More pressure coming to workers near you

Remember when you could count on hanging on to your job as long as you showed up on time and did good work?

After the scare on Wall Street today, plenty of job holders are wondering if they can keep their jobs or find another one that pays as much. The turmoil is enough to give anyone the jitters.

The owner of your business is more accountable than ever for business profits and efficiency. His job is no more secure than yours. As a result, the pressure is on everyone at a workplace from the hourly worker to the CEO to produce more, cut costs, and get by with a reduced staff.

Suddenly we’ve all been thrown headlong into a global scramble for financial security. Our society is ratcheting up to a quick-fix mode. We don’t know for sure what success is, but we want to get there fast.

We don’t want much. We just want to lose weight, get rich, and feel good. Immediately. At work, requirements to do more with less help are spreading from industry to industry as businesses attempt to cut costs without affecting productivity.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) states that “The nature of work is changing at whirlwind speed. Perhaps now more than ever before, job stress poses a threat to the health of workers…”

Studies cited in the report underscore the rise of stress in today’s workplace:

• Four out of ten workers say their work is “very or extremely stressful.”(Northwestern National Life)
• Nearly one of four workers report they are often burned out or stressed by their work. (Families and Work Institute)
• Three out of ten workers report feeling“quite a bit or extremely stressed at work.” (Yale University)

If you truly believe that stress is caused by the business doing all the wrong things and treating its employees unfairly, here’s a tip from Steve Tobak, a nationally known business consultant:

“That’s what’s great about America,” he says. “You can always quit and go somewhere else.”If you find the same stress at your next job, the problem is yours.

If, we might add, you’re lucky enough to “go somewhere else” and find a job.

Relieving the burden of eye strain

Our eyes take a lot of abuse. We rub them, stare too long without blinking them, expose them to sunlight and harsh weather, and irritate them with dust and chemical-laden air.

Now that computers have become as common as mailboxes, another type of eye abuse has become common in the workplace: eye strain.

A computer set up to refresh the screen at a slow rate causes flickering of the image to be more obvious and is a basic cause of eyestrain by computer users. A simple adjustment of screen resolution to 72 or 75 Hertz will reduce flicker if your current setting is lower than that. (Control Panel / Display /Settings / Advanced / Monitor).

If the operator has to tilt the head up to see the screen, neck strain can add to eyestrain. Adjust the work station so that the screen is about 20 degrees below eye level. Glare and unwanted reflections can
add to the strain level of the operator’s eyes at work. Move the computer or apply an anti-glare screen.

Focusing at the same range for hours on end is a quick way to strain the eyes. Instead, arrange office equipment so that the operator can look up into an open space.

One of the most effective ways to get rid of eyestrain that can build up at the computer is to take a break. Five minutes walking 50 or 60 steps and then sitting down with closed eyes for three or four minutes can give you a new start back at the computer.

Even with natural protection, eyes can be injured

 

Eye strain is a common afflication for computer users

The bony structure of the face helps protect them from injury, but eyes can still be injured. According to the National Institutes of Health, the most common eye injury is the irritation of the outer surface of the eye.

Eyes burn from exposure to heat or chemicals. The first instinct when the eyes start to smart is to rub them. This is the worst thing you can do because you can scratch the eye if sand or small particles are in the eye.

If a chemical is irritating the eye, the only recommended treatment is a thorough flushing of the eye with tap water. Rubbing the eye presses the chemical deeper beneath its surface where it can cause more damage.

Eye injuries can cause blindness and involve a long recovery time. Be sure the injured worker receives appropriate medical care and follows through on treatment.

An eye tray should be part of your first aid supplies

An eye tray keeps all the tools in one place in case of an eye injury at work. The eye tray should be located near a reliable source of tap water and should contain the following:

• Basin for collecting water used in irrigating the eye
• Fluorescein dye, blotting paper, and a blue light to detect foreign objects or damage to the cornea
• Cotton-tipped swabs for removing small foreign objects
• A short-acting mydriatic agent to dilate the eye during examination
• Eye patches
• Topical anesthetics to ease pain on the surface of the eye
• Antibiotics to prevent infection
• An eye cup to allow persons to irrigate their own eyes

Eye injuries affect too many persons

Every year more than 800,000 workers experience eye injuries on the job, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Some statistics on this injury:

• Every day some 2,000 U.S. workers seek medical treatment for eye injuries.
• For every 10,000 workers there will be 22.2 eye injuries this year.
• Men are four times as likely as women to experience an eye injury.
• Most eye injuries result from an encounter with an object, from microscopic particles in the air to falling debris or pieces of machinery.

Preventing eye injuries

Here are some simple ways to reduce the number of work-related eye injuries:

• Wearing eye protection (goggles, masks) is the most effective way to prevent eye injuries.
• Eye wash tools and training in companies that use chemicals can keep accidental exposure from causing serious eye problems.
• Outdoor workers need sun protection to help prevent development of macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness. 

Setting up a return-to-work policy

A return-to-work policy needs to be established and carried out for the benefit of all employees. It should include the following

• Description of forms and reports required for all work-related injuries
• Directions for reporting medical treatment for the injury and evaluations of the person’s progress
• Process of qualifying for return to work at a former job or an alternative work assignment

Managing a return to work policy requires cooperation by the supervisor, attending physician, insurance carrier, and the patient. For assistance with the medical aspects of return to work, call an occupational medicine clinic that provides medical services for your employees. The following resources may also be of value to you.

1. ODG: Official Disability Guidelines. Produced by the Work Loss Data Institute, an independent organization located in Encinitas, California, you can obtain unlimited access to this comprehensive data source with links to supporting evidence for $325.
2. The written return-to-work policy for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Unversity can be viewed online in pdf format. It includes links to forms required by the organization and is helpful as a model or example of how you might want to follow for your return-to-work policy.
3. A Physician’s Guide to Return to Work By James B. Talmage, J. Mark Melhorn Contributor James B. Talmage Published by AMA Bookstore, 2005. ISBN 1579476287, 9781579476281. 356 pages. $59.95. Available from Amazon.com.
4. “Financial Benefits of a Return to Work Program,” provided by Barney & Barney LLC. 2-page pdf document.
5. CIGNA online document reported by Business Newswire shows value of integrated medical and disability programs to improve return-to-work rates and increase productivity.

This information is provided at no cost or obligation for employers and supervisors and for medical professionals who provide occupational medicine services.

Offered by Griffith Publishing, 208 454-9553.

Work is good for us

Not having a job is as dangerous to one’s health as heavy smoking, according to Mansel Aylward, a mental health professor at Cardiff University in the UK. “Work is good for us,” he told a group of doctors and health care professionals. “I would encourage doctors to consider a return to work, whenever possible, as one of the main treatment goals.”

As an employer, you benefit directly when you take steps to bring an injured worker back to the workplace even if work has to be redesigned. Staff is stabilized, and the experience and skills of the injured worker are retained. You gain a loyal employee.

Work fills an even deeper purpose.

According to research quoted in a special section of the American Psychologist, work “plays a central role in the development, expression, and maintenance of psychological health. [It can] promote connection to the broader social and economic world, enhance well-being, and provide a means for individual satisfaction and accomplishment.”

In general, all of us want to work. If we can’t work, we feel left out. Whether it’s our career, our livelihood, friendships, or a feeling of accomplishment that it provides, work is good for us.

Drugged out behind the wheel

Too many truck drivers ignore treatment for drug abuse and go back to work after testing positive, according to a July 29 report by the Associated Press.

A study by the Government Accountability Office found that 19 of 37 commercial drivers who had a positive drug test within a two-year period were hired at another business within a month and did not report their previous test results.

Prospective employers of commercial drivers are required to check drug-testing results from previous employers. Since the drivers in the study didn’t go through treatment or disclose their test results, the prospective employers didn’t know about the drug use.

Some commercial truck drivers under drug-testing rules have learned to obtain positive results by using synthetic urine or simply going “clean” immediately.

Employers who want to be sure their newly hired drivers are free from dangerous drugs may have to dig deeper.

Back to work ASAP: Good for everybody

It’s simple. Back to work saves money and builds loyalty.

• Would you like to save up to 40 percent in the costs of insurance premiums, medical care, disability pay, and lost time costs?
• Would you like to turn an injured employee into a loyal worker for life?

These are two paths that are possible for you when you put a strong back-to-work program in place at your business.

You don’t expect your employee who fell off a ladder and ended up in the hospital with a broken hip to rush back to your work site as soon as he can stand up, but you would like him back on the job as soon as possible.

Between the time of the injury and the day when your employee can work effectively is a window of a few days to several months when treatment, assessment, and adjustment take place.

That is the time when you will appreciate the services of an expert in occupational medicine to guide the course of treatment for your employee. The injured person must be able to handle the physical aspects of the job or other tasks that you can delegate to him or her. Depending on the job, this can involve capabilities such as strength, endurance, and mobility. The ability to handle the stress of work, to deal safely with chemicals or other hazardous materials, to see or hear important information, and many other skills need to be assessed before work can resume.

A growing field of treatment for work-related injuries that take people from their job is called “disability  management.” With this approach a therapist comes to the workplace to provide rehabilitation treatment. Exercises and other treatments are adapted to fit the actual tasks in the workplace.

The rewards of painstaking tracking and encouragement for your employee through a return to work process work are multiple. Estimates are that businesses with a well-defined return to work program save up to 40 percent in the costs of insurance premiums, medical care, disability pay, and lost time costs. Add to that the worker’s satisfaction of returning to full employment or making a positive contribution in the workplace, and return to work is a bargain.