OSHA to 15,000 U.S. employers:

In early March 2010, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent a letter to approximately 15,000 U.S. employers who had reported higher rates of and more severe workplace injuries than the national average in their respective industries. In most cases, the employers had DART rates (rates of injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work, restricted work activities or job transfers) at twice the national average.

Although OSHA’s letter included an overture of assistance to small employers and noted the availability of safety and health consultation services, the real message was “get your act together because a serious OSHA inspection may be coming your way soon.” Since the Obama Administration took control, OSHA has been gearing up for a significant enforcement effort, and this letter is an indication of many of the employers that the agency will target in that effort. In conjunction with sending the letter, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Dr. David Michaels, announced that employers who received this letter “need to take immediate steps to protect their workers,” and the letter itself warned that “OSHA may target ... workplaces identified in the survey for inspection in the next year.”

It is not unusual for OSHA to assemble annually a list of employers with high injury and illness rates and to conduct Site Specific Targeting inspections of those employers. But the level of enforcement under the new OSHA represents a significant change from the previous administration. Both the number of inspections and the size of enforcement actions are increasing under the Obama Administration. In a 2009 speech, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis pronounced that “there is a new sheriff in town. ... Make no mistake about it, the Department of Labor is back in the enforcement business.” Similarly, speaking at a roundtable in January 2010, Dr. Michaels declared that “OSHA is … a regulatory and enforcement agency, and we're going to act like it.” And there’s more to this than just a lot of tough talk. The U.S. Department of Labor’s 2010 budget funded 100 new compliance officers, and the 2011 budget asks for $14 million more, proposes to hire even more inspectors and tellingly, requires OSHA to shift many of its staff currently working on compliance assistance programs into enforcement. OSHA has not only increased the size of its enforcement team but has also greatly increased the size of its enforcement actions. In the last year, OSHA has nearly tripled the number of significant cases (citations including fines of $100,000 or more).

Although employers are not required to respond directly to OSHA regarding the letter, employers should nevertheless immediately begin to prepare as though OSHA is going to come knocking tomorrow. Preparing now for the aggressive enforcement threatened by President Obama’s “New OSHA” will not only help minimize the significant liability that employers may otherwise face when OSHA does arrive, but will also make for a safer and more productive workplace in the meantime. Below are three steps employers can and should do now to prepare:

* Conduct a Recordkeeping Audit.Verify that your OSHA 300 Log is up to date and accurately reflects all reportable injuries and illnesses. Cross-check other records relating to injuries and illnesses (e.g., incident reports, first aid records, medical records and workers’ compensation claims) against your OSHA 300 Log.
* Validate Your Safety and Health Program.Verify that your written safety and health program is current and accurately reflects what is happening in the field. Ensure that you have conducted and documented all training required by the OSHA Standards or provided for in your written safety and health program.
* Inspect Your Workplace for Hazards.When the OSHA team arrives at your workplace, multiple sets of trained eyes will be scrutinizing every nook and cranny of your establishment for conditions presenting safety and health hazards and violations of OSHA Standards. Some may be obvious, some less so. Take the time now to do your own diligent wall-to-wall walkthrough, correct all of the obvious issues that OSHA will easily find (and conclude that you also should have easily found and corrected before they did), and take a fresh look at whether there are less obvious but significant safety and/or industrial hygiene/exposure issues that you should be better addressing.

Work depression

Ongoing stress and pressure can cause work depression. It is a reality of the fast paced work environment of today. More than billion are lost each year as a result of so-called work depression. It is a rather common illness affecting 1 out of every 20 adults at any given time. Work depression affects three out of every ten workers at least once a year.

Most people see the workplace as a secure environment where they obtain some form of stability and structure. When a person struggles with symptoms of work depression, the very same place of structure can become a cage where he/she feels trapped without a means to get out.

Being able to identify symptoms will help you in handling it and getting help as soon as possible. Managers should also be attentive to the symptoms as they will be able to refer an employee to a councilor and address problem areas at work more efficiently.

Symptoms of work depression include:

* Lack of motivation
* Taking many sick leave days
* Leaving early and coming late
* Irritability
* Decrease in productivity
* Sleepiness
* Anxiety
* Mistakes
* Forgetfulness
* Lack of concentration
* Emotional outbursts
* Constant fatigue
* Withdrawing from colleagues
* Lack of interest in the work or environment
* Mood swings.

Work depression not only affects the individual, but also colleagues, friends and family. If left untreated, it can lead to suicide, dangerous behavior, or serious mistakes that can cost the company thousands of dollars or even cause injuries. In most cases, people just resign or get fired. If treated, all of the above can be prevented. The effects on a person's work include:

* Missing deadlines
* Making mistakes
* Forgetting meetings
* Forgetting information
* Arguing with co-workers
* Coming late for work
* Unable to handle normal workload
* Unable to ask for assistance.

Several causes for work depression can be listed, for instance:

* Unsafe or unsatisfactory work environment
* Problems, financial strain or illness at home
* Lack of promotion prospects
* Income too low for the work load
* Feelings of being unappreciated
* Poor relations with management
* Uninteresting work
* Too much routine
* No opportunity to use skills
* Too much pressure to perform
* Not enough participation in decisions affecting them
* Poor health.

If one of your co-workers suffers from the symptoms of depression you can help by doing the following:

* Ask in a polite manner if the person needs assistance with the work.
* Offer to listen to what's on the person's mind.
* Be discrete and don't misuse the trust of the person when opening up to you.
* Help them see that talking to someone and making small changes can help them to overcome the problem.

If you are a manager or supervisor you can help your worker by doing the following:

* Creating an opportunity to discuss the situation with the worker.
* Offering a few days off to attend to personal problems.
* Suggesting that the worker attends counseling.
* Changing the work routine.
* Providing the employee an opportunity to use his or her skills more effectively.
* Creating a safer work environment.
* Encourage discussion about decisions affecting employees.
* Providing new challenges.
* If the workload is too heavy, delegate tasks to other workers as well.

If you suffer from the symptoms of work depression then you should speak to a person at work who you trust as well as to your supervisor. Inform the superior in charge about the problem and provide an action plan. The manager wants to know what you plan to do about it. Work on the problem, don't ignore it. You can do the following:

* Speak to someone about the underlying causes and seek advice on overcoming the problems.
* If you don't find your work stimulating enough, speak to the supervisor for additional challenges and taking some of the routine or repetitive tasks away.
* Request a transfer to another department if need be.
* Seek counseling.
* Change your eating habits to include less junk food and more healthy food.
* Cut back on sugars.
* Do some form of exercise daily, such as walking for 20 minutes a day.
* Consult your family doctor.
* Make changes to your attitude. Rather than seeing every day as just another workday, look for opportunities where you can help.
* If your workload is too heavy, ask for assistance.

The longer the situation is left, the worse it will get. Companies in general can manage work depression in the following ways:

* Educating employees about the symptoms and how to help fellow workers.
* Creating a stress free, safe and secure work environment.
* Structuring jobs to include variety.
* Educating middle management and supervisors about dealing with employees who suffer from work depression.
* Encourage participation in decision making that affects workers.
* Setting up a counseling service.

Working together to fight work depression, not only saves costs associated with the illness, but also increases productivity.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening

Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die.
they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this...

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.




STROKE:Remember the 1st Three Letters....S.T.R.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today.) R*Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick'
out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other,that is also an indication of a stroke.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

I have done my part. Will you?