Upcoming Posts + Making ART Using Makeup!

I'm blessed to have been insanely busy over the last few months - many interesting projects have been completed or are underway.

There are several safety- and industrial hygiene-related posts I am finishing up, look for them soon. I'm working on posts about eyewash and safety shower best practices, hazardous waste management, and hospital safety and health management.

I tried an experiment to make art using only a No. 2 pencil and makeup (liquid foundation, powder, eyeliner, lip liner, and eye shadow). I wanted to see if the image would turn out looking like a painting or not. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Here's what it ended up as:

Portrait using only a No. 2 pencil and commercially available makeup.

Most of my art is usually black and white portraits with graphite pencils or manga-style cartoons with markers and colored pencils. I don't usually paint. Art is part of my personal employee wellness program.

Spoggles Redux

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?

A friend of mine recently noted that if you search for "spoggles" on Google, my blog post from April 23, 2013 was one of the first things to pop up. This was a very exciting thing - I thought I would test it out today.

Imagine my surprise when a FlexiCrew blog post from August 27, 2013 popped up as the first item on Google. 

Me: "Dang, I'm not the first one anymore! Let's see what they have to say. I'll bet mine is better! Mine has cartoons!"

I clicked on their post and immediately realized most of the post was very familiar, because I wrote it last year. I almost always cite my sources or link to original works when "borrowing" material from other blogs or websites. I guess it's silly of me to expect the same effort from other bloggers.

See below for the most obvious examples.

Theirs: So, for those of you not in the environmental health and safety field, Spoggles is an industry term for safety eyewear designed to prevent airborne dust and debris from getting in our eyeballs. Airborne dust and debris is a leading cause of eye injuries in today�s workplaces. Spoggles = Safety + Goggles, with a random �p� thrown in there since �sgoggles� or �sagoggles� or �safoggles� sound even weirder."

Mine: So, for those of you not in the environmental health and safety field [...] Spoggles is an industry term for safety eyewear designed to prevent airborne dust and debris from getting in our eyeballs. Airborne dust and debris is a leading cause of eye injuries in today's workplaces. Spoggles = Safety + Goggles, with a random "p" thrown in there since "sgoggles" or "sagoggles" or "safoggles" sound even weirder.

And it continues...

Theirs: The glasses/goggles are supposed to seal up against your face (via the foam inserts at the interior edges of the lenses), and keep dust out of your eyes. There are potential issues with spoggles, and reasons why people sometimes choose not to wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) when doing work in a dusty environment:

• the glasses fog up 
• the glasses can get scratched so it is hard to see 
• the foam can get �smushed� (technical term) and be less effective 
• when you take off your glasses, the dust that was at the top and sides/edges of the glasses (and in your eyebrows) can fall right into your eye anyway 
• some people think they look nerdy (also a technical term) 
• the earpieces can irritate the heck out of the back of your ears 

Mine: The glasses/goggles are supposed to seal up against your face (via the foam inserts at the interior edges of the lenses), and keep dust out of your eyes. There are potential issues with spoggles, and reasons why people sometimes choose not to wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) when doing work in a dusty environment:

• the glasses fog up 
• the glasses can get scratched so it is hard to see 
• the foam can get �smushed� (technical term) and be less effective 
• when you take off your glasses, the dust that was at the top and sides/edges of the glasses (and in your eyebrows) can fall right into your eye anyway 
• some people think they look nerdy (also a technical term) 
• the earpieces can irritate the heck out of the back of your ears 

And then both blog posts end almost the same way.

Theirs: But looking nerdy and having to take care of your PPE and using good personal hygiene while at work are a small price to pay compared to losing your eyesight or getting a nasty infection in your eye from contaminated dust. So our Flexpert�s advice � Keep a supply of spoggles on hand. With some lanyards. And some no-fog. And to sum up: spoggles are real. Spoggles are good. Spoggles may save your eyesight. Wear them if you have them.

Mine: But looking nerdy and having to take care of your PPE and using good personal hygiene while at work are a small price to pay compared to losing your eyesight or getting a nasty infection in your eye from contaminated dust. [...] Keep a supply of spoggles on hand. With some lanyards. And some no-fog. [...] So, to sum up: spoggles are real. Spoggles are good. Spoggles may save your eyesight. Wear them if you have them.


I'm choosing to not be irritated (although, really, how hard would it have been to say something like, "Thanks, Industrious Hygienist in Arizona, for the original content!" with a link to my blog?). I'm choosing to remember that it doesn't matter how the information gets out to workers, as long as it is effective in helping them realize that PPE is important but has limitations.

And I'm choosing to be flattered. But I may continue to post about spoggles and throw the keyword into a bunch of my new posts just to keep the excitement alive. There will also be a new cartoon about spoggles coming up soon.

Too busy for safety? I don't think so.

I�ve recently binge-watched BBC's "Sherlock" and got to thinking about body language and how to improve my observational skills. More specifically, I wanted to evaluate my body language when someone comes into my office or approaches me after a meeting � usually to ask for help with a safety issue.

Does my body language communicate how I feel? Do people feel they can approach me with safety concerns without fear of reprimand or dismissal? Or do they feel I�m too busy/stressed for their particular question?

I set up a task list of things to work into my repertoire when engaging with coworkers and upper management about safety, adapted in part from WikiHow:

• Smile
• Open Up
• Use Your Eyes
  

Smile

Why smile? An article in Forbes on �The Untapped Power of Smiling� discusses a few benefits of a smile in defusing tense situations and connecting with others.

• A smile has the same meaning in many different societies.
• It is hard to frown and stay unhappy or stressed when interacting with someone who smiles.
• The physical act of smiling can make us feel better.
• A number of studies have been completed on the health benefits of smiling. Smiling is associated with: reduced stress hormone levels (cortisol, adrenaline, and dopamine), increased overall health, increased mood-improving hormone levels (endorphins), and lower blood pressure, to name a few.
• When we smile, we appear likeable and courteous, but we�re also perceived to be more competent by those we are interacting with.

When you are serving as a safety manager, you�re in a position of trust. You need to behave in such a way that people trust you, trust your judgment, and try to understand your reasoning. So, say it with a smile.

Open Up

There are ways to �open up� your body language, and there are also ways to open up a discussion. For body language, movements such as angling your body towards the person you are speaking to, sitting or standing up straight, un-crossing your arms, and making eye contact would be a great place to start. Don�t consistently check your cell phone or computer while speaking to the other person.

An article in Forbes on �10 Simple and Powerful BodyLanguage Tips for 2014� explains additional methods for improving your body language. 

About to have an intense meeting? Nervous in large groups? Try this.

�Right before you enter the meeting room, take a deep breath and exhale through your mouth. (If you are unobserved, make a soft �ahh� sound.) Doing so releases the tension in your neck, shoulders and jaw that can make you look rigid or aggressive.�

Not sure when to stop a meeting? Not sure if you�ve �lost� your audience to boredom?

�People often signal that they are ready to end a conversation by assuming the position of someone ready to rise. (They may move to the edge of the chair, or lean forward with hands on the arms of the chair or hands on knees.)�

Also watch for people putting pen caps back on, closing notebooks or notepads, closing their tablet case, and putting their pen down. Your meeting is over. They�ve stopped listening. You�ll have to try to get their attention another way.

Need a quick mental pick-me-up to re-engage your focus throughout the day? Feeling overwhelmed?

�Your body helps you become [�] more dynamic [�] when it is grounded � feet planted firmly on the floor, a hips-width apart, with your weight evenly distributed. A broad stance like this calms your nervous system, allows you to breathe with ease, and amplifies your voice.�

I like to strike a quick yoga mountain pose with my office door closed before a meeting or site walk.

Per the Forbes article, if you keep your personality and posture relaxed, inclusive, and open, your coworkers and upper management will likely respond with cohesive, positive, and productive attitudes.

What about opening up a discussion? Are you just sitting across the table, barely making eye contact, waiting for the person talking to you to finish so you can interject your opinion? Or are you listening to their words, their tone of voice, and waiting to solve the problem until you�ve heard it all the way through?

There has been an increased focus on �active listening� in the media and in career-building circles.

• Hear the words the other person is saying
• Try to understand the complete message
• Do not form your counter argument while they are speaking
• Acknowledge what they are saying without interrupting (say �uh huh� or nod your head to show that you are listening, or at least following the pace of the conversation)
• Reflect back on what the other person is saying (i.e. �What I�m hearing is��)
• Ask questions to clarify a point you may have misunderstood

When you start asking questions, this presents an opportunity to discuss the problem and educate the person you are talking to. But if you haven�t really been listening, you might not fully understand the problem.

Use Your Eyes

You don�t need to work to develop Sherlock Holmes� skills of deductive reasoning � just use your eyes. Make direct but not intimidating eye contact. Is the person you�re speaking with nervous or afraid? Are they angry? Have they just come off a long shift? Are they exhausted? Do they look dehydrated?

Sometimes people will �blow things out of proportion� or come in to my office, eyes strained, veins pumping, face flushed, and ready to do battle over whatever issue is bothering them. Usually once I ask them to sit down to talk, offer them some water, and give them a chance to �blow off some steam,� they�ll come to a resolution for the problem on their own. They just need to work it out in a positive environment, free of the stimulus that was upsetting them.

I hope I�ve been doing better in listening and not pretending I know the ultimate answer to every safety or industrial hygiene problem that pops up. I�ve noticed that smiling at people, opening up my body language, fully listening to the issues brought to my attention, and using my eyes have helped improve my personal and professional relationships.

The Industrious Hygienist is never too busy for safety.

So here�s my commitment to current and future clients, co-workers, and management: I am never too busy for safety. Stop me and ask your question. I'll try to give you my full attention and really listen to what you have to say. 

Happy Father's Day! And a new manga.

In honor of Father's Day, I drew this for my father. He's the guy everyone calls when they have a question about computers, or cars, or electrical issues, or pretty much anything...it makes my mother crazy sometimes, but she appreciates his efforts to serve others.

My freshman year in college, I was in multiple car accidents, all minor, one partially my fault. He kept my 1990 Honda Civic (affectionately named Sterling) running from my senior year of high school until I was able to sell it and buy my first new-ish car after I got my first real job out of college.

I learned most of my computer troubleshooting skills from him as well. 

A few years ago, he had a scary encounter with off-the-job chemical exposure that I have memorialized here. 

Thanks for everything you do for me, Dad!

Happy Father's Day from the Industrious Hygienist!

Thoughts from AIHce 2014 + a new manga!

Howdy, all! I recently returned from the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHce) in San Antonio, Texas. It was my first time at this conference, which is a little embarrassing since I am a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and have been practicing industrial hygiene for 8 years now. But conferences are expensive (!?!) and this year I was self-funded - paid my way entirely from my Spore Consulting, LLC budget. Yay for small business success!

I signed up for the Personal AIHce Liaison (PAL) program at AIHce, and, admittedly, had low hopes for the program. I thought, "Why would someone who has been coming to this conference for years want to hang out with silly little me and show me the best things to do?" It is the first year for the PAL Program at AIHce, and in my opinion, it was a resounding success. My PAL checked in with me every day, made sure I knew when the "cool" parties were, introduced me to some spiffy new people, and even bought me lunch one day. 

To say thanks for my PAL's attention and efforts, and to remember the new colleagues I met, I drew a new manga. If you're new to this blog, the art (actual drawing) is mine, but the character stylings are borrowed from Hiromu Arakawa and Fullmetal Alchemist - my most favorite manga and anime. 

The Personal AIHce Liason (PAL) Program at AIHce 2014 was great!

Celebrate NAOSH Week!

I'm so excited I found a few minutes to post about the 12th Annual North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week. Tomorrow (May 7) I'm celebrating Occupational Safety and Health Professional Day with one of my safety and professional mentors. Courtesy of an awesome new contract, I've been busy as ever and loving every minute of it. 

Per AIHA's website, this year's theme is "Workplace Safety Works for Everyone." I couldn't agree more. My family and friends likely get annoyed when I bring up safety hazards in the work they are doing.

NAOSH Logo

Per ASSE's website, NAOSH week is an opportunity to share your knowledge about the positive benefits a safe workplace provides - for workers, their families, friends, and community. It's a way for us to let people know that they have a right to a safe and healthy workplace, and that the skills they learn about safety at work are directly transferable to their home life.

More information about Occupational Safety and Health Professional Day here. 

If you like, you can "Salute Your Safety Pro" and recognize them on ASSE's website here. 

A neat aspect of NAOSH week is the two listed sponsors: Disney and URS. Kudos for Disney's commitment to health and safety!

Banner for NAOSH Week! Live it and love it!

So take a minute tomorrow, or this week, or as soon as you can, and please let your safety professional know that you appreciate their efforts. I'll be sending an email to my mentors and colleagues and hope you'll do the same. 

Also, since I'm an artist, I felt these ASSE 2014 "Safety on the Job" posters deserved some additional attention.

My favorite:

Geek Chic - Lab Safety is Always in Style (Abbigael H, Age 8, Massachusetts)

My runner-up (creepy and surprisingly effective):

Gamble with Safety? Risk Your Life! (Riley J, Age 10, Texas)

Say thanks to your safety professional and look for new and intriguing posts soon!

CDC Article on Fungal Infections After Natural Disasters

Dear loyal readers,

Things have been crazy busy here at Spore Consulting, LLC - we moved the main portion of our office (and lives, since we're a home-based business) from Prescott to Tempe, Arizona over the last two weeks. More on that later.

We're never too busy to catch up on our reading, though. The CDC just released their latest issue of the online journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. In the March 2014 issue, there's an article on "Invasive Fungal Infections After Natural Disasters" that is eligible for continuing education credit.

This article was interesting to me for two reasons: 1) it described some of the risks associated with Coccidioides species fungi during disaster situations, and 2) it discussed indoor mold exposures after disasters.

My interest in Coccidioides species fungi stems from my undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. The University of Arizona is home to the Valley Fever Center for Excellence, and I learned about their studies and attempts to get funding for their research into "Valley Fever" - the common name for Coccidioides infection. They developed an excellent online *free* continuing education course on Valley Fever that should be taken by any medical provider in the Southwest. 

The information the authors provided on indoor mold exposures after disasters was fascinating; however, this may lead to an increase in "toxic mold" and "black mold" tort lawsuits among homeowners and business owners who have experienced any sort of flooding or water intrusion event. I can't wait to see what the media makes of the article (hopefully they don't pick it up). 

The EID article referenced a 2004 Institute of Medicine book "Damp Indoor Spaces and Health" that, according to the authors of the article, "found sufficient evidence of association between indoor mold exposure and upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheezing, and evidence of an association between indoor mold exposure and some noninfectious health conditions that included asthma symptoms in persons with asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis in some groups of people. Although the report found no association between indoor mold exposure and invasive infection in healthy persons, there was evidence to support a link between exposure to Aspergillus and aspergillosis in severely immunocompromised persons." 

The EID article also discussed that most people who survived Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (and their aftermath) did not report invasive fungal infections, even in severely immunocompromised people.

The part I found most interesting in the EID article was this: "Global warming has also been hypothesized to select for fungi with tolerance to warmer temperatures. The relative scarcity of fungal diseases among mammals has been hypothesized to be associated with the inability of many fungal species to survive at temperatures >37�C; however, warmer ambient temperatures may enable nonpathogenic fungi to acquire the ability to infect warm-blooded hosts." 

When we do viable sampling for fungi (in sterile environments like operating rooms, bone marrow transplant patient areas, and sterile processing), we have the culture plates put in an incubator for 48- to 72-hours at 37 degrees Celsius to see if the fungi will grow at approximate human body temperature. If anything grows, we evaluate if the fungi have been reported as human pathogens or not. It would be interesting to see if the environmental laboratories have noticed an increase in pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi able to grow and reproduce at human body temperature.