On the evening of Jan. 18, 2001, an electrician at an oriented strand-board mill in Elkin, N.C., made a poor decision and sacrificed his life for it. Over a decade later, his story is alive and well and hopefully still opening fresh eyes to the hazards of working with electricity.

The workers name was Eddie Adams, and a training video made in his honor shows how his death shook his co-workers and managers (and no doubt his family) to the quick. Its a powerful, gripping 14-minute video that puts a human face on the threat of arc-flash accidents. And since being uploaded to YouTube in September 2012 (by Jim Steele), the video has received more than 172,000 hits.

When I use the word viral in the headline, I admit that the proclamation might seem like a bit of hyperbole especially when you consider that the crap that truly goes viral in our world (and most of it is crap) gets tens of millions upon millions of hits. But in the world of workplace safety, 172,000 hits seems pretty close to viral to me. And the fact that the video has garnered so many views is an aspect of this tragic story thats truly heartwarming.

If by doing the video we can prevent one person from having a tragic event similar to this one, then its been worthwhile, says one mill employee in the video.

Its hard not to feel the emotion as co-workers and managers describe what went wrong on the fateful night of Jan. 18, 2001. Jeffrey Dale Ficket, the mill general manager at the time of the accident, fights back tears as he laments: Someone lost their life for nothing. And I dont want that to happen again, not to anybody not at my facility or anybody elses facility.

Its been said that for safety leaders to truly make an impact, they have to win over the hearts of their constituents. That makes a lot of sense to me. Its not until you feel the importance of safety that youre going to be truly motivated to take the extra steps and the extra precautions to ensure that youre working safely, day after day. (Easier said than done, right?)

When I watch the people in this video reflect upon the arc-flash explosion that killed Eddie Adams, I know that every one of them is a true believer. They may or may not have been passionate about safety before Eddies horrific death, but I can guarantee you that they are now. I can just imagine the gravity with which they approach each and every job task, no matter how seemingly mundane. I can just imagine how they probably think of Eddie either consciously or subconsciously every time they make the decision to follow safe work procedures.

Every time the phone rings now after 9 oclock in the evening, the fear of God runs right through me, Ficket says in the video. Because it could be the same phone call again. Boy, thats a phone call nobody wants to get.

I stumbled upon this video while conducting some research for an upcoming article. The fact that it grabbed my attention and elicited a visceral, emotional reaction in the middle of a busy workday really gets to the heart of the challenge (or opportunity) for safety leaders in their quest to convert associates into true believers.

Let's face it: No one is more passionate about safety than someone who has lost a colleague in a workplace accident. They feel the importance of safety, in their heart and in their gut, just as the people in this video do in the wake of Eddie's death. For safety leaders, the ultimate goal is to get people to experience that same passion about safety before an accident happens. Its about doing everything possible to ensure that employees have an emotional connection to safety. That's why many safety managers remind associates that following safety policies and procedures equals safetly returning home to their loved ones.

See more here:
When Arc-Flash Videos Go Viral

Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop has a new bone to pick with the Ontario College of Trades.

Dunlop, the Progressive Conservative critic for skilled trades and apprenticeship reform, has written to the attorney general of Ontario asking for an independent investigation of the apprentice-to-journeyman ratio review completed by a Ontario College of Trades panel in 2013.

Dunlop said the panels chair, Bernie Fishbein, failed to disclose a 20-year working relationship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union.

The guy that used to be the electrical union lawyer is now the chairman of the ratio-review committee, Dunlop said Tuesday. Its completely not fair.

In Ontario, the first two licensed electricians at each business can each have an apprentice. After that, it moves to a ratio of three journeymen to every one apprentice. To hire a third apprentice, three more journeymen would have to be hired.

Dunlop said, 295 electrical companies in Ontario wrote to the ratio-review panel. The majority asked for a one-to-one ratio, while three supported remaining at three to one.

Dunlop said electricians asked for at least a ratio of one-to-one apprentice to journeyman. Alberta and British Columbia allow two apprentices for every journeyman.

Unions are saying this is a safety issue, he said. Thats completely garbage. There is no substance to that whatsoever.

Dunlop said the panel, chaired by Fishbein, ended up siding with the union.

An electrical contractor has alleged in court documents filed in December 2013 the chair of the Ontario College of Trades ratio-review panel for the electrician trades was in a conflict of interest, Dunlop said.

View post:
Simcoe North MPP irate at ratio-review system

Crime & Punishment of Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Source: Daily Guide

The 25-year-old auto-electrician held in connection with the murder of Rosemond Nyampong at her residence has confessed to committing the horrific crime alone.

Abraham Oyotey Baah admitted to the crime yesterday at the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) Magistrate Court presided over by Mr. Isaac Adjei.

According to information gathered by the Daily Guide, Abraham explained during the trial which was held in camera that he entered the victim's home and pushed Rosemond, 32, who knew him as a neighbour, to the ground, which led to a struggle.

He narrated that he managed to overpower Rosemond and gagged her mouth with a piece of cloth to prevent her from screaming to attract other neighbours.

Abraham earlier claimed he was contracted by a woman, who gave him Rosemond's photograph to kill her, but had since failed to disclose the identity of the said woman.

Chief Inspector Sylvia Okain who held brief for Chief Inspector Cecelia Mensah, the prosecutor handling the case, prayed the court to remand Abraham so the Attorney General's Department would have ample time to give its advice on the docket.

The presiding judge, without wasting much time, ordered that the suspect be remanded in prison instead of police custody, until February,2013.

See the original post here:
Murderer of Stanbic worker confesses to committing crime alone

They are 230,000 strong, yet often seem invisible.

They back the military with critical skills, yet they are frequently forgotten.

Joe Davidson

Joe Davidson writes the Federal Diary, a column about the federal workplace that celebrated its 80th birthday in November 2012. Davidson previously was an assistant city editor at The Washington Post and a Washington and foreign correspondent with The Wall Street Journal, where he covered federal agencies and political campaigns.

Archive

Their collars are blue, which increasingly matches their mood.

The wage-grade employees in the federal government dont get much notice, but this generally quiet group now is making noise.

Employees covered by the Federal Wage System continue to labor in the cold of the three-year freeze on basic pay rates that ended with the calendar year for most workers. The 1percent pay raise provided to their colleagues did not include wage-grade staffers.

These are the governments blue-collar workers.

Wage-grade workers are not covered by the law that allows the president to set a pay raise amount for the much larger General Schedule employees. Generally, Wage System pay increases have been included in appropriations legislation, and that might happen this year, too.

Original post:
Federal Diary: Federal Diary: Blue-collar workers still seeking pay raise

The Electrical Trades Union plans to take the state government to the High Court over amendments to its bikie legislation, which will see some members lose their electrical licences come July.

State Secretary Peter Simpson said members with links to criminal motorcycle gangs had begun to raise concerns with him about their ability to keep doing their job once the amendments to the Electrical Safety Act, passed as part of Criminal Organisations Disruption legislation, comes into effect.

"I've never even been spoken to by the police, but now I am probably going to lose my job? It makes no sense to me

Anyone who has declared their membership to a prescribed club, through words or action, sought to have been a member, or attended one or more meetings or gatherings of people who are members or associates, is in danger of losing their electrical licence or not having it renewed.

No licence means no job.

Advertisement

I have spoken to some ETU members, who are members of the Rebels, members of the Black Uhlans and the Hells Angels and have been for many years," he said.

"And in most cases the people I have spoken to, their families are members as well so they won't be able to renew their electrical licences.

So we have electricians with no criminal record having their honest livelihoods taken off them.

What that is in turn doing is driving them into crime. Imagine being an electrician in a regional area, like a lot of our guys are, working in construction or in the mines.

See the original post:
Electrician bikies to lose jobs by July, gang members or not

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise Imagine you are building a house. You would need a team of specialists, including an architect, a general contractor, carpenters, an electrician, a plumber and many others. Now picture yourself leading an effort to develop a new therapeutic drug or device. For that, youd need a very different kind of specialized team.

The National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has a research program designed to support this team-based approach. NEIs Translational Research Program (TRP) on Therapy for Visual Disorders provides a lead investigator with up to $1.75 million per year for up to five years in order to assemble a multidisciplinary team, and moveor translatepotential new therapies beyond the research lab and into clinical trials.

In addition to bringing together an expert research team, investigators can use funding from the TRP to recruit experts on navigating the drug and device approval process overseen by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They can also use TRP funds to seek help in patenting new therapies. These steps are no less essential than lab work for bringing new therapies to patients.

The program enables investigators to assemble multidisciplinary teams that can tackle scientific, technical, and regulatory issues that are beyond the capabilities of any single research group, said Neeraj Agarwal, Ph.D., who oversees programs in research training and workforce development at NEI. The TRP began in 2000, and has funded one or two projects each year since.

Eyeing new drugs for retinal diseases

Krzysztof Palczewski, Ph.D., professor and chair of the pharmacology department at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, received a grant (EY021126) through the TRP in 2010. His goal is to develop new drugs for diseases that damage the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.

Vision begins with cells inside the retina called photoreceptors. Chemicals called retinoids, which are derived from vitamin A, play a key role inside these cells. One type of retinoid, when combined with a protein called opsin, acts as a light-sensitive switch, converting light into electrical signals that are ultimately sent from the photoreceptors to the brain.

Unfortunately, the supply of retinoids is limited and they need to be recycled. Moreover, the recycling process isnt 100 percent efficient. Dr. Palczewski has found that it can lead to the formation of a toxic byproduct called all-trans-retinal (atRAL), which may contribute to some diseases of the retina, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and Stargardt disease. AMD is a leading cause of vision loss among people age 50 and older. Stargardt disease is a rare genetic disease that begins in childhood but has some similarities to AMD.

See more here:
Translational Research Through Teamwork

Children who already had the condition have seen improvements in their intelligence levels and muscle strength after receiving the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) with the office's assistance.

Five years ago, it was discovered that 20 children in the tambon had been born with the condition due to the lack of iodine-relevant foods. The NHSO responded with its pilot programme, together with help from the TSH provision project. The condition was eradicated and the general condition of the children improved, said Amnuay Intharathirat, head of Na Phoo Tambon Administrative Organisation in Udon Thani's Phen district.

Under a joint assistance scheme with Kasetsart University and the Department of Medical Sciences, local chicken farms have been provided with cheap enhanced feed that enriches eggs with iodine. The average daily cost of the feed is only Bt1 per hen and provides each household with four eggs to eat each day.

The project manager at Naphoo Hospital, Pannawit Suphaphote, said families were now being supplied with five hens, which ensured that all members, including newborns, children and pregnant women, had sufficient supplies of iodine-enriched eggs to prevent the condition and other iodine deficiency disorders.

The hens also bring in extra income gained through the sale of leftover eggs - of around Bt400 per month.

In the year since this scheme began, no new child victims with the condition have emerged, while older people supplied with the iodine-enriched eggs are showing signs of improvement in their health.

Apart from the chicken feed, the scheme promotes hydroponics that grow minerals-added vegetables for all households in the tambon.

Pannawit said the 12,513-strong tambon, where this NHSO-assisted scheme was commenced as a pilot project, now reports no IDD cases, Some 150 pregnant women, 112 others who are breastfeeding, and 835 children aged up to 15 years are provided with at least three iodine-enriched eggs a week, thanks to the NHSO initiative and subsequent funding of around Bt125,000.

Ten-year-old Thanadol Nissakul said his home raised 10 hens fed with enhanced feed, which produced up to five iodine-enriched eggs each day. The fourth grader said he loved egg-based meals on the menu and earned extra money selling leftover eggs at Bt5 apiece.

Electrician Prawes Butkaew said he raised around 100 eggs each month, sufficient for three young children and made extra money selling the leftovers.

Read this article:
Iodine-enriched eggs wipe out illness in Udon Thani babies

There is a glint in 25-year-old Rana Hashims eye. It seems like just yesterday when he lost his employment as a rider at a small company that downsized. It seems like just yesterday when he was picking odd jobs as a plumber and electrician to scrape through for his parents, wife and child. It seems like just yesterday when his wife was selling her jewellery collection to fund his admission and transport expenses. It seems like just yesterday when life was becoming a chore.

But not today.

Today, Rana Hashim is not simply a proud alumnus of Aman Tech, a large-scale vocational training institute established by the Aman Foundation in Karachis Korangi Industrial Area. He has also just received an offer of employment from a company in Bahrain as an air-conditioning and refrigeration technician. Life is about to take-off, and he couldnt be grateful enough for his Aman Tech experience.

Sprawling over six acres, Aman Tech has six fully equipped computer labs, a library, 18 workshops and a students breakout area. Groups of students gather around work tables on spotless floors and amidst hydraulic floor jacks, elaborate arrays of tools and instruments mounted on slick slat walls, simulator car engines, air compressors and all the nifty gizmos that make it a dream lab where a young man can play real life Lego.

In sharp contrast to greasy auto workshops, makeshift garages and dingy, badly-lit shops where an apprentice learns from a master, the Aman Tech premises are bright, air-conditioned and state-of-the-art yet simple. The institute imparts vocational training in disciplines as varied and specialised as automobiles, general electric, mechanical, refrigeration and air-conditioning, welding, fabrication, pipe work, plumbing and electronics.

After a year, students are ready to take on challenges at the highest levels and all this at a nominal fee. The only admission pre-requisite is matriculation or even below. Aman Tech has already improved the lives of over 1,000 young men by providing them job options; some 3,000 are presently under training.

Ranas big break came soon after graduating with flying colours, as he proudly tells me. A team of foreign recruiters had come to interview refrigeration and air-conditioning graduates, and Rana was one of the 25 graduates short-listed for an interview. Since he had been working on his English language skills, he aced the round. Im doing all of this for my little one. Shortly after that, he received his offer letter.

Like Rana Hashim, Waqar also discovered Aman Tech through friends recommendation. He enrolled in automobile training pursuing a passion that he held since childhood. When they were younger, Waqars over-protective father would not allow his siblings and him to go out much. Waqar would fuel his passion for cars by creating toy models from matchboxes. He started working with real cars at a workshop that paid him nothing and went from job to job, including fast food restaurants. Even in the 21st century, people frown upon blue-collar work, he says.

Presently Waqar works in the day at Honda Motors, does an evening shift at a fast food chain and sleeps only three hours a night. This way he gets to do what he likes, as well as take a decent pay packet home. What I learnt at Aman Tech cannot be compared to the hands-on experience you get by fixing cars in a workshop, but it gives you focus and an internationally recognised diploma, says Waqar.

Rana Hashim and Waqar are just two of the hundreds that advocate Aman Techs cause: to create a growing force of skilled workers, with a positive mind-set and a strong work ethic.

Read more from the original source:
License to skill - DAWN.COM

MARQUETTE - Marquette native Justin Florek has been called up on an emergency basis to the NHL's Boston Bruins from the AHL's Providence Bruins and will be available for Boston's 1 p.m. game today against the Winnipeg Jets.

The move was announced by Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli on Saturday morning.

Florek, who will wear No. 57 for Boston, is a former Northern Michigan University captain and Marquette Electrician Midget AAA player. At 23 years old, this is his first NHL call up since turning professional in the spring of 2012.

Boston Bruins forward Justin Florek (57) races down the ice past Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom, of Sweden, in the first period of a preseason NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013, in Baltimore. (AP File Photo/Patrick Semansky)

In 34 games with Providence this season, Florek has nine goals and 11 assist. His plus-11 rating is second on the AHL club. In 113 AHL games, he has 22 goals and 29 assists with a plus-26 rating.

Florek was selected in the fifth round, No. 135 overall, by the Bruins in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

See the original post here:
Local Sports

VOL. 7 | NO. 2 | Saturday, January 04, 2014

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant capped a busy 2013 on the economic development front with a New Years Eve announcement of a $200 million silicon metal plant near Corinth.

The Mississippi Silicon plant will employ 200 when completed in the town of Burnsville, 100 miles southeast of Memphis. The metal made there will be used in chemical, aluminum and automotive plants.

Mississippi Silicon is a company formed by Investor Clean Tech I LLC and Rima Holdings USA Inc.

Mississippi is providing financing through a state revolving fund for building construction and workforce training. The state is also using new market tax credits. Additional incentives are being provided by Tishomingo County government and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Just before the Mississippi Silicon announcement, Bryants office tallied $1 billion in new investment in the state during 2013 and the creation of 6,265 new jobs.

That compares to $455.5 million in new investment in Mississippi in 2012 and the creation of 2,664 new jobs.

Announcements in 2013 included a $140-million Feuer Powertrain plant in Tunica that will create 300 new jobs; executives of the German-based company broke ground for the plant this past September.

In May, the Danish company Roxul Inc. broke ground on a $160-million plant near Byhalia in Marshall Countys Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park at the Tennessee state line. The Mississippi plant is the first U.S. plant by the company that makes rockwool insulation.

Earlier in December, Aluma-Form Inc., which makes overhead electric utility products, began construction of a $6.7 million plant in a Walnut industrial park. The new plant for the company, which was founded in Memphis in 1961, will create 125 new jobs.

Originally posted here:
Tenn. Prevailing Wage Law Rescinded as of Jan. 1