Health and Safety

By Carolynne Keenan, Contributing Writer

The chilly weather didn’t dampen the spirits of Take a Hike Day participants on Wednesday, April 2. Over 50 employees braved cool, misty weather to walk or jog around Fort Detrick during their lunch hours.

“The Take a Hike Day is [a way] to encourage everyone to get up and get moving,” said Sarah Hooper, RN, manager of Occupational Health Services (OHS). “OHS and the R&W partnered to encourage employees to engage in physical activity to improve their health.”

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer

Terri Bray believes that talking to people is the only way to find out what they need to accomplish their goals in a safe and secure environment.

By Ashley DeVine, Staff Writer

Occupational Health Services and the Recreation and Welfare (R&W) Club Frederick teamed up for the first Take a Hike Day at NCI at Frederick on November 21.

Employees were encouraged to hike, walk, jog, or run the 1.3-mile course around Fort Detrick.

“For those employees who walk all the time, the event gave them a partner to walk with, and for those that do not walk all the time, it gave inspiration that 1.3 miles was not a formidable distance,” said Sarah Hooper, manager of Occupational Health Services.

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer

Janine Bahsali and Esther Shafer are Middletown High School seniors who go to school in the morning and spend their afternoons taking blood pressure, assisting with physical exams, learning how to draw a blood sample and stitch a wound closed, and generally assisting the staff of Occupational Health Services (OHS), a health care department serving more than 2,000 employees at NCI at Frederick.

By Theresa Bell, Guest Writer?

If you work in a laboratory, or you have contact with animals or animal materials, you work with human biomaterials or infectious agents, or you are exposed to radiation or other hazards in your day-to-day duties, you should be enrolled in the appropriate medical surveillance program.

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer

When Shawn Kelly found out last year that he had high blood pressure, he was determined to do something about it. Luckily for Kelly, an instrumentation technician III, Facilities Maintenance and Engineering, he works at the Advanced Technology Research Facility (ATRF), where he can take advantage of the gym there, known as the Wellness Center.

By Zack Howard, Guest Writer

In these uncertain times, when work can be stressful, disquieting, or downright upsetting, taking an hour on Thursday evenings to work out job- and life-induced twists can provide a welcome element of serenity.

Every Thursday evening, beginning at 5:15 p.m., a group of experienced and novice yoga practitioners are led through a gentle yoga practice in the café room of Building 549. The instructor, Joan Twigg of Tuscarora Yoga, leads the group from its daily activities to being present in the yoga practice of mindful movement and breath.

By Ashley Shoemaker, Guest Writer

In January 2013, a revised policy on personal protective equipment (PPE) was approved for all government and contractor employees at NCI at Frederick. This new policy was driven by a high number of eye injuries at NCI at Frederick (56 between 2007 and 2012) that were directly related to inadequate PPE.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act states that each employer is responsible for identifying hazards in the workplace and determining what kind of PPE is necessary.