AGING WORKERS: AVOIDING DISCRIMINATION AND IMPROVING WORK ABILITY

By Susan Isernhagen PT

Issues:
AGE DISCRIMINATION may be taking place throughout industry, reports the EHS Today newsletter of 10-22-2010.  The number and percentage of age discrimination charges filed with EEOC has risen from 21.8%of all charges in 2006 to 24.4% in 2009.  The total charges in 2009 were 22,778. 

Some possible discrimination comes from layoffs being targeted mainly at older workers. Because older workers often have higher wages and benefits, they seem like a good choice for workforce reduction. Also, there are also perceptions that older workers do not keep up with productivity, although that is refuted in almost all studies.  Employers may also feel that older workers are more likely to get hurt. That is also not supported by facts.

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International stakeholder group launches survey

Your participation is a survey is requested to identify best practices and barriers to successful SAW/RTW so all professions can better learn from one another. An informal group of PT's, occupational medicine physicians and a dozen other stakeholders are seeking to better understand current barriers and best practices relative to SAW/RTW from the point of view of many parties. Even though many surveys have looked at SAW/RTW, most do it from the perspective of small number of stakeholder groups. The survey group wanted to find a way to see how a dozen different SAW/RTW stakeholders - in different countries- would respond to the same set of questions.

In the spirit of collaboration and innovation, the survey includes a link to a Survey Results and Discussion page where results will be updated bi-weekly for all to share and learn.
It is hoped the survey will help spawn innovative thinking and the creation of new and improved solutions for eliminating needless disability.

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DSI Announces hospital and healthcare specialty

Hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies are complex work places. Many jobs have a complex blend of high forces. Injury prevention and safe patient handling is often in mixed use. Workers are often focused on others, not themselves. Dennis Isernhagen PT, President, says, "Standardizing jobs descriptions is an important part of creating uniform job matching opportunities". With the DSI patient handling grid development, Susan Isernhagen PT offers health care a way to measure and compare forces of moving patients in bed, transfers and on equipment. The patient handling grid identifies actual forces with and without safe patient handling equipment. "This allows both management and workers to see the significant reduction in forces with the best method". Patients are also safer.

The healthcare industry can address their internal costs of injured workers, replacement of expensive positions, and aging workers by creating a system of injury prevention and management. DSI faculty also working on this healthcare project are: Curt DeWeese PT, Scott Ege PT, Nancy Bellendorf OTR and Ginnie Halling PT. For more information, contact Dennis or Susan at 218-625-1051. sisernhagen@dsiworksolutions.com disernhagen@dsiworksolutions.com

Functional Testing – Don’t Takes Sides

By Russell J Green MD MS CIME

When you request a chest x-ray, the radiologist reads what is there or not. When you requisition a complete blood count, the machine spits out numbers that reflect the actual levels belonging to the person’s whose blood is being examined. When a sample of tissue is sent to the lab, the pathologist’s findings are independent of payor.

Is that what is happening in the arena of functional testing? I would have to, "no, not always." As a physician who uses functional testing to help in the overall decision-making process, I want a functional test that is as reliable as a properly done CBC, chest x-ray, or pathology test. I am looking for information, not outcome.

Let us examine functional testing. When we order a functional test or perform one, what are looking for and what should we be doing? The functional test should be…

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Body Mechanics for lifting:

By Susan J Isernhagen PT

I am frequently asked what is "safe lifting": a method that decreases stressors and does not produce injury. I have studied the literature, which doesn’t all state the same parameters. I have worked with both uninjured and injured people. I listen when the injured say how their incident happened. Anatomical and physiological aspects of the legs and spine are compared. Quadriceps and hip extensors are large power muscles. Intervertebral muscles are not. In Functional Capacity Testing, adhering to the following guidelines has kept my evaluees safe. I believe each practitioner should have their own definition of safe lifting. I was asked to share my experience and opinion on safe lifting.

• Keep spine stable / use legs for power upward
• Use Neck and back extensors for facilitated extension (don’t look down at the load)
• Keep your feet apart for a stable base ( it really doesn’t matter if one is in front or not)
• Be in control of the load….don’t let the load be in control of you
• Also note that momentum with heavier weights is normal as long as the lifter can control it.

The best advice I ever heard about lifting was from a physician in Canada. He said “if you bend, don’t lift: if you lift, don’t bend.

Easy to remember, utilize and teach others!

Legal Alert: ADAAA regulations in effect!

On May24, 2011, final regulations went into effect. Courts will now look at cases and produce decisions including defining disability more broadly. In addition, regulators and experts emphasize that the employer should focus on accommodation for a person requesting it rather than challenging the actuality of a disability being present. The DSI newsletter has covered changes in the Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act of 2009. See archived newsletters at www.dsiworksolutions.com/newsletters.htm

DSI Job Function Matching® JFM) is a clear and easy method to objectively evaluate the worker or applicant’s physical ability compared to objective validated job descriptions. Job modifications are part of the report, giving the employer information for their dialogue with the person. Companies working with DSI JFM report decreased significant decreased litigation. Contact Sue at sisernhagen@dsiworksolutions.com for more information.