Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), encouraged employers to take advantage of institute resources for addressing drowsy driving. In his “From the Director’s Desk” column in the institute’s November eNews newsletter, he cited a 2017 analysis showing that 37 percent of U.S. workers get less than the recommended minimum 7 hours of sleep.
NIOSH recently released a systematic review finding that in workplaces with a strong safety culture, a fatigue risk management system can help both employers and workers reduce the safety and health risks posed by fatigue.
Fatigue resources from NIOSH include the following:
NIOSH researchers also recently published the study “Coaching Home Care Clients to Prepare Their Homes for Safe Care Visits: A Mixed-Methods Study to Evaluate a Nurse-Led Educational Intervention Process,” examining the unique safety challenges of home health and personal care for workers and clients. Working with a home care industry partnership network, NIOSH researchers designed and tested a combination of motivational interviewing and coaching by nurse managers to enable clients to make safety improvements in their home environment.
Researchers found that two-thirds of clients who received coaching made suggested safety changes, which most often included reducing slip, trip, and fall hazards in the home.
NIOSH researchers also recently released a work-related asthma study, “Medical Costs and Incremental Medical Costs of Asthma Among Workers in the United States.”
Asthma caused or worsened by exposure to workplace respiratory hazards accounts for about 16 percent of adult asthma, according to NIOSH.
The study found that, on average, an estimated 8.2 million out of 176 million workers received at least one medical treatment for asthma each year. Annual medical costs to treat work-related asthma were $21 billion, higher than medical costs for workers who didn’t need asthma treatments. Asthma treatment costs amounted to an estimated $457 annually per worker.
Researchers suggested developing programs to prevent and treat work-related asthma, which may help improve worker health and well-being and possibly help control medical costs related to asthma treatment.
NIOSH and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recently released mining industry guidance, Implementing Effective Workplace Solutions to Prevent Opioid Use Disorder: A Resource Guide for the Mining Industry, to help employers assess, plan, and implement practices supporting mine workers' mental health and addressing harmful opioid use.
Other recent institute resources include the following: