Five Leadership Skills that Increase Engagement

Leadership is where a safety program starts ...

"Few issues are more important to the success of a safety process than having supervisors and employees who are actively engaged and committed to it. As management consultant Keith Ayers points out, while much has been written on the subject of leadership, Gallup research shows that only 29 percent of the U.S. work force is engaged.

The role of great leaders, he stresses, is to get people excited about – and committed to – their organization's vision. He explains: "We need to understand about the role of the leader in employee engagement. Your leaders are either increasing engagement, or they are decreasing it. There is no middle ground. Everything a leader does that impacts on employees either increases or diminishes engagement."

Five Leadership Skills - After almost 30 years of research, Ayers says he has determined that there are five essential skills that leaders must have if they are going to succeed in increasing employee engagement. They are:

• Building Trust.
• Mentoring.
• Inclusion.
• Alignment.
• Team Development."

   continued ...   (Via Occupational Hazards)

Safety with Leadership.

Fatal Workplace Injury Rate Rises, Reversing 10-year Trend

Not a good trend at all ...

"A total of 5,703 U.S. workers died from occupational injuries in 2004, an increase of two percent from the revised total of 5,575 fatalities reported in 2003, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

In its annual census of fatal occupational injuries, released Aug. 25, BLS reported that the rate of fatal injuries in the workplace also rose, from 4.0 to 4.1 per 100,000 workers, the first such increase since 1994. The number of workplace fatalities has now risen 2 years in a row. The last time this happened was1994.

Despite the rising rate and numbers of death on the job, the 2004 figure of 5,703 represents the third lowest annual total recorded by the government since it began the fatality census in 1992."   continued ...   (Via Occupational Hazards)

An unpleasant trend.

Ergonomics trends passing kids by

Kids are having a harder time than adults with ergonomic ailments ...

"All the ergonomically correct workstations and state-of-the-art computer gear designed to reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries in adults may be of no use to the children of the computer age.

According to new research about the risk of these computer-related injuries among the young, children use computers so differently than do adults that they end up feeling discomfort in different trouble spots and are beginning to show alternate signs of RSI -- which usually takes years to develop -- at a much earlier stage.

A new study by a team of New York researchers found that while adults tend to experience the most discomfort in their hands, arms and fingers, children are experiencing more computer-related discomfort in their neck and head regions."   continued ...   (Via National Post)

Nice ergonomic working position.

Combating Horrible Advice for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Sufferers

Some concerns about typical remidies for Carpal Tunnel Syndrom ...

"I have a lot of respect for medical professionals, but it's hard not to cringe when I see a doctor's advice for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome published in a major paper like this: "Simply resting the wrist can lessen tunnel inflammation and let the nerve recover. That can be accomplished by wearing a wrist splint, obtainable in most drugstores. Some people get relief by wearing it only at night. Anti-inflammatory medicines -- ibuprofen being an example -- can also alleviate inflammation and nerve compression. If these measures fail, the doctor can inject cortisone, which almost always calms inflammation. In only a few instances is surgery necessary to free the nerve from whatever is pressing on it." -- from the Sun Herald

First off, most people who think they have CTS have some other kind of repetitive stress injury that has nothing to do with the carpal tunnel (It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome! RSI Theory & Therapy for Computer Professionals)."   continued ...   (Via Ergoblog)

A popular attempt to cure CTS.

Costly Comforts

A good nights sleep is important for worker productivity and safety ...

"Technically, it's possible to sleep on a bed of nails. Ouch!

As unpleasant as that sounds, if the nails are placed properly they can support a person's body weight without impaling him, said Alan Hedge, a professor of ergonomics at Cornell University. But don't expect to hear that fact from any of the specialty bed stores that have popped up in Tampa Bay area in recent years.

Through some savvy marketing, high-end mattress companies such as Tempur- Pedic, Select Comfort and Dormia have convinced millions of people nationwide to spend double or triple what they might ordinarily spend on a mattress set.

At Dormia's new International Plaza store, it's not unusual for the company to sell a $5,800 adjustable mattress set, said Phil Digiacobbe, Dormia's Florida district manager."   continued ...   (Via Tampa Tribune)

All for a good nights sleep.