[Sharon]

Wayne and Crash,

Since last fall, the regional occupational health e-mail here has been out dated before it arrived so I have not been forwarding it. The rapid expansion of our knowledge base as a result of September 11 and the anthrax incidences continues here in the Mid Atlantic. I think I have become environmental engineered out.

Two messy topics I stumbled into during the anthrax mess involved children in the workplace. I discovered we had minors, who are in safety sensitive positions that require random drug testing.

The next was that a parent requesting FMLA to care for a disabled child can state on the Department Of Labor’s Physician Certification Form for FMLA, that they intend to either commit a criminal act or endanger the child’s health and the employer is required to approve the leave.

Since I work in the grocery industry I am beginning to see the role out of components of the model food code (1999 and 2001?) from Food and Drug Administration. There are now post offer infectious disease histories that are a requirement.

During the last year, I have seen a substantial increase in the number of employees with unsafe bizarre behavior in the workplace and have had that caseload component grow. It appears as if the treating provider is not dealing with the workplace behavior no matter how bizarre. I have entire weeks were all I am dealing with are employees who are delusional, hallucinating and acting out at work.

The increase in the autoimmune diagnoses and the uncommon infection presentations continue here. Recently I have had two employees return to work after the rupture of aneurysms. One returned in 4 months and the other in two weeks. Don’t you just love those advances in healthcare!