Never Forget It Could Happen

Most of us walk around oblivious to potential dangers around us, conveniently putting out of mind the possibility that something or somebody very dangerous could be "invisible", but very close to us or one of our family members or a friend

A current news story on our local television station (CTV) here in Vancouver illustrates this. According to the story a group of friends were walking through a local Vancouver area park when one of them, a teenaged girl about 15 or 16 years old, fell behind her friends and was suddenly attacked by a youth or young man with a baseball bat who jumped out of the bushes.

He beat the young lady so severely that she later died of her injuries in the hospital.

Although it is unclear exactly why the young lady fell behind her friends on the park path and we would make ourselves paranoid wrecks if we all walked around like we were members of some historic Spark military phalanx while we are going about our business, social, or recreational activities what happened is a reminder that we DO NEED to stay aware of the possibility of the unexpected happening on such occasions.

This is true even if we or our friends have never been mugged or attacked – or become the victim of an accident before. It takes only once to cause us a lot of grief.

Break Insurmountable Problems Down

 

If you found yourself trapped on a mountain peak in frigid temperatures wearing only a sweater and shorts with possible rescue 8 hours away how would you survive?

That is exactly the dilemma Professor Denis Shackel found himself after his brother in law slipped and died on a New Zealand mountain peak according Wallace Immen in his feature When a Challenge Seems Too Big Break It Down in the June 10, Globe and Mail.

Immen writes that Professor Shackel decided that the only way he was going to survive the eight hour overnight wait in minus 30 degree temperatures was to break the problem down into five second internals while keep a clear vision of being alive watching the sun come up the next morning.

He started counting to five between each icy breath while keeping his long-range goal of seeing that morning sun clearly in his mind. Eight hours later the helicopter rescue crew took him off the mountain alive.

Shackel believes you can protect yourself from failure while working to reach any goal by breaking it down into smaller parts like this and is now teaching success techniques to others using his experience as an illustration

More information about Schakel and his program can be found in the Friday, June 4, 2010 edition of the Globe and Mail in the Careers section.

What Type of Security Program Should You Set Up

 

Creating the most effective security program for your business can be a little trick especially if you do not have a huge security budget. There are a fair number of options you can choose from including:

• Stationary or Static Guards
  
• Site Patrol Guards
  
• Multi-Site Patrol Guards
  
• Bicycle Patrol Guards
  
• Loss Prevention Officers
  
• Personnel Escort Specialists
  
• VIP Bodyguards
  

  
   

• Alarm Systems
  
• Security Camera Systems
  
• Electronic Access Control Systems
  

You can of course use any one of these systems alone or in combination to create a tight security system. The key is to start with an effective site assessment done by your in-house security manager or by a contract security company looking into the past and current problems you have encountered in protecting your property as well your employees and customers while on your property.

If you have decided to work with a contract security company or company that installs alarm or camera systems have at least three different companies provide you with a detailed site assessment including information about how they would go about meeting these needs.

Consider all our options carefully. Should you use a security officer? Should you use a combination of physical security officers and alarm and camera systems? Or should you rely on an alarm or camera system that is monitored by the police or a alarm or camera monitoring company that would contact the police or other emergency services directly in the event of an emergency – eliminating the need for any security guards at all? All of these things are things you have to consider carefully.

Then before you sign any contracts make sure you do a diligent background check on the security company you are interested in. Asking probing questions not only about what type of security the company can provide but also how they treat people. Ask to speak with current clients. Ask about working conditions in the security agency. And also check with any employee labour standards boards or see if there are any employee grievances against the security company.

Guards who have to work long hours to just barely survive financially or work under sub-standard working conditions (Both of these things are more common than you might imagine.) are more prone to cause more problems than they solve.

There are many excellent security industry companies out there who have top flight people working for them – but you have to look. And while you naturally want to keep costs down don't always look for the lowest bidder.

 

 

 

Is Your Family Being Poisoned?

 

Many of us – especially young children whose central nervous systems are still developing -- are being poisoned by lead in products as well as our atmosphere and in many cases the homes we live in – often ignorant to the dangers around us – mislead by earlier information about safe levels of exposure to lead.

The latest research shows that some exposure levels once considered safe can actually cause a wide range of problems such as:

• Attention Deficit Disorder
  
• Other Behavioral Problems
  
• Stunted Growth
  
• Impaired Hearing Problems
  
• Kidney Problems
  

Young children, are especially vulnerable to such things because according to the National Safety Council in the United States they absorb up to 50 percent of the lead they ingest while adults absorb only 10 to 15 per cent. But everyone is vulnerable: While the brain and nervous of a fetus in the mother's womb and young children might suffer the most older people can almost suffer from things like nerve disorders, muscle and joint pain or problems with memory and concentration as a result of on-going lead exposure.

For everyone things to avoid if possible include the following:

• Earthenware glazed with lead finishing
  
• Lead from gasoline (in at least 100 countries according to the WHO)
  
• Lead based paint. Even particles from flaking paint or the dust from paint during removal of paint can be extremely hazardous. And lead paint contamination involves some 40 per cent of the homes even in the United States.
  
• Lead from oil water pipes in homes. You should lead water run for at least 60 seconds before drinking water if you live in an older home with lead pipes according to the Mayo Clinic in the U.S.
  

Remember that ingesting large amounts of lead can kill quickly – especially with young children who often put highly contaminated toys and other items in their mouths , but the long term build up of lead in adults' bodies can also have disastrous consequences. These levels will go down, thankfully once the source of the lead contamination is removed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protect Your Business from Bogus Sick Claims

Bogus sick claims infect the business world and must cost business owners many millions of dollars just throughout North America and Europe if one person I know of who books sick every time he needs extra time to look after personal family chores crops up is any example and he definitely seems to be from the information published in the July 17, 2010 issue of the Vancouver Sun. Fortunately there are ways that business people can fight this according to the reporter, Howard Levitt.

What he suggests in his feature is that employers resort to tactics used by automobile insurers and government agencies such as Work Safe BC which compensate people with workplace related injuries or illnesses . That of course is video surveillance.

Of course you want to make sure such activity is legal in your part of the world in most areas of North America it is perfectly legal to take pictures or videos of people with their permission – so long as those pictures are not going to appear in some magazine for your personal financial gain. Companies and government agencies such as a workers compensation board do this all the time to expose fraudulent claims. And such video evidence, as the discretion of the Court, can even be used in legal proceedings.

In order to protect yourself, however, as the employer there are a few things you want to do to protect yourself when doing this. First, as Levitt points out it is a good idea to have an employment policy in place to makes it very clear that any sick claims must be backed up by solid medical evidence that will be examined by the company's own doctor and that any suspicion of fraudulent claims will be investigated.

Second, if you do resort to using video surveillance (It might be a good idea to hire a private investigator for this.) make sure that you have a qualified and certified health care practitioners examine any video evidence to make sure that it does expose activity that the employee should not be capable of with sick claims he or she has made. The last thing you want to do is use any video evidence gather to deprive honest employees of sick day compensation they need and deserve.





Want to Learn More About Bible Science? clock on: www.biblescience.blogspot.com  

Just Because It Never Happens Doesn't Mean It Never Will

 

The other day my wife intercepted two very pretty young girls on their way to a rather isolated park near our house to play. When my wife sent them back to their mother with the warning that it was too dangerous they retorted, " Our mother lets us go there by ourselves – all the time – and nothing ever happens to us!"

That was echoed by their mother herself who came down at first very indignant at what she perceived as unwarranted meddling in her affairs. It was only when my wife refused to apologize and warned the women that just because nothing ever happens to her young children it doesn't matter it never will that she took her children back home.

This woman's overconfidence is not an isolated case and it all too frequently ends up with tragic results in many of our activities such as when:

• People get killed in vehicle accidents after they have run a yellow or red light because they have done it many times before and nothing ever happened.
  
• A policeman gets killed from a bullet shot through a door because nothing has ever happened before when he got careless and stood right in the centre of the doorway.
  
• A young women disappears while jogging through an isolated park trail by herself – which she has done many times before.
  
• A man walking along the sidewalk is gunned down by two men in a black car – that he has seen passing – many times before.
  
• A young woman is attacked and raped by a man she met in a night club she has met many times before and always seemed so sweet and warm.
  
• A trainer at one of the Seal World centres in the United States in dragged under the water and drowned by a killer whale -- she has worked with many times before.
  

You could go one with many other examples of this type of thing because we do it all the time – that is believe that because we have done something many times before that has the potential to be very dangerous but nothing ever happens – nothing ever will.

We do it because we get careless or take our safety for granted and it can have tragic consequences. When we do things we know we should not do but take the chance anyway.

A very good example of this type of thinking and the consequences is the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Somebody shut down an alarm system – because it wake the crew unnecessarily if it should go off.

Some are trying to say they don't know for sure if that action cost any lives but at the same time there is a good possibility it did. And what was the rationale behind that? Was it because they had done that many times before – and nothing ever happened?

Who knows! People who do these types of things are playing Russian roulette with their own or other peoples' lives. It is a dangerous and often tragic way to live.

Protect Yourself from Fraud Artists and Identity Thieves

    Some of the cleverest minds in the world are busy devising schemes to separate you from your money, banking information or even your personal identity – which could result in you being held responsible for debts you never ran up -- or even crimes you never committed.

To protect yourself from such things be extra careful not just with your money but also with all types of personal identity such as:

• Personal papers
  
• Bank statements
  
• Cheque books
  
• Driver's licenses
  
• Social Insurance cards or other government identify cards
  

Rarely provide information from such cards on the internet. Some supposedly secure sites might tempt you to make exceptions but be careful. Also be careful when providing such information in person. The only time should be when you are buying something or are legally required to do so.

In addition to being extra cautious at these times don't fall into the habit of throwing old statements or other forms containing confidential information into dumpsters or garbage bins behind stores or office buildings. Information thieves, even some private many private investigators, are very skilled "dumpster divers", able to piece an entire history about you or your from documents that you forgot to shred before discarding them.