Tag: Occupational Health

  • The Return of Silicosis and the Failure of Administrative PPE

    680 words
    3–4 minutes

    The primary failure of many industrial hygiene management programs is an over-reliance on personal protective equipment (PPE). It is incredibly easy to buy a box of disposable respirators, fit a warning sign to a wall, or tell a worker to be careful. However, a highly critical health crisis unfolding across Australia’s manufacturing sectors has delivered…

  • Importance of indoor air quality

    661 words
    3–4 minutes

    Indoor air quality is often overlooked by businesses as a potential health issue, uncontrolled it can become a significant health and safety matter. There are 5 simple steps your organisation can take to ensure indoor air quality and the health of workers.

  • Google Flu Trends

    238 words
    1–2 minutes

    Google has found a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many people actually have flu symptoms and has developed a real time map across the globe showing internet search trends. Due to many people not attending the doctor when they have the flu it makes health data difficult to…

  • The flu reaches epidemic status in the United States

    309 words
    1–2 minutes

    Influenza has officially reached epidemic proportions in the United States,  the flu season hit the US early and hard. Twenty children have died from the virus that has swept across most of the country, there are vaccine shortages and New York Govenor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency. There have already been five…

  • New Australian Mesothelioma Registry

    189 words
    1–2 minutes

    The Australian Mesothelioma Registry released its first data report on the 13th of September. The new report includes information on 612 mesothelioma cases diagnosed during 1 July 2010 to 31 December 2011, notified to the registry up to 31 August 2012. Representing a rate of 2.7 per 100,000 population. This is considered by the registry…

  • A few points on workplace needs assessments

    656 words
    3–4 minutes

    Workplace needs assessments can be very effective when trying to get a health promotion program off the ground, I have made a few notes about the key points I have identified when conducting an assessment.

  • Trying to start a vaccination program in your workplace? Need an executive summary with some kick?

    521 words
    2–3 minutes

    Putting together a business case for something like a vaccination program can be a daunting process, the hardest part is usually working out where to start. A good business case achieves its purpose on the first page, the initial introduction and summary of benefits is where executives are looking so make it count. To help…

  • How many germs are in a usual office?

    161 words
    1–2 minutes

    Scientists reveal office workers are exposed to more germs from their phones and keyboards than toilet seats. A study conducted by the University of Arizona revealed that an office desk is capable of supporting 10 million bacteria, with the average office containing 20,961 germs per square inch. Key offenders include telephones which harbour up to…