Quiet Down in There:
Researchers at Cornell University found that workers in moderately noisy offices made less ergonomic adjustments to their work stations and experienced more stress than workers in quiet offices. One explanation offered was that people in the noisier environment focus on the task at hand to tune out the noise, and that this may also tune out physical discomfort.
Small Business, Big Resource:
NIOSH, in an effort to help small businesses prevent workplace injuries and deaths, is offering small businesses with less than 100 employees a new free resource guide. The guide includes sources for free occupation health and safety training, videos, and publications. You can reach NIOSH at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh.
Making Maintenance Safer:
If you work in, supervise, or need maintenance, you may want to check out a survey funded by Ford Motor Co., the UAW, and Michigan’s OSHA. The ‘Maintenance Risk Survey’ was designed to improve hazard analysis and risk assessment processes for maintenance activities. The survey ends in June and can be accessed at http://www.designsafe.com/
Where do you work?
According to the most recent injury and illness figures released by the Department of Labor, Truck drivers (131,800 lost-time injuries), laborers (97,200 lost-time injuries), and nurses aides and orderlies (84,100 lost-time injuries) reported the most lost-time ergonomic-related injuries
Flying High:
Or maybe not. Last year Ergoweb reported on the crash of an MV-22 Osprey that unfortunately resulted in 19 deaths. The accident was attributed to “human factors”. A recently released report on a later MV-22 Osprey crash saw pilots blaming the crash on “design flaws”.
Congrats!
Congratulations to Dr. Craig R. Barrett of Intel Corp. for receiving the NSC’s 2001 Green Cross for Safety Medal. At Intel since 1998, injury rates have decreased a full 43 percent; since 1994, those rates have decreased by 80 percent. Recordable injuries and illnesses have decreased an average of 30 percent each of the last four years. Intel
achieved a worldwide injury rate of 0.27 injuries/illnesses per 100 employees in 2000.