While the death went unreported to the share market, a media statement said a “significant incident has occurred at approximately 04:45 this morning” on the 8th July 2011.

“This incident has resulted in a fatality,” it said.

The victim was a 27-year-old maintenance contractor at the Finucane iron ore loader who died when a crane collapsed on to his platform, prompting rail and port operations at Port Hedland to be immediately suspended.

The inauspicious start to the new financial year for BHP follows one death last year

The year before, five workers died in eight months while working for the big Australian.

BHP spokeswoman Kelly Quirke said “any death was one death too many”.

“The safety of our employees and contractors is the most important thing to our business,” she said.

CFMEU spokesman Rob Mitchell said the death was “a tragedy”.

“BHP doesn’t have a great track record for safety,” he said.

“The safety of our employees and contractors is the most important thing to our business,” she said.

CFMEU spokesman Rob Mitchell said the death was “a tragedy”.

“BHP doesn’t have a great track record for safety,” he said.

Please feel free to add any comments or share any experiences you may have on this topic – we’d love to hear from you.

According to Bloomberg’s Businessweek, computer giant Intel is one of four companies trialing the use of online personal health records to help employees monitor their own health.

A consortium of companies including Intel, Wal-Mart and Pitney Bowes are involved in the project that hosts the records of employees so they have a good way of getting their entire medical [history] in one place.

According to the report about 7 percent of Americans have now used personal health records, nearly double the percentage a year ago. In theory, by giving employees an online tool to monitor their health, companies can cut health-care costs without raising concerns about data privacy. Plus doctors have better information with which to recommend treatments.

Personal-health-record software from companies like Dossia, as well as from Google’s (GOOG) Health system and Microsoft’s (MSFT) HealthVault, takes the place of pen-and-clipboard medical histories that patients fill out before doctor visits.

The information is different from that kept in electronic medical records, which can be difficult for patients to transfer among heath care providers. In addition to patients’ medical histories, personal health records also contain information about drug prescriptions and lab results.

The systems typically work by collecting health information from doctors’ offices, health plans, pharmacies, and labs — plus data that employees enter themselves — into a secure Website. The information is private to employees; employers can’t see it. And when employees leave a company, they take their personal health records with them.

Personal health records aren’t a cure-all: Employees must do the hard work of living healthfully. Yet the software can encourage positive changes.

Being always so active at work my friend kept a lean body frame, ate a nourishing meal during his break, and always had plenty of energy to join in full-on activities on a weekend.

That all changed within about four months of his promotion.

My friend was no longer physically active at work.

He not only ate his nourishing meals during his breaks, he also took to snacks and soft drinks while staring at a computer screen.

He began piling on the weight, and it wasn’t distributed over his usually lean frame, it all settled on his chest, stomach and waist.

Suddenly he was more exhausted after a day’s work sitting than when he was out working machinery and supervising on the floor. He no longer had energy to do things with his family and friends, so home life and social gatherings became a routine of watching TV and eating.

As his general health and outlook took a plunge he also became more prone to colds and sickness that went through the office.

Now, a promotion is an excellent thing. Don’t most people desire recognition for their efforts and achievements? Isn’t it good to know at the end of the day you contributed somehow and the company recognized that? Doesn’t that bit extra in your pay packet help out at home? Doesn’t it feel good to tell your friends and family that you received a promotion?

And being promoted or advancing in our jobs needn’t have a detrimental affect on our health.

If your job doesn’t require much physical movement, then incorporate simple things like:

• walking to and from the train station rather than driving
• going for a walk during your lunch break
• getting out your seat to file each document as you finish with it rather than building up a pile of files and then walking to the filing cabinet
• getting up and opening the door for people who come into your office rather than sitting in your chair and telling them to enter (if your door is always open, even standing up as people enter will work)
• walking to the next department to deliver a spoken message rather than getting on the phone
• doing some general stretching exercises throughout the day

You can also supplement a light physical work existence with a slightly more physical outside of work existence:

• wake up that little bit earlier and go for a walk
• join a club and swim, walk, run, play volley-ball, tennis, squash, row, cycle, learn martial arts, do aqua aerobics, yoga, dance, etc.
• park at the end of the shopping centre carpark and walk that little extra
• opt for fun activities with friends, eg. climb a mountain (I’m not suggesting Everest!), walk through a National Park, walk through some markets, cycle tour, go sand-boarding, snow-boarding, learn to surf, etc.

Just a little exercise goes a long way to a happier, healthier, and more energetic you! After all, don’t you want the energy to enjoy that new promotion?

Firstly, let’s look at sleep requirements. Studies show that the average adult needs around seven  hours of sleep every night. It is during this time that your body and mind recovers from stress (to a degree) and body demands – through heavy workloads or from holding the body in one position for any length of time.

If you sleep erractically – say, a couple of hours each night, then you are putting your health at risk – not only due to ‘accidents’ at work but also as your immune system lowers its ability to fight off illness.

Performing efficiently and safely at work requires an alert mind and rested body. So many safety incidents (work and non-work related) are directly attributed to fatigue. Working around the clock may be a way to ‘get the work done and bring the dollars in’ as the body can still perform through fatigue – but at what cost in productivity and worker’s health and morale?

Like the athlete who overtrains – they add just that one extra hour to their routine, and skim that one little hour of rest from their recovery schedule… and only have an inkling that they have overdone it by feeling a little sorer and a little tireder. Next thing the athlete finds themselves irritable, and in some cases crying for no reason, and eventually they suffer an injury. That ‘little bit extra’ has now led to downtime in their training schedule as they now need to recover from the injury.

Similarly, the worker adding that extra worktime to their schedule without appropriate recovery time (in the form of ‘real’ breaks and sleep) will find themselves irritable, cutting corners in regards to safety precautions because they simply don’t have the energy, and possibly creating injury (pulling a muscle, hurting their backs, etc.)

Conclusion – sleep and rest breaks are critical to our health and well-being.
 
Here are some ways to overcome fatigue in the workplace:

• Avoid caffeine and nicotine. While nicotine and caffeine are stimulants, after the stimulus wears off – you often feel more fatigued than before. 
• Exercise aerobically – a brisk walk (not a run because this can be anerobic) to get oxygen pumping through your system. 
• Take a shower (not a hot one as this can make your drowsy).
• Splash your face and neck with cold water.
• Eat regular healthy meals. Don’t make the mistake of going for a ‘sugar boost’ by consuming lollies or sweets. Again, like the caffeine and nicotine, as soon as the stimulus wears off you’ll feel worse. Fruit (not juices) are a good alternative to sweets. Juices tend to flood the body with sugar again, whereas the fruit takes time to digest, feeding you energy over a longer period and at a more ‘usable quantity’. Eat a balanced diet. Choose whole-grain breads, cereals and pastas over the more processed products – again allowing for digestion to feed you energy over a longer period rather than simply a short term boost.
• Drink! Drink! And drink some more! Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water a day. 
• Make work procedures so efficient that energy is saved. eg. instead of bending down to pick up tools that are used for a job, or needing to reach up high to retrive them, have them attached to a wall within easy reach, or on a bench top, saving energy. Sit while you work instead of standing. 
• Be smart with work activity set up. If possible complete more challenging activities when you feel fresher, and easier and less potentially dangerous tasks as your energy levels begin to lag. Obviously the better solution would be to have a break – but unfortunately, that’s not always possible in some work environments. 
• Incorporate breaks throughout your shift. It always fascinates me that people, in particular teachers, go on ‘break’ but don’t actually get a break! They scoff down a hasty lunch as they deal with students during morning tea and lunch time. Everyone needs a break, and it will be a good thing for teachers (and their students!) if teachers do get some time to themselves to wind down. 
• Ensure the work area is well ventilated. Your body needs oxygen to energize, and stale air doesn’t supply you with what you need.
• Ensure the work area is well lit. Light sends a signal to the body that it is time to be awake and alert, not time to be drowsy.
• Work at a steady pace. Crazy and ballistic not only burns energy – it also creates the potential for injury and accidents. 
• As an employer or Health and Safety Officer, create fixed shifts (if possible) rather than rotating shifts. Shift rotations put pressure on the body and mind to adjust, whereas fixed shifts allow some semblence of routine to develop.
• If you are working around the clock with breaks incorporated, nap. There are benefits to napping. In the past napping has been viewed as something that only ‘old people’ do, as came about the names ‘Nanna Nap’ and ‘Granny Downtime’. But nappying is a great way to allow the body and mind to recover. A team of researchers discovered that a 45-minute nap improved alertness for six hours after the nap. It has also been found that a nap pre-activity (such as shiftwork) of one to two hours helps people to function better. And that even a 20 minute nap can make a big difference.
• Establish a ‘rest area’ for workers to have some time out. The area should be clean, have dim lighting, no possible interruptions (phone calls, people traffic passing by, or PA announcements), a relaxing environment (no ‘up beat’ music, no paperwork clutter, or chatting workers), comfortable seating and beds, no clock (people often stress over how long they have to rest. Waking and constantly peering at the clock is not going to assist recovery), and have a comfortable room temperature. 
   
  If during your designated rest time, and even though you are incredibly tired, you have trouble falling asleep, try these exercises:

  * mentally and physically go through each muscle of your body (starting from the top of your head right through to the tips of your toes – although you’ll more than likely be asleep before you get there!) and consciously relax each.

  * think of a truly relaxing scene – maybe falling asleep on a verandah with cool breezes caressing your skin, or lying in the shade on a secluded beach and listening to the calls of seagulls and the rhythmic ocean waves.

  * If your time out allows you to be home, ask your spouse how their day was – this might possibly send you to sleep… I know it always works for me!

If you find yourself sitting in front of a computer for most of your work day – or even home hours, and feel fatigue, back ache, neck ache, eye strain, headaches or discomfort, then it’s possible that:

• your chair needs to be adjusted so that your feet are flat on the floor or comfortably positioned on a footrest.
• your thighs may not be parallel to the floor, placing you in a cramped position, or being too stretched out, removing the support of your legs and causing your back to hunch. 
• your keyboard is not directly in front of you, requiring you to turn or twist slightly.
• you are tensing your shoulders rather than keeping your upper arms relaxed and close to your body. 
• your forearms are either raised or dropped low to access the keyboard, when in fact they should be parallel to the ground when your fingertips are touching the middle row of the keyboard.
• the screen of your computer is too high or low.
• you aren’t taking enough breaks to rest from one position.

Here are some simple exercises that you could incorporate into your day (or night) to alleviate strain.

But first, I must add: slowly and gently is the key. Fast and jerky movements will only exacerbate the situation, and possibly lead to an injury – exactly what we wished to avoid in the first place!

Eyes

• Every 10 minutes or so look away from your computer screen into the distance.
• Gently move your eyes to the left and then the right, keeping your head still. Make sure you relax your face, neck and jaw when you do this. Repeat this exercise five times.
• Gently move your eyes up and down, keeping your head still. Again relax your face, neck and jaw as you do this. Repeat five times.

If you’re serious about improving the health and functionality (sight) of your eyes, a great place for eye exercises is Your Eye Exercises.

Face

• Raise your eyebrows as if surprised and then relax. Repeat five times.
• Slowly and gently tense and then totally relax your jaw. Repeat two times. (be careful not to dribble when you totally relax – I’ve done this a few times myself – not the best look at the office!)

Just as each part of the body affects another part, jaw tightness can create a number of challenges, including eye strain, neck ache and headaches. Look at relaxing and loosening your jaw when you can.

Neck

• As you breath in, slowly turn your head to the left. Pause for a moment. As you breath out turn you head back to centre. Repeat this turning your head to the right. Repeat entire exercise five times.
• As you breathe in slowly tilt your neck so you look at the ceiling. Pause for a moment. As you breath out slowly tilt your head to look at your chest. Repeat entire exercise five times.

Shoulders

• Gently and slowly tilt your head to the side as if you are going to rest your left ear on your left shoulder. Only go as far as is comfortable. Bring your head back to centre. Repeat with your right ear to your right shoulder. Repeat entire exercise five times.
• Hang arms relaxed at sides and gently and slowly roll your shoulders forward. Repeat five times.
• Hang arms relaxed at sides and gently and slowly roll your shoulders backwards. Repeat five times.

Back

• With arms relaxed at your sides, breath in as you gently and slowly stretch your shoulders back, bringing your shoulder blades closer together. Relax, breathing out. Repeat five times.

Hands

• Stretch both arms straight out in front of you with relaxed hands. Rotate both hands at the wrists around in a circle (clockwise) five times. Repeat, rotating hands at the wrists in an anticlockwise circle five times.
• Stretch both arms out to the sides with the palms of your hands straight up perpendicular. Make small circles with the palms in a clockwise direction. Repeat ten times. Repeat exercise making small circles with the palms in an anticlockwise direction. Repeat ten times.

Incorporate exercise into your daily routine as this will help to strengthen support muscles and alleviate tension.

From the preceding articles we can see that the combination of physiological changes connected with stress and distress may well contribute to damage in muscles and other soft tissues of the musculoskeletal system of the body.

In the past soft tissue injuries have largely been attributed directly to task characteristics. This has led to direct management of risks associated with task by such controls as re-engineering, task rotation and so on. However we have not seen a significant reduction in the numbers or severity of soft tissue injuries from this approach.

Whilst the work at [Organisation] has remained relatively unchanged, except for product types and mix, a range of task related preventative actions to date have included:

• provision of scissor lift tables in Forge to reduce repetitive bending and reaching;
• modification of Knock-off conveyor speeds to vary work rates;
• education of employees in the use of safety devices (E-stops) and conveyor controls to manage critical mass of product flow (tangled castings) and oversize waste pieces (BBQ plates);
• task rotation to reduce exposure to repetitive tasks;

Certainly at [Organisation’s] plant, despite these preventative actions, we have experienced some severity of soft tissue injuries and the frequency, apart from the odd spike seems to be relatively static at an average of 1.75 per month. (see Table 1).

If we consider the broader implications of Human Stress factors and their potential involvement in the cause of soft tissue injuries, we might recognise the following work related stressors as potential contributors to this level of MSD experience (note the list is indicative but not exhaustive):

Managine Work Related Stress with a View to Reductions of MSDs

If we accept that stress factors may contribute to MSDs then we must take steps to manage the associated risks. Just as we re-engineer and administer actual task activities, we also need to identify and manage work related stress factors.

Given that each individual will perceive the current set of circumstances through their own set of life experiences and coping processes, it becomes a mammoth, if not impossible task to identify which employees may be at risk of stress related MSDs at any point in time.

Hence the best we can do is attempt to recognise and acknowledge the potential stress factors and then attempt to modulate the scope and scale of each one and the combination of them at any given point in time.

Associated with this, an education program in recognising and managing stress and a general health management program may be of some use in combating stress related MSDs.

References
Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders. Stage1. Literature Review. November 2006. Australian Government. ASCC

Selected Nursing Notes and Other Resources Lecture 3: Stress, anxiety and coping mechanisms. 1999 VUT School of Nursing HNB2212: Psychiatric Nursing.

Boletin Del CIS. 012 Stress, Psychosocial Factors. 1999. ILO

STRESS at Work. NIOSH Publication No 99-101

Repetitive Stress Injury: Diagnosis or Self-fulfilling Prophesy. Szabo RM & King KJ. September 2000. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery

Upper Limb Disorders in the Workplace – Risk Factor Checklist HSE UK

Thank you so much to Les for this research. It has been fascinating and informative. The previous segment can be found at http://safetyconcepts.com.au/171/stress-and-msds/

Get up and move away! Get some blood flow happening through your lower back and limbs. If you are physically challenged and use a wheelchair, please still move away from that computer screen. 

I take stretch breaks and jump around like a bunny rabbit that’s had too much caffeine during my short breaks. At first I did receive the occasional odd look, but now everyone seems to have accepted the behaviour. And I’ve noticed that some are timing their own break sessions by me (althought I must admit they do tend to partake in their break in a somewhat more dignified manner).

Your ‘break’ may still be work-related – simply moving onto another part of your job, leaving keyboard entry for a few minutes (or more) to perhaps photocopy something, file, make that phone call that needs to be made, find that particular topic you’re researching in a manual, or simply tidy up your desk or workspace. Remember, housekeeping is another very important aspect to maintaining a safe work environment.

Or, you may simply have a break – go out and take a deep breath of fresh air or maybe chat with another worker and have a good laugh. The purpose of the break is to not only give your body some ‘time-out’, but also your mind. A healthy mind supports a healthy body. A healthy body and mind supports a healthy work attitude. A healthy work attitude means better production, less down-time, and less work related accidents.

During your break you may even benefit from a drink and something to nibble on. I keep a bottle of water at the end of my work station and a bottle of muesli slices, which I snack on during the day. I don’t seem to suffer from fatigue or tension in my back or shoulders – or bottom (and I believe that not only the stretch breaks, good nourishment and correct setup in my seat are responsible, but also the cushion I have on my workseat – and I’ll tell you about that in a future article).

Now, I’m not suggesting you rush out every five minutes and have a cup of coffee and a cookie… when would we ever get any work done?

Check your own relevant state or territory for details of the recommended break times, but in our office I incorporate a conscious, mandatory break in my own schedule every hour. The truth is I ‘break’ much more often than that as I carry out other work related activities, be it filing, taking a phone call, jotting something on our whiteboard or helping a colleague.

Do a little research on stretching exercises that you might benefit from that will help to alleviate any tension in muscles or tendons that your job may be causing, and incorporate them in your daily work schedule.

Remember to break up activities – not only will your body benefit, you’ll feel rejuvenated and able to concentrate on each aspect of your job, helping you to keep safety a primary focus.

You can find the previous segment to Bernie’s article at Tips for Dealing with Workplace Bullying

The thirteen chapters of discussion, questions and helpful hints within Bernie’s book can be used to help personnel move from being or remaining a ‘victim’ to being a ‘survivor’ if they are involved in a workplace bullying incident.

The book chapters are:

1. Overview
2. Occupational and workplace violence
3. Introduction
4. The victim
5. The alleged bully
6. The organisation
7. The medical professionals
8. The legal professionals
9. The family, friends and associates
10. The investigators
11. The media
12. Summary
13. A call to action

Here are some examples of the questions to be asked of all those related to the bullying incident or who will become involved: (Each question listed below is a ‘lead in’ to a series of related questions.)

Questions – The Victim (this is the person who is being subjected to bullying).

• Who committed the behaviours against you?
• What is the specific nature of the behaviours?
• When were the behaviours committed?
• Why has the bullying happened to you?
• Where did the bullying behaviours happen?
• How did you respond?
• What do you know about your organisation?

Helpful hint: Know your workplace bullying policy and procedures

Questions – the Alleged Bully (this is the person who uses bullying behaviour and in some cases, the alleged bully can be the victim. The book details more on this indicates when this occurs):

• Who decides if my behaviours are those of a workplace bully?
• What is ‘reasonable management?

Note: There are a lot more questions that the alleged bully should be asking.

Helpful hint: Read the organisational/company policy on workplace bullying.

Questions – the Organisation:

• Does the organisation have a workplace bullying policy?

Note: There are many questions that should be asked by the ‘organisation’ if they want to be in a situation where they can successfully defend an allegation.

Helpful hint: Have an implementation plan (including an ongoing training plan).

Questions – Medical Professionals:

• What happens when you go to the GP/psychologist/ psychiatrist/counsellor?

Note: As a patient, you do need to know what happens. Don’t be afraid to ask.

Helpful hint: Be guided by the professional advice offered by the GP and/or psychologist or psychiatrist.

Questions – Legal Professionals

• What do you know about bullying?

Note:  There are many questions you need to ask to make sure that you will get the best possible legal advice.

Questions your Legal Professionals may ask you:

• Tell me about the circumstances of your situation.

Note:  Your legal professional will ask many questions to determine what happened so they can give you the best possible advice.

Helpful hint: Be aware that you may not understand everything your legal professionals ask you.

Questions – Family, Friends and Associates:

• Are you legally prevented from saying anything to anyone in the workplace or elsewhere?

Note: There may be some internal policy that prevents you from talking to others.

Helpful hint: Understand that not everyone will understand your situation.

Note: Victims and alleged bullies may feel on the outer.  Do ask questions.

Questions – Investigators

• Are internal or external investigators used?

Note: The use of internal or external investigators may have some impact on the outcomes of the investigations.

Helpful hint: Have an investigations policy.

Questions – the Media

• Does the organisation have a crisis management policy?

Note: The media loves a good story. 

Helpful hint: Include instructions on how to respond to a workplace bullying incident in the policy.

Once again, special thanks to Bernie, and we hope to have the details of where to get his book in early 2009.