OSHA Chief Vows to Continue Past Policies

Jonathan Snare, acting assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, affirmed that OSHA will continue to expand voluntary programs while maintaining "strong, fair and effective enforcement."

Speaking March 2 in one of his first public speeches since taking the helm at OSHA, Snare addressed the midwinter meeting of the American Bar Association's Occupational Safety and Health committee being held in Key West, Fla.

"OSHA is committed to expanding education, outreach and compliance assistance," Snare told conference attendees.

As evidence of this commitment, Snare cited the $1 million increase for state compliance assistance programs in the president's proposed 2006 budget.

Injuries fall, profits rise

Northwestern Ontario labour groups are calling on the Ontario government to enact regulations to help prevent repetitive strain injuries.

The group — which includes unions and the Thunder Bay and District Injured Workers Support Group — wants regulations like those British Columbia introduced in 1998.

The B.C. regulations resulted in a 20-per-cent fall in repetitive strain injuries (RSI) between 2000 and 2002, data from the group shows.

“It’s similar to your health and safety regulations,” said Steve Mantis, president of the injured workers support group.

The regulations would essentially be guidelines for employers to identify RSI risks and do worker assessments, Mantis said.

NCOIL Resolution Supports OSHA Ergonomics Guidelines; Hopes for Reduction in Workers' Compensation Claims

A resolution supporting ergonomics guidelines for nursing homes and encouraging such facilities to use alternative mechanical lifting methods was unanimously approved on Thursday by the Workers' Compensation Committee at the spring National Conference of Insurance Legislators in Hilton Head, S.C.

The ergonomics measure was proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Senator Ann Cummings, D-VT, sponsor of the NCOIL resolution, also chaired the committee meeting.

The goals of OSHA's ergonomics guidelines are to reduce ergonomic-related injuries and workers' compensation claims in the nursing home industry. OSHA's goals are to: Develop a process to protect workers; identify problems and implement solutions for resident lifting and repositioning; identify problems and implement solutions for resident lifting and repositioning; identify problems and implementing solutions for activities other than resident lifting and repositioning; training; and additional sources of information.

The guidelines are designed specifically for the nursing home industry, but OSHA hopes employers with similar work environments, such as assisted living center, homes for the disabled, homes for the aged and hospitals will also find the information useful.

Seniors, put those aches and pains to rest

Are you tired of tossing and turning all night? Getting a good night’s sleep gets harder as we age, and you may need to make a few adjustments to get quality winks. Jim Miller, writer of the Savvy Senior syndicated newspaper column, was invited on “Today” to introduce his favorite sleep aids.

A review of the options ...

Brain Implant Relieves Depression

Reuters, among others, is reporting on a study from today's Neuron which demonstrates a deep brain electrical stimulator which improved depression in 4 of 6 patients:

Four of six severely depressed patients who underwent deep brain stimulation, which involves surgically implanting electrodes in a targeted area of the brain thought to be involved in depression, experienced a "striking and sustained" let-up in their depression, investigators report in the medical journal Neuron.

When the electrodes were "turned on" patients reported effects such as sudden calmness, heightened awareness and increased interest. They also exhibited increased motor speed and higher rates of spontaneous speech.

After 2 months of continuous electrical stimulation, five of the six patients exhibited decreases in their Hamilton Depression scores of at least 50 percent. At 6 months, four continued to have an antidepressant response.

Other improvements included increased energy, interest, and psychomotor speed, decreased apathy and improved ability to initiate and complete tasks.

Immersion in virtual world alleviates pain from injury

A virtual reality game is a computer game especially designed to completely immerse the user in a simulated environment. Unlike other computer games, the game is played wearing a special headset with two small computer screens and a special sensor, which allows the player to interact with the game and feel a part of its almost dreamlike world. “Owing to its ability to allow the user to immerse and interact with the artificial environment that he/she can visualize, the game-playing experience is engrossing”, explain the authors.

Children with severe burns suffer great pain and emotional trauma, especially during the cleaning and dressing of their wounds. They are usually given strong painkiller drugs, muscle relaxants or sedatives, but these are often not enough to completely alleviate pain and anxiety. These medications also have side effects such as drowsiness, nausea or lack of energy.

Grimmer and colleagues asked seven children, aged five to eighteen, to play a virtual reality game while their dressing was being changed. The children were also given the usual amount of painkillers. The researchers assessed the pain the children felt when they were playing and then compared it to the amount of pain felt when painkillers were used alone.

To measure the intensity of the pain, the team used the Faces Scale, which attributes a score from 0 to 10, wherein 10 represents maximum pain, to a facial manifestation of pain. For younger children they used 5 different faces representing no pain to very bad pain. The researchers also interviewed the nurses and parents present during the dressing change.

EarLove: Practice Safe Sound

There’s nothing worse than leaving a concert or a night out clubbing and your ears ring so much it’s like the bass and drums left with you.

The high decibel levels cause physical damage to your ear drums – and too much exposure can lead to permanent hearing loss. With EarLove, a professional-grade earplug, you can reduce damaging sound levels and still hear the music crystal clear.

Carolynn Travis, a trip hop DJ and former manager of Poi Dog Pondering, created EarLove after becoming legally deaf in one ear. Seeing the need for music fans to protect their hearing, she teamed with her audiologist’s husband, founder of Etymotic Research and the creator of the patented Musicians Earplugs. She now challenges people to “practice safe sound.”

Trainers take sole charge of runners' safety

TRAINING shoes with a computerised "brain" which could protect runners from injury were yesterday hailed as the future of footwear technology.

The advance came as Sony Ericsson unveiled a mobile phone that stores music and could rival the iPod.

The Adidas 1, which contains a tiny computer in the soles that measures changes in compression each time the wearer’s foot hits the ground, goes on sale later this week at £175 a pair.

A tiny microprocessor, as small and light as a postage stamp, performs thousands of calculations per second based on readings from the sensor in the heel of the shoe.

A signal is then sent to a small motor-driven cable system which changes the shape and cushioning level of the heel accordingly.

Hard surfaces tell the microprocessor to slacken the cable and make the heel more supple, while soft surfaces have the opposite effect.

The technology is powered by a watch-sized battery in the sole which is said to last for 100 hours of running.

Ergonomic computer chair for computer users: The Stance Angle Chair

"The adjustable Stance angle chair and the Plasma2 computer monitor and computer keyboard positioning unit combine new technology, thoughtful design, and precise comfort controls into an integrated computer workstation. The Plasma2 System is ideal for any computer user mindful of functional comfort, proper back alignment, and wrist and lumbar support. Our computer chair, the Stance angle chair, is made to complement any work environment, from a home office or cubicle to an executive office suite. "

A $14 ergo keyboard from surplus parts

"After suffering symptoms of an RSI, I investigated 'ergo' keyboards. It turns out that an 'ergo' stamp is an excuse to charge truly absurd amounts of money of very common equipment... like $500 for a keyboard, or $200 for a mouse.

I also found that no one had quite what I wanted. Part of my symptoms were pains in my elbows from being constantly bent, and pains in my wrists from being held rotated, in the plane of the keyboard. I wanted a keyboard which allowed my wrists and arms to be in their relaxed positions, i.e. at my sides. What I imagined was, basically, a saddle-bag keyboard.

This in mind, I visited a surplus computer parts store, and bought two keyboards for $7/each. Then I took a jig saw to one of them.
I can now report that it is possible to cut pc board in two with a jig saw and still have a functional circuit. :) I used the IDE plugs from a fried motherboard, and a spare IDE cable (which came with the last hard drive I purchased) to wire the two halves together. "

Hummmm, it is an idea ...

Master Jugglers

"Noisy, dusty, confusing traffic'patterns, flaring tempers, constandy changing weather conditions, temporary workers and/or bilingual workers, subcontractors milling around like worker bees traffic-did I mention stress? There are few worksites as continuously challenging as a construction site."

Hazards are ever present on any construction site: inappropriate walking/working surfaces, poor PPE selection and use (or none used at all), ineffective housekeeping, shoddy material storage and haphazard exit paths, hit-and-miss training elements, poor security, and light and weather extremes.

As safety professionals, we have seen many different types of construction sites: those with interest in occupational safety and those lacking woefully. Management's interest in safety and health and a keen eye on the project will maintain a neat, clean site and a well-trained and managed workforce.

Massaging Bed Rest with Heat

"Relieve the day's tension with a soothing, heated massage right from the comfort of your bed. Choose high or low speed or an innovative pulsating program to invigorate sore muscles. Add concentrated heat for gentle relief to your lumbar region and lower back. Flexible LED reading lamp bends into any position to properly light up reading materials or any project. Constructed of a high-density material and layered with soft, visco-elastic foam, the bed rest ergonomically contours your back for maximum comfort and support. Bed rest folds down for easy storage during the day. Light uses 3 C batteries (not included); heat and massage use included AC adapter."

Keynamics Laptop Stand with Wheels

When I lie in bed at night, feeling stress draw crosses on my heart and figuring out how to take a bunch of you with me when I go, I rarely think about laptop stands on wheels. The idea must have kept someone at Keynamics awake at night, though, because they’ve created a laptop stand that does just that, using a couple of big acrylic wheels to let you couples skate your laptop right off the end of the table (if that’s what you want to do).

People get “tired of reaching around [their] laptop,” they say. Hey, you’ve got to give a little to get a little.

A Mouse That Stands Up for Comfort

"Evoluent's VerticalMouse offers a new and welcome twist on pointing devices. Unlike a conventional mouse, which you grip with your hand parallel to the desktop, the VerticalMouse lets you work in a relaxed handshake position that eliminates unnatural forearm twisting--a potential factor in carpal tunnel syndrome and other mouse-related injuries. "

Shaped like a convex dome, with the main action buttons and a scroll wheel on the right side, the optical mouse has a total of five programmable buttons. Even if you don't install its software, the VerticalMouse will perform basic functions with the left and right buttons and the scroll wheel when you plug it into a PC's USB port.

I was a bit skeptical before I tested a preproduction unit, but within minutes the surprising comfort of working at an upright angle completely won me over. No longer was I twisting my forearm to accommodate the mouse--it accommodated me. Molded nicely to fit the hand, the mouse allowed my thumb to rest in a balanced position with access to a programmable thumb button. The mouse uses an optical sensor, which has no moving parts and is more accurate and reliable than the older, mechanical guide-ball system.

Handheld hurt

"Doris Mosblech's boss at Embarcadero Systems bought her a BlackBerry last month so she could instantly read and reply 24/7 to all the e-mails funneling in from the Alameda company's 2,500 employees.

The 53-year-old network manager, who already works 14-hour days, now has even less leisure time to garden and scrapbook. But the biggest pain isn't receiving the round-the-clock disruptions -- it's replying to them.

Mosblech torques her wrists and curls her fingers to clutch the 4.69-inch handheld device while scrunching her thumbs to type 50 to 100 e-mails a day on the keyboard's popcorn kernel-size buttons.

``My fingers get crampy, my hands hurt, and I have problems grasping things,'' the San Mateo woman said. Sometimes ``it will hurt all the way up to my neck.''
Repetitive stress injuries -- a common curse of desktop and laptop computer users -- are now afflicting people who type on handheld devices. As the sizes and prices of handheld typing devices continue to shrink, doctors and therapists caution that consumers need to treat their on-the-go text messaging work as a physical workout."

Composite Health Care System II (CHCS II)

"Imagine this: A patient you've never met comes into your office after having last seen a doctor more than 6,000 miles away. But even before you speak to him, you know his complete medical history, from his allergies to the diagnosis from his last x-ray.

An automated reminder e-mail informs you the patient is due for a vaccination booster and a follow-up to some lab work that his previous doctor ordered months ago. When the patient's checkup is complete, all of the necessary evaluation and management codes for the visit are automatically compiled and ready to be sent electronically to the appropriate payer. Now the next physician to treat this patient will know everything that you've done without ever having to give you a call."

The Kenwood HDM-555, redefining ride pimping

"Not that we should expect to see Kenwood's latest in out-of-control in-dash stereos, the HDM-555, hit these states in short order, but you know we want it. What�s the Windows CE 4.2-based system feature, you ask? Oh, just a 20GB hard drive, MP3, WMA, and video file and DVD playback, GPS (including map data and POI, we presume), and, of course, an iPod interface. Man, the Japanese are totally schooling us on how to pimp those wheels!"

Can it be easily used while driving?

Set the Record Straight: CRTs vs. LCDs Better or Worse?

"Have you heard the horror stories of people's eyeballs exploding from staring at their CRT monitors for too long? Though they are scary, luckily they are not true. This article should clear up the pros and cons of the two main display types-- CRT and LCD."

LCD displays are more visible even in slightly lower ambient lighting conditions.

When each pixel on a CRT refreshes it goes light-darker-darker-black, during the "light" phase the pixel on a CRT is actually harmfully bright! Ever wake up and run to your PC only to blinded by your monitor for a good five minutes? You can reduce the effect of this phenomenon by using a CRT with higher persistence phosphor. In turn, producing a gamer’s nightmare, known as “ghosting”. The best solution being, raise your refresh rate as high as your CRT supports.

In comparison to this, LCDs don't flicker anywhere near as much, which makes them much easier on the eyes.

For now the price of LCDs is the only major drawback. If you can find a good deal on a LCD that fits your bill, do your eyes a favor and treat them to it. I myself am looking around for a good deal on a LCD, I have been getting frequent headaches around my forehead/temple after long sessions on my CRT.

Hardcore gamers and creative pros may have some problems with LCDs though. Ghosting and accuracy is still a problem compared with CRTs. Gamers may find ghosting distracting. Creative professionals may find the comparatively lower contrast, color accuracy, and picture accuracy to be problems that outweigh the benefits of LCDs.

But for everyone else that isn’t concerned with extreme picture accuracy, LCDs offer phenomenal advantages over CRTs, with the picture often being better than a standard, cheap, consumer CRT.

Orwell and Business

George Orwell's novel about a totalitarian society, 1984, was published 56 years ago but still resonates with anybody familiar with American business today. Maybe we don't have an omnipotent Big Brother and his Thought Police watching our every move. But one of the dictator's skewed aphorisms sounds familiar: "Ignorance is strength." In the world of 1984, holding a minority opinion, no matter how sensible, is considered insane and subversive. Individualistic thinking is outlawed.

Today groupthink is pervasive in society. For example, an exaggerated public suspicion of business and its leadership is creating an overly regulated American corporate landscape. Isolated misdeeds at places like WorldCom and HealthSouth have spawned this widespread furor. Now, few would argue against punishing wrongdoers. Yet why punish people with good intentions and make them watch their backs all the time when they should be devoting their energy to building great businesses?

Orwellian groupthink is also found within the ranks of business itself, where it restricts risk-taking and imagination. Independent thought as a theory is relatively easy to embrace, but practicing it is another matter. Winston Churchill, an Orwell contemporary and a foe of totalitarianism, once said, "Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it."

The following companies all embrace original thinking. By no coincidence they each have thoughtful, nonexecutive chairmen who are involved in corporate strategy and are the antithesis of rubber stamps. As a result these gems stand out from the competition and are well-positioned for the future.

The latest proof of Steelcase's imagination is its new ergonomic chair, named, appropriately enough, Think. As Steelcase describes this product, Think is the chair with "a brain and a conscience." The chair's seat and back adjust intuitively to a person's movements, and the chair is 99% recyclable, from the fabric to the wheels.

Dangers of life in the slow lane

"Stuck behind a dawdler on a Sunday afternoon? Don't blame the greying hair behind the wheel. It may be the undersized road signs and poorly lit streets slowing the driver down."

"Slow driving, though widely once believed to be the safest form of driving, is, however, not without risk," says the team's study, published in the journal Ergonomics.

The slowest drivers were the elderly, the study finding that people over 55 drove on average almost seven kilometres under the speed limit. The under 30s were clocked on average at three kilometres under the limit.

"Large-scale media campaigns exhorting drivers to speed up is not an option that should be considered," the study says.

Instead, it suggests, governments may need to redesign roads, make traffic signs larger, improve street lighting and toughen laws on slow driving on freeways