http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:19:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I got my H1N1 flu shot today. Finally. Talk about being a procrastinator, right? I could blame my late vaccination on all sorts of things. Back in the fall, when the shot was in high demand, I didn’t qualify because I wasn’t in a high-risk category. I added my name ... http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog/2010/01/13/better-late-than-never-getting-the-h1n1-flu-shot/ The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that in the case of Elaine Chao v. Summit Contractors, OSHA regulation 29 C.F.R. Sec. 1910.12(a) “is unambiguous in that it does not preclude OSHA from issuing citations to employers for violations when their own employees ... http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog/2009/03/05/the-summit-case-and-its-impact-on-employers/ ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) is a risk management control developed by the Health Physics community in the early days of research on radioactive substances. The dose response effect from exposure to radioactive materials was not well known, as evidenced by the fact that so many of the early researchers ... http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog/2009/01/21/alara-and-chemical-exposure-a-prudent-practice/ Great American Insurance Group is a believer about using incentives to promote employee health. This year, the Cincinnati-based company's parent, American Financial Group, held a AFGreat Health Challenge in which it promised to give away a car and other prizes if at least 70 percent of employees participated in health ... http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog/2008/12/12/live-healthy-win-a-car/ Does OSHA need to “resurrect the process” for developing standards? Yes, says former NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D., J.D., who said in a world increasingly looking to the European Union for standards leadership, OSHA runs the risk of becoming “irrelevant.” Howard, speaking at a symposium on “The Future of ... http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog/2008/11/14/questions-for-an-increasingly-irrelevant-osha/ A safety consultant writes us: “I have a client that's trying to convince all employees to stop wearing rings while working. Some employees are saying there are no facts and data to back up the ‘No Rings’ policy.” http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog/2008/10/09/ring-this-up-to-caution/ I’ll be the first to admit that my relationship with regular exercise has been on-again, off-again at best. Obviously, I’m not alone. The Centers for Disease Control reports that more than 1 in 4 adults say they are obese, an increase of nearly 2 percent from 2005 to 2007. And ... http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog/2008/09/30/taking-care-of-ourselves/ A recent experience caused me to realize that EHS managers more and more frequently are becoming not just road warriors, but international road warriors, subjected to hours and even days spent traveling every week. I'm going to start this category off with my own road warrior story, but feel free ... http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog/2008/09/26/nsc-road-warriors/ Why would we change the name of a magazine – Occupational Hazards – that is celebrating its 70th anniversary in October? Well, we got the idea from you. For the past 20 years (at least), we’ve been documenting the changes going on in the occupational safety and health field. Corporate staffs ... http://blog.ehstoday.com/out-loud-blog/2008/09/09/ehs-today-whats-that/