Kendro, Coopersmith Donate To Schools

Dr Richard Coopersmith, a local chiropractor, and Kendro Laboratory Products of Newtown have donated $400 to the Newtown school district to promote safety in the schools.

The funds were donated to the schools as a result of series of lectures that Dr Coopersmith presented at employee safety meetings at Kendro, a company headquartered on Pecks Lane. Formed by the merger of Heraeus Instruments and Sorvall Products, Kendro employs 1,200 people around the world. Monthly safety programs are held at the Newtown facility, which employs 300 people and produces centrifuges.

Two members of Kendro’s safety committee, Chris Purrone and Sue Mortifoglio, were responsible for recruiting Dr Coopersmith to present four programs on ergonomics. In lieu of payment, Dr Coopersmith suggested that his fee be donated to the schools.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) result when there is a mismatch between the physical capacity of workers and the demands of the job. Each year thousands of workers in the United States report work-related MSDs such as tendinitis, epicondylitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and back injuries. Many of these are caused or aggravated by work related stress such as such as sitting improperly, lifting, reaching, pulling, pushing, and bending. Dr Coopersmith discussed how to avoid such injuries.

Each month the safety programs at Kendro focus on a different theme. This month the theme is chemicals, both at work and at home. July focused on “off-job activities” such as lawn mowing and starting fires at cookouts.

October is fire safety; November, personal protection equipment (for noise control, safety gloves, safety glasses). Each month a safety question is posted at the facility; the employee with the winning answer receives a prize. The contest is one way to keep safety in the minds of employees, explained Deborah Hyatt, a safety committee member who puts a safety-themed bulletin board together each month.