| Thursday, July 2, 2009 |
| Going Green: Safe and Healthy Jobs |
Green jobs—good for the environment, good for the economy. But are green jobs good for workers? The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and its partners recently launched the Going Green: Safe and Healthy Jobs initiative to make sure that green jobs are good for workers by integrating worker safety and health into "green jobs" and environmental sustainability.
Green jobs, which have been defined broadly as jobs that help improve the environment and enhance sustainability, offer opportunities as well as challenges for workers. Examples of green jobs include installation and maintenance of solar panels and generators; construction and maintenance of wind energy turbines; jobs related to recycling; jobs related to the manufacture of green products; and jobs where green products are used in traditional fields such as agriculture, healthcare, and the service sector. In some instances, the hazards to workers may be similar to those in established industries. For example, the safety and health issues involved in building wind turbines may be similar to those for constructing a multi-story building. However, some green and sustainable practices may pose new health concerns for workers, such as the introduction of “green” substitutes for cleaning solvents (see NIOSH blog Multifaceted Approach to Assess Indoor Environmental Quality).
In developing a green economy in the United States, including through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), new jobs are being created in industries such as energy, utilities, construction, and manufacturing. The new focus, coupled with the move in the U.S. towards energy efficiency and more environmentally-friendly practices known as environmental sustainability, is resulting in changes to traditional jobs and the creation of new kinds of occupations. As we make technological advances in industry, we need to remain vigilant in protecting workers against emerging hazards. These changes may also present us with the opportunity to eliminate hazards through planning, organization, and engineering – a concept known at NIOSH as Prevention through Design (PtD). For additional perspectives on making green jobs safer, please read our forthcoming issue of PtD In Motion, the newsletter of the Prevention through Design initiative, which will be posted soon on the Going Green webpage.
As the Nation acts quickly to train workers for new occupations and new ways of working, we have unprecedented opportunities:
* to enhance the safety and health protection of the American workforce * to expand and apply our knowledge in occupational safety and health to new workplaces, processes, and products being formed each day * to ensure the training and re-training of the workforce that will fill these new jobs includes relevant safety and health information.
An upcoming event in NIOSH’s new initiative is the Making Green Jobs Safer workshop, which will be held from December 14 to 16, 2009, in Washington, DC. The workshop will bring together invited participants and a limited number of members of the public to help frame the issues around incorporating occupational safety and health into green and sustainability efforts.
As we mature the initiative and prepare for the workshop, NIOSH is drafting a working definition of green jobs and we are interested in your ideas and suggestions. NIOSH is interested also in determining how illnesses, injuries or deaths associated with the emerging green economy would be quantified. For this, again, we should define our terms, and we will incorporate definitions determined by our colleagues at the U.S. Department of Labor, who are working too to define terms. We offer the following definitions for your consideration and comment. We will track the comments and offer modifications in the definition as we move forward.
1. Van Jones, founder of Green for All, defines green jobs as a blue-collar job upgraded to better respect the environment
2. The Pew Charitable Trust, in the publication The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America This document in PDF format, described five industry categories comprising the clean energy economy. These include: clean energy, energy efficiency, environmentally friendly production, conservation and pollution mitigation, and training and support.
3. JA Gambatese, S Rajendran and M Behm in their paper, “Green Design & Construction” note that “green” and “sustainable” are terms that have been used synonymously in scientific literature. These authors, however, make efforts to distinguish green from sustainable jobs with the following for the construction industry:
“Green is a term used to refer to primarily the design and construction practices that impact the environment (e.g., the soil, water, air, plants and animals). Sustainability is a broader concept that, in addition to the environmental aspect, addresses the continuity of economic, resource and social aspects of human society. For a green building to be sustainable, consideration must be given to more than just protecting the environment…a building can be called sustainable only if sustainability principles are applied throughout its life cycle…. (p. 29)”
Are any of these definitions sufficient for our needs in fostering worker safety and health practices in this emerging field of study? Are there better ways of defining our terms that you would like to offer?
As we define our terms, we must also consider the following types of work:
* Traditional jobs that use green products (e.g., a plumber installing a low flow toilet) * Green jobs that encompass tasks from traditional jobs (e.g., solar panel installers) * Jobs that are relatively new stemming from an increasing focus on energy efficiency (e.g., wind turbine installer).
The matrix presented here is a framework to help us think through these issues. It illustrates how our knowledge about old and new hazards intersects with challenges created by new technologies and adaptations of work activities to perform green jobs. We hope that you find it helpful.
The framework for considering Traditional versus Green Jobs and Old versus New Occupational Hazards can be expressed in a simple 2 x 2 matrix. In Traditional jobs there are occupational hazards which have been studied and characterized; this category is what we know. In some cases Traditional jobs are being performed with newer technologies and thereby introduce newer hazards that require additional efforts to characterize and address them; this category is what we know we don't know. A third category occurs at the intersection of our knowledge of Old Hazards as it potentially applies to newer Green Jobs and technologies; this category is what we don't know we know. Finally, the fourth category is typified by new Green Jobs and New Hazards that may not have been identified or characterized; this category is what we don't know we don't know.
We look forward to your comments and suggestions to help inform the upcoming conference and NIOSH’s Going Green initiative.
—Christine Branche, Ph.D.
Dr. Branche is the Acting Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/blog/ |
| posted by Healthy Life @ 7:55 AM |
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| Tuesday, June 23, 2009 |
| Young Clear Skin All Year Round |
Just imagine if you could have young clear skin for the rest your life. Have you ever wondered if it's possible to regain your healthy glowing complexion? To reverse the signs of aging so you look ten years younger than your friends? It is possible if you use the right skin care products. Skin aging is a fact of life. But, are you curious to know why the signs of aging appear? Why the wrinkles, fine lines, sagging and thinning skin begin to show up. Fighting those aging signs is very important, so this article will show you the reasons why skin ages and the right skin care products which do away with the aging signs. Let's take a look at the three factors which take away the young clear skin we all wish to have. Why Aging Sign Appears 1. Sun Damage Protect your skin from being over exposed to the sun's UV rays. The sun's UV rays are damaging and account for a large percentage of the skin's premature aging like dry and leather looking skin. 2. Free Radical Damage Know your enemies. In this case, they are free radicals. Free radicals start the worsening of the skin's structural support, decreasing skin elasticity and are responsible for the cause of wrinkles. What causes young clear skin to fall victim? There are a number of felons, such as pollutants, cigarette smoking and the sun. 3. Loss of Collagen and Elastin A few things become noticeable when your body's collagen and elastin starts slowing down. These two vital proteins play a huge role in keeping your body's structural tissues glued together so they can prevent the signs of aging. Why is this important? Because, when your body's production of collagen and elastIn slows down your skin starts to show fine lines, wrinkle and other aging signs. Those are just three factors that rob you of young glowing skin, so let's find out what skin care products keep young clear skin vibrant for as long as possible. The Right Skin Care Ingredients The use of the right products which give you effective results are actually the ingredients. Yes, the ingredients the product contains is the key. But, there are a number of ingredients you should avoid because they're harmful and interfere with your skin's rejuvenation process. For example, some ingredients you should avoid: parabens, mineral oil, fragrances, acrylamide and alcohols. However, the effective natural ingredients you want in your face cream will protect, nourish and regenerate your skin. Natural substances are the key to young clear skin hands down. The first line of defense your skin has is strong antioxidants to battle the free radicals. A special form of CoQ10 called Nano-Lipobelle H-EQ10 is the best natural ingredient for the job. Because it nourishes your skin with antioxidants, it's able to protect your skin against harmful UV rays and neutralize free radical damage so you'll have healthy glowing skin. Now that you know this, another powerful natural ingredient to look for in a face cream is Cynergy TK. It covers all the bases when you're dealing with aging skin. Because Cynergy TK stimulates your body's production of collagen and elastin, it has the ability to smooth out wrinkles and fine lines and other signs of aging to give you younger looking skin. |
| posted by Healthy Life @ 10:35 AM |
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| Sunday, June 14, 2009 |
| Useful Tips For Tonsil Stone Removal |
Tonsil stone removal is a difficult and time consuming process that you have to undergo without your doctor's guidance in most cases. Here are three essential tips whenever you decide to do a manual tonsil stone removal at home. #Tip 1: Be careful not to push the stone inside the neck. Most people do not have stone that are that big so that they could make them chock, but it is a possibility. When doing a manual tonsil stone removal make sure you know what you are doing, you have been trained by someone that knows the procedure well and that your hands and used objects are not going to hurt the neck. #Tip2: Make sure you have washed the hands and mouth before you start a removal. In case of any accident, it's better to be sure you won't let any bacteria enter open scratches inside the mouth. Also, keeping a clean tongue will aid in removing the stones, because you clean the tongue with a brush which will reach tonsil area and inevitably push on the stones. #Tip3: You can not do a tonsil stone removal if the stone is not degraded a bit. Only remove stones that pop out easily. For the rest, use salt water, citric aid and eat a lot of fruits. In a few days they will looses as well and they will become much easier to remove. If you force a stone out, you risk hurting the tissues around the tonsil, and they are very hard to heal. |
| posted by Healthy Life @ 10:08 AM |
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| Sunday, June 7, 2009 |
| Yoga A Natural Treatment For Stress & Anxiety |
You would have definitely heard of yoga, which is one of the hot favorites in the USA today. The Western world is gradually looking into the secrets of youth and health that ancient civilization of the East followed. The Indian civilization is one of the oldest and extremely rich in scientific applications not only in medicine but also in engineering, physics, mathematics, astrology and astronomy among others. Yoga has four branches that cover the journey of any human being who wishes to attain oneness with the Universe and enlightenment. Walking on this path would also ensure that your body stays free of diseases and human weaknesses without any dependency on food and basic life-supporting comforts. Yoga not only diseases-proofs your body but also tunes your mind to find and understand the Eternal Truth. 1. Kriya yoga or karma yoga - this covers the free will of a human being whereby they make their choices in life and the consequences of these choices on his or her life 2. Bhakti yoga - or attaining liberation through prayer and worship of God 3. Gyana yoga - or enlightenment through learning and acquiring of knowledge, and 4. Raja yoga - or achieving enlightenment with the exclusive help of your mind, ignoring the body completely You do not need to adopt the austerity of yoga in its complete form. The beauty of yoga is that you can use the exercises this science prescribes without worrying about the rest of the doctrine and still profit from it. Two things are extremely important when you learn yoga: (i) you need to learn yoga from an accredited and recognized guru or yoga practitioner, and (ii) you need to do it at the dawn, on an empty stomach, or at bedtime daily - if you want it to really work for you Yoga can help fight any disease whatsoever that plagues human beings, even cancer. It is excellent for controlling and reversing anxiety. It is also exceptionally potent in treating depression. I am not giving you the asanas (postures) that are prescribed for controlling and treating anxiety and depression because I do not want you to try these exercises on your own. Do not be tempted to buy the much-advertised DVDs from the market unless you have learnt the postures from a guru. The danger of initiating yoga on your own is that a mistake in getting the right posture might not only be useless, but also might harm you. Every asana is meant to touch, massage and coax into optimal functioning some organ or system in the body. No matter how clear is the DVD or instruction given in a book, you would not be able to see yourself performing the asana; nor would you be able to see whether you are doing it correctly or not. This is where a proficient yoga practitioner and teacher would be able to guide you. Once you learn the asanas correctly and you are confident about it, you can practice it at home alone without anyone's help. Yoga when combined with meditation can be an exceptional tool to defuse anxiety and depression. It is also extremely beneficial for people who suffer from sleep disorders due to anxiety or depression. You can however, go for yoga without the meditations component and you would be profited nonetheless. |
| posted by Healthy Life @ 10:05 AM |
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| Wednesday, June 3, 2009 |
| Gum Disease |
Gum Disease is not prejudiced. It can affect people of all ages, races and lifestyles. There are however some factors which will leave a person more vulnerable to this disease. Obviously, proper dental care and hygiene are factors in whether or not an otherwise healthy person will develop periodontal disease. This is why we are so frequently reminded of the importance of regular brushing, flossing and dental visits. This will reduce the build up of plaque, which contains the bacteria responsible for gingivitis. [However, this can't be enough for most people or there would not be such a high incidence of gum disease in the world today!] This disease is caused by bacteria, bacteria create infection, and people with lowered immune systems are more susceptible to infection. This may be why people who suffer from illnesses which compromise their immune system such as cancer and AIDS to name a few, are more likely to have gum disease . Yet, it is really a question of the chicken or the egg? The researchers are finding all of these links but they can not tell if the diseases feed off each other of if one causes the other. Cigarette smoking is a contributor. It should not come as a surprise that cigarette smoke also promotes the production of plaque on the teeth. Hormonal changes within the body and also genetics are factors in periodontal disease. This disease is also known to result in lower birth weight babies for pregnant mothers who are suffering with it. Next: Follow the links below to learn what you can do to stop gum disease and prevent it from coming back! |
| posted by Healthy Life @ 8:42 PM |
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| Sunday, May 31, 2009 |
| Getting Bigger |
This is one of the most common question from bodybuilders around the world. After all you are training hard, following a good muscle building diet, yet your gains are still minimal. The sense of frustration after all of the months of effort is tremendous and can be really demotivating. So what is the answer? Well, there are a few likely causes, see if any of these ring a bell with you: 1) Are you eating enough? For some hard gainers you may just as well insert the words 'under eaters'. As this really is a massive cause of lack of muscle mass. In bodybuilding the key to weight gain is eating, lots and often! Eating every two hours is a good guideline and will enable you to take on board as many calories as possible. Make sure you snack lots on food such as: dried fruit and nuts, yoghurt, cottage cheese, cereal and milk, protein bars, fresh fruit, and protein shakes, etc 2) Are you getting enough protein? To build maximum muscle mass you should aim for 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily. Great sources of protein include: chicken, fish, turkey as well as dairy products. Eat everything don't worry so much about eating low fat products, that will make it harder to get all the calories you need in order to bulk up. Sure you need quality calories but make your life easier and eat everything, remember you can go through a cutting up stage in a few months time. Taking whey protein shakes is another great way to get on board quality protein, purchase the big 5 pound tubs to get the most for your money. 3) Have your routines gone stale? If you can reel off your routine from the top of your head then that probably means you have been doing the same for thing for quite a while now. If you are not provoking your body to grow in new and different ways then it simply is not going to grow. How about mixing things up with, super sets, drop sets, partials, 21s, aided lifts and negatives. You can even just reverse the order of your routine and see what difference that makes, how about 10 sets of 10 reps to failure on just one major exercise such as the bench press (get ready to be sore!) or just give yourself a week off from training to allow your body to fully recover. As you can see there are endless variations, make sure you use them. 4) Are you resting enough? When was the last time you saw someone go into the gym pump iron and then walk out half a stone heavier? Never. So, clearly your muscles don't grow when your pumping iron, they grow when you are resting. If you do not get enough rest than you are limiting the time available for your muscles to grow. If anything you want to give yourself extra time to grow not less. Try dropping to working a muscle group just once a week. Also reducing the number of sets per body part, how about a maximum of 3-5 really intense sets per body part per workout. Think that is not enough, try it and watch the results! 5) Are you drinking enough water? If you are skimping on the water then you really are limiting your progress. Your muscles need copious amounts of water in order to grow. Carry a bottle with you in the car and never stop drinking from it. So the original question: 'Why am I not getting bigger?' as you can see, has more than one answer. Answer the above questions honestly and make the necessary adjustments. If you are not satisfying just one of the above criteria then you have found the reason why you are not growing. If there are more than one of these points that your bodybuilding lifestyle does not meet then urgent change is required. Of course there are heaps of other reasons why you might not be growing but the above are the usual culprits. Now go hit the gym and gain some weight! |
| posted by Healthy Life @ 8:55 PM |
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| Wednesday, May 27, 2009 |
| Suffering From Hypothyroidism? |
When you have hypothyroidism the thyroid gland is isn't producing enough thyroid hormone. Hypothyroidism can cause all manner of issues with you, as it is the gland that "regulates" if you will your whole body. If you have too much thyroid, you can have hyperactivity, sleeplessness, weight loss along with some serious mood swings. If you have too little thyroid, you can have some of the same effects, like serious mood swings, weight gain, lethargy, total lack of energy even for the things you know you love to do. Sometimes this can be misdiagnosed as depression. Can you imagine taking anti-depressants for a thyroid condition? What I know about personal issues with my own thyroid: No matter how much I worked out, I stayed fat, I was always kind of slow moving, slept a lot, a lot more than I thought was necessary anyway. Along with this, my hands were always cold and my fingernails broke easily. The things that I used to love doing went by the wayside. It affected my life with my family as you can imagine. The hormones the thyroid produces control the body's rate of metabolism so a partially functioning thyroid affects almost every organ in the body. When the thyroid is under-active it creates a general recession of many of the systems that are needed for energy making. This can weak havoc with the metabolic process. Waste can then deposit into the organs - because they are slow - causing them to become slow-moving leaving the door open for the possibility of disease. The body is designed to excrete waste and absorb nutrients! Want your life back? Thyromine can help give you your life back. For example, my thyroid is dead basically, from chemotherapy and I started taking adrenal powder and thyroid from bovine. It's a little harder to regulate than synthetic thyroid but for those of us looking for alternative supplements for thyroid, it was worth trying. It took a little while to get the dose just right and when I did, my energy came back, and I lost 20 pounds, started sleeping more regular hours and wasn't having weird mood swings. On top of this, I rarely get sick anymore as thyroid hormones stimulate the immune system. Thyromine has a combination of natural ingredients that help your thyroid to perform normally. By working with my doctor, a D.O. I was able to feel better about what I was giving my body and feel better... way better. D.O.: Abbreviation for Doctor of Osteopathy, an osteopathic physician. Osteopathy is a system of therapy founded in the 19th century based on the concept that the body can formulate its own remedies against diseases when the body is in a normal structural relationship, has a normal environment and enjoys good nutrition. |
| posted by Healthy Life @ 8:52 AM |
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Data are for Information purpose only. Under NO way or circumstances we will be responsible for any misconduct on your parts. Always get a consultation from a registered Health GDP or Doctor before following any point mentioned in this data. It’s for your safety of Health. Please note that any external links which we refer are for information purpose only and do not imply any approval from the organization or authority to which we refer.
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