Irreducible lateral dislocation of the elbow.
(33/1061)
A rare case of an irreducible post-traumatic lateral dislocation of elbow is presented. The mechanism of injury was fall on a flexed elbow with trauma on its medial aspect resulting in pronation of the forearm. At open reduction, the brachialis muscle was in the form of a tight band which prevented reduction. The ulnar nerve was entrapped in the joint. (+info)
Repair of an inguinal hernia is one of the commonest operations undertaken by surgeons but the role of trauma in causing inguinal hernia is not well understood. This paper does not attempt to discuss the cause of inguinal hernia but seeks to analyse the cases which may be accepted by the Courts as being due to trauma. (+info)
When does a worker's death become murder?
(35/1061)
During the past 2 decades, a growing number of manslaughter and even murder charges have been brought against employers in cases involving the death of workers on the job. In this commentary, the author reviews some of these recent cases and looks at other periods in American history when workers' deaths were considered a form of homicide. He examines the social forces that shape how we define a worker's death: as an accidental, chance occurrence for which no individual is responsible, or as a predictable result of gross indifference to human life for which management bears criminal responsibility. He asks whether there is a parallel between the conditions of 19th-century laissez-faire capitalism that led to popular movements promoting workplace safety and the move in recent decades toward deregulation and fewer restraints on industry that has led state and local prosecutors to criminalize some workplace accidents. Despite an increased federal presence, the activities of state and local district attorneys perhaps signal a redefinition of the popular understanding of employers' responsibility in maintaining a safe workplace. (+info)
Work-related death: a continuing epidemic.
(36/1061)
Worldwide, work-related illnesses and injuries kill approximately 1.1 million people per year. In 1992, an estimated 65,000 people in the United States died of occupational injuries or illness. Most estimates indicate that occupational diseases account for far more fatalities than occupational injuries. However, an accurate enumeration of occupational disease fatalities is hampered by a paucity of data, owing to underdiagnosis of occupational diseases and inadequacy of current surveillance systems. In this commentary, the authors review the epidemiology of death due to occupational disease and injury in the United States and discuss vulnerable populations, emerging trends, and prevention strategies for this ongoing public health problem. (+info)
Brucella abortus infection acquired in microbiology laboratories.
(37/1061)
We report an outbreak of laboratory-acquired Brucella abortus infection originating in the accidental breakage of a centrifuge tube. A total of 12 laboratory workers were infected (attack rate of 31%), with an incubation time ranging from 6 weeks to 5 months. Antibody titers were evaluated weekly in all personnel exposed, allowing the diagnosis of the infection in most cases before the onset of clinical symptoms, so that specific therapy could be administrated. (+info)
Estimation of the lethal toluene concentration from the accidental death of painting workers.
(38/1061)
To determine the potentially lethal level of thinner concentration in the air, we measured the concentration of toluene in the blood and others of three patients who suffered severe acute thinner intoxication between 4 January 1996 and 21 April 1997 in Ube city. The concentration of toluene in blood were 30.2 mg/L in died patient, and 13.7 mg/L and 17.5 mg/L in recovered patients, respectively. By extrapolation from the results of our previous toxicokinetic research on toluene poisoning in anesthetized dogs, the fatal concentration of toluene was estimated to be approximately 1800 to 2000 ppm for 1-hour exposure. (+info)
Does job stress affect injury due to labor accident in Japanese male and female blue-collar workers?
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To clarify whether job stressors affecting injury due to labor accidents differ between Japanese male and female blue-collar workers, the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), assessing dimensions of job stressors based on the demand-control-support model, was applied to 139 blue-collar workers in a manufacturing factory. Of them, 24 male and 15 female workers suffered from injuries at work. In the female workers with the experience of work injury, the job demand score and job strain index (i.e., the ratio of job demand to job control) of the JCQ were significantly higher and the score of coworker support was significantly lower, than those in the female workers without the experience. High job demand (or, high job strain and low coworker support) was significantly related to work injury in all the female workers. Between the male workers with and without work injury, however, there was no significant difference in any job stressors. This pilot study suggests that high job strain (specifically, high job demand), as well as low coworker support, are important factors affecting work injury in Japanese female blue-collar workers. Further research with a large number of male blue-collar workers will be required to seek other factors that may be associated with work injury. (+info)
Medical surveillance in work-site safety and health programs.
(40/1061)
Businesses frequently call on family physicians to provide employee health services at the work site or in the clinician's office. These services include medical screening (detection of dysfunction or disease before an employee would ordinarily seek medical care) and medical surveillance (analysis of health information to identify workplace problems that require targeted prevention). Such services can transform acute care and routine screening activities into opportunities for primary prevention when they are integrated into the broader framework of work-site safety and health programs. Components of these programs include management commitment, employee participation, hazard identification and control, employee training and program evaluation. For optimal program success, family physicians must communicate with frontline safety officers and have first-hand knowledge of the workplace and its hazards. Professional and technical resources are available to guide the family physician in the role of medical surveillance program coordinator. (+info)