Mindfulness Meditation Practices
Mindfulness meditation practices at work can be an effective way to reduce work-related stress and improve well-being in certain contexts.
The Purpose of Mindfulness meditation practices
Mindfulness meditation practices help you be more effective in today’s busy world. It reduces stress, increases focus, and improves your ability to deal with challenges. With regular practice, mindfulness can change the course of your life. It can also prevent burnout. Burnout is a feeling of having no energy or commitment for your work. The condition can be devastating to your mental wellbeing. It often hits us suddenly. Triggers might be any causal factors. No one aspect of work life causes it, but various interacting pieces. They are usually a culmination of everyday mental stresses we are exposed to.
Common Signs of Burnout
The most common signs of burnout are:
- Feeling tired or drained most of the time.
- Feeling helpless, trapped and/or defeated.
- Feeling detached/alone in the world.
- Having a cynical/negative outlook on things previously of interest.
- Self-doubt prolonged, about areas of previous competence.
- Procrastinating and taking longer to get things done/indecision.
- Feeling overwhelmed and lacking the usual powers of self-regulation.
Mindfulness Meditation Practices at Work
Mindfulness meditation practices at work involve focusing on the present moment at work. It also concentrates on being aware of thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. Developing mindfulness can decrease stress and anxiety, creating a more positive and productive work setting for you and your colleagues.
To help you deal with these everyday mental challenges, eLearn Safety has developed a fully online Mindfulness Practice course. This course will lead you through guided exercises that expand emotional intelligence, grow self-confidence, and build stronger relationships. With these practices, you can experience in-the-moment inspiration. You can also learn how to deal with difficult people, manage change, and confront fears. Each lesson is tied to an accompanying practice, which will help you change the structure of your brain. In addition, it will teach you how to respond better to situations.
Our world is changing rapidly. Evolve your mind to handle challenges with confidence.
Further Support
Further support is available through the HSE, Pieta House, and Samaritans just to name a few.
Incorporating mindfulness into your workday can bring a number of benefits. This can be beneficial to your mental health and wellbeing. The simplest acts of mindfulness can help. This means focusing on your breath flow and being intensely aware of what you are sensing and feeling at every moment, without interpretation or judgment.
Online Health and Safety Training
Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.
Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.
This is why we have established eLearn Safety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.
eLearn Safety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Manual Handling Awareness
Manual handling awareness is just part of a range of preventative measures that should be taken to prevent injuries at work. To understand this, we have to define Manual handling. Manual handling is any activity that includes lifting or putting down, pulling or pushing, carrying, supporting or moving an object, person or animal using the hand or any other part of the body. Many people wrongly assume that manual handling only applies when items are lifted. However, this is not fully true, as manual handling could be any movement of an object.
Common Injuries due to poor Manual Handling Awareness
The purpose of Manual Handling Training and raising awareness of proper manual handling techniques is to prevent workplace injuries. The most common causes of manual handling injuries are:
- Poor posture.
- Heavy lifting or using excessive force.
- Excessive repetition of a task.
- Lack of time to recover from a task.
- Twisting and stopping activities.
- Pushing or pulling loads over a prolonged distance.
- Reaching or lifting away from the body.
- Standing or sitting in a static position without regular changes in posture.
- Person’s own susceptibility to injury.
About a third of all workplace accidents reported are as a direct result of manual handling, lifting and carrying.
Business Costs of Manual Handling Injuries
Manual handling injuries resulting from poor manual handling awareness can have a serious effect on both, employers and employees. For example, the following might count as business costs:
- Legal advice and insurance costs.
- Legal action, possibly including compensations.
- Sick pay.
- Lost production and sales.
- Equipment and stock losses or damages.
- Time and money spent on investigation and improvements.
- Recruitment and payment of cover/replacement staff.
Human Costs of Manual Handling Injuries
When compared to human costs, business costs are insignificant. The human costs are usually long term and significant. For example:
- Pain and suffering.
- Disability, possibly long-term.
- Health care and rehabilitation.
- Loss of earnings.
- Emotional and financial burden on family.
- Potential loss of life.
Reducing the Risks and promoting Manual Handling Awareness
Employers are required by law to assess manual handling tasks with the aim of avoiding or reducing risks. Trained employees have a legal duty to follow safe working practices and use the correct techniques they have been shown.
As previously mentioned, human and business costs that manual handling injuries cause can be significant. Therefore, avoidance of injury in the first place should be the main focus. In other words, avoidance of injury is to everyone’s advantage. To that end, when we talk about manual handling, both employer and employee must consider:
- The Hazard – Things that have potential to do harm.
- The Risk – The likelihood of the hazard actually doing harm.
- Control Measures – Actions or procedures put into place to reduce risk to an acceptable level.
Manual Handling Awareness Training
Manual handling training for employees, is part of a range of preventative measures that should be taken to prevent injuries at work. This is why eLearn Safety has developed a fully online Manual Handling Awareness course. This course can stand alone and can be used as a regular refresher on manual handling theory. In addition, it can be part of a blended manual handling training. In that case, following completion of the theory online, each participant will have to complete the practical session which consists of:
- Practical scenarios.
- Kinetic principles.
- Written assessment based on all of the course content.
This blended learning training course has been designed by qualified tutors to assist the employer to comply with current legislation. In addition, it will inform and educate an employee how to prevent injuries by teaching them good manual handling techniques.
In addition, the Health and Safety Authority of Ireland (HSA) offers a significant amount of resources in relation to Manual Handling via their Workplace Health section of their website.
Online Health and Safety Training
Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.
Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.
This is why we have established Myelearnsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Abrasive Wheel Awareness
Abrasive wheels awareness is an extremely important aspect of an overall employee’s health and safety – where the employee is to use such tools. The abrasive wheel, if not properly used or maintained, is an extremely dangerous tool. The periphery of an abrasive wheel usually travels at a speed faster than a mile a minute. If a wheel should be broken while travelling at that speed, serious personal injury or damage to machinery or equipment might result. Unfortunately, serious injuries or fatalities are possible.
What is an Abrasive Wheel?
According to the Part 12 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (Regulations), an abrasive wheel can be:
- wheel, cylinder, disc or cone which, whether or not any other material is comprised in it, consists of abrasive particles held together by mineral, metallic or organic bonds, whether natural or artificial,
- a mounted wheel or point and a wheel or disc having (in either case) separate segments of abrasive material,
- a wheel or disc made (in either case) of metal, wood, cloth, felt, rubber or paper and having any surface consisting wholly or partly of abrasive material, or
- a wheel, disc or saw, to any surface of which is attached a rim or segments consisting of diamond abrasive particles,
- which is, or is intended to be, power-driven, and is for use in any grinding or cutting operations.
Causes of Abrasive Wheel Accidents
Unfortunately, injuries or damage caused by use of abrasive wheels are in most cases not accidents at all. They are usually a result of carelessness or lack of knowledge in use of the tool. The most common causes are:
- Using the wrong tool, or wheel for the job.
- Careless handling, such as holding the tool and the material improperly, removing the guards, etc.
- Improper mounting.
- Incorrect speed of the disk and the tool.
- Too much pressure applied.
The main dangers to an operator arise from pieces of the wheel or workpiece coming away, workers coming into contact with the wheel, and workers trapping their fingers between the wheel and the work rest.
Importance of Abrasive Wheel Awareness Training
Abrasive wheel awareness training is extremely important since the number of accidents and the circumstances in which they happen show that most can be avoided if workers know the risks and follow safety measures. The simple safety steps given below will help to prevent most accidents at grinding machines:
Step 1 – Inspection
When you receive a wheel, you should carefully inspect it, clean it with a soft brush and examine it for damage. In addition, you should carry out a ‘ring’ test as part of the examination. The ‘ring’ involves tapping the wheel with a non-metallic tool such as a screwdriver handle. If the wheel is safe to use a clear ring will be heard. But if the ring is ‘dead’ the wheel is cracked and you should not use it.
Step 2 – Storage
You should store wheels in a cool, dry area. Equally important is to provide suitable racks or bins and take precautions to prevent the wheels rolling or falling over.
Step 3 – Grinding Machines
All machines must be stable. Machines on benches should be bolted to the bench or securely fastened in some other way. A notice should be displayed on the machine showing the maximum speed of its spindle within each of its operating speeds. The operator should know how to start and stop the machine safely.
Step 4 – Choosing Wheels
The wheel must be suitable for the jobs in which it will be used. In general, soft wheels should be used on hard materials and hard wheels on soft materials. You should ask manufacturers for advice on which wheels to use. You should consider the following things when choosing the wheel:
- The type of machine on which it will be fitted.
- The speed of the machine or spindle – this must never be more than the maximum speed of the wheel.
- The material to be used on the machine.
- The finish needed.
- The area of contact between the workpiece and the wheel.
Step 5 – Mounting the Wheel
The wheel must be mounted by someone who has been properly trained and appointed by their employer to do the work. The employer must keep a register of people who have been appointed to do this work. Abrasive wheels should only be mounted on the type of machine for which they were designed. It is essential that the speed of the spindle is not more than the maximum speed marked on the wheel.
Step 6 – Guarding
The wheel should be guarded so that only the area of the wheel needed for the work to be done is exposed. Guards should be fitted to contain the wheel parts if the wheel bursts and to prevent, as far as possible, the operator from coming into contact with the wheel.
Step 7 – Using Abrasive Wheels
Operators must be properly trained. In addition, operators should not wear loose clothing such as ties or jewellery. These items could become caught between the wheel and the workpiece. Furthermore, they should tie long hair back out of the way. Guards should always be in place. Equally important, eye protection should be worn for all dry grinding work, or transparent screens should be fitted to fixed machines to protect against sparks and particles. In addition, the floor space around the machine should be kept free of obstructions and slippery substances.
Obviously, the machine should only be used by one person at a time. It should be switched off always when not in use. To prevent the workpiece jamming between the work rest and the wheel, the work rest should be positioned as close as possible to the face of the wheel. It should be adjusted as the wheel wears. Lastly, the operator should hold the workpiece firmly and move it across the face of the wheel so that the wheel wears evenly. Clamps or similar devices can be used for small jobs.
Abrasive Wheels Awareness Training
The formal training in the safe use of abrasive wheels is required by law. There are no exemptions to this requirement. All personnel using any form of abrasive wheels must be trained in its proper use.
The Abrasive Wheels Awareness course developed by eLearn Safety is designed to supplement and provide additional training but not to replace formal training. It is the online part of a blended training program and students must also complete a practical session in order to be competent operators. Under the current legislation an employer must not allow any person to operate the wheel unless they are trained and competent to mount the wheel.
The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland (HSA) provides a wealth of relevant information via their website.
Online Health and Safety Training
Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.
Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.
This is why we have established Myelearnsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Plant and Equipment Safety
Plant and equipment safety is an important factor to consider in ensuring overall workplace safety. It is the employer’s responsibility to provide and maintain suitable safe equipment. In addition, an employer is also responsible for providing training and information on risks and precautions. However, it is the employee’s responsibility to select the correct machine for the work to be undertaken. Employees must ensure to use only the equipment they are trained in its use.
Plant and Equipment Safety – Main Dangers
When we talk about plant and equipment safety, we must consider and address main dangers associated with its use:
- Traps (Entrapment) – Moving equipment that can trap body parts, such as presses and hydraulic jacks.
- Contact – Abrasions, bruising or friction burns can occur when people accidentally come into contact with moving parts.
- Impact – Moving parts may hit operators or the public if unguarded or badly sited.
- Ejection Some unguarded equipment, e.g., drills and saws, may throw off bits of metal or wood.
- Entanglement – Moving machinery such as rollers, cogs and conveyors that can entangle hair, jewellery and clothes, even pulling whole bodies into machinery.
Guards and Safety Features
Guarding is often used as a method of controlling the risks associated with moving parts and machinery. For example, some guards act as a permanent barrier to prevent people from gaining access to a dangerous area. Other moveable types will prevent the machine from operating unless the guard is in place. Furthermore, it is important that guards and other safety features, such as emergency stop buttons and alarms, are working correctly. If they are not, the machinery must not be used.
Plant and Equipment Safety – Hand Tools
There are some basic rules to consider to ensure safe use of tools:
- Select the right tool for the right job.
- Make sure the tool is maintained and in good condition.
- Report broken or worn tools to a supervisor.
- Only use tools you have been trained to use.
- Use the tools correctly.
- Store correctly after use.
Plant and Equipment Safety – Machinery
Similarly, there are some basic rules to consider to ensure safe use of machinery:
- Guards – Never attempt to remove or defeat machinery guards. Many guards operate on a ‘failure to safety’ system. For example, if the guard is not in place the machine will not work.
- Power – Always turn off machines and power when not in use. Turn off and unplug for cleaning and maintenance.
- Lighting – Use effective lighting to enable the machine to be used safely.
- Housekeeping – Keep the workplace clean. Untidy areas around machinery can cause falls and provide fuel for fires.
- Repairs – Report any faults or suspected faults immediately, including missing guards or safety equipment.
- Clothing – Do not wear loose clothing around machinery. No ties, belts, straps or jewellery. Wear suitable personal protective clothing or equipment. Keep longhair tied up or covered if using machinery.
- Training – Do not use equipment unless trained to do so.
- Responsibility – Wear any protective equipment deemed necessary by risk assessment. Never distract colleagues who are using machinery or other equipment.
Ensuring Equipment Safety
When selecting equipment it is important to choose the safest possible option for any work activity. Whether selecting or purchasing you must:
- Ask technical questions and compare the information provided by suppliers.
- Check that the equipment has a CE mark.
- Satisfy yourself that you have obtained all the relevant safety information.
- Make sure sufficient, relevant training is given.
- Undertake a risk assessment before any equipment is installed or used.
Equipment must be well maintained to make sure it is in safe working order. Likewise, the maintenance should be carried out according to the manufacturer’s instructions by a competent person. The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland provides a wealth of information on Plant and Machinery via their Construction Section of the website.
Online Health and Safety Training
Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.
Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.
This is why we have established Myelearnsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
History and Background to HACCP
History and background of HACCP is more interesting that one might think it is. Indeed, HACCP is not new food safety system. It has been used in the food manufacturing industry since the 1960s and is widely accepted as the most effective way of preventing foodborne illness. It was conceived in the 1960s, and it was a collaborated effort between the Pillsbury Company, NASA, and the U.S. Army Laboratories with the objective to provide safe food for space expeditions.
What is Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or HACCP
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or HACCP is a systematic preventive approach to food safety. As a matter of fact, it considers biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished product to be unsafe. As a result, HACCP designs measures to reduce food risks to a safe level.
Short History and Background to HACCP
Space food is a type of food product created and processed for consumption by astronauts in outer space. The food has specific requirements of providing balanced nutrition for individuals working in space. At the same time, it has to be easy and safe to store, prepare and consume in the machinery-filled weightless environments of manned spacecraft.
It is never good to contract food poisoning. Not to mention getting sick in space!
Since then, HACCP has been recognized internationally as a logical tool for adapting traditional inspection methods to a modern, science-based, food safety system. Based on risk-assessment, HACCP plans allow both industry and government to allocate their resources efficiently by establishing and auditing safe food production practices.
Application of HACCP
HACCP has been increasingly applied to industries other than food, such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. This method, which in effect seeks to plan out unsafe practices based on science, differs from traditional “produce and sort” quality control methods that do nothing to prevent hazards from occurring and must identify them at the end of the process. Of course, HACCP is focused only on the health safety issues of a product and not the quality of the product, yet HACCP principles are the basis of most food quality and safety assurance systems.
For most of us, term HACCP sounds scary and confusing, ‘What does this all mean?’ we often wonder. In simple terms, HACCP involves controlling the safety of ingredients and supplies coming into food business and what is done with them thereafter.
HACCP involves:
- Identifying what can go wrong.
- Planning to prevent it.
- Making sure we are doing it!
Benefits of HACCP
HACCP provides businesses with a cost effective system for control of food safety from ingredients through production, storage and distribution to sale and service to the final consumer. The preventive approach of HACCP not only improves food safety management but also complements other quality management systems.
The main benefits of HACCP are:
- Saves your business money in the long run.
- Avoids you poisoning your customers.
- Food safety standards increase.
- Ensures you are compliant with the law.
- Food quality standards increase.
- Organises your process to produce safe food.
- Organises your staff promoting teamwork and efficiency.
- Due diligence defence in court.
Since April 1998, food businesses in Ireland have been required by law to have a food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP.
Online Food Safety Training
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Cyberbullying Awareness
Raising Cyberbullying Awareness is an important factor in preventing cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies.
What is Cyberbullying
The HSE defines cyberbullying as ‘[…] a form of bullying. It happens on social media, online forums, text and email.’
Cyberbullying usually involves offensive emails or text messages. These usually contain jokes or inappropriate wording towards a specific individual race, gender, nationality, or sexual preference. The words have a direct effect on the bullying target. Another example is an intended personal email response forwarded without permission for the whole office to see. However, most common examples of cyberbullying nowadays are:
- Abusive messages or slagging on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram.
- Offensive comments on videos or posts.
- Spreading rumours online.
- Hacking into your online accounts.
- Posting offensive or intimate images.
Raising Cyberbullying Awareness
By raising cyberbullying awareness we can learn to avoid cyberbullying.
For example, some precautionary steps are straightforward, such as never giving out your passwords to anyone, or picking your social friends carefully. Other steps get easily ignored or overlooked since unintentionally we can also be a source of cyberbullying. Always be polite to other people. Think about your words, what you are saying and whether it might be hurtful or embarrassing to other people and their loved ones. For example, think about some of the accidents recorded by someone on their phone and then shared online. It might be a ‘light accident’ such as someone tripping and falling, which might raise a few ‘innocent’ laughs. It might not be so amusing to the person who fell. In addition, think about some recent road fatalities which were recorded and shared online. In most cases, this is how the victim’s family found out about these accidents.
The internet does not forget, and it is often that these harmful comments, if made, will be available online for a long time, if not forever. Even if they are deleted, online posts can be screenshot and kept in circulation for a very long time.
Lastly, it is good practice, in personal and professional communication to not send any messages when you are chafed. With this in mind, wait until you have calmed down and had time to think.
With this in mind, eLearn Safety has developed a fully online Cyber Bullying Awareness course. This cyberbullying awareness course, developed in partnership with CyberSafeIreland, is suitable for any parent or adult who would like to know more about this area, and particularly does wondering what is the right thing to do if someone they know is either experiencing cyberbullying, or is the one cyberbullying.
What to do if You are Cyberbullied
Without a doubt, it is beneficial to raise cyberbullying awareness. However, we still might become a victim (or unintentional source) of cyberbullying. There are a number of things that you can do to deal with cyberbullying. Such as with any bullying, do not rise to take the bait. The bully will want to know that they’ve got you worried and upset. If you never reply, they will probably get bored and leave you alone. In addition, you can block people from phoning or sending texts. You can and should also report them. By reporting a cyberbully you could prevent a cyberbully from bullying other people. If the messages are extremely offensive and intend to cause harm, tell the Gardaí. It’s against the law to threaten people and the Gardaí can put a stop to it. They are there to keep you safe.
Online Health and Safety Training
Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.
Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.
This is why we have established Myelearnsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Anaphylactic Shock
Anaphylactic shock is a severe allergic reaction affecting the whole body.
Developing Anaphylactic Shock
The anaphylactic shock may develop within seconds or minutes of contact with a trigger and is potentially fatal. In an anaphylactic reaction, chemicals are released into the blood that widen (dilate) blood vessels. For this reason blood pressure will fall and air passages narrow (constrict), resulting in breathing difficulties. In addition, the tongue and throat can swell, obstructing the airway. The amount of oxygen reaching the vital organs can be severely reduced causing hypoxia.
Common Triggers of Anaphylactic Shock
Common triggers of anaphylactic shock include food (such as nuts, shellfish and eggs), wasp and bee stings, latex, certain medications, etc. In the event that a person develops an anaphylactic shock, an emergency treatment with an injection of adrenaline will be required.
It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish anaphylaxis from asthma, fainting, and panic attacks. Asthma however typically does not entail itching or gastrointestinal symptoms, fainting presents with pallor rather than a rash, and a panic attack may have flushing but does not have hives.
Anaphylactic Shock and Food
Many foods can trigger anaphylaxis. This may occur after the first known ingestion. Common triggering foods vary around the world due to cultural cuisine. For example, in Western cultures, ingestion of or exposure to peanuts, wheat, nuts, certain types of seafood like shellfish, milk, fruit and eggs are the most prevalent causes. On the other hand, sesame is common in the Middle East, while rice and chickpeas are frequently encountered as sources of anaphylaxis in Asia. Severe cases are usually caused by ingesting the allergen, However, some people experience a severe reaction upon contact. On the positive side, children can outgrow their allergies. By age 16, 80% of children with anaphylaxis to milk or eggs and 20% who experience isolated anaphylaxis to peanuts can tolerate these foods. However, any type of alcohol, even in small amounts, can trigger anaphylaxis in people with Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease.
To educate about common food allergens, eLearn Safety has developed a fully online Management of Food Allergens course. The course is designed to introduce participants to understanding food allergens and management of associated risks. Furthermore, after completing the course, participants will be able to understand their requirements under Irish food safety legislation as well as following best work practices.
What to do if someone Suffers Anaphylactic Shock
In case someone is developing anaphylactic shock:
- Call 999/112 for emergency assistance. Specifically, tell the ambulance dispatcher that you suspect anaphylaxis.
- If the casualty has an auto-injector of adrenaline, help them to use it. If they are unable to administer it, and only if you are trained to use it, apply the injector as trained to do so.
- Help the casualty to sit up in the position that best relieves any breathing difficulty. If they become pale with a weak pulse, help them to lie down with legs raised and treat for shock.
- Monitor and record vital signs; breathing, pulse and level of response, while waiting for help to arrive. Repeated doses of adrenaline can be given at five-minute intervals if there is no improvement or the symptoms return.
How to Recognise Anaphylactic Shock
Development of anaphylactic shock might have features of allergy:
- Red, itchy rash or raised areas of skin (weals).
- Red itchy, watery eyes.
- Swelling of hands, feet and/or face.
- Abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.
In addition, the following signs might be present:
- Difficulty breathing, ranging from a tight chest to severe difficulty, causing the casualty to wheeze and gasp for air.
- Pale or flushed skin.
- Visible swelling of tongue and throat with puffiness around the eyes.
- Feeling of terror.
- Confusion and agitation.
- Signs of shock, leading to collapse and loss of consciousness.
Remember, the aim of helping someone in anaphylactic shock is to ease their breathing. In addition, a shock treatment might be required. In the event that the patient’s condition is deteriorating, an urgent transport to the hospital might be required. Unfortunately, anaphylactic shock can develop rapidly and patients’ health might degrade even faster, ultimately resulting in fatality.
Online Health and Safety Training
Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.
Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.
This is why we have established Myelearnsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Emergency Medical Condition – Asthma
Emergency medical condition – asthma, is a respiratory medical condition. In an asthma attack, the muscles of the air passages in lungs go into spasm. As a result, the airways become narrowed, which makes breathing difficult.
Asthma Triggers
Sometimes, there is a recognised trigger for an attack. For example, an allergy, a cold, a particular drug or cigarette smoke. At other times, there is no obvious trigger. Many sufferers have sudden, unexpected attacks.
How to deal with Emergency Medical Condition – Asthma
People with asthma usually deal with their own attacks by using a reliever inhaler at the first sign of an attack. Most reliever inhalers have blue caps. Preventer inhalers have brown or white caps and are used to prevent attacks. They should never be used during an asthma attack.
Recognising Emergency Medical Condition – Asthma
Recognising Emergency Medical Condition – Asthma is usually very straightforward. Signs of Asthma are usually:
- Difficulty breathing.
- Wheezing.
- Difficulty speaking, leading to short sentences and whispering.
- Distress and anxiety.
- Features of hypoxia, such as a grey-blue tinge to the lips, earlobes and nailbeds (cyanosis).
- Exhaustion in a severe attack. If the attack worsens, the casualty may stop breathing and lose consciousness.
What to do in Emergency Medical Condition – Asthma
There are some steps we can take to help someone in Emergency Medical Condition – Asthma:
- Keep calm! Reassure the casualty. Get them to take their usual dose of the reliever inhaler. Ask them to breathe slowly and deeply.
- Sit them down in the position they find most comfortable.
- A mild attack should ease within a few minutes. If it does not, the casualty may take one to two puffs from their inhaler every two minutes until they have had ten puffs.
- Call 999/112 for emergency assistance if the attack is severe and one of the following occurs; the inhaler has no effect, the casualty is getting worse; breathlessness makes talking difficult, they are becoming exhausted.
- Help the casualty to continue to use their inhaler as required. Monitor their vital signs: breathing, pulse and level of response until help arrives.
For additional information about Asthma, please see eLearn Safety fully online course titled Common Medical Emergencies: Asthma. This course will provide information to gain a better understanding of asthma and associated risk factors.
In addition, this St. John Ambulance first aid training video shows you what signs to look out for and how to help someone having an asthma attack. If you think someone may be having an asthma attack, it is important to know how to help them:
How to Treat an Asthma Attack – First Aid Training – St John Ambulance
Online Health and Safety Training
Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.
Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.
This is why we have established Myelearnsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Difference Between Food Allergy and Food Intolerance
Difference between food allergy and food intolerance is significant. When someone has a food allergy, their immune system wrongly sees the food as hostile and the body’s defence mechanism springs into action. This produces a range of symptoms which can vary from mild itching to severe breathing difficulties or even shock. These symptoms usually happen immediately after eating the food. Unfortunately, in extreme cases, food allergy can have fatal consequences.
When someone is intolerant to a food, the immune system is usually not involved. In this case, the symptoms take much longer to develop and are generally not life-threatening. However, food intolerance can adversely affect long-term health.
Are food allergy and intolerance forms of food poisoning?
No. In a case of food poisoning, someone has become ill due to eating food that is contaminated with harmful bacteria or toxins. Contaminated food should not be eaten by anyone. With a food allergy or intolerance, the offending food is safe to eat for the majority of people. However, it triggers an unhealthy reaction in some people. For example, peanuts are nutritious and tasty foods enjoyed by a great many people. However, for someone with a peanut allergy they can be very dangerous.
It is very important that a food hypersensitivity (food allergy, food intolerance or coeliac disease) is diagnosed medically. Self-diagnosis is extremely risky and is not a relevant form of diagnosis. Many of the symptoms associated with these conditions are common to a number of other illnesses. It is important to remember that food poisoning from eating contaminated food, and food aversion where someone just doesn’t like a particular food (but will not be ill if they eat it) are not food hypersensitivities!
If you diagnose yourself, you may cut out of your diet certain foods that are safe and nutritious. At the same time continuing to include foods that may be risky. If you think you have a food hypersensitivity, you need to talk to your General Practitioner.
What happens in an allergic reaction?
Essentially, when the immune system reacts to a food ingredient during an allergic reaction, it triggers the release of chemicals such as histamine from cells in the body. This causes some or all of the following symptoms:
- itching or swelling in the mouth and throat,
- hives anywhere on the body,
- runny nose and eyes,
- reddening of the skin,
- feeling sick,
- diarrhoea and/or vomiting.
If the reaction is severe, other symptoms can occur including:
- a sudden feeling of weakness (caused by a drop in blood pressure),
- breathing problems (your throat might start to swell up or close).
This is an anaphylactic reaction, also known as anaphylactic shock, and is life threatening. It requires immediate treatment by adrenaline injection followed by expert medical assistance. Usually the symptoms happen within seconds or minutes of being exposed to the food but the reaction can be delayed for several hours.
What are the symptoms of an intolerance to a food?
The symptoms of an intolerance to food include those of an upset digestion e.g., diarrhoea, bloating, upset stomach, etc. Weight loss, lethargy or anaemia can occur as well as migraine headaches and psychological effects such as confusion and even depression. However, these usually manifest over longer periods of time as well as a variety of other symptoms that can result from poor nutrition. In some cases the symptoms of a food intolerance resemble those of a mild allergic reaction.
Many of the symptoms of a food intolerance are also associated with other disorders of the digestive system such as Crohn’s Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
What foods cause an allergic reaction?
Although peanut and nut allergies are probably best known due to the many media reports into related fatalities, any food can cause an allergic response in a susceptible person. To date, allergies to over 180 foods have been documented worldwide. Most of these are very rare and some are associated with particular populations or regions of the world. Cod fish allergy is common in Scandinavia, as is rice allergy in China and celery allergy in France. These allergies are less common on the island of Ireland where, like other Western countries, the more frequently encountered allergies include those to peanuts, tree nuts, egg, crustaceans, milk and wheat.
What foods can people be intolerant to?
There is also a wide variety of foods associated with food intolerance. The most frequently encountered in an island of Ireland context include milk (lactose intolerance) and gluten (coeliac disease, wheat intolerance) but also certain food additives such as Monosodium glutamate (MSG).
A person with lactose intolerance cannot digest milk properly (lactose is a milk sugar). Lactose cannot be absorbed by the body resulting in symptoms such as cramps and diarrhoea.
A person with coeliac disease reacts to gluten which is a protein found in foods such as wheat, rye, barley and oats. This results in damage to the gut with effects on nutritional status and general wellbeing.
Some people have reported symptoms such as flushing, temperature increase and headache after eating the flavour enhancer MSG. These symptoms are also known as ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’, related to the fact that MSG is a frequent ingredient in many Chinese dishes.
Other foods to which susceptible people are known to react include red wine, cheese, caffeine and salicylates which are found in certain vegetables, herbs, spices, fruits and chocolate.
Can you be allergic or intolerant to more than one food?
It is possible to have allergies to more than one thing. In addition, it is also possible to be intolerant to certain things and allergic to other things. It all depends on how similar the offending chemicals are in the food or pollen or whatever material you are allergic to. This is called cross-reactivity, so if you have an allergy to a food, you can react to another substance (not necessarily another food) if it contains a protein like the protein that causes your allergy in the first place.
For example:
- Cross-reactivity may result in someone who is allergic to prawns also being allergic to shrimps, crab and lobster.
- Quite often peanut allergic people are also allergic to lupin flour.
- Hen’s egg is cross-reactive with other eggs and cow’s milk is cross-reactive with milk from goats and sheep.
- Someone with a wheat allergy can also be allergic to rye and grass pollen.
- Some cross reactions are less obvious: an allergy to house dust mites may lead to an allergy to shellfish (molluscs and crustaceans) while an allergy to latex rubber increases your risk of becoming allergic to certain fruits and vegetables.
- Those who are allergic to pollen, particularly birch or olive pollen, may develop allergic symptoms when they eat hazelnuts, apples, cherries, pears or carrots.
Find out more here: safefood, or here: The Food Safety Authority of Ireland. In addition, you can learn about safe food handling by completing fully online food safety courses developed by eLearn Safety.
Online Food Safety Training
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie