things you should know

CareerBuilder survey: Workplace is making us fat

According to a study conducted by CareerBuilder.com, the current pressures of the workplace are contributing to making employees fat. Of the workers that CareerBuilder surveyed, 44 percent said that they have packed on some pounds in their current jobs. In fact, 28 percent of workers have gained more than 10 pounds and 12 percent have gained more than 20 pounds.

According to the survey respondents, the weight gain can be attributed to several factors—including the economy, stress, eating out regularly, sitting at a desk all day, and celebrating birthdays. In addition, a worker’s gender may play a role in workplace weight gain. Of the women surveyed by CareerBuilder, 50 percent said that they have gained weight in their current jobs—compared to 39 percent of men who admitted to tipping the scales.

The survey was conducted from February 10 through March 2 among more than 4,800 workers.

Shift start times can impact sleep, alertness: study

A report presented at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC suggests that start shift time can impact sleep opportunities and the risk of on-the-job fatigue.

Results indicate that estimated sleep durations varied from 4.5 hours to 8 hours according to the start time of the work shift. The maximum estimated sleep duration occurred when the work shift started between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., and the minimum estimated sleep duration occurred when the shift began between 8 p.m. and midnight.

One of the most interesting findings is that shifts beginning between 8 p.m. and midnight yielded consistently poorer predicted performance and less than adequate predicted total sleep per 24 hours. There was a relatively sudden decrease in predicted fatigue for shifts starting after midnight compared with shifts that started just before midnight. The researchers explained that work schedules with start times after midnight allowed workers to sleep right before the duty period, which meant they were better-rested when the shift began. In contrast, shifts starting just before midnight did not allow for pre-shift sleep because the timing conflicted with the body's early evening circadian process.

NIOSH expands Web content for occupational lead exposure

NIOSH has redesigned its Web page on occupational lead exposure to make it easier and faster to find pertinent information. The page contains information on how to prevent hazards associated with working with lead, as well as features links directing users to sections containing information specific for various groups, such as workers, employers and researchers.