Summary Abstracts
Fall 2016 Journal

Staying Current on Government Affairs
In this Journal column, Stephen Burt, MFA, BS, AOHP Government Affairs Committee Chair, provides analysis of  recent government affairs activities. For this issue, he examines the Zika virus as it relates to occupational health and legal concerns in the workplace. He also highlights how the spread of Zika implicates a number of federal laws, including the OSH Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the EEOC.

Editor’s Column
This standard feature provides commentary from the current Journal Editor, Kim Stanchfield, RN, COHN-S. In this issue, she provides details on the 36th Annual SEAK National Workers' Compensation and Occupational Medicine Conference, which she attended as a guest of SEAK representing AOHP. 

Association Community Liaison Report
Through this regular Journal article, MaryAnn Gruden, MSN, CRNP, NP-C, COHN-S/CM, details how AOHP is gaining visibility as an expert regarding occupational health issues. In this edition, she reviews a new best practice guide from OSHA's Center for Safety and Health Sustainability, the new penalties for OSHA violations and QuickCards about the Zika virus. Also included are updates on the NIOSH Engineering Controls Database, a new online curriculum for home healthcare workers, and research related to slips, trips and falls, surface wipe sampling and underlying causes of neck pain.

Perspectives in Healthcare Safety
Cory Worden, MS, CSHM, CSP, CHSP, ARM, REM, CESCO, is the Manager of System Safety for the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston, TX. In his standing Journal column, Worden shares his insights on safety in healthcare. This issue's feature - No Quick Fix: Safety Cannot be Reverse Engineered - explores the value of establishing a comprehensive safety management program that works proactively to improve the safety culture of an organization.

Volatility and Chaos: Hazard Controls and Active Shooters
The ability to recognize potential violence and react appropriately to it has become as relevant in seemingly safe workplaces as it always has been in active combat zones. Cory Worden, MS, CSHM, CSP, CHSP, ARM, REM, CESCO, addresses the need for situational awareness and systematic hazard control by both citizens and  professional responders to identify, avoid and/or eliminate an active shooter event in the workplace.

 AOHP 2016 Online Staffing Survey Results
In 2016, AOHP conducted a survey update (from 2011 and 2014) to evaluate staffing levels in occupational health departments in healthcare settings. In this report, survey authors Carol Brown, PhD and Erin Shore, MPH, of the Center for Health, Work and Environment of the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, analyze the results of the 39-item survey. Their evaluation of staffing patterns provides readers with a better picture of how occupational health staff allot their time to various tasks. 

Hardening Soft Targets
Hospitals are soft targets, which tend to be a more popular choice for a terrorist attack. Article author Melissa Gresham, MS, CSP, CPSI, provides information on how to harden your organization's security infrastructure to prepare for a potential attack. She reviews hazard identification, tactics, potential terrorists, weapons, targets, community engagement and preparation for effective prevention or mitigation. 

Like a Loaded Gun: Preventing Needlesticks and Sharps Injuries
Cory Worden, MS, CSHM, CSP, CHSP, ARM, REM, CESCO, explains the five components of the hierarchy for hazard control and how they can be used with the Quality and Safety Education in Nursing competencies to guide safety practices for preventing needlesticks and other sharps injuries. He also discusses the importance of including situational awareness and conditioning, and the OODA Loop, in this process, concluding with an analogy comparing the importance of gun safety with sharps safety.