Category Archives: Health and Wellness

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Pregnancy-Tracking Apps Pose Challenges for Employees

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As more companies embrace health-tracking apps to encourage healthier habits and drive down healthcare costs, some employees are becoming uncomfortable with the amount and types of data the apps are sharing with their employers, insurance companies and others.

This is especially true for apps that track fertility and pregnancy. As the Washington Post recently reported, these apps collect huge amounts of personal health information, and are not always transparent about who has access to it. The digital rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation even published a paper in 2017 titled The Pregnancy Panopticon detailing the security and privacy issues with pregnancy-tracking apps. Employers can also pay extra for some pregnancy-tracking apps to provide them with employees’ health information directly, ostensibly to reduce health care spending and improve the company’s ability to plan for the future.

Given the documented workplace discrimination against women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, users may worry that the information they provide the apps could impact employment options or treatment by colleagues and managers. Pregnancy-tracking apps also collect infinitely more personal data than traditional health-tracking apps and devices like step-counters or heart rate monitors. This can include everything from what medications users are taking and when they are having sex or their periods, to the color of their cervical fluid and their doctors’ names and locations.

Citing discomfort with providing this level of information, the Washington Post reported some women have even taken steps to obscure their personal details when using the apps, for fear that their employers, insurance companies, health care providers or third parties may have access to their data and could use it against them in some way. They use fake names or fake email addresses and only give the apps select details or provide inaccurate information. Fearing the invasion of their newborn children’s privacy, some have even chosen not to report their children’s births on the apps, despite this impacting their ability to track their own health and that of their newborn on the app.

Like many other apps or online platforms, it may be difficult to parse out exactly what health-tracking apps are doing with users’ information and what you are agreeing to when you sign up. When employers get involved, these issues get even more difficult. By providing incentives—either in the form of tangible rewards like cash or gift cards, or intangible benefits such as looking like a team player—companies may actually discourage their employees from looking closely at the apps’ terms of use or other key details they need to fully inform the choice to participate or not.

While getting more information about employees’ health may offer ways to improve a workforce’s health and reduce treatment costs, companies encouraging their employees to use these apps are also opening themselves up to risks. As noted above, apps are not always transparent as to what information they are storing and how. Depending on the apps’ security practices, employees’ data may be susceptible to hacking or other misuse by third-party or malicious actors. For example, in January 2018, fitness-tracking app Strava released a map of users’ activity that inadvertently exposed sensitive information about military personnel’s locations, including in war zones. Given the kinds of personal details that some apps collect, health app data could also put users at risk of identity theft or other types of fraud.

Tracking, storing, and using workers’ personal health information also exposes employers and insurance companies to a number of risks and liabilities, including third-party data storage vulnerabilities and data breaches. This is especially important in places governed by stringent online data protection regulations like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition to the risks of reputation damage, companies that are breached or otherwise expose employees’ personal information could face significant regulatory fines.

People using health-tracking apps, especially fertility-related apps, should weigh the costs and benefits of disclosing personal information against how apps and others are using this information. Companies who encourage their employees to use these apps and collect their personal health details should also be as transparent as possible about how they are using it, and implement measures to protect workers’ personal data to the fullest extent possible and ensure that managers are not using this data to discriminate against workers.

BIAA Hopes to ‘Change Your Mind’ About Brain Injuries

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March is Brain Injury Awareness Month in the United States. According to the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA), at least 5.3 million Americans live with a disability related to a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and with 280,000 attributable hospitalizations and 2.2 million emergency room treatments, the economic cost exceeds $82 billion annually. Furthermore, a staggering 137 people die in the U.S. daily because of TBI-related injuries.

Workers in the construction industry experience a large number of occupational brain injuries, with falls being a major driver. Though the direct link between falls and brain injuries is highly suggestive, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that fatalities caused by preventable falls from elevation continue to be a leading cause of death for construction employees, accounting for 366 of the 971 construction fatalities recorded in 2017.

According to the BIAA, falls are the leading driver of TBI-related injuries (40.

5%), followed by being struck by or against an object (15.5%) and motor vehicle accidents (14.3%).

But there are preventative steps that employers and workers can take to reduce the risk of brain injuries, and BIAA is spreading the word in advance of Brain Injury Awareness Day on March 13 with its Change Your Mind campaign.

“Any employee may slip and fall in the workplace, or something may fall from a shelf and strike an office employee,” Susan H. Connors, BIAA president and CEO told Risk Management Monitor. “Employers should take precautions such as ensuring adequate lighting, moving heavy items to bottom shelves, maintaining handrails in stairs, taping down rugs, even/dry flooring, and making sure steps are brightly marked.”

The day will be marked on Capitol Hill, where a Congressional Brain Injury Task Force will meet to coordinate and support federal resources, grow the force and bolster research. Connors said that as in years past, there will be an awareness fair, congressional briefing, and reception, but employers who cannot attend can still take part by:

  • Contacting their Congressional representative to join the task force.
  • Plan to host an event in March to increase awareness and understanding about brain injury, to remember someone lost to brain injury, or even to celebrate a loved one’s recovery.
  • Download the #ChangeYourMind collateral and distribute among your organization and use the stamp to raise awareness, advocacy, or funds for a brain injury-related cause.

“Identifying, implementing, and enforcing safety or risk management protocol is essential and effective regardless of the industry,” Connors said. “The programs in place likely vary based on the position, but common trends may be requiring safety harnesses, protective wear, regular breaks, and/or safety audits or assessments by more than one (or even two) employees on infrastructure.”

Brain injuries are often causes of depression and even suicidal tendencies, which is why Connors said the BIAA actively works to act as a resource for victims.

“The most dangerous and prone cases are those with a mild brain injury, like concussions, who do not receive treatment and/or do not understand why they are feeling depressed and alone,” Connors said. “Suicidal behavior is enhanced by the presence of depression, impulsivity, hopelessness and chronic pain in the face of TBI.

Providing a more compassionate and user-friendly service delivery model of care to ensure timely care and individualized treatment reduces needless frustration and risk.”

Connors added that BIAA’s National Brain Injury Information Center (NBIIC) is also a resource staffed by brain injury specialists, and the Suicide Prevention hotline is available around the clock for people having thoughts of hurting themselves.

Information on Brain Injury Awareness Month, including educational material and downloadable collateral, is available at www.biausa.org/ChangeYourMind.

New Fatigue Reports Awaken Employers to Injury Risks

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The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that roughly 13 percent of workplace injuries are attributable to sleep problems, causing an economic impact of $400 billion. NSC information suggests that employers with 1,000 employees could incur losses of more than $1 million per year in missed workdays, lower productivity and increased healthcare due to employee fatigue.

But rather than merely provide a bunch of statistics and projections that could put you to sleep, the NSC is providing possible solutions to combat the risk in its new report Managing Fatigue: Developing an Effective Fatigue Risk Management System. 

According to the report, a workplace culture that rewards or tolerates fatigue can indirectly lead to on-the-job injuries. In some high-performance cultures, employees may view fatigue as a sign of weakness or laziness. They may be committed to getting the work done despite long hours, even believing that fatigue doesn’t affect them.

“In our 24/7 world, too many employees are running on empty,” said Emily Whitcomb, NSC senior program manager for fatigue initiatives.

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“Employees are an organization’s greatest asset, and addressing fatigue in workplaces will help eliminate preventable deaths and injuries.”

Strong fatigue risk management systems blend employee education and training with improvements to workplace environments, culture change, and data-driven programs. But implementing a fatigue risk management system is not an easy sell — to the C-suite and possibly also to employees. The report suggests:

It is important that the fatigue management process be transparent and that appropriate information is shared throughout the effort to obtain buy-in from all levels of the organization. Providing open forums that allow employees to share how fatigue affects them is one way to get engagement from the outset.

The NSC lists key components in creating a fatigue risk management system:

  1. Education and training. This raises awareness of risks, create motivation to prioritize rest, and provide information on how to manage fatigue and get proper rest.
  2. Policies and practices. Clarify roles and expectations and institute policies and practices for hours of work and rest based on science that recognizes the physiological need for sleep and circadian rhythms.
  3. Shared responsibility. Employers and employees should cooperate when it comes to understanding the sleep needs of the employee, while the organization should expect output from a well-rested worker.   
  4. Fatigue mitigation. A workplace with positive environmental controls promotes better overall working conditions and should be less physically stressful in ways that contribute to on-the-job fatigue.
  5. Data-driven programs and continuous improvement. With the system in place, seek employee feedback, facilitate monitoring mechanisms, check the data and apply lessons learned. Understand why the system was or was not successful and modify from there.  

Complementary to Managing Fatigue, the Campbell Institute – the center for environmental health and safety (EHS) excellence at the NSC – released results from a pilot study conducted among renowned safety organizations to assess worker fatigue and effective countermeasures. In Understanding Fatigue Risk: Assessment and Countermeasures, the Institute identifies a persistent gap between how employers and employees view fatigue and argue for changing a culture to enhance safety.

According to the study, about one-third of workers surveyed reported sleeping between one to five hours per weekday, and not the expert-recommended seven to nine hours.

“This indicates that a large proportion of workers at these sites are chronically sleep deprived, which when coupled with longer work days and work weeks than scheduled means that the risk of a fatigue-related injury is significantly increased,” the report said.

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Additional information about workplace fatigue is available at nsc.org/fatigue.

Fatigue in National News

The timing of these reports should be welcome news for employers. Earlier this month, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) unveiled its 2019-2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements. One of the 10 items included the need to “Reduce Fatigue-Related Accidents.”

The NTSB’s Open Safety Recommendations describes fatigue as “a pervasive problem in transportation that degrades a person’s ability to stay awake, alert, and attentive to the demands of safely controlling a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or train.” There are currently 27 open recommendations for railroad, aviation, highway and marine operators in an effort to curb fatigue-related accidents.

“We do not simply come up with these recommendations based on a whim,” NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt said during the list’s unveiling in Washington, D.C. “It’s a data-driven approach based on the results of our investigation and the tragic and senseless deaths we investigate.

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”

Limit Organizational Exposure During the Polar Vortex

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A polar vortex has gripped large areas of the Northern United States, and all-time lows are being approached in parts of Midwest states like Iowa and Illinois. This frigid weather phenomenon is defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) as a large area of low pressure and cold air that normally surrounds the North and South poles. But during unstable conditions, the Arctic air can expand and drift southward to North America.

The extreme cold has led to several injuries and six deaths, including an auto accident that killed a couple, a man who likely froze to death in his Milwaukee garage and another man struck by a snow plow in the Chicago area.

The weather system has also forced the closure of schools, businesses, flights and even the United States Postal Service in some areas, and warnings are in effect for workers to stay home and keep off the roads.

Driving Tips

Some people must get out and drive, however, and so whether making deliveries, heading to or from work, or running necessary errands, drivers and asked to use heightened caution.

At this time last year when preparing for the “weather bomb,” AAA recommended precautions that can be applied during a polar vortex, including this basic tip: Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Applying the gas slowly when accelerating is the best method for regaining traction and avoiding skids, AAA said, cautioning that it takes time to slow down for a stoplight as it takes longer to slow down on icy roads.

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Building Tips

Looking inside your organization’s physical foundation is also critical to its resilience. In addition to clearing snow from driveways and de-icing entrances, organizations should be cognizant of how such brutally low temperatures can impact their workplaces. Interstate Restoration offers tips on how to address a building’s infrastructure during winter weather.

For example, if your pipes are found to be frozen, Interstate Restoration offers suggestions to reduce the likelihood of a burst:

  1. Turn off water to the building at the main water shutoff valve
  2. Inspect the pipe closely for cracks and note any that you find
  3. If you find cracks, call a plumber for advice before doing anything else
  4. If there is no damage present, add a space heater to the area or use a hair dryer to gradually warm the pipe. If the outside temperature is expected to rise, you can also wait for the pipe to thaw on its own before turning the water back on. PROCEED WITH CAUTION: Never use any type of open flame or torch to thaw pipes.

Outdoor Working Tips

The Department of Labor recommends that employees working in frigid temperatures avoid alcohol, smoking and some medications to help minimize risks.

As previously reported, the best way to avoid cold stress is by wearing proper clothing.

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The type of fabric makes a difference as well. For example, cotton loses its insulation value when it becomes wet, while wool, silk and most synthetics retain their insulation even when wet.

Here are some clothing tips for workers in cold environments:

  • For better insulation wear at least three layers of clothing: An inner layer of wool, silk or synthetic to wick moisture away from the body; a middle layer of wool or synthetic to provide insulation even when wet; and an outer wind and rain protection layer that allows some ventilation to prevent overheating.  Avoid tight fitting clothing.
  • Wear a hat or hood to help keep the entire body warm. Hats reduce the amount of body heat that escapes from the head.
  • Wear insulated boots or other appropriate footwear.
  • Keep extra clothing (including underwear) handy in case clothing gets wet.
  • Do not underestimate the wetting effects of perspiration. Venting of the body’s sweat and heat can be more important than protection from rain or snow, according to the DOL.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also issues guidelines, suggesting that heavy work be scheduled for the warmer part of the day, and to assign employees to work in pairs to lessen the risk of cold stress.

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