National Public Health Week: Worker Safety Day

Did you know that April 4-10 is National Public Health Week?! That's right, five whole days dedicated to public health. While each day focuses on something a little different, here over at the NWCOHS we're most excited for Tuesday's focus on Worker Safety!!

With employers and employees working together, a safer work environment can be built. While its great to look at the big picture, starting off small can make it easier to implement safer practices at work on a daily basis.

Here are a few tips from APHA:

Employers start small...

• Understand and follow all workplace safety regulations and best practices. Go beyond the minimum required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• Educate employees about workplace regulations and train employees to recognize unsafe or unhealthy settings. Create an employee reporting system to allow workers to report hazardous working conditions.
• Create safe work environments by identifying and fixing workplace hazards such as unstable surfaces and malfunctioning vehicles.
• Promote workplace safety by offering tips on your company bulletin board, website or newsletter.
• Conduct personal safety training programs that teach employees how to recognize, avoid or diffuse potentially violent workplace situations.
  

Employees start small…

• Wear all personal protective equipment required or recommended for your occupation.
• Participate in worksite safety trainings programs and follow all workplace laws and safety rules.
• Ensure vision is not obstructed when operating heavy machinery.
• Hold a brown-bag lunch at work to focus on workplace safety.
• Use your rights to advocate for safety and health.

Think big…

• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper about the importance of preventing workplace injuries during National Public Health Week (NPHW) and beyond.
• Invite local policymakers and others to a community roundtable to discuss injury prevention in the workplace and follow-up with specific actions.
• Support your family, friends and neighbors when they try to improve health and safety at their workplace.

For more information on National Public Health Week go here.

*image from: NPHW

University of Washington at APHA

Plan on attending the American Public Health Associations's (APHA) annual meeting, November 6-10th in Denver, CO? Then please join the University of Washington School of Public Health for a networking reception for UW Public Health graduates.

You will also have the opportunity to meet our new dean, Howard Frumkin, formerly an agency director at the CDC.

When
Monday, November 8, 2010 from 6:30-8 p.m.

Where
Hyatt Regency Denver, 650 15th Street, Room 406

Cost
Free, but RSVP is requested.

For more information and to RSVP, contact Tamara Burdic at
mailto:tamarab@u.washington.edu//or 206.221.6343

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There are a variety Scientific Sessions featuring DEOHS faculty, staff, students, and alumni during the conference.

*Monday, November 8, 2010*

*8:30 AM-10:00 AM - Oral
3055: Blue/Green #1: Producing green and working safe
Special intersectional track on environmental and occupational justice
Green jobs, safe jobs – more than a buzz word
Hecker S, Delp L, Riley K, Willis M

*10:30 AM-11:30 AM
3085: Student Achievement Poster Session for the Environment Section
Association between urban street noise and neighborhood crime: A pilot
study
McAlexander T, Neitzel R, Gershon R

*12:30 PM-1:30 PM – Poster
3177: Occupational health and safety posters IV
Early versus late diagnostic MRI for low back pain among Washington
State Workers: Evaluation of one-year health status
Graves J, Fulton-Kehoe D, Wickizer T, Franklin G

*Implementation of a portable cholinesterase monitoring kit in a clinical
setting: A normalization process approach
Treadwell R, Keifer M

*Give me a test and I'll give you a diagnosis: Why we should have diagnostic tests to for pesticide overexposures
Keifer M, Liebman A

*12:30 PM-2:00 PM–Oral
3232: Updates in Occupational Epidemiology
Associations of occupation, job control, and job demands with
intima-media thickness: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)
Fujishiro K, Diez Roux A, Landsbergis P, Baron S L, Barr G, Kaufman J,
Polak J, Hinckley-Stukovsky K

*Tuesday, November 9, 2010*

*10:30 AM-12:00 PM
4104: Best practices: Strengthening the public sector and integrating care to improve health in low-income countries
Next generation of PEPFAR supports an Ethiopian University and a US University partnership to design a state-of-the-art outpatient care and teaching facility in Gondar, Ethiopia
Barnhart S, Keifer C,Feleke G, Downer A

*12:30 PM
4141: The Many Shades of Social (In)Justice - Taking a Closer Look
Public health in the Northwest: Looking at history to look to the future
Allan S, Hall K

*4176: Partnering with communities to address environmental and occupational justice concerns
Building sustainable partnerships with migrant farmworkers in rural Washington state
Keifer M

*4178: Health impact assessment: A decision making tool to enhance social justice
Use of health impact sssessment (HIA) to help inform decision making regarding natural gas drilling permits in Colorado
Witter R, Rada J, Stinson K, Scott K, Adgate J, Newman L

*2:30 PM
4239.3: Medical Care Section Poster Session X: Students
Evidence-based guidelines for advanced diagnostic imaging: Prediction and assessment of costs and utilization among Washington State workers with low back pain
Graves J, Fulton-Kehoe D, Wickizer T, Franklin G

*4264: Partners in research: Strengthening and evaluating models for equitable participation in environmental public health research and action
Well-being and health of migrant agricultural workers and their families
Keifer M

*Wednesday, November 10, 2010*

*10:30 AM-12:00 PM
5124.0: Updates on states: State-based occupational health surveillance roundtable
Moving from evidence to collaboration and action: Identifying and addressing causes of pesticide over-exposure in Washington state agricultural employees
Benavides R, Borges O, Jansen C, Keifer M, Morrissey B, Murphy H, Nicola B, Prado J

*12:30 PM – 2:00 PM
5177: NIOSH ERCs - Next Steps for Advancing Health and Safety
Addressing worker health disparities: NIOSH education and research centers' approaches and outcomes
Newman L, Conroy L, Gerberich S, Kotelchuck D, Seixas N