“Hiring exceptional people is key for any business to succeed, and we feel fortunate to have been able to add a talented person like Bridget to our Marketing team,” said Susan Erkkila, Director of Sales. “This position has allowed us to fully optimize our design and marketing dollars.”

As graphic designer, Overson will be responsible for a variety of marketing projects for the Scott Lawson Companies including brand development, website development, SEO and print & web marketing. Overson graduated summa cum laude from Southern New Hampshire University and holds a degree in Graphic Design. She is highly knowledgable in various design technology, web design and photography.

“Tough economic times have made us take a step back and evaluate our investments, particulary marketing,” said Scott Lawson, President of the Scott Lawson Companies. “As the company continues to grow, we recognize the value and opportunity that an in-house designer will bring to our marketing activities. We are thrilled to be expanding our operations and staff, and are excited to welcome Bridget to our team.”

About the Scott Lawson Companies

Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. (SLGL), Comp-SIGMA, Ltd., and Workforce Wellness are subsidiaries of the Scott Lawson Companies. Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. is one of the leading worker health and safety and laboratory services firms in New England; Comp-SIGMA, Ltd. is a third party administrator for workers’ compensation in N.H.; and Workforce Wellness provides on-site wellness programs and health risk assessments that work to improve the health of employees and lower the cost of group health insurance.

Located in Concord, New Hampshire, the Scott Lawson Companies were founded by Scott Lawson in 1978 and have served nearly 5,000 customers nationwide. The Scott Lawson Companies are on the web at www.scottlawsoncompanies.com.

Contact
The Scott Lawson Companies
Miranda Yeaton, 603.228.3610
myeaton@slgl.com

There are six key elements OSHA sees as necessary components of a successful prevention program, they are:

1. Management Leadership
2. Worker Participation
3. Hazard Identification
4. Hazard Prevention
5. Control, Education & Training
6. Program Evaluation & Improvement

Developing I2P2 into a standard is not an easy task; however, OSHA head, David Michaels called it the Agency’s highest priority of 2011.  Michaels and the Agency have been promoting the initiative heavily.  Michaels has made close to a dozen speeches since announcing the rule in April, the Agency has held five stakeholder meetings to get input on how to draft it and recently unveiled a new I2P2 webpage to increase interest in the coming initiative.

This is and will be a very important issue for business owners.  Keep checking back for the latest I2P2 information.

As anyone who has done this type of exposure monitoring could tell you, many times this type of monitoring will indeed produce “negative exposure” data.  In other words all sampling results will be less than applicable exposure limits.  At this point you usually have to have a conversation with the client that includes the phrase “ air sampling results were OK but….

The “buts’ can include a wide variety of things, but many times they will include bad work practices, or poor general housekeeping issues.  For example, we have done a lot of testing for airborne metals in welding operations, and although laboratory results often show no airborne exposure problem, the work place is so dirty that all the nearby surfaces are covered with dust/debris/films from the process.  In other cases we have done air testing for a whole slew of solvents involved in a process (all of which came back below limits), but noticed during the sampling employees doing work without the proper PPE such as gloves.  In all of these cases, the “real” exposure issue is not from airborne “Methyl ethyl bad-stuff”, but from improper use of PPE or from bad housekeeping, that has increased the potential exposures (and the potential adverse health effects) to employees through skin contact.

Employers must look beyond just air monitoring results to include employee behavior and work practices to obtain a true idea of workplace hazards.  So many times the client does “have to do something else” (clean, enforce proper PPE use), even though air sampling results are acceptable.

The Scott Lawson Companies, a leading Worker Health and Safety, Workers’ Comp Third Party Administrator and Employee Wellness firm in New England, is pleased to announce its recent hire of Miranda Yeaton, who will join the Scott Lawson team as the Marketing & Communications Coordinator.  This new position was created in response to current economic challenges and the increased need to develop the brand as well as focus marketing strategies and activities.

“As the company has grown, and especially in this very turbulent economic time, we felt the need to execute a more focused marketing effort and it made good sense to bring portions of it in-house,” said Scott Lawson, President and Founder of The Scott Lawson Companies. “The outcome will hopefully be a more consistent marketing approach based on relationship development with clients and a more coordinated effort between our three companies, better delineation of account ownership and an ultimate increase in leads, prospects and sales.”

As a graduate of Newbury College, Yeaton studied Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing and Finance.  She comes to us with over seven years of marketing and sales experience.  Yeaton will be filling a critical role in support of sales efforts.  Marketing campaigns and strategies will be a primary objective.  Other responsibilities include social media management and all communication and public relations, including press releases, quarterly newsletters, and advertising placements.

“Miranda’s experience and creativity make her a great fit for the company.  We are delighted to welcome this talented young woman to our team,” said Scott. 

About The Scott Lawson Companies

Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. (SLGL), Comp-SIGMA, Ltd., and Workforce Wellness are subsidiaries of The Scott Lawson Companies.  Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. is one of the leading worker health and safety, and laboratory services firms in New England; Comp-SIGMA, Ltd. is a third party administrator for two of the Self Insured Trusts for workers’ compensation in N.H.; and Workforce Wellness provides on-site wellness programs and health risk assessments that work to improve the health of employees and lower the cost of group health insurance.

Located in Concord, New Hampshire, The Scott Lawson Companies were founded by Scott Lawson in 1978 and have served nearly 5,000 customers nationwide.  The Scott Lawson Companies are on the web at www.scottlawsoncompanies.com.

Contact

The Scott Lawson Companies

603/228-3610, sales@slgl.com

SLC is celebrating Commute Green NH by launching their own challenge to their employees. Themes for each day of the week have been created to encourage employee participation.  “Our office is very team oriented,” said Stephanie Ceccherini, Wellness Coordinator, Workforce Wellness, a Scott Lawson Company.  “Our wellness team was excited to come up with creative ideas for Commute Green NH.  We felt the themes would allow for our employees to be on the same track and work together towards a common goal.”

The schedule is as follows:

Monday, May 16^th: Stay Put Day; Tuesday, May 17^th: Telecommute Day; Wednesday, May 18^th: Carpool Day; Thursday, May 19^th: Be Green Your Own Way Day; Friday, May 20: Bike To Work Day

“I’m really excited to be participating in Commute Green NH this year.  Aside from the environmental message and benefits, it’s an excellent employee wellness exercise, promoting physically and socially healthy alternatives for commuting to work,” said Zach Lawson, Vice President, The Scott Lawson Companies. “We have several team members that are already signed up for group bike rides to work, and many others that are coordinating carpooling. I am anxious to see the miles that our team saves, but even more so to experience the relationships that it bolsters.”

With all the opportunities for the employees to become involved, the wellness team anticipates a 100% employee participation rate.  “This is a hefty goal, but our employees value teamwork and service, and truly understand the positive effect their participation will have in the community,” said Ceccherini.  “As a company, we believe that providing workforces around the world with creative ways to improve the environment, boost team morale, and get people overall healthier is beneficial for everyone.”

About Commute Green New Hampshire

This year, the Commute Green New Hampshire is challenging employers, municipalities and schools to reduce 50,000 vehicle miles traveled from May 16-20 as part of the Statewide Challenge.  To participate in this exciting challenge, you simply need to live or work in New Hampshire. For more information, visit http://www.commutegreennh.org.

About The Scott Lawson Companies

Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. (SLGL), Comp-SIGMA, Ltd., and Workforce Wellness are subsidiaries of The Scott Lawson Companies.  Scott Lawson Group, Ltd. is one of the leading worker health and safety, and laboratory services firms in New England; Comp-SIGMA, Ltd. is a third party administrator for two of the Self Insured Trusts for workers’ compensation in N.H.; and Workforce Wellness provides on-site wellness programs and health risk assessments that work to improve the health of employees and lower the cost of group health insurance.

Located in Concord, New Hampshire, The Scott Lawson Companies were founded by Scott Lawson in 1978 and have served nearly 5,000 customers nationwide.  The Scott Lawson Companies are on the web at http://www.scottlawsoncompanies.com/

Contact

The Scott Lawson Companies

Miranda Yeaton, 603/228.3610

myeaton@slgl.com

There are many ways you can participate in NEHF with your company. Don’t be afraid to add other initiatives along with a walking or other exercise campaign. Here are some ideas to get you started with brainstorming:

• Declare a casual day and promote “wear your sneakers to work.” Organize a 30-minute walk during lunch, or ask management whether they would allow work time to be used for this occasion. If a casual day won’t work in your workplace, you can still encourage employees to bring their sneakers and get out walking during lunch.
• If your facility is not already smoke free, organize a smoke free day. Provide resources for smokers who are interested in quitting.
• Do you have an onsite cafeteria? Offer a healthy lunch, and provide nutrition information. If you don’t have a cafeteria, ask management whether they would be willing to purchase fruit to be left in the break room for the day.
• Invite a wellness company provide a lunch and learn lecture, onsite wellness challenge, blood pressure screening clinic, or wellness fair.
• There may be 5K walks or other local events in honor of NEHF.  Research what is going on near you, and see about getting your company involved.

Regardless of how you celebrate it,  Employee Health and Fitness Day is a great way to promote employee wellness in your organization.

Prior to 1971, 14,000 Americans died on the job every year, and workers were not even afforded the right to know what kind of toxic chemicals or serious hazards they were working with on a daily basis.  Today, OSHA is backed by close to $560 million in government funding and has decreased work-related deaths by nearly 67 percent.  The evidence is clear: OSHA initiatives to emphasize workplace safety and health has made an impact, and workers’ rights are being protected.  But, how much is too much?  Is OSHA something the US can no longer afford?

In Washington, congressional Republicans are focused on riding the government of what they say are job-killing regulations.  As part of their drive to push the pendulum back, House Republicans have passed a 2012 budget that reduces federal spending by $61 billion.  OSHA is their primary target; they will seek to cut $99 million from its budget.  Some members believe this cut will benefit employers by eliminating the creation of expensive and burdensome rules and regulations implemented by OSHA, and allowing them to focus their budget on job creation.

At the liberal Center for American Progress, OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels said, “OSHA doesn’t kill jobs, it stops jobs from killing workers.”  Michaels continued, “But despite this evidence, and despite the progress we’ve made, we are today engaged in a great debate over worker protections, over the benefits and costs of regulations, over the taxpayer dollars that this society is willing to invest to ensure that our nation’s workers will be able to come home safely after a hard day’s work.”

Michaels recently spoke with NPR’s Brian Naylor about the long history of OSHA being on the front edge of divide between labor and management, Democrats and Republicans.  Michaels said, “The Republicans have proposed a 20 percent cut and given half the year’s over, that really means a 40 percent cut.  It would really have a devastating effect on all of our activities.”  Michaels closed his conversation with Naylor by saying, “When employers embrace safety, they actually save money.”

Would a diminished role for OSHA realistically free up cash so employers can focus on job creation? Or would it only make the problem worse and the frequency of injury rise?  Frequency of injury would increase workers’ compensation claims and employees requiring days away from work.

“A cut of that magnitude to OSHA’s budget would be devastating to workers,” Tom O’Conner, the Executive Director for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health remarked just days after House Republicans unveiled their package of budget cuts.

“What the Republican leadership doesn’t seem to get is that job safety and job creation must go hand in hand.  They can’t be separated,” O’Conner said.  “After all, what good is a job created to the family of the worker who was killed after taking it?  Good jobs are safe jobs, and right now, America needs to create good jobs.”

The National COSH is a federation of local and statewide “COSH” groups–Committees/Coalitions on Occupational Safety and Health. COSH groups are private, non-profit coalitions of labor unions, health and technical professionals, and others interested in promoting and advocating for worker health and safety.

So, tie up your laces, grab a pedometer and start walking.

Clip a pedometer to your waistband and wear it from the time you get out of bed until you go to sleep at night. Keep track for several days, then take the highest number of steps and use this number as your baseline and initial daily goal. Proceed to walk the that amount of steps every day for a couple of weeks.

At the end of the two-week period, review how many steps you walked each day and determine if you are ready add another 500 steps to your goal.  Now, walk the new number of steps over a two-week period. Then re-evaluate and increase by another 500 steps. Set a goal to reach 10,000 steps per day.

Ways to increase your steps:

• Take 100 steps around your office or home about every hour. Program your computer to remind you when it’s time to take a break.
• At the office, don’t e-mail or call anyone within 400 feet of you. Instead, walk to that person and talk.
• Host “walking” meetings.
• Avoid elevators and escalators – use the stairs instead.
• Park farther away from the entrance at stores and the office.
• Take a couple of quick laps around the mall before you start shopping.
• Walk one block; about 200 steps.
• Make an after-dinner walk a family tradition.
• Walk to your neighbor or friend’s house instead of calling.
• Walk while you talk on the phone.
• Take a brisk 20-minute walk during your lunch break; about 2,000 steps.
• Walk four laps around the high school track; 2,000 steps.

What are some of the creative ways you  are able to increase your daily number of steps? We’d love to hear what they are.

“So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed).”  Dr. Seuss

In a memo issued on April 22, 2010 to the OSHA Regional Administrators from the new Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. David Michaels, he laid out the basics of a plan for increasing the penalty structure that OSHA will use. The reason for the increase is that a panel determined that “penalties are too low to have an adequate deterrent effect”. No surprise here. There are a number of changes that will be made in the manner by which penalties are calculated, the way in which discounts may be used, the value of the discounts and the degree to which “bad” experience with OSHA will impact the size of a penalty, generally to the up side.

Two of the most significant announcements pertain to what can happen at the Area Office level when someone requests an informal conference as the result of an inspection. Up until now, the Area Director has always had the ability to “discount” penalties at that meeting, mostly in the interest of getting the company that was cited to “accept” the citation and go about fixing the violations included in it. It was routine that the Area Director could, and would, offer up discounts as high as 50% to strike a deal right there and then. Under the new guidelines, the Area Director will be authorized to offer only up to a 30% discount and any additional discount will need to be authorized by the Regional Administrator. The Area Director will also be authorized to offer up to an additional 20% discount to employers with less than 250 employees if “that employer agrees to retain an outside safety and health consultant”. If an Expedited Informal Settlement Agreement is being sought, the Area Director can offer up to a 30% discount with an additional 20% if the employer commits to hiring an outside safety and health consultant.

The memo is available at OSHA’s website www.osha.gov in the “Latest News” section in the upper right corner.

The key to a successful wellness program is to engage as many participants as possible. As programs emerge, the question becomes, which approach is most effective at inspiring behavior change; the carrot or stick?

Economic incentives can increase participation and prompt healthy behavior change. In order for incentives to work, they need to be designed and administered effectively. They need to be significant enough to promote habit change and designed to be fair, convenient and realistic.

Voluntary, incentive-based programs produce positive results. The support from management along with an opportunity for employees to participate in the decision-making process benefits the employer and the employee.

Mandatory participation is not recommended. Studies show that mandatory participation may result in resentment and retaliation, primarily in the form of increased absence and reduced productivity. Penalties or disincentives for a lack of participation can also lead to charges of discrimination and violation of personal health information.

The employer can provide the tools and resources to educate and identify health risk factors. The motivation to change those unhealthy lifestyles habits is derived from encouragement, support and incentive for wellness participation.