Health and Safety

There’s a frequent tendency for employees to resort to the transportation box to get from floor to floor—an elevator. All conveniences aside, Occupational Health Services (OHS) has been using educational incentives and the chance to be entered into a raffle to encourage employees to think about their cardiovascular health and take the stairs. And, in an effort to leave no educational opportunity untapped, OHS adorned staircases around the Frederick campus with messages about sun safety throughout the months of June and July.

Experiencing a persistent cough, tight chest, and sinus discomfort can be uncomfortable. When you have these symptoms, it’s natural to seek medication to help ease your symptoms and promote healing.

As a nurse practitioner, I have faced the dilemma of finding suitable over-the-counter cold remedies without a clear, evidence-based answer. Standing in the cold and sinus aisle, the abundance of products is overwhelming. To make an informed decision, I considered the underlying causes of sinus congestion, including common colds, nasal irritants, and environmental triggers.

The sun makes all life possible on Earth, yet it’s a well-known fact that it’s also tremendously harmful for your skin. The sun gives off ultraviolet (UV) light, which, as we know, can cause sunburn. While traditionally associated with the sunny days and soaring temperatures of summer, the UV index is a year-long concern. Protecting yourself now is as important as ever.

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in Maryland, spread by bacteria found in the bite of black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks. Though it’s common, the disease can be difficult to diagnose, sometimes resulting in debilitating symptoms that may have been prevented with proper, timely diagnosis and a simple course of antibiotics.

Warm, sunny weather in summer and fall is perfect for outdoor celebrations. Independence Day, Labor Day, family reunions, parades, cookouts, birthday parties—these are all occasions for which folks gather together to enjoy each other’s company, eat great food, and often top off the event with fireworks.

Few things say “summer” like splashing around in water, leaping off a diving board, and soaking up the sun. We’ve all heard the tried-and-true advice for swimming: don’t run near water, don’t swim after eating, don’t do horseplay. But there are some lesser-known ways to reduce your chances of having an accident.

We’ve seen the return of many things, good and bad, as society has reopened and life has found the so-called new normal. One of those things this year is the flu—and it’s back with a vengeance. Thankfully, it isn’t too late to get vaccinated, and it’s easy for employees at NCI Frederick and Frederick National Laboratory to do so.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Especially in the medical world, it’s far more effective and, often, more convenient to avoid an ailment entirely rather than to treat it. Occupational Health Services at Frederick National Laboratory has long championed this ideology, but the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 posed new challenges for prevention, especially for employees traveling.

The emergence of a virus known as monkeypox has raised many questions, most notably: Is this the new pandemic?

As COVID-19 tore across the U.S. in 2020, drug overdose deaths in Maryland rose to an all-time high. The grim statistic has since decreased slightly but remains higher than before the pandemic. Occupational Health Services (OHS) is taking action against the crisis, putting naloxone kits in employees’ hands in a push to reduce overdose deaths in the community and to protect, promote, and improve health and welfare.