October 2022 The WELLesley Employee

October Wellness Activity -  Fit Fall '22

_{Submitted by Jen Glover, Human Resources (town)}

An Individual Challenge to stay physically active, and a WSHG Community Competition to gain points as the Town of Wellesley team.

We have 57 participants registered! This is the most of all the West Suburban Health Group communities! Please be sure to log your time daily or weekly. Zero time logged brings down Team Wellesley's average - please don't bring us down!

Now thru November 6th

• Participate in any type of physical activity that will keep you moving.
• Strive towards the individual challenge of averaging 30 minutes of physical activity, 5 times per week.
• Gain points for your team to compete in being one of top 3 community teams.
• Receive weekly information on physical activity.

FIT FALL '22: Log In Link (Please save this link to login)

• Use the pull-down menu (under the exercise tab) to choose the activity that best describes your physical activity. ALL modes of physical activity count for this challenge.
• Record your fitness of at least 10 continuous minutes, with a maximum of 120 minutes per day.
• For the purposes of this challenge, only minutes of physical activity will be recorded. Please note: Your individual minutes will be visible & posted in results.

All participants who reach the goal of averaging 30 minutes of physical activity, 5 times per week (a total of 900 minutes), will be entered into a raffle for REI Gift Cards.

All active team members of the top 3 community teams will be entered into a raffle for Dick’s Sporting Goods Gift Cards.

• All participants who have reached 300 minutes of physical activity by 9 a.m. on Monday, October 10th will be entered into a raffle for Whole Foods Market Gift Cards.

October is National Protect Your Hearing Month

_{Submitted by Michael Carmody Health & Safety Coordinator, Department of Public Works}

Occupational hearing loss is the most common work-related injury in the United States. Approximately 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise levels at work. Without engineering controls or personal hearing protection, chronic exposure to sound 80 decibels (dB) or greater in sound will cause hearing loss. 

Hearing loss, aside from that caused by very loud sounds of 110 dB and higher, is so gradual that most people don’t realize the risk until it’s too late. Unfortunately, many of us enjoy noise: fast cars and motorcycles, jet skis, snowmobiles, pop music concerts, large sporting events, even noisy restaurants. If one has a hereditary predisposition to hearing loss, the effect is compounded.

Hearing loss occurs at the molecular level, the result of damage to tiny hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear that transmit sound patterns to the brain. The bad news is that repeated noise exposure will damage these cells beyond repair. This damage may result in permanent hearing loss or tinnitus, a persistent ringing sound. 

The good news is that we can effectively conserve the hearing ability we have now. A first step is to know where noise is hazardous. In general, sound is potentially damaging if you can’t have conversation without shouting from five feet away. A more reliable screening tool is a noise level meter. A very effective meter is available as an app from NIOSH, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. 

In the workplace, OSHA has set a level of 85 dB as a permissible exposure limit, time-averaged over an 8-hour workday. Elimination, substitution, and engineering controls are the most effective strategies for controlling worker exposure to hazardous noise with PPE such as ear muffs or earplugs, used as a last resort. One unexpected engineering control is the trend toward battery-powered vehicles and equipment, the use of which has the double bonus of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and loud noise.

Out of work, it’s important to keep loud sounds in check. Experts estimate that 50% of Americans listen to music at levels that are hazardous. Though it may crimp our lifestyle, avoiding activities that frequently expose you to loud sounds can make a big difference in preserving your hearing so that you can enjoy pleasant conversations and soft music now, and in the years ahead.

Support is Here For You and Your Family!

_{Submitted by Jen Glover, Human Resources (town)}

All Town of Wellesley employees have two Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) providing assistance, counseling, and mental health help.

October is National Pizza Month

Submitted by Cay Meagher, Select Board Office  

Pizza originates all the way back to the 6^th Century BC, and it’s certainly evolved since then! It appeared in the first version of il talismano della felicita; a well-known Italian cookbook in 1927 featuring tomatoes and mozzarella for the first time. Pizza first popped up in the United States in the 19^th century with the arrival of Italian immigrants and Neapolitan style pizza was introduced to Boston in 1903. Everyone has their favorite chain, local shop, or make your own style, the pizza is always evolving from gourmet to greasy it’s everywhere and loved by all. Go get yourself a slice or more to celebrate pizza month!

Pizza can be healthy, to make your own (with the family) here are a few good recipes: https://www.eatthis.com/healthy-homemade-pizzas/

For those of us on the run, here’s a list of the best healthy frozen pizzas: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-products/g41118642/best-healthy-frozen-pizzas/  

 I suggest Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Trader Joe’s for some yummy treats, but try your regular grocery store and you’ll be surprised what you can find. 

The COA Invites You To....

Healthy Sleep Tips

Click here for WSHG's October Wellness Flyer

COVID-19 Information

Vaccine Info

Updated Quarantine Info

Upcoming Trainings 

Click to see MIIA Training Calendar        

CREATING THE RESPECTFUL WORKPLACE Online October 12th, 2022 12:00pm - 1:00pm

CRISIS MANAGEMENT AWARENESS: TIPS, TECHNIQUES, AND STRATEGIES Online October 20th, 2022 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Did you know that you have access to recorded trainings on a variety of topics through MIIA? If you don't already have a login, you can register here using your Wellesley email: https://www.emiia.org/join

 MIIA's New E-learning Center provides quality training to meet annual requirements and tracks compliance for organization members at no cost to you. Train anytime, anywhere with our vast online library that includes more than 3,000 diverse courses and videos. For instructions on how to register, click here.

Do you have an event or training that you would like to make available to all employees? Please contact Jen Glover jglover@wellesleyma.gov