Prescription Drug Abuse in the Workplace

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, prescription drugs are the second most abused drug category following marijuana. People who misuse prescription drugs often have the belief that prescription drugs are safer than illegal drugs because they are prescribed by a doctor. Prescription drug abuse is often referred to as the nation’s fastest growing drug problem. Over the past decade, prescriptions for painkillers rose from 75.5 million to 209.50 million.

Prescription drug abuse among employees can cause expensive problems for their business or industry. It is estimated that drug abuse cost employers $81 billion annually. Drug abuse causes lost productivity, absenteeism, injuries, fatalities, theft, low employee morale, increase in insurance costs, legal liabilities and worker compensation fees. Statistics demonstrate that prescription drug abuse presents a recognized occupational hazard that is likely to cause death or serious physical harm.  Substance abusers are more than three times more likely to be involved in workplace accidents and five times more likely to hurt themselves on the job.

More than 75% of all drug users in the US are employed.  Over 16% of these employees use illicit drugs or are heavy alcohol users.  Certain industries have higher rates of substance abuse.  Mining and construction top the list with approximately 28% of employees engaged in illicit drugs or heavy alcohol use, while workers in professional services and the government have the lowest rates: just above 9%. An estimated 5% of substance abusers engage in illicit drug and alcohol use before reporting to work and nearly 10% do so during work hours.  Every industry, from blue collar to board room executives, is affected by drugs in the workplace. Employees who are not in typical “safety-sensitive positions," can still have tremendous negative impact on their company when drug use is an issue. These employees may have jobs in which they make decisions affecting other workers, have access to financial records, maintain confidential information or are privy to company ideas and product plans.  In order to ensure the safety, security and success of your company and its employees, workplaces must be alcohol and drug-free.

Training programs in the workplace for management and employees are beneficial in keeping the workplace safe. Traditional drug testing may not uncover the issue alone, proper training can help employees identify the signs and symptoms of drug abuse.  SafetySkills offers online safety training courses to help address the issue of drugs in the workplace. The Drug Free Workplace course demonstrates the importance of eliminating drugs in the workplace and what employees can do to help. This course is intended to assist the employer when meeting the various State and Federal Laws that cover Drugs in the Workplace. The Substance Abuse Training for Oil and Gas Supervisors online training course will train supervisors on the DOT’s requirements for supervisor training under its drug-free workplace program mandates for safety-sensitive industries. In addition to illegal and prescription drug abuse, the course also covers the physiological effects of alcohol and how they are produced, and general physiological and behavioral characteristics of alcoholism

To learn more about SafetySkills and additional course offerings, please visit us at SafetySkills.com/

Fall Back Into Fire Safety

As daylight saving ends, it is also a good time to change your smoke alarm batteries. Alarms should have their batteries changed regularly and tested once a month. All too often, a battery is removed and not replaced, putting a home’s occupants at risk. There’s no way to predict when a fire will occur, so even one night without an operational smoke alarm can be dangerous. According to the National Fire Protection Association, almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in properties without working smoke alarms. A working smoke alarm significantly increases your chances of surviving a deadly home fire.

The Tennessee Daily Herald recommends these smoke alarm safe practices:

◆ Install at least one smoke alarm on every level of the home, including the basement. For best protection, smoke alarms should be installed inside and outside sleeping rooms. Make sure everyone can hear the alarm and knows what it sounds like;

◆ For the best protection, equip your home with a combination of ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms or dual-sensor alarms;

◆ Smoke alarms with non-replaceable (long-life) batteries are available and are designed to remain effective for up to 10 years. If the alarm chirps on these units, warning that the battery is low, replace the entire smoke alarm right away;

◆ Test alarms once a month using the test button. Replace the entire alarm if it’s more than 10 years old or doesn’t work properly when tested;

◆ Devise a fire escape plan with two ways out of every room and a common meeting place. Share and practice the plan with all who live in the home, including children;

◆ When a smoke alarm sounds, get out of the home immediately and go to your pre-planned meeting place to call 911.

The CDC finds that cooking and smoking are the main causes of fire related deaths and residential fires. The New York City fire department states that 75% of their worst case fires occurred in homes without a smoke alarm. Although the number of fatalities and injuries caused by residential fires has declined gradually over the past several decades, many residential fire-related deaths remain preventable and continue to pose a significant public health problem.

 

This month, SafetySkills is offering the Fire Safety online safety training course for free. While this course is designed for offices and workplace training, it contains useful information that can be applied to home situations. The 20 minute course will help the viewer to understand the importance of knowing and understanding an evacuation plan and what to do in case of a fire in the workplace. The course also touches on portable fire extinguisher techniques and tips. Please visit our free course of the month page for more information on this month’s free course and to get started by signing up for a SafetySkills Direct account.

OSHA Random Inspection Study Proves Increase in Safety

A new study shows that random safety inspections improve the workplace instead of leading to layoffs and large expenses. The common argument with random inspections has been that the high cost of compliance leads to layoffs and bankruptcy.  According to Science, a top scientific journal, most safety regulators don't inspect companies at random and instead typically focus on those that have accidents or where workers have filed complaints. Afterward, injury rates tend to revert back to whatever they were before the incident occurred, even without an OSHA inspection. Based on these facts, researchers could infer that the inspection played a bigger role in the reduction of injuries than it actually did.

On the other hand, if OSHA finds incomplete records of on-the job accidents and injuries, better record keeping will be enforced and this could bring up more accidents and injuries to be reported.  To provide an unbiased report on whether random inspections are positive or negative, economists David Levine of the University of California, Berkeley, and Matthew Johnson of Boston University studied workplaces that have been inspected between 1996 and 2006. They examined workers compensation claims 4 years before and 4 years after an inspection as well as companies that weren’t inspected in the same time frame.

Based on the study, results show that there was a decline of 9% in injuries reported after the inspection in comparison with companies of the same time frame that were not inspected. The cost of the injuries reported fell by 26%. Investigators also used reports provided by financial data provider Standard & Poor to determine that the random inspections have no effect on employment, total earnings, sales and company longevity.

OSHA estimated that in 2012, they will inspect 41,000 workplaces. The random selection of the company is done in the following order of priority – Imminent danger situations, fatalities and catastrophes, complaints, referrals, follow-ups and planned or programmed investigations.  Be proactive in preparing for random audits with up-to date and accurate reports and hazard communication plans. 

SafetySkills offers online safety training courses to help the employer and employees commit to a safety compliant workplace. The OSHA Reporting and Record Keeping course will provide general awareness level training of  OSHA's general requirements for injury and illness reporting and record keeping, identification of OSHA's definitions relating to its reporting and record keeping regulations, OSHA's required reporting forms, the types of incidents OSHA requires to be reported and, finally, OSHA's record keeping requirements. The Hazard Communication course will cover the hazards of potential chemical exposure, types of hazards, Material Safety Data Sheets, chemical detection methods, how chemical hazards are controlled, and how the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) will affect the HAZCOM standard.

For more information on SafetySkills and the online safety training courses offered, please visit SafetySkills.com

OSHA Proposes New Limits on Silica Exposure

In August 2013, OSHA announced a proposed rule that would lower the worker exposure to crystalline silica. This deadly dust often occurs in common workplace operations such as construction work involving cutting, sawing, drilling and crushing of concrete, brick, rock and stone. Silica can also be found in glass manufacturing and sand blasting. Worker can inhale the dust from particles in the air. Repeat exposure can cause fatal lung diseases including silicosis and lung cancer.

Prior to the new proposed rule, the guidelines of the exposure limit dated to the 1960s. Since then, numerous studies have shown an increase of lung cancer among silica-exposed workers. A 2012 federal study demonstrated that a growing number of workers in the energy industry were increasingly at risk of being exposed to silica dust due the recent domestic oil and gas boom brought on by hydraulic fracturing.  This study also found that hydraulic fracturing workers were exposed to 10 times the current permissible level of silica. The new proposed rule would limit the exposure to crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter in the workplace. OSHA is estimating that if adopted as a standard, its proposed rule would save nearly 700 lives and prevent 1,600 new cases of silicosis annually.

Until a final silica standard is issued, there are several OSHA standards that employers are required to comply with that can help protect workers exposed to silica dust.  For example:

• General Safety and Health Provisions Standard (1926.20) addresses the employee’s general right to a safe workplace.
• Gases, Vapors, Fumes, Dusts and Mists Standard (1926.55(a)) lists the airborne levels of substances that would make a workplace hazardous.
• The Ventilation Standard (1926.57) must be consulted for specific requirements about removing silica dust from a worker’s breathing zone.
•  For worker training requirements about silica hazards, the Hazard Communication Standard (1926.59) applies, which is identical to 1910.1200.
• If respirators are required on-the-job, then employers must comply with the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard (1926.103), which is identical to 1910.134.

SafetySkills online safety training courses can assist you and your company with the proper awareness level safety training. The silica awareness course addresses standard 1926.55 and will demonstrate to the learner the health effects associated with crystalline silica exposure, and measures that can be taken to eliminate or minimize crystalline silica exposure on the job. The hazard communication course assists the employer in meeting OSHA standard 1910.1200 and complies with the December 2015 GHS final implementation. The respiratory protection course covers the general requirements for respiratory protection which is outlined in 29 CFR 1910.132 and some of the training requirements of 29 CFR 1910.134. 

GHS Deadlines and Training Requirements

The December 1^st 2013 deadline for training employees on the revised Hazcom standard is fast approaching. The purpose of the training is to bring companies and employees up to speed with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The basic goal of GHS is to ensure the safe use and transportation of chemicals across the globe. This standard will provide a framework of regulations for countries without existing systems, provide added chemical hazard protection for workers and the public, as well as provide an increase of efficiency and cost reduction from compliance with hazard communication regulations.

The two most important changes to the revised standard require the use of new labeling elements and a standard format for Safety Data Sheets (SDS), formerly, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). To help roll out these changes, OSHA constructed a phasing in of the specific requirements over the next several years (December 1, 2013 to June 1^st, 2016). The first deadline states that employers must train employees on the new GHS label elements and safety data sheet (SDS) format by Dec 1 2013.  OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard Final Rule Fact Sheet states provides a guideline on what changes need to be address and by when:

 

There are only two months left to train your employees on the new labeling and SDS format. SafetySkills offers GHS online safety training and other courses updated to meet the GHS guidelines. Each course can be completed in a little as 25 minutes. The user can take the course on a time that works for them and at a pace that is suited for them. Courses are usually $29.95 each for individual training, but may be higher or lower depending on title and industry. Reduced rates can apply for organizations.

The course titles include:

Globally Harmonized Systems

Hazard Communication

Hazard Communication for the Oil and Gas Industry

Chemical Safety

Hazmat Marking and Labeling

Safety Data Sheets

These titles are also available in DVD format for $107.99 each. Each DVD comes with an instructor key, printable quizzes and certificates of completion. To place your DVD order, please call us at 888-844-3549. Online courses can be purchased on our website at SafetySkills.com.

Home Injury Prevention and Safety Tips

Most people consider their homes as a place of comfort, security and safety. Unfortunately the fact is that each year, more than 18,000 Americans die from accidental injuries that take place in their home. The most common household injury related deaths are unintentional poisonings, unintentional falls, and unintentional fire or burn.

Researchers have identified the major causes of most fires: cooking, heating equipment, and smoking. They have also identified the groups at highest risk of injuries from fires: very young children, older adults, people with disabilities, and people who live in poverty. Additionally, research has shown that residential smoke alarms, when functional, can prevent 50% to 80% of deaths by providing early warning of fires, which often occur at night when people are sleeping.

According to the Center for Disease Control, there are approximately 2 million poison exposures in the United States every year - 57 percent among children under the age of six. Tragically, approximately 30 children die every year due to accidental poisonings. The most common exposures for children are ingestion of household products, such as cleaning substances, medications, cosmetics, personal care products, foreign bodies and plants. The majority of these accidental poisonings - a whopping 90 percent - occur in the home.

Approximately 30% of older adults and 40% of those over age 80 report having fallen in the past year. Falls account for 29% of injury deaths among adults ages 65 and older and result in 300,000 hip fractures annually at a cost of more than $10 billion. Of the nearly 3 million emergency doctor visits each year for falls among children and adolescents, more than 40% occur among infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Annual direct medical costs for falls among young children are estimated at $958 million.

It is a common misconception that injuries are “accidents” that can’t be prevented. However there are steps that can be made to prevent injuries from occurring in your home. Supervision is generally considered one of the strongest yet least understood protective factors against many types of home and community injuries. The key to preventing injuries is making simple changes to your lifestyle - recognizing where most hazards are and how injuries can occur when participating in different activities. Some key home safety tips include:

·         Non slip mats in tub or shower
·         Remove clutter from stairs and walkways
·         Install safety gates in homes with babies and toddlers
·         Use Plexiglass guards on lofts, landings and balconies
·         Have night lights in bathrooms and halls
·         Install window guards
·         Purchase products with child safety lids when available
·         Store chemicals safety and out of the reach of children
·         Post the poison control telephone number
·         Have working smoke alarms and change the batteries once a year
·         Have a fire extinguisher
·         Perform monthly fire drills with your family
·         Be vigilant of small toys and objects that can cause tripping or choking hazards.

Education is also a key in preventing home accidents and injuries. Protect yourself and your family with our online safety training courses such as Fire Safety and Slips, Trips and Falls. These courses can be applied to both home and work situations. SafetySkills also offers an Off the Job Safety training series with courses that start as low as $4.95 each. Titles in this series include Household Chemical Safety, Halloween Safety Tips and Lawn Mower Safety.

For more information on SafetySkills and other course offerings, please visit us at http://safetyskills.com

Hearing Protection in the Workplace

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that four million workers go to work each day in damaging noise. Ten million people in the U.S. have a noise-related hearing loss. Twenty-two million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise each year. Occupational hearing loss is the most common work related illness in the United States. Approximately 22 million U.S. workers exposed to hazardous noise levels at work, and an additional 9 million exposed to ototoxic chemicals. An estimated $242 million is spent annually on worker’s compensation for hearing loss disability.

NIOSH recommends removing hazardous noise from the workplace whenever possible and using hearing protectors in those situations where dangerous noise exposures have not yet been controlled or eliminated. Over the past few decades, much has been learned about the implementation of hearing loss prevention programs. The CDC recommends that the eight components of a successful hearing loss prevention program include: 1) noise exposure monitoring, 2) engineering and administrative controls, 3) audiometric evaluation, 4) use of hearing protection devices, 5) education and motivation 6) record keeping, 7) program evaluation, and 8) program audit.

In addition to your company’s specific workplace hearing prevention plan, SafetySkills offers a Hearing Conservation online safety training course. This course is designed to fulfill annual hearing conservation and protection training requirements created by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. This course will help you to understand the effects of noise; the purpose, advantages, and disadvantages of various types of hearing protection; selection, fitting, and how to care for protectors; and the purpose of audiometric testing. When the course has been completed, you should be able to identify the definitions of ‘noise’ and ‘noise levels,’ and recognize the causes of hearing loss and the measures created by OSHA to prevent it. You should also be able to recognize the common personal hearing protection devices and their advantages and disadvantages, and recognize the basic requirements of audiometric testing and their purposes. This course is also available in Spanish.

The Hearing Conservation online course can be part of a company-wide training initiative or taken by individuals who are looking for some additional training outside of their workplace. After successful completion of the course, you will be able to print out a certificate of completion.

For more information about SafetySkills and other safety training topics, please visit us at https://safetyskills.com.