Employee impairment

The use of proper PPE is an integral part of many jobs when dealing with hazardous waste. OSHA standard 1910.132 of 1998 requires an assessment be eondueted to determine the appropriate PPE for eyes, faee, head, and extremities whenever hazards eneountered are eapable of eausing injury or impairment in the funetion of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation, or physieal eontaet. Aeeording to the PPE standard, it is the employer s responsibility to determine if hazards are present (or likely to be present). If the employer determines that hazards are present, the employer should ehoose the types of PPE that will proteet affeeted employees from the hazards identified in the hazard assessment [1]. 

Employers, at a minimum, must have an emergency action plan that will facilitate the prompt evacuation of employees when there is an unwanted release of a highly hazardous chemical. This means that the employer s plan will be activated by an alarm system to alert employees when to evacuate, and that employees who are physically impaired will have the necessary support and assistance to get them to a safe zone. The intent of these requirements is to alert and move employees quickly to a safe zone. The use of process control centers or buildings as safe areas is discouraged. Recent catastrophes indicate that lives are lost in these structures because of their location and because they are not necessarily designed to withstand over-pressures from shock waves resulting from explosions in the process area. 

The physician s opinion as to whether the employee has any detected medical conditions which would place the employee at increased risk of material impairment of the employee s health from work in hazardous waste operations or a emergency response, or from respirator use [OSHA Reference, 120(f)(7)(i)(A)]... 

The emergency action plan facilitates prompt evacuation of employees. Upon an alarm pcrsoimel evacuate to safe areas, cross or up wind if possible, assisting physically impaired people as necessary. Process buildings are not suitable refuges. 

The main purpose for the heating and air conditioning of work spaces is to provide an environment that is acceptable and does not impair the health and performance of the occupants. During production processes and in the external environment it may be necessary to work in unacceptable conditions for a limited time period. However, it must be ensured that these conditions do not impair the health of the employees. Light, noise, air quality, and the thermal environment are all factors that influence the acceptability of conditions for and performance of the occupants. This section will only deal with the thermal environment. Several standards dealing with methods for the evaluation of the thermal environment have been published by international standard organizations such as ISO and CEN. 

The goal of OSHA is to ensure that no employee will suffer material impairment of health or functional capacity, due to a lifetime occupational exposure to chemicals and hazardous substances. The statute imposes a duty on employers to provide employees with a safe workplace environment, free of known hazards that may cause death or serious bodily injury. 

It is impairment we want to test for - not lifestyle preference. This is where performance impairment tests comes in. Impairment tests use a computer to assess the employees hand-eye coordination, and a variety of other variables that are related to the task, not the lifestyle of the employee. The test only takes 30 seconds. It is superior to drug testing in terms of cost, timeliness and accuracy of results, and overall liability [Fine]. 

No clear guidelines exist for the appropriate use of performance impairment test systems for work eligibility. There is general agreement that in situations in which worker or public safety is potentially influenced by a worker s performance, impairment test systems are justified. However, no clear criteria for identifying safety issues are available.9 The use of such tests as a means of managing worker productivity is less universally accepted, and if used as an employee evaluation criterion, such tests should be given careful scrutiny. 

Given the complex nature of many commercial work environments, as well as the reciprocal interactions between employers and employees, factors associated with the development and implementation of performance impairment test systems in commercial environments become equally complex. In addition to the selection of test systems that are reliable and valid indicators of performance impairment, it is equally important to consider issues associated with worker acceptance of the testing system, time associated with the test, and the economic implications of use and non-use of impairment test systems. Substantial research into the use of impairment testing systems has been conducted over the past decade however, the vast majority of this work is available only in company reports and/or technical monographs with few exceptions (e.g., Delta), little information is available in peer-reviewed scientific publications. 

Trice, H.M. and Steele, P.D., Impairment testing issues and convergence with employee assistance programs, J. Drug Issues, 25, 471, 1995. 

On balance, the applied research investigating napping provides evidence for the utility of workplace napping. To the extent that naps are beneficial in the workplace, they have important practical implications for many individuals and industry alike. With particular regard to industry, management may avoid the adverse effects of impaired performance, productivity, and workplace safety that accompanies sleepiness (15) by allowing employees to inteiject a nap into their work routines. 

In addition to sexual harassment and accommodation of religious beliefs, equal treatment for individuals with disabilities is a significant issue for the treatment of both employees and customers. The Americans with Disabilities Act provides equal opportunity for persons who are disabled in the workplace. This act prohibits discrimination in all aspects of employment from hiring to firing, similar to practices that are covered by equal opportunity employment laws. Persons are considered disabled if they have either a physical or mental impairment that significantly limits one or more major life activities or have a record of impairment. Also, discrimination against a person who has a relationship with a disabled person is prohibited. 

In another setting of heavy DEET use, National Park Service employees in the Everglades National Park used heavy applications of DEET (McConnell et al. 1986). A government study of the workers found that high DEET exposure correlated with insomnia, muscle cramps, mood disturbances, and skin and urinary problems. A second study of the group with neurobehavioral testing correlated heavy DEET use with sleep disturbances, psychic distress, and impaired cognitive function (McConnell et al. 1986 Robbins and Cherniack 1986). 

And hospitals are no place to be when you are already ill they are depressing places, and depression can impair recovery It is no great secret that people can get even sicker in hospitals, sometimes even hastening their death when seriously ill. Infections can spread from patients to hospital employees and back to patients. The facility itself is contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. There are just a whole slew of reasons to stay away. If you must be there, get in, and get out. 

Significantly, there also is a system at the WGI sites that encourages condition reporting. Any employee can write a report that indicates a condition (e.g., corrosion, impaired operabihty, or a maintenance problem) that the employee thinks is worthy of further investigation. The condition report is entered into an online database and is directed to the employee s supervisor for assessment If deemed valid, this triggers an investigation that ends with an action communicated to the initiator of the report. 

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