be prepared to consider how they will affect you. These include:

  • Advancing age. The process of aging of the discs in the lower back, as well as repeated injury to the discs and spinal muscles, makes a person more likely to have low back problems, which usually begin in midlife.
  • Being male.
  • History of back injury, previous herniated disc, or back surgery.

Some risk factors you can change, with lifestyle changes or medical treatment. If you take steps to limit the risks from these factors, you can decrease your overall risk of having a herniated disc. Risk factors you can change include:

  • Your job or other activities that increase the risk of developing a herniated disc, such as long periods of sitting, lifting or pulling heavy objects, frequent bending or twisting of the back, heavy physical exertion, repetitive motions, or exposure to constant vibration (such as driving).
  • Not exercising regularly, doing strenuous exercise for a long time, or starting to exercise too strenuously after a long period of inactivity.
  • Smoking. Nicotine and other toxins from smoking can keep spinal discs from absorbing all the nutrients they need from the blood, making disc injury more likely. Smoking also increases your sensitivity to pain. For information on how to quit smoking, see the topic Quitting Smoking.
  • Being overweight. Carrying extra body weight (especially in the stomach area) may put additional strain on the lower back, although this has not been proven. But being overweight often also means being in poor physical condition, with weaker muscles and less flexibility. These can lead to low back pain. For information on how to maintain a healthy weight, see the topic Weight Management.

via Herniated Disc-What Increases Your Risk.