Hearing issues?

A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The Doctor told him there is a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.
Here's what you do," said the Doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response."
That evening, the wife was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He says to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens."
Then in a normal tone he asks, 'Honey, what's for dinner?"
No response.
So the husband moves closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats, "Honey, what's for dinner?"
Still, no response.
Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, "Honey, what's for dinner?"
Again he gets no response.
So, he walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away.. "Honey, what's for dinner?"
Again there is no response.
So he walks right up behind her... "Honey, what's for dinner?"
"Ralph, for THE FIFTH time, CHICKEN!!"
- Don Gomolski

Ok this is a joke that has been around for a little while, but it begs the question: Does this sound like you or your significant other?  Maybe you have someone in your family it sounds like. 

Our hearing is a very important part of who we are and how we handle daily things.  Below is a list of several questions that, if you can answer yes to, you should follow up with your doctor and have your hearing tested.  Even if you can’t answer yes to them, having a yearly hearing checkup is still a good thing as it can prevent any issues later on down the road.

   
      1)      Do people seem to mumble or speak softer than they used to?

      2)      Is it difficult to follow a conversation when in a crowd?

      3)      Does background noise, like music or TV, bother you when you are speaking with someone?

      4)      How high is the volume on your radio or TV?  Are you often asked to “turn it down”?

      5)      Are you finding yourself asking people to repeat themselves?

      6)      Is speaking on a telephone especially hard for you?  Do you find yourself using the speaker phone option?

      7)      Is it difficult for you to find an object based on the noise it makes, i.e. a ringing phone or alarm clock?

      8)      Has someone told you to get your hearing checked?

 These are just a few basic questions to ask yourself, but your doctor will ask many more.  As we age we do lose some of our hearing as part of the aging process, but if you have ever worked in a high noise job, i.e. construction or railroads, that process is typically sped up some.  Take the time to see a doctor and have them do a hearing test. 

Why Occupational Health and Safety?

 

I’m sure we have all heard of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) but have you ever wondered why we have it and why it was started?  Ok, well I know, honestly, you probably haven’t but I wanted to delve into this topic, so that you know more about what we do, and why we do it for clients.

OSHA was given a federal start on December 29, 1970 by President Nixon after a 3 year struggle with the legislative offices started by President Johnson.  Even though it was given this federal start in 1970, occupational health and safety had been an ongoing battle for over 100 years.

 In 1877, Massachusetts was the first state to pass a state level factory inspection law to help protect the workers against the large number of grisly deaths that were occurring every year.  Nine other states soon followed, but there was so many loopholes with the laws that they weren’t always effective.  Some businesses left states that were too strict for ones that weren’t, and often times inspectors weren’t even allowed in to the business due to politics. 

In 1907, a study was conducted in Alleghany County, PA that found that workers who were injured or killed on the job bore the economic impact of accidents, even though most accidents were the fault of the businesses.  In 1908, thanks in part to that study, Congress passed the first worker’s compensation act for federal employees (with the support of President Teddy Roosevelt).  By 1911, Wisconsin passed the first state worker’s compensation program and by 1921 the rest of the states followed suit.  Still, there was very little incentive for employers to participate as the rates for the insurance were not all that much lower for safe companies versus unsafe ones.

It wasn’t until 1933 that things finally started to move in the right direction for OSHA.  In that year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected the first woman cabinet member as Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins.  Frances had extensive knowledge in occupational health and safety working with the state of New York.  In 1934, she created the Bureau of Labor standards to make workplaces “as safe as science and law can make them.”  This bureau was followed by the Social Security Act of 1935, the Walsh-Haley Public Contracts Act of 1936, and the Fair Labors Standard Act of 1938.

Now of course there were new rules and laws to enforce, and by the 1960’s there were many companies that opposed what was happening. More studies were being done that showed the health of workers still was not being taken into consideration.  States felt they were being undermined by the federal authorities during inspections.  By 1969, President Nixon presented his version of a job safety and health proposal to Congress.  His proposal set a 5 person board to oversee the job safety and health standards being set.  Of course there were some supporters of the proposal, and some against it, but by 1970 the version we know now was agreed on, and set into motion. Since then, government officials have made changes according to the standards set in each individual section, as brought about by further understanding and knowledge of the industries they effect. Workers safety is now more than talk.

It took almost 100 years from the first idea that workers needed to be protected to the time when an actual solution was finally found, but with that first idea we have come a long way.  People from every job type; nurses, manufacturers, and steel workers, have the knowledge that the companies they work for will help protect them from needless accidents that used to claim the lives of so many.  As with any law there is always going to be updates and changes, but it’s good to know we have avenues to take for our safety along with those we work with.