Effective Strategies to Reduce Motor Vehicle Injuries in Native American Communities

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of deaths in American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) communities. Research shows that the AI/AN motor vehicle (mv) fatality rates are one of the highest among other groups in the United States. In September 2004, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) provided direct funding to AI/AN Tribes/Tribal Organizations for prevention of motor vehicle crash (mvc) injuries using evidence-based effective strategies. This presentation describes the efforts to increase the use of seat belts, child passenger safety seats and reducing drinking and driving.

The Use of Smart Mobile Devices and Apps for Environmental and Occupational Health Surveys

Among the most important tools available to environmental professionals are those capable of on-site detection of physical, chemical, or biological agents, providing near real-time measurements when rapid results are needed. While there is no single portable “black box” that can be used to measure all hazards in all environments, industry is making significant strides in developing field-portable analytical equipment specifically for this purpose.

Nonetheless, there are tools that were not created for environmental health survey purposes that can potentially be beneficial. It was proposed that the advancement of smart phones, think pads, and their supporting software affords the potential move towards mobile analytical environmental health assessment devices. Available applications (apps) were assessed for their potential for inclusion into a mobile environmental and occupational health survey suite.

Numerous apps were identified to be tremendously useful for quick reference to regulations and standards, occupational exposure limit values, and EHS assessment forms. Additionally, mobile-device based sound level meters and light meters developed for photography, music studio work, and other purposes were evaluated for industrial hygiene (IH) use against commercially available IH instruments. Noise and light data were collected via both methods and analyzed for linearity, correlation, and agreement. In most cases, there was no significant difference observed between the mobile-based applications and the gold standard methods. In summary, currently available mobile device apps can be packaged into a mobile EHS suite and used, at the very least, for rapid on-site assessment prior to complete environmental or IH evaluation.

Specific job-exposure records to assess in routine carcinogenic risks [POSTER]

The aim is to present a simplified job-exposure records to identify occupational exposure to carcinogens with minimum formative experience Methodology.  We built 105 forms corresponding to specific jobs, including the main risks. Results: a specific job-exposure record was filled for each of 2017 workers.  Nine hundred and fifty three workers corresponding to 47% of the studied population were exposed during their work to one carcinogen or more.Main occupational carcinogens were hepatitis B virus, environmental tobacco smoke ,and inorganic acids... Discussion /the workers are exposed to a large variety of occupational carcinogens, although most of them are not belonging to industrial, but to tertiary sector

Evaluating Laser Pointer Safety [POSTER]

The purpose of this study was to assess the safety of laser pointers. Additionally, a variety of consumer level laser devices were evaluated in order to test the validity of any existing manufacturer label classification.  Classification discrepancies are a problem for the environmental health professional due to the fact that the lasers are easily obtained, have widespread use and have the potential to cause permanent ocular and/or skin damage with very little contact time with the beam.  Ocular damage is of particular concern due to the eye’s ability to increase laser light intensity to many thousands of times by its focusing power.  Currently, there are no regulatory standards to keep class III and IV laser sources out of the hands of minors or careless consumers. This study will evaluate the power/energy emitted from a variety of 17 consumer lasers, all of which were unconditionally purchased online.  Data collected from the laser evaluations have been analyzed and tabulated in accordance with ANSI 2007 recommendations.

Analysis of two horse bedding materials for respirable dust concentrations affecting occupational and equine health within large-scale [POSTER]

Large scale equine facilities require immense amounts of bedding material on a regular basis. This presents a number of problems with material intake and material extraction affecting occupational and equine health. Industry is searching for a healthier and more sustainable alternative to the current material being used in order to reduce the possibility of adverse health effects from respirable dust.

Our comparative study of the respirable dust generated during the bedding of horses with sawdust and shredded cardboard attempts to determine the associated health risks. By characterizing the properties of bedding materials using compaction/compression, particle size distribution analysis, field capacity, usability, durability, and aesthetics we have developed a scale for overall evaluation of occupational and equine health. Further testing and cost comparisons are being conducted using these properties. We at The University of Findlay are also considering sustainability which is increased when using locally generated recycled material, shredded cardboard, compared to imported material, sawdust, which also has to be exported as waste. We have identified high concentrations of respirable dust during the handling of sawdust with peak results above 6.0 mg/m^3 which are above the OSHA standard of 1.0 mg/m^3. Personal sampling will identify the daily average which we expect to be less than the standard because not all of the time is spent handling bedding materials. The properties of sawdust and shredded cardboard bedding materials have been characterized based on qualitative and quantitative analysis. It has been found that sawdust has smaller particle size distribution leading to better absorptive properties but higher dust concentrations. Cardboard has similar compaction/ compression properties to sawdust and possesses more spring but lacks in aesthetics. The greatest benefit to using the shredded cardboard is the lack of respirable dust generation compared to sawdust, which reduces the potential adverse health effects associated with handling sawdust. Cost comparisons will show the relative comparison of equivalent amounts of bedding materials needed, but ultimately it will be the occupational and equine health factors that will have to be taken into consideration when selecting a bedding material.

Environmental Health Officers Role in Suicide Prevention

Suicide is a serious public health injury problem in Indian Country in the United States.  The suicide rates for 5-14 year old Native Americans is 2.6 times higher than the US whole population.  In the ages of 15-24, the suicide rate is 3.5 times the national average.  For every suicide completion, there are 13 attempts.  In and around Thoreau New Mexico, a community of 2100 people adjacent to the Navajo Nation, six children were lost to suicide over a two month period in 2010.  On the Mescalero Apache Nation, population 4500, in southern New Mexico six young people committed suicide in a 5 period in 2009-2010 (Hummingbird, 2011).  For American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) males, suicide rates are four times greater than other racial groups, whereas, AI/AN females are eleven times higher.

Since the mid-1980’s Indian Health Service (IHS) Office of Environmental Health and Engineering (OEHE), Division of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) have been involved in injury prevention. The IHS Injury Prevention Program (IPP) has four basic principles:

evidence-based community prevention strategies, reliable injury surveillance data, tribal capacity building and fostering collaborative partnerships (Hymer, J, 2010).  For years, many IHS IPP practitioners have struggled with what their role should be in suicide prevention.  In the Shiprock OEHE, DEHS, we have also struggled with our role in suicide prevention, while seeing success in unintentional injury prevention.  Through the work and our membership with a local prevention coalition, the Shiprock DEHS staff found a role that we think can spur other EHOs working in injury prevention.  We are currently working to bring a coordinated community response to suicide in San Juan County New Mexico, to prevent the spread of the suicide contagion in the communities we serve, live in and partner with.  We have served as facilitators in the process of community collaboration, while compiling policies and postvention plans to present to our school partners.  The schools provide a venue for us to assist this effort, as we have established relationships due to our roles as inspectors in them. 

Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Risk Factors and other Demographics in the Body Modification Profession

The prevalence of tattooing and piercing has been growing significantly in recent years. Increases have occurred in both the number of individuals receiving body modification procedures, and in the number of procedures each individual receives.  Recent publications have implicated some of these procedures with negative medical and public health outcomes.  As a result, many states and countries have implemented or expanded licensing and regulatory aspects of the profession. Negative occupational health outcomes for tattooists and piercers have also been identified and continue to be examined. 

Yet many questions remain about worker exposures to biological, chemicals, and musculoskeletal hazards.  This presentation discusses the results of recent literature review regarding the industry, in addition to focused surveys regarding worker exposure to health risks and possible associations with adverse outcomes in this expanding field.  Results of worker surveys of practicing artists will be presented.  An overview of the growth and status of the profession, worker demographics, the regulatory environment, and future directions for the profession is provided.  The needs for future additional research will be described. Areas where additional worker training and development of qualification skill sets are needed to be developed and implemented will be discussed. 

Falls Can Be Prevented-Here's How

Unintentional injuries are a huge public health hazard and are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality.  Falls are typically in the top three causes of injury related death and that statistic increases as people age. There are  evidence based programs that are preventing falls and the Indian Health Service is one of the agencies that are actively promoting fall prevention.  The programs have both a clinical focus with falls risk screening, medication reviews and exercise along with an environmental assessment component . This session will provide an overview of several programs and how they are impacting public health by preventing the trauma associated with falls.

North Carolina's Injury and Violence Prevention Program

Injury and violence are the leading causes of death for North Carolina residents ages 1 to 64; 87% of the state’s population.  In response to this problem, North Carolina has developed a dynamic public health program to address the enormous burden of injury in the state. 

The Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVP), designated the lead the agency in the state for injury and violence prevention by the NC General Assembly in 2007, is located in the Chronic Disease and Injury Section of the North Carolina Division of Public Health.  The IVP Branch is responsible for maintaining epidemiologic surveillance of injury and violence in the state and developing programs to address the burden of injury.  Through a partnership with over 100 agencies, organizations, and individuals, the branch developed a state IVP strategic plan that identified strategies to address the lead injury and violence issues in the state:  Motor Vehicle, Falls, Unintentional Poisoning, Suicide, and Homicide. 

The NC Injury and Violence Prevention State Advisory Council assists implementing the state IVP Plan and provides guidance for the direction of the branch’s efforts.  The IVP Branch enjoys a close working relationship with partners at academic institutions, trauma care organizations, and a diverse work force of over 350 injury prevention practitioners in the state. The branch relies on grant funding to implement programs and currently administers grants from CDC-NCIPC, HRSA-MCHB, SAMHSA, FEMA, and the Rex Endowment.  Support from these grants enables to branch to implant programs focusing on Youth Suicide Prevention, Rape Prevention Education, Fire and Burn Prevention, Motor Vehicle injury, Prescription Drug Poisoning, Falls Prevention, Violent Death Reporting, Child Maltreatment, and work force development.

Injury and violence prevention provides environmental health and public health professionals the opportunity to practice consultative public health, epidemiology, and public policy change to address the largest environmentally-related public health problem in the state.                         

Improving the Effectiveness of Training in Occupational Health Through the use of Personal Reflection

The value of personal reflection as an aid to deep and transformative learning is well documented. The work of Kolb, Lewin, Schon and Moon etc is accepted and valued worldwide. This paper will explore personal reflection; it will review the evidence associated with the enhancement of the learning experience through reflection and will go on to consider whether the principals of personal reflection can and should be applied to training for improved occupational health and safety performance. The paper will suggest that reflection become a standard part of all training but it also recognizes that there a series of risks associated with businesses adopting this approach.