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HEALTH HABITS 
Ergonomics Program Pays
Off
By bringing management,
unions and employees together to cooperatively identify potential
hazards and ergonomic health risks, the U.S. Postal Service is
developing a model program for public and private sector employers,
officials say.
Sites participating in
the postal service’s ergonomic risk reduction process (ERRP)
reportedly have experienced the following results within the past
three years:
-
38 percent reduction
in musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) recordable rates;
-
40 percent reduction
in handling and lifting rates;
-
35 percent fewer MSDs
reported at ERRP sites compared to non-ERRP sites;
-
$1.8 million in
workers’ compensation medical cost savings (a 39 percent reduction).
To learn more, visit
www.osha.gov/dcsp/partnerships/national/usps.
Data Entry Operators
Benefit from Breaks
A follow-up
field study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health provides further evidence that supplementary breaks
minimize discomfort and eyestrain for data entry operators without
impairing their productivity. Scientists followed 51 workers for eight
weeks and compared results among those who had two conventional breaks
of 15 minutes each per day to those who took two conventional breaks
plus four 5-minute breaks per day. The results are reported in the
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Vol. 50, Issue 8,
published by Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Depression
Interventions Studied
Systematic efforts to treat
depressed workers improved health and productivity in a study
conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health. In the study,
604 clinically depressed employees were enrolled in a managed
behavioral health care plan. Half were randomly assigned to an
intervention that included telephone support from a care manager and
their choice of telephone psychotherapy, in-person psychotherapy or
antidepressant medication. The other half was assigned to usual care,
which included feedback about their screening results and advice to
seek care from their primary provider. After a year, those in the
intervention group were 40 percent more likely to have recovered from
their depression. Participants in the intervention group also were 70
percent more likely to stay employed. The findings are reported in the
Sept. 26 edition of the Journal of the
American Medical Association.
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