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, where he can take advantage of the gym there, known as the Wellness Center.

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.

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.

By Paul Stokely, Guest Writer When working in any laboratory or animal facility, you must wear a lab coat, protective eyewear, appropriate gloves, and closed-toe shoes, unless you are performing purely administrative tasks. That is the new policy for personal protective equipment (PPE) in laboratories at all NCI campus at Frederick facilities. Noting an increase in hand and eye injuries, Randall Morin, Dr. PH, as director of Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS), was tasked with reviewing the root causes of such accidents and updating the current policy. He and his team found that most, if not all, of the eye and hand injuries were preventable with the appropriate PPE. David Heimbrook,...