Health Essentials
How safe is your workplace?
We all agree that “decent work must be safe” yet many of us have not shown enough commitment; governments, employers and employees all have duties, rights and responsibilities to ensure the highest priority is accorded to the principle of prevention.
Statistics show that where institutions invest in prevention measures over a period of time, a significant decrease in work-related accidents and occupational disease takes place.
This is an opportune time for all workplaces to start the process of ensuring their workplaces are safe and providing the appropriate information that all categories of staff can understand is the best start point.
Guy Ryder ILO Director General could not have put it better when he stated; “to move forward it is necessary to close the data gap, because knowledge is the key to prevention.”
Some areas that require prompt action in most workplaces include:
• Signaling that safety is a priority
o Right from the entrance to the workplace, appropriate notices should show the commitment to safety and health.
• Appropriate markings for walkways
o Vehicles and humans should not compete for the right of way especially in places with trucks etc. there should be clearly demarcated areas for pedestrians.
• Management of extreme temperatures
o In our setting, extreme heat is a major challenge. Workplace design should place emphasis on proper ventilation and in places that are already built, structural changes may be needed in addition to industrial fans and easy access to clean drinking water.
• Fire drills and evacuation plans
o If employees are not aware of what to do in the event of a fire for instance, then it needs to be tackled immediately.
o There should be a plan in place and all team members must know the plan.
• First Aid awareness
o What does one do in the event of an injury or other potentially fatal event occurs? Employees and even employers need to be equipped with basic first aid skills.
• Ergonomics
o Many of the aches and pains we experience are caused by poor posture at work and even beyond. This affects those seated in offices as well as those operating machinery or working on the floors. Correct techniques, taking appropriate breaks and balancing effect on the body should be taught and practiced.
• Use of PPEs
o Many employees have access to these and know its use but still fail to make use of them. Regular knowledge sharing and understanding will eventually bring a positive change.
• Managing Stress
o Stress is a window to many disease conditions and poor performance and it is important all workplaces address this.
o Time management and wellness programmes including exercises help to combat this.
• Avoiding clutter
o When your work area is messy, not only are you at risk of injury, you also feel harassed or stressed out and cause more errors.
• Other Interventions
o I believe workplaces should have happy hours for more interaction (may not need to be physical only), they should also take part in programmes like DUMP where unused or expired medicines are collected safely and the appropriate agency contacted to help dispose off. Harbouring such medications has often resulted in poisoning, addictions etc.
o Once again won’t it be great if your workplace actively encourages “ICE” – IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. Save at least two numbers on your cell phone beginning with ICE e.g. ICE Kojo 090…..when you are not in a position to help yourself, anyone who picks up your phone will be able to contact someone who knows a lot about you.
• Create a Green-Space
o Concrete has taken over most of our living spaces. It is very rewarding to have some plants indoors and outdoors as well as greenery such as a lawn. It doesn’t matter even if it’s a tiny strip. People will gladly take their lunch breaks in “nature” and return to work invigorated.
The list is endless but let us start with the basics and work our way to a safe and healthy work environment with PREVENTION at the fore.
Employers need to be aware that provision of personal protective equipment is not the all in all. PPEs should be seen as the last line of defense for the employee. Prior to using the PPEs the employer must ensure that machines, equipment, processes and the premises are free of risk to the health of all workers.
Employees also play a crucial role and it is expected that they will all actively cooperate with employers in the implementation of the preventive and protective measures.
It is important that workplaces have a visible occupational health and safety specialist or in the absence of one a safety officer who will coordinate all processes such as risk assessment and management, monitoring of working environment and practices that may affect worker’s health, advice on planning and organisation of work, designing and implementation of preventive programmes and even appropriate referrals to healthcare and rehabilitation.
If we made a conscious effort to calculate the money drained off that is related to lost working time, treatment of occupational injuries and diseases, interruptions in production, rehabilitation and compensation, it will leave no doubt in our minds that prevention is a PRIORITY!
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, ENSURE HYGIENE, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Dr Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials Ltd
dressel@healthessentialsgh.com
*Dr. Essel is a medical doctor with a keen interest in Lifestyle Medicine, He holds an MBA and is an ISSA Specialist in exercise therapy, fitness nutrition and corrective exercise. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘Unravelling The Essentials of Health & Wealth.’
Thought for the week – “Economic recession or pressure to maximize profits cannot justify cutting corners in workplace safety” – Guy Ryder. ILO Director General. (28th April 2015)
References:
• United Nations Website (un. org)
• International Labour Organization website
- A messy work area puts one at risk of injury
By Dr Kojo Cobba Essel
This week I bumped into Deborah, one of my avid readers and I promised her I will be writing this weekend. So Deborah, this is for your reading pleasure and to pick some golden nuggets for the future.
The quest to find the best way to make one’s golden years, happy, exciting, healthy and a time most people look forward to continues unabated. One factor that keeps popping up is the need to grow friendships with people more than 20 years younger than yourself.
Do not take this for granted. It is a form of “social security” since these close friends who are much younger than you will step in to support you in more ways than you can ever imagine.
Some conditions may make life challenging for older adults but knowing these Geriatric Giants helps us to take the necessary steps to reduce our risk.
“Geriatric Giants” refers to a group of chronic health conditions that are common in the elderly, typically 65-year-olds and older.
These conditions quite often co-occur and can impact on the independence, dignity and overall wellbeing and quality of life of an elderly person.
These Geriatric Giants include:
- Impaired Intellect/ Memory (e.g. Dementia)
- one of the major battles we need to deal with is challenges with memory
- Exercise, adopt the Mind Diet, build a great social network and enjoy time outdoors
- Keep reading and solving puzzles for as long as possible
- Instability – leading to much feared falls
- A good reason to indulge in Balance Training and Core Strengthening exercises from today
- Ensure your home is safe; avoid clutter such as cables crisscrossing floors, toys etc. These are all trip hazards and should be avoided
- Many healthy, happy and fun-loving older adults have died soon after a fall with its attendant complications.
- Do whatever it takes to avoid falling
- Immobility (opening the doors to pressure sores, joint stiffness)
- Even when you are unable to move about on your own it is important to get support to change positions as often as possible or get an appropriate mattress or bed that prevents prolonged pressure over any single point.
- Make sure you passively or actively move joints daily.
- Incontinence (urine, faeces or both)
- This is one of the reasons older adults prefer to stay at home and avoid going out to meet friends etc.
- Iatrogenic Disorders – adverse effect of medication
- Quite often most older adults are on several medications and some side effects such as drowsiness may seem to cause more unhappiness and may even lead to falls.
- Inappetite – this may result in poor nutrition
- This may also be linked to loss of teeth thus making chewing very difficult or limited.
- The loss of smell and taste may also reduce the amount of food one may willingly eat.
The power to reduce the impact of the Geriatric Giants starts now and should be a lifetime commitment. It is never too early to start making the appropriate lifestyle modifications, nor is it too late to reduce the impact of the giants on one’s life.
Other conditions that significantly impact on the lives especially of the elderly are:
- Sleep Disorders
- Good sleep has the power to give us energy, improve our thought pattern and even helps us to make good choices.
- Good sleep sets the tone for a healthy life
- Constipation
- This is a challenge that confronts quite a number of older adults.
- Movement, fibre and lots of water go a long way to reduce the stress that frequent constipation generates.
- Fraility
- Muscle loss is real and as we age, we lose a significant percentage of our muscle plus our bones also become brittle.
- Make sure strength training is part of your exercise schedule
- Polypharmacy
- Another headache that needs to be confronted head-on
- Everyone especially older adults need a good primary care physician or a general practitioner who can coordinate all medicines from the different Specialists who may be attending to an elderly person. This ensures that unnecessary medicines are dropped
The goal of care at all times is to optimise the quality of life. As family, professional caregivers and friends we should always show respect so that the dignity of the elderly is preserved at all times. For those of us who are not yet in the age group with such challenges, we need to start the conversation about the type of care we will prefer and take steps to stay healthy and independent for as long as possible. The goal should be a long Healthspan and not just a long Lifespan.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, ENSURE HYGIENE, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials Ltd (HE&W Group)
(dressel@healthessentialsgh.com)
*Dr. Essel is a Medical Doctor with a keen interest in Lifestyle Medicine, He holds an MBA and is an ISSA Specialist in Exercise Therapy, Fitness Nutrition and Corrective Exercise. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘Unravelling The Essentials of Health & Wealth.’
Thought for the week – “There is no magic formula to being happy but making a conscious effort to be happy goes a long way.” – Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
By Dr. Kojo Cobba Esse
The call to action
We must move beyond the cycle of temporary outrage. I propose a four-point blueprint for the Ministry of Health and the government:
1. A Digital Bed-Tracking Command Centre: Legally mandate all public and major private hospitals to update a live, digital bed-registry every hour. The NAS must be able to see a vacancy before they move. This must be matched with the available resources and services so that the right patient will be sent to the right facility.
2. Strategic Capacity Expansion: We must stop building “prestige projects” and start building high-volume stabilisation centres. We need a targeted investment to triple the ER bed count in Accra and Kumasi within 24 months. This should then be extended to other regional capitals.
3. Specialised Emergency Hubs: Designate specific hospitals as “Centres of Excellence” for Cardiac and Stroke care (and for other health emergencies), ensuring they have 24/7 imaging and intervention capabilities as well as the requisite expertise to manage these conditions. Policy makers must incentivise public-private partnerships to ensure that a heart attack in Accra or Kumasi can be treated with the same urgency as one in New York.
4. Develop a nationwide trauma system: This is extremely important because trauma is a major cause of deaths in Ghana. In the US, each state has a statewide trauma system with three levels. Level 1 trauma centres are usually University Teaching hospitals that provide comprehensive trauma care and also play an important role in local trauma system development, regional disaster planning, increasing capacity and advancing trauma care through research. Level II trauma centres are expected to provide initial definitive trauma care for a wide range of injuries and injury severity.
Level III centres provide definitive care to patients with mild trauma. Having such systems is imperative to ensure proper treatment of trauma patients.
Even for those who survive trauma, disability is a major assault on economic potential and viability. Importantly all this cannot happen with a cash and carry system. Emergencies should be managed under a different model to save life and limb first. Obviously, there is a need to ensure that healthcare facilities will be able to recover their investments in emergency care, and that balancing act needs careful consideration.
Frontline clinicians are often forced to bear the public’s anger for infrastructure deficits they did not create and cannot fix. This is a failure of governance, not a lack of clinical care. Responsibility lies with the policy makers who manage the nation’s resources.
The “No Bed Syndrome” is a systemic disease. It cannot be cured with a directive from the Ministry of Health, parliament or a lecture on ethics. It requires a blueprint, a budget, and the political will to treat this like the menacing threat it is.
It is safe to say that non-emergent healthcare is excellent in Ghana for the most part if you can afford it. However, emergency care is suboptimal. We had a sitting president die from an emergency health issue and a former vice president also die from an emergency. If that is not enough warning, it is clear that anyone can be a victim of an emergency.
If we do not act, the next ambulance driving aimlessly through the streets of Accra could be carrying anyone, including the very people who have the power to fix this issue.
Prof. Jonathan Laryea is a Professor of Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Arkansas. He is board certified in General Surgery, Colorectal Surgery and Clinic Informatics.
He is a graduate of the University of Ghana Medical School (Class of 1997)
