A Message From the State’s Safety Director

A Message From the State’s Safety Director

Winter 2003

Greetings and welcome to the State’s Employee Health and Safety Web site. I remain really excited about the potential contributions this Web site can make to further the health and safety of state employees. I envision this Web site serving both as a source of information about the state’s own employee health and safety efforts, as well as serving as a gateway for state employees seeking to access the vast amount of health, health improvement and safety information located on the World Wide Web.

Ergonomics
Ergonomic or upper musculoskeletal injuries remain the most frequent type of injury/illness experienced by state employees. A review of the injury/illness causes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, revealed that office related ergonomic injuries accounted for 22% (289 cases) of the new claims filed last year. The costs associated with these claims amounted to 27% ($333,235) of the total spent on new claims. When overexertion, push/pull and lifting injuries were added in, ergonomic injuries accounted for nearly 37% of the claims filed.

We can and must do a better job preventing these easily prevented injuries. The state’s ergonomic policy (HR Memo 1-00) requires departments to provide training to employees and to conduct workstation evaluations. To help departments out, the state’s Worker’s Compensation Unit will be providing funding to Occupational Health and Rehabilitation (OH&R) to develop a focused, clinically led, workstation evaluation program. Under the contract, OH&R will be providing workstation evaluator training to employees statewide and clinic therapists (Augusta area only) will begin evaluating the workstations of employees experiencing pain or discomfort prior to the filing of a first report of injury. The first training program is scheduled to begin in late February. For more information, contact your department’s worker’s comp designee, Earle Pease (Worker’s Comp. Coordinator 287-4446), or myself.

Winter Survival
We have certainly had our share cold weather this winter and the current weather reports are saying more is on the way. So whether you work outside or participate in Maine’s varied winter recreational activities, remember the cold weather safety basics:

1. Dress in layers so you can adjust to changing conditions
2. Learn the signs and symptoms of cold induced injuries ands illnesses
a. Uncontrolled shivering
b. Fatigue
c. Slurred speech
d. Clumsy movements
e. Confused behavior
3. Try and schedule outside work and activities for the warmest part of the day
4. Take frequent breaks in a heated shelter to allow your body to warm up
5. Drink warm decaffeinated beverages and avoid alcohol
6. Eat warm, high calorie foods such as hot pasta
7. Avoid exhaustion or fatigue because your muscles need energy to keep warm
8. If you suffer from diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular or other type of vascular disease, you may face an increased risk from exposure.

For a copy of an OSHA Cold Stress Card click here:
http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3156.pdf

Health Improvement Activities
As part of our health insurance contract with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Anthem is providing the State with a full time health improvement specialist. Her name is Mary Doyle. Through a review of the State’s health claims data and working with the Office of Employee Health and Benefits and the State Employee Health Commission, Anthem has developed four worksite wellness programs:
1. Physical activity
2. Diabetes
3. Cardiovascular disease
4. Cancer screening

Watch for upcoming worksite wellness coordinator training programs in each of these areas, beginning with physical activity in late February. Contact me to either sign up or learn more about them.
This past fall, worksite flu shots were once again given at selected state employee worksites. A total of 59 sites from around the state participated. The shots were delivered by our own DHS Public Health nurses to over 2600 employees. The nurses want to do the program again next year so we hope that the program will reach even more employees next year.

Depression Screening - Call toll free 1-877-788-4173
The Office of Employee Health and Benefits is offering members of the State’s health insurance program free, anonymous and confidential depression and alcohol screening by telephone. Why have depression screening? Many employers, including the State, are recognizing that many people are not aware that they are experiencing the affects of temporary or long term depression. Depression affects your whole body and affects the way you eat, sleep, and live, how you feel about yourself and your relationships, day in and day out. Depression also affects your productivity and adds to the State’s health insurance costs.

What is phone screening?
It’s a 4-minute self-test you take over the phone. Using a touch-tone telephone buttons, you answer questions that a physician would ask. The questions are from a recorded message rather than a real person, so you can complete the survey at your own pace, and without speaking a word. After the survey, you’ll hear a summary of your test results.
You can call the toll-free number from any touch-tone telephone in the U.S. The phone screening does not require you to give any personal information or employer name to activate it. The call is free and it only takes about 4 to 5 minutes per screening. It is easy to use. You can choose either the depression or alcohol self-test, or both.
Give it a try today. Call toll free 1- 877-788-4173.

Stress
The number and percent of stress claims filed in the worker’s compensation program has grown from 40 in FY 1997, to a high of 81 in FY 2000. In FY 2001, the number of new stress claims decreased to 53, but FY 2002 saw the number of new claims climb back up to 77 cases. All of the FY 2002 increase was the result of lost time claims, which accounted for 70 of the 77 new claims. In the most recent quarter that ended on December 31, 2002, eighteen (18) new stress claims were filed with the state’s Worker’s Compensation Unit. Of these, seventeen (17) were lost time cases. Stress claims can result in other increased costs such as absenteeism, lost productivity, poor morale, health claims and short-term disability.
Given the uncertain geopolitical situations in the world, a new administration and the state’s anticipated budget shortfall, the level of employee stress is likely to remain very high. There are resources out there, however, to help you deal with your stress. The Bureau of Human Resource’s Training and Development Unit (287-4414) is running Stress Management classes and our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is ready to help. You can reach our EAP program at: 1-800-769-9819. And don’t forget that physical activity and exercise are good for reducing stress as well.

Have a great winter! Remember, above all, be safe at both work and play!

Bill McPeck - 287-6783