Infections diseases are a living nightmare for all, including workers, employers and their insurance carriers. An 18% change of Ebola entering the US, quickly changed to 100% last week. Is the US doing ALL it can to prevent this contagious disease?
The White House announced this afternoon that precautions were being taken. Is that enough?
Is the White House press statement issued this afternoon.
Monday, October 6, 2014
GM recalls 117,000 vehicles
Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.clickondetroit.com
 Reuters NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - General Motors is recalling 117,000 vehicles for an issue that could cause the vehicle to stall or not start. GM said that it is aware of no crashes, injuries or fatalities connected to the problem. The issue affects a small number -- about 1% -- of the 117,000 cars and trucks, GM said. The chassis control module -- a part of the vehicle's electronics system linked to the braking, steering, and suspension -- could be short-circuited by small metal fragments. If this happens, drivers may see a warning, such as the check engine light, turn on. Also the vehicle may stall. This year, GM has recalled an unprecedented number of vehicles. After disclosing a fatal ignition switch flaw that went unreported for a decade, GM scrutinized its older vehicles for possible issues and issued over 60 recalls. Not counting Thursday's announcement, the automaker has recalled 29.4 million vehicles in 2014. Thursday's recalled models are: -- 2013-2014 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban. --2013-2014 Cadillac CTS. --2013-2014 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL. --2013-2014 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV. --2014 Chevrolet Traverse. --2014 GMC Acadia. --2014 Buick Enclave --2014 Chevrolet Express. --2014 GMC Savana. --2014 Chevrolet Silverado HD. -- 2014 GMC Sierra HD. |
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Cellphone Boom Spurs Antenna-Safety Worries
 Radio-frequency engineer Marvin Wessel has taken readings at more than 3,000 cellphone antenna sites across the country. Ryan Knutson The antennas fueling the nation’s cellphone boom are challenging federal safety rules that were put in place when signals largely radiated from remote towers off-limits to the public. Now, antennas are in more than 300,000 locations—rooftops, parks, stadiums—nearly double the number of 10 years ago, according to the industry trade group CTIA. Federal rules require carriers to use barricades, signs and training to protect people from excessive radio-frequency radiation, the waves of electric and magnetic power that carry signals. The power isn’t considered harmful by the time it reaches the street, but it can be a risk for workers and residents standing directly in front of an antenna. One in 10 sites violates the rules, according to six engineers who examined more than 5,000 sites during safety audits for carriers and local municipalities, underscoring a safety lapse in the network that makes cellphones hum, at a time when the health effects of antennas are being debated world-wide. The FCC has issued just two citations to cell carriers since adopting the rules in 1996. The FCC says it lacks resources to monitor each antenna. “It’s like having a speed limit and no police,” said Marvin Wessel, an engineer who has audited more than 3,000 sites and found one in 10 out of compliance. On a sweltering June day in... |
U.S. Military Hospitals Are Ordered to Improve Care, Access and Safety
 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the military on Wednesday to improve access to treatment, quality of care and patient safety at its hospitals and clinics, giving underperforming hospitals four to six weeks to show how they will address shortcomings. At a Pentagon news conference, Mr. Hagel said that the military’s 54 hospitals and hundreds of clinics in the United States and abroad deliver care that is comparable to that of an average civilian system. “But we cannot accept average,” he said. In three pages of directives to the heads of the armed services, he ordered efforts to improve a system that outside experts described as awash in mediocrity, with pockets of excellence and trouble spots. By the end of the year, he said, the department will have a concrete plan for “the top performing system we all want and expect it to be.” Mr. Hagel’s directives hew to the findings of a 645-page report that a panel of military and civilian experts produced after the secretary ordered a comprehensive review of a system that serves 1.35 million active-duty service members, as well as millions of family members and others. The study, released Wednesday, was motivated by a scandal over access to treatment in a separate hospital system managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and by months of inquiries by The New York Times into the quality and safety of military medical care. Senior Defense officials stressed that the examination did not... |
Google to Make Security Guards Employees, Rather Than Contractors
In a move that could reverberate around Silicon Valley, Google plans to hire more than 200 security guards as its own employees, rather than through an outside contractor.
The guards will be eligible for the same benefits as other Googlers, including health insurance, retirement benefits, on-site medical services, leave for new parents and more.
The move comes amid rising concerns about income disparities in the San Francisco Bay Area. A think tank with ties to organized labor issued a report in August highlighting the differences in pay, benefits and working conditions between tech-company employees and service workers such as security guards, janitors and landscapers who primarily work for outside contractors.
Google’s moves on social issues can be influential. Several other Silicon Valley heavyweights, including Facebook and Apple , released details on the gender and racial composition of their workforces after Google did so in June.
“Building an in-house security team is something we are excited to do,” said a Google spokeswoman in a statement. “A year ago we in-sourced the Google security operations center and we are looking forward to making these valued positions both full- and part-time Google employees.”
Google said its contractor providing security guards, Security Industry Specialists, Inc., will continue to work with the search giant...
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The guards will be eligible for the same benefits as other Googlers, including health insurance, retirement benefits, on-site medical services, leave for new parents and more.
The move comes amid rising concerns about income disparities in the San Francisco Bay Area. A think tank with ties to organized labor issued a report in August highlighting the differences in pay, benefits and working conditions between tech-company employees and service workers such as security guards, janitors and landscapers who primarily work for outside contractors.
Google’s moves on social issues can be influential. Several other Silicon Valley heavyweights, including Facebook and Apple , released details on the gender and racial composition of their workforces after Google did so in June.
“Building an in-house security team is something we are excited to do,” said a Google spokeswoman in a statement. “A year ago we in-sourced the Google security operations center and we are looking forward to making these valued positions both full- and part-time Google employees.”
Google said its contractor providing security guards, Security Industry Specialists, Inc., will continue to work with the search giant...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
As U.S. Ebola Fears Widen, Reports of Possible Cases Grow
 Infections are a major issue in workers' compensation claims. As health workers continue to become exposed to Ebola virus the question remain what action the Federal government will take to ease the burden upon the nation's insurance industry. Today's post is shared from the njytimes.com/ DALLAS — In Washington, a patient who had traveled to Nigeria and who was suspected of having Ebola was placed in isolation at Howard University Hospital on Thursday. In New Haven, two Yale University graduate students plan to sequester themselves when they return this weekend from Liberia, where they have helped the government develop a system to track the Ebola epidemic. And at Newark Liberty International Airport on Saturday, a sick man who had just arrived from Brussels was rushed to a hospital amid concerns that he was showing Ebola-like symptoms, a fear later dismissed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With fears about Ebola widening across the United States, federal health officials said Saturday that they were receiving an escalating number of reports of possible Ebola infection, particularly after a Liberian man tested positive for the deadly disease in Dallas last week, the first Ebola case diagnosed in this country. Since the disease began spreading rapidly across West Africa this summer, the C.D.C. said, it has assessed more than 100 possible cases, but only the Dallas case has been confirmed. But increased attention about the virus has jangled nerves around the country, particularly among West African immigrant communities and recent travelers to that region, and placed health care workers on a kind of high alert. “We expect that we will see more rumors, or concerns, or possibilities of cases,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of... |
Taking Action on Workplace Stress
Product Description
Is work stressing your employees out? If so, they’re not alone. In Canada, over a quarter of working adults report feeling highly stressed at work. Factors such as excessive demands, lack of control, insecure job arrangements, inadequate resources and support, and workplace bullying and harassment can all took their toll on the well-being of workers.
This free webinar takes a closer look at ways to identify and measure these psychosocial hazards, and outlines mental injury prevention tools and resources to help your organization take action on workplace stress.
Who should attend
Health and safety professionals and committee members, managers, supervisors, employers, and anyone interested in a better understanding of workplace stress.About the presenter
As an Occupational Hygienist for the last 25 years with the Hamilton Clinic of the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, John has measured all kinds of hazards in workplaces ranging from offices to foundries. In the 1990’s he began to measure psychosocial hazards in office settings and among firefighters. In 2009 he started working with the Mental Injuries Tool group to devise a questionnaire to help workplace parties assess psychosocial hazards at work. John has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and Masters in Health Research Methods from the McMaster University. He has an appointment as an Assistant Professor (part-time) in the Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department.
System Requirements
After registering you will receive a confirmation email from GoTo Webinar containing instructions on how to join the webinar.
You do not need a microphone or a telephone to listen to this webinar - just listen to the presentation through your computer's speakers or headphones.
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- Internet Explorer 7.0, Mozilla Firefox 4.0, Google Chrome 5.0 (JavaScript enabled) or the latest version of each web browser
- Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
- Cable modem, DSL or better Internet connection
- Dual-core 2.4GHz CPU or faster with 2GB of RAM (recommended)
Macintosh-based attendees
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- Mac OS X 10.6 – Snow Leopard or newer
- Intel processor (1GB of RAM or better recommended)
- Cable modem, DSL, or better Internet connection
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