Employer Responsibility and the Cost of Safety

My work in safety management and training exposed me to the realities of protecting employees on the job-site. The safety of employees is the responsibility of the employer. 

Many employees, especially in the low skill areas, have little if any understanding of working safely. I have worked with employees that were obviously great at video games or other less benign endeavors, but had to be trained on how to safely use a power tool as simple as a drill gun or utility knife. 

As an employer, this can cost you significant time/money; just to safely onboard such employees. Nevertheless, under the "General Duty Clause" of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, it is your responsibility. Failure to follow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, can become exponentially more expensive. Providing proper training for new employees is very important and the cost can be viewed as insurance against catastrophe.

Just as a refresher, following is the "General Duty Clause" as provided at Sections 5(a) and 5(b) of the OSH act, as defined at 29 USC 654:

Sec. 5. Duties

(a) Each employer --

(1)

shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees;  

(2)  shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act.

(b) Each employee shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to this Act which are applicable to his own actions and conduct. 

I have underlined the the word recognized, because this implies additional responsibilities of the employer/you. Before we go any further, claiming ignorance of the hazard does not protect you the employer. 

The question then becomes, how are you supposed to recognize hazards in the work-place? Some hazards are easy to identify, while others require a detailed Job Hazard Analysis (JHA). While the JHA process is beyond the scope of this article, suffice it to say it can be time consuming and add more cost to your operation. But read on...

Balancing the cost of providing a safe workplace with the benefits should begin with an assessment of the cost of a serious injury to one of your employees. OSHA provides an "estimator" for providing the potential cost of injuries. Even a simple injury such as a fracture can create difficult to believe costs. The amount of additional sales required to pay for the injury can be high. Of course, if you have the increased sales without the injury, your bottom line gets a positive boost.

The cost estimator can be found at Cost estimator. Background and explanation of how the estimator works is found at Background. 

Considering the risks also should take into account part (b) of the general duty clause. You may think this only applies to the employee. Think again. You the employer also have the responsibility for setting rules, enforcing them, and using appropriate disciplinary action to ensure compliance. 

OSHA does not penalize employees, but if their failure to follow safety rules is ignored, you can be cited and penalized, in the event of an injury. Establish safety rules, enforce the rules, and use your disciplinary process to correct unsafe behavior. Terminating employment of non-conforming personnel, while not the best use of resources, can still be less expensive than ignoring the violations. So long as you use consistent non-biased disciplinary procedures, part (b) provides protection for you in creating and maintaining a safe workplace. 

Like it or not, worker safety is the employer's responsibility. Protecting your bottom line includes building safety into your operations. In the long run, Safety Pays.

For more information, I can be reached at david@postoakenterprises.com.

Working During Retirement

 It has been a very long time since I posted any thoughts. That can be attributed to working full time and still running a small cow/calf operation. Spending time traveling between a simple little home in the country and a suburban home also contributed to time/priority management decisions, not conducive to posting. 

Beginning January 2020, I was abruptly retired from the company where I had worked for over ten years. At 70 years of age, maybe that was necessary to fit corporate strategy. Not my ideal image of employee treatment, but not my call. 

Fortunately the Good Lord had been preparing me for this eventuality for several years. Equipment, infrastructure, training, and good health were all in place at the time I was retired. In the time since my departure, I have realized how well God planned for my situation. 

Potential actions that I did not feel comfortable with earlier, and decided against, proved to be good decisions. Other actions that on the surface seemed impractical, but which I felt led to accomplish anyway, now obviously were great decisions. It was all a matter of timing; more God's than mine. 

I still have the cow calf operation, which is doing okay, even in these trying times with the China Virus and moderate drought. Being retired also has allowed me to get back to gardening on a very small scale. 

A few years ago I did several "Mid-Tex Gardener" YouTube videos concerning gardening. Beginning this autumn here in central Texas, I plan on possibly presenting more videos.  This will depend on what La Nina in the Pacific does to our central Texas climate. 

During my earlier employment, I had qualified as an OSHA authorized trainer for the 10 and 30 hour OSHA General Industry classes. That presents a great opportunity for me to also build a small business providing safety training and consulting. 

Right now under the social distancing mandates in many areas, classroom utilization is not optimum. OSHA is not currently authorizing any more online trainers until after new rules are established. A new system is necessary due to widespread abuse of the online training under the old plan. 

I have never been an advocate for online safety training especially since OSHA requires instructor presence for all parts of on-site training. The participant give and take in the classroom benefits all attendees including the instructor. 

Developing this as a business is ongoing, but the training portion will only become active once the current virus restrictions can safely be lifted. In the interim I am available for onsite consulting and assisting employers safely navigate these difficult seas of additional risks. Otherwise, there is still plenty of work to be done before going live with the entire program.

I have worked on farm and ranch operations and in safety and management functions in manufacturing companies most of my life. Work on a daily basis is so ingrained in my life that selling off all the assets and just retiring, while my wife continues to work in the corporate world until she reaches retirement age; is not appealing. So for now, God willing, working through retirement is the plan. Wishing you all a great day.

New Year 2017

Happy New Year to all of you. It has been about 4 years since my last post here. My apologies for not  maintaining this site.

Life is full, which sometimes limits the amount of time to do all the things we enjoy and want to do. We get wrapped up in the details of each day and in the end, priorities eventually exclude other worthwhile but lower priority activities.

During the past three years I have been fortunate to publish some videos on YouTube from Mid-Tex Gardener, get more involved in ranching and improving my small farm, and gaining CSHO certification. CSHO certification is Certified Safety and Health Official.

I still work at a Central Texas manufacturer as Director of Safety, Health and Sustainability. The emphasis over the last year or two has switched to developing a sorely needed safety culture in the organization. This is still a work in progress and much remains to be done. However, over the last year I have seen improvement and have high hopes for continued improvement.

When I took on the Safety and Compliance role for my employer, I viewed the job as being pushed on me since no one else wanted the challenge. It has been a challenge, but when faced with such situations we can accept the status quo or step up and become a force for good. I chose the latter and did the work, had some small victories, and gained new insight to Industrial Safety and Health compliance.

When we work in an organization that has hazards and safety and health risks facing employees each day, and we recognize those employees as friends and coworkers; their safety and health become very important. That realization has empowered me to overcome adversity and resistance to change, because failure would be devastating for all concerned.

Beginning a new year is a time for optimism and hope. Going into 2017, I have that optimism and hope for another fulfilling year. Dear friends and readers, I wish you the same for 2017.

Beginning a New Year in 2013

Looking back at my blog posts from 2012, I noticed that I started one in January concerning my health and the then recent diagnosis with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. I mentioned in that post the lifestyle change that I was making. Looking back from that point, I am pleased with the changes that have occurred.

Over the year I went from about 225 pounds to 170 pounds, and lost a lot of body (belly) fat. I took up running, bicycling, and weight lifting as ways to further improve my body condition. It has worked. Now running 3-5 miles is something of an everyday activity. The blood sugar is closer to being under control even without drugs. Blood pressure is only affected by work stress, and cholesterol is managed fairly well.

I am very pleased with the improvement in health over the last year. I plan on keeping up the same regimen and maybe participating in a few 5K or 10K runs. I am not doing these things for competitive purposes other than competing with my past performance and improving as I go forward. I know that at some point improvement will no longer be likely and just maintenance will be possible.

At 62 years of age however, I am still able to build muscle and continue to improve endurance. For as long as my body can manage this, I plan on maintaining the activities necessary to continue improvement. In less than a month I will be 63 years of age, Good Lord willing, and hope to stay in good shape.

There are numerous personal goals and projects that I still want to accomplish and have some decisions to make over the next year. Currently, I still work at a corporate job, but the time consumed there conflicts with several other goals. While the income is nice and will allow for other good things, a change will eventually be necessary. This does not mean retirement, but possibly a change in involvement level in the corporate job, or a possible change in careers. I do not see myself not gainfully employed or working in some fashion, over the next several years.

Looking back over the last year, I have been blessed. Many good things and happy experiences have come my way, even if I was too busy to notice every time. Looking forward to the coming year I pray that many more wonderful things will come our way, both personally and for all of my family, friends, and fellow citizens. So to all I wish you a very Happy and Blessed New Year!

Dave

Thoughts for a New Year

The year is quickly coming to an end, and a new year awaits. At one time I looked forward with hope and happy anticipation to a new year. Now after many new years, I see little of new hope. We live in a time of hard lines drawn in the sand and no room for sensible compromise. A time when initiative and hard work are rewarded by big government taking away any gain and redistributing it to the lazy and slothful, or the rich and political elite. 

The country seems to be rushing headlong into an even greater dependency on government to solve their problems, when we really need to slow down and evaluate what brought this nation so far from a few colonies to a world power. At the center of that success was personal initiative and the inalienable right to succeed or to fail while attempting something new and better, all the while working to support and improve oneself. 

Growing up in the post World War II era of the 50’s and 60’s, I began to see a shift away from the “can do” attitude that made this country great, to an attitude of “I want mine, now”. That started the shift away from a willingness to work for success and reward, to waiting on government to rob the working class so that the new class of entitled lazy could benefit from the hard work of others. The early 60’s began a time of transition that has rapidly accelerated, with only a couple pauses of sanity reigning in this headlong rush. Now the age of sensibility and reason, based on earning one’s way to success, is rapidly waning, under the crushing weight of big government, cronyism, and entitlement. 

Politicos on one side want to rob the working class of ever larger percentages of their hard earned incomes, to pay for social programs that reward laziness and a growing part of society that is unwilling to work day after day to succeed. On the other side is a group of stalwarts for the rich and politically connected that are unwilling to require those with greater wealth to pay their fair share. 

When a multi-millionaire running for president pays a lower percentage of taxes than I do on comparatively meager earnings, it is evident that sensibility has fallen by the wayside. The old rhetoric of the rich provide jobs through their investments, and therefore are entitled to receive protection through loopholes in the tax system, is a bald face lie. For several decades now the investments creating jobs, have been supporting the economies of other nations rather than this country.

Conversely, those unwilling to work for their rewards, are becoming even more greedy and expecting equality of resources with those that have worked hard and earned everything they own. The “social programs” forced upon us by the opposite side of the government, have created a huge percentage of government dependent population, unable and unwilling to function, without a handout. 

It is time for some tough love in this country. You want material things, then get a job and earn them. Work hard, smart, and diligently save for the things you treasure. Have pride in working and earning your way through life, rather than sitting around like all the other “victims”, waiting for big government to provide for you from their big coffers, built off the backs, sweat, and toil of the working middle class.

It is time for some tough love in this country. You have been blessed with much and been fortunate to accumulate wealth, then pay your fair share. If your “work” is investing the money you have been blessed with, then show me that you are creating jobs in this country. Show me the ways you have provided benefits to the working middle class of this country, and if they are real then your tax break can be based on that benefit. 

It is time for some tough love in this country. Politicos on both sides of the aisle wake up, listen to the voices of reason and history of a great nation based on personal initiative and earning your way through life. Get your hands out of the pockets of the working middle class, and reach out to your opponents across the aisle, in a spirit of compromise for the good of this country. Ensure the rights of all citizens to earn to their potential are protected, and the rewards of one’s labor are protected from unfair taxation to empower laziness and cronyism.

Jobs in this country and around the world, are provided not by the rich or the lazy, but by the working middle class, who spend their hard earned dollars on goods and services, provided by other working class people. There is truly no free lunch, and the sooner the politicos on both sides of the aisle embrace this thought, and protect the working middle class, through taxation equality and respect for personal initiative and responsibility; the sooner we will begin to provide hope for a strong and prosperous country. Fail to protect the working class and continue to encourage the concept of something for nothing, and the United States will swiftly go the way of much of the European community now teetering on the brink of economic failure.

In this time where so much rhetoric is spewed forth concerning sustainability, we need to also include working class America in the endangered species list along with the loss of sustainability of the world power status of this country. Rewarding personal responsibility, initiative, and diligent labor, with fair retention of the fruits of one’s labor is sustainable. Big government, political cronyism, and the unwillingness to work diligently for what one wants, are not sustainable over the long term. Accept and empower these concepts and the people of this country may yet one day look forward to a happier, sustainable, and more prosperous new year!

© Copyright 2012, by David Posival

Rainy Saturday

A busy day despite the constant light rain. We needed the rain, and it will save watering the yard for awhile. The garden at the old home-place in the country was needing a good rain also. It appears that the garden got a very good soaking.

Did not get out and run or bike today, but spent the time catching up on some reading and writing. After a hectic day of work during the workweek, it is difficult to write well. Today I was able to accomplish that and some other necessary chores. I am planning on running and maybe biking in the morning, since it should stop raining by then.

Wishing all a great rest of the weekend.

Dave

Why Bother with a Garden?

For me, that question prompts many responses. From a sustainability point of view it makes sense to grow as much as possible of our own food. The carbon footprint of the food grown there is much less than food which has been grown half way across the country or in some cases half way around the world. Generally a garden produces more than enough for the family doing the work, so there is excess to give away. That covers the social responsibility aspect of our global citizenship.

When planning a garden, we can include enough output to preserve food for the rest of the year. Once we have learned the proper and safe ways of preserving food, we not only have an ample supply of wholesome food for the off season, but we have the satisfaction of knowing this was something we did with our own hands. 

I mentioned wholesome or healthy food. The healthiness of the food will depend on our treatment of it while growing and once harvested. To preserve it we have to learn the proper methods and ingredients to include. That takes care of food safety. But there is also the matter of preserving and then consuming foods that we preserve such as jams and jellies, with large amounts of sugar, which is not a good thing. 

There are artificial sugar substitutes, but my feeling is that they are worse than sugar due to their synthetic composition. I am not sure that our bodies know quiet how to handle some of the synthetic additives being promoted as healthy in the various media. There are natural sweeteners such as stevia, that do not have the glycemic loading of sugar and other similar products. You might want to investigate this further to see if it will suit your palate. 

Of course there are also endless adulterations to food stuffs through the use of toxic chemicals and genetically modified (GMO) seed. While there is still much debate about the safety of GMO foods, I prefer to err on the side of caution. Not enough independent scientific information is available to prove GMO food safety, especially over a persons lifetime. I try to stay away from such material.

With one’s own garden it is possible to procure non-GMO and even heirloom seeds and plants, many of which are produced organically, and grow healthy crops. I am not a certified organic producer, but that is because I refuse to have the government tell me what is or is not organic. 

I have watched the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), reduce the standards for organic crops, solely to placate one big chemical company or another. My feeling is that if you have to wash something several times before consuming it, after it was treated with a “safe” chemical, then the chemical is not safe. One of my greatest pleasures in the garden is to pick and eat my produce without washing and worry about what chemical(s) I may be ingesting. 

Now other health benefits of raising your own food, might include getting you off the couch and outside.Doing this instead of sitting in the house eating junk food while watching the mindless drivel, which usually is the standard fare on the television, certainly would seem to be a health improvement. Fresh air and sunshine at least for a short time every day can go a long way to helping us feel better physically and better about ourselves. According to some research we need some small amounts of direct sunlight every day to help fight cancer and depression.

The activity, provided we have good enough health initially to do physical work, is great for our bodies and overall health. I know personally that my physical and mental well-being is much improved by physical work and play in the sunshine. The fresh air we breath that is cleansed even more by the presence of trees and a large chemical-free garden, help clear the body of toxics we accumulate each day cooped up in an office or worse yet an industrial facility. Offices and industrial facilities where our exposure to all manner of toxics can be extreme, even with the best controls and regulations in the world, account for so much poor health that it is no wonder that those costs continue to skyrocket and health related lost workdays continue to rise. 

While all of us having gardens will not solve all these problems, having your own garden can go a long way towards helping you improve your life, and well-being. The sense of accomplishment every time you harvest and either prepare and eat or give away something that you grew with your own hands and the help of the Almighty, can by itself be worth the expense and effort of growing your own garden. 

Since I have made some comments above about health and things relating to improving your health, I have to also advise you that any claims or opinions expressed about the healthfulness of any food or activity are purely my own and have not been evaluated by the FDA or any other big-business controlled government bureaucracy. Of course, before embarking on any strenuous activity or work, be sure to check with your health care provider to ensure you can do so safely.

Now that we have that housekeeping chore out of the way, all that remains is to wish you, happy gardening! And remember a great spring garden begins with great preparation in the autumn.

All the best,

Dave

© August 2012 By David Posival, Post Oak Enterprises

Autumn Thoughts - 2012

I have not posted as frequently as I would have liked, because of work and not making a decision on my next great endeavor in life. I intended to work this journal around to the subject of sustainability and simplicity. I have much to learn and do in that area, but have some thoughts to share.

Recently, I revisited some of the writing of Henry David Thoreau on Walden Pond. Even though his assumptions on the speed of inventiveness of the American industrialists was flawed in many respects, his ideas of person freedom and simple life style are attractive to me.

In the “sustainable” world I hear thoughts such as “living sustainably with plenty”, which on the surface sounds nice. Everyone has plenty and yet we are not living beyond the ability of the ecology to continue to produce at a level of plenty forever. Yet the word plenty will mean as many different things as the number of people you as to give it their definition.

Took the plunge yesterday and purchased a tiller to break up some of my old garden area, after several years of neglect. I will blog and even post some short videos on doing a fall garden in South central Texas. If you are from a different climate, please do not be too hasty to judge my methods and reasons for the way I garden.

Next time, I will give some thoughts on why bother with a garden.

My First 10 K Run - A story of small successes

It was not an official 10K event, but this morning I accomplished another goal in my return to health and fitness training. I completed a 10K run (6.2 miles) in 01:19:33. The actual distance based on my iPhone GPS and Pedometer Ultimate App was actually 6.365 miles, which is slightly over a 10K, but I wanted to ensure I had a full workout. Average pace for the run was 12:25 minutes per mile.

I have been training, mostly walking and running at first, for about 5 months. For the first few weeks I did about 30% or less running and about 70% of walking. My initial distances were generally 2 miles or less. Through persistence and listening to my body, over the next few months I worked up to first about a 50%-50% split of running to walking.

Once I reached this point, it slowly became easier to run more than walk. A major goal for me was to run without stopping or walking, for two miles. I accomplished this and then determined that I could possibly complete a 5K (3.1 miles) run, based on my performance improvement. Over several weeks my distance and pace gradually increased to where in February 2012 I ran in the Cowtown Marathon - 5K event. It was an incredible experience and provided a sense of accomplishment, and pride.

During the months since that 5K I have added weight training, body weight/resistance training, and more recently bicycling, to augment the running program. Today's performance has been the focus of training now for a couple of months since I learned of a 10K Wounded Warrior running event in the Irving/ Los Colinas area. It supports our wounded fighting people and reservists called to active duty since 9-11. With today's run I have reached a point in my training where I am seriously considering running in the Wounded Warrior event.

It was physically impossible for me to run 10 kilometers at a pace of 12:25 per mile, or any pace for that matter, the first time I took on the "runner" moniker and laced up the running shoes. I have learned from this experience that success and reaching goals requires a couple of crucial intangibles. The first is setting a realistic goal that provides a great opportunity for success, if one applies himself or herself. Once goals are set or defined, it is necessary to have patience and diligently work toward their being accomplished. For someone like myself, who has little patience, the process involved setting mini-goals or milestones. As each of these were accomplished, it built incentive to continue, and motivation to further success.

The one other necessity for success, is getting started. If I had never taken that first step, there would be no success. Each day I had to make a decision to run, and then I had to start. While I cannot say it was always easy or fun, it became a simple matter of placing one foot ahead of the other, once I made the first step. While I may have changed my plan for the run, because of the message my body was sending, it did not stop the run once I had started.

Please remember dear reader/friends, that what I have said here is not offered as medical advice or personal training direction, but simply my story at this time in my life. Before beginning any exercise program get professional direction from your health care provider and if necessary a qualified trainer.

Health Problems and Getting in Shape

Following is a post I had drafted in January 2012, but neglected to post. Well here it is:

"Recently I was diagnosed with a few medical problems. I had already been on a weight loss regimen of my own, prior to the doctor's diagnosis, but with little sense of urgency. After all the news from the doctor. the sense of urgency grew. The diagnosis of the problems actually was a blessing since it occurred early in the progression of the health issue, and allowed time to begin to get into better physical and mental shape. I realize now that a diagnosis of some health problems, is generally good and can get our attention and allow a change that could extend our lives.

When giving a little more thought to this, I realized that maintaining one's health has a significant connection to sustainability. In just about anything we do our actions have an impact on sustainability. However, with personal health, to me sustainability means living healthy without a lot of inputs. By inputs I mean for the most part, drugs, medications, hospital confinement, etc.

I have for several years used supplements to help maintain my health, and that has probably contributed to  some extent, to not having problems much earlier. Most supplements that I take are primarily organic herb and plant based. However some like the Omega 3 fish oils, come from animal materials, harvested from the ocean. Most of the herbs and plants have a growing cycle of less than three years. The same may not be true for fish.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), created a list of fish oil products that were supposed to be healthy and sustainably harvested. The EDF site indicates that they no longer solicit information from the fish oil manufacturers, but will accept updated information voluntarily submitted by the various companies. The list can be found at this LINK. The brand I use was a "Best Choice" selection. Now I guess the next step is to follow up the same process for other supplements I use.

For more information Google: "how sustainable is fish oil as a supplement", and a whole plethora of additional links will be displayed. Incidentally, I generally trust ".org" sites more than ".com"

Have a great healthy day,

Dave"

Next time, perhaps I will go into exercise as a sustainable method of health maintenance.

It's been a long time.

I have been trying to post to the blog for a few months, but just like all the months before since my last post, higher priority issues seemed to get in the way. I had indicated in an earlier post that I was no longer involved in the copywriting service. I have been very blessed to have moved into a field of work that I believe in very strongly. I am speaking of course, of the field of sustainability. I will not try and provide a definition in this post, but promise to give it some attention in the near future.

For the moment, I just wanted to post a note to inform readers that I will try and make this a more valuable blog in the future. Hopefully this will begin a new and much more interesting discussion area, in the very near future.

Dave

I received an email this afternoon promoting a product that claimed to have triple certification for "fair trade" and other properties. When I followed the link to the website there was no certification mark of any type from any certification entity, let alone any independent third party agency. Having been a subscriber to the well known publication that sponsered the email, I was very disappointed to see them associated with what appears to be "greenwashing". While this will not cause me to cancel my subscription, it likely will result in a letter to the editor and probably a comment to the company.

This lack of attention to detail and not publishing readily and obvious certification verification, is a major reason for the loss of credibility for certified products and green claims in general. Fair trade is an ambiguous term anyway, and to not post a certification logo to substantiate the claims, just adds to the confusion.

I have just setup mobile posts to my blog. This will allow me to post more frequently but in smaller installments. Sustainability is an emerging field with much room for growth. I'm excited to be a part of this brave new world. Thank you for stopping by.

Sustainability Part 2 - Credibility

Looking back, it is difficult to believe that two months have passed since my last post. Well so much for good intentions, and posting frequently. I have had an incredible three months at work. Receiving two more Cradle to Cradle^SM certifications on different product lines, has been rewarding, but also demanding of my time. Three more product lines have been submitted or are currently being completed for submission.

During the last couple of months I have also initiated tests and process evaluations for indoor air quality certifications, with two different certification agencies. One agency is an independent third party certification, while the other is for a second party certification.

In the world of “green” or “sustainablity” certifications there are three different levels. The first is self certification, where you build and test your own products to your own standards or some existing standard. These claims have little credibility and in todays marketplace of skepticism concerning “green” or “sustainability;” products so labeled have little additional market value over their non-sustainable competition.

Second party certifications, or test certifications are those that are made by a testing laboratory or agency certifying that your product, based on a particular test meets a certain standard. This certification means that for the particular product tested, you met whatever standard that was targeted.

Independent third party certifications, are those that not only test your product, to ensure it passed a particular standard, but also evaluated your processes and procedures to ensure that you manufacture your product the way you say you do, and do so the same way each production run. This is the most expensive certification type, but has the most validity. Also independent third party certifications, give greater protection from deceptive advertising claims than either of the two previous types.

As a side note here, any "green" claims made without certifications, based on vague or low standards or without standards, are just marketing hype, and subject to close scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as ‘Greenwashing.” “Greenwashing,” in laypersons terms, is defined as unsubstantiated and deceptive marketing claims, which would lead a person, wishing to make a purchase that is safer for the environment, human health, or is supposedly sustainable, to purchase the bogus product. The FTC has begun cracking down on such marketing practices and will use those they find as deceptive, to make examples of, to the rest of commerce.

The Cradle to Cradle certification mentioned at the outset, is what I consider a sustainability certification. Sustainability, generally is defined as not requiring non-renewable resources for the production of your product. This means that the materials, energy, and even water used in the product or its production process can be reused, recycled, or returned to nature in a state that is harmless and beneficial to the cycle of life.

Sustainability has also begun to include social responsibility, which is a term that will be addressed in later posts. I use the plural here, because social responsibility is a large and very complex subject, and could not be addressed fully in one or even two posts. Social responsibility loosely defined is dealing fairly and transparently with people of all cultures and part of the world where one conducts business.

The indoor air quality certifications referenced above, are within the classification of “green” certifications, but deal more with providing a product that is safe for a particular situation of environment. The indoor air quality certifications I am pursuing will validate our claims that the products meet one or many government, association, or independent assessment body multi-layered standards. In this particular case the products will be certified as meeting indoor air quality standards for use in school classrooms.

My Director of Sustainability role in this process, is selecting and submitting products to certification agencies for testing, evaluation, and certification, so that our marketing claims are valid and represent accurately our product and its production process. This requires providing documentation, handling onsite audits, and collecting, properly packaging, and submitting for testing, production run samples of certification candidate products.

The certification process is only a small part of the job. There are other parts of the business that are so closely allied with sustainability or producing healthy products, that in a company the size of the one, at which I work, the sustainability director will also fill other roles. Some of these additional roles are government regulatory compliance, quality management, employee safety and social responsibility, sustainable practices development and implementation, and waste reduction.

I hope that this brief glimpse into a tiny part, of the world of green products and sustainability has been beneficial and interesting. If you have comments or questions, concerning any of the above, please do not hesitate to post them here.

You may notice that the font used today is different from those in previous posts. This is because I am experimenting with different fonts to find the most easily readable. If you have suggestions on fonts styles and sizes please comment below.

Cradle to Cradle^SM is a service mark of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC)

© 2009, By David Posival. All rights reserved. If you wish to reprint this article on your web-site, please contact me for permission and conditions by email: david@postoakenterprises.com

Sustainability Part 1

While I still do copywriting of a fashion, for my current employer, I have closed my resume and copywriting services for the public, for the moment. I have been presented the opportunity to work on a new facet of American Corporate Culture.

This new growing part of the business, whether corporate, sole-proprietor, or any other type in between the two, is sustainability. This is certainly not a new term or concept, but it has evolved into a more multi-level business paradigm and imperative.

Sustainability’s base connotation, in this blog series, describes morphing from consumerism and cradle-to-grave waste of non-renewable resources, to a systematic process of reclamation, reuse, and recycling. Business people have begun embracing the concept, each with their own particular spin and self-interest based interpretation.

At the outset, let me state for the record that I am not the foremost expert on sustainability, but I do have expertise and thoughts on the subject, and have lived more or less sustainably for a large part of my life. As someone who deals with sustainability each day and sees the difference in ideas and concepts associated with it, I need an outlet for my thoughts and ideas concerning the subject. That is the purpose behind this blog. It is a venue for thoughtful expression of my take on the subject of sustainability.

First, to understand sustainability, it is necessary to define what the term does not include. Sustainability is not just recycling, reusing, and conserving resources, only when it feels good, or is convenient. Sustainability is not a thing, or some abstract philosophical concept.

Sustainability is life, active and vibrant, emanating from all living things and beings, when they follow nature’s design and rules. Under this system, only catastrophic natural events like volcanoes, asteroids striking the earth, or other large scale destructive events, whether regional or global, or perhaps natural evolutionary processes, can disrupt the rhythm and continuance of life.

However, throw destructive human behavior, unbridled human materialism, and consumerism into the process, and the whole system suddenly is no longer able to sustain itself. While the process may take decades to play itself out, and starts slowly, it degenerates into an exponentially growing avalanche of species extinction, deforestation, lost non-renewable resources, possible global warming, and a planet covered with landfills. Base the global economy on an expanding base of consumerism, and the process degenerates explosively.

Over the coming weeks I have several thoughts to put forward for consideration, concerning sustainability. Please add your comments, and topics that you may want to discuss in more detail.

© 2009, By David Posival. All rights reserved. If you wish to reprint this article on your web-site, please contact me for permission and conditions by email: david@postoakenterprises.com

Prepare to Ace the Interview - Part 1

Preparing to ace the interview actually begins when you match your SKA’s (Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities) from your résumé to the requirements of the advertised job. Read each requirement of the job and rate yourself, objectively, by matching your skills. You may benefit from listing or printing out the requirements, and rating yourself as an excellent, good, or poor match. When you are finished, all responses should be either excellent, or good. A poor match in the published job requirements and your SKA’s will probably keep you from acing the interview.

However, you can still present your résumé, since you may be qualified for the job at the same or greater level than any of the other candidates. But now, you really must do well in the interview. Review the requirements that you rated as a poor match to your skills. Determine how you can overcome any objections of the interviewer, to your lack of skills in that particular area. Figure out how you can compensate in another area, while you adapt your skills to their requirements, and be ready to discuss your plan fully.

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© Copyright 2006 by David Posival, all rights reserved.

Off-Shoring: Good for US?

Even though this article pertains to issues outside of résumé writing, I thought it might be food for thought and eventually lead many of us to realization of a better lifestyle, perhaps while contemplating or getting a new résumé. While a great résumé certainly helps you get interviews and potentially a job, it can do little good if no jobs are available, to match your SKA’s (Skills, Knowledge and Abilities). That is what prompted this article.

Reading the latest information on jobs, marketing, managing, and economics, is a part of my day, every day. As a resume writer and copywriter, I feel I have to be knowledgeable in all these areas, as well as others. Each day I receive and review various periodicals dealing with a broad range of these issues. While many of the articles are less than captivating, some rise to excellent levels. This is especially true for an article by Dr. Hans Sennholz, who is an economics educator and writer.

The article by Dr. Sennholz indicates that off shoring jobs or moving them to the lowest cost area of the world is good for all of us. Now like many of you, I lost my job indirectly to off shoring and the economies of scale. So, when the good doctor, said we all benefit, I started looking for a straightjacket for him.

However, most of what he said was accurate so for as economic forces are concerned. What he, like most other proponents of off shoring, failed to give any consideration to was, how to maintain high economic standards for the countries losing the jobs. It is easy to move jobs and facilities, when compared to moving people. So, when jobs leave an area, people become jobless. Lives are destroyed or forever altered. Rapid economic decline can quickly follow.

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Changing Jobs or Growing With the Job

Following is my response to a reader who is struggling with adjusting to a job with high stress levels, and thinking about changing jobs. In this particular case, other opportunities exist which have lower levels of responsibility, but which has the potential for growth.

Part of the concern is supervisory ability and the lack of training for that type job. It is a prime example of the age-old practice of giving an exceptionally good employee a supervisory job, just because they are good at some tasks. Many times no additional training is provided. And the employee, fearing job loss, accepts a job; he/she may not be qualified for, or for which he/she lacks the right personality type.

As is the case in many small companies and even some government jobs, responsibilities are continually dumped on employees who work hard and perform very well. So long as the employee continues to handle the workload, the employer has no reason to hire additional help. Here is my response:

Reading the list of jobs of responsibilities you have at work, I can understand your elevated stress level. In some cases having a large workload can be a blessing when you need things to occupy your mind. However, that changes when you not only have a large workload, but it is also interfering with other parts of your life. Either letting work consume all your waking hours, or putting in hours that preclude your spending time with family, can lead to disaster. This applies to your job, home life, health, and overall effectiveness in dealing with the ups and downs of everyday life.

We always hear that life is too short to work at a job we do not enjoy, but I suspect the majority of the work force falls into that category. Yet, many people have little or no choice, without making major changes in their lives, while others don’t have the faith in their abilities to pursue a change. I guess I have been in both situations and found there are no easy answers. Read entire article here.

Regaining Control - More on How

My last post referenced evaluating several things, but with few guidelines on just how to proceed. The focus of the last post was to provide incentive for hope and regaining control of your job-life when it may seem out of control. Now, this week let’s look at the how, part of the process.

While there are businesses, that provide career counseling, and evaluation services for a fee, you can help yourself by answering some of the following questions, and then evaluating your responses. You may find that using a career counseling service would be beneficial, especially if you begin to discover skills and abilities that are under utilized.

Basically, my recommendation is to interview yourself. Focus on the who, what, when, where and how of your SKA’s (Skills, Knowledge and Abilities), as well as your likes and dislikes. Define who you are, relative to your career aspirations. Define and evaluate your career aspirations, if you are unsure about them.

If you are currently employed, what is it that makes you say, “yes, what a day!” when you leave for the day with a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. If you are unemployed, think back to a day like I just described.

Now consider the deeper reason for your feeling of accomplishment. For example, let’s say that you are supervisor of a team that just exceeded your goals not only for the day, but also for a week. Obviously, you have pride and a sense of accomplishment in exceeding your goals. But, now dig deeper. Is it the praise and admiration of your superiors and peers that prompts this feeling? Or is it a more personal sense of contributing through your leadership. What skills and abilities did you use to drive this accomplishment? Would these same skills and abilities work equally well somewhere else? Is there a way to better utilize these skills and abilities in your current job?

Follow the same process for days when you left work drained and beat but with no sense of accomplishment. What about the days, when you just were there but things seemed to happen whether or not you were involved? How do you feel about each of these situations? If the instances in this last paragraph outnumber the instances in the previous paragraph, can you really be happy in your job? If instances of job satisfaction are few compared to the time of discontent and lack of satisfaction, considering other alternatives might be in order.

While discontent, in many cases can be a good thing, especially when it drives change and improvement; it is not good if you have little or no control over changes. If this is your situation, then consider whether discontent is due to no opportunity or your failure to exploit opportunity. For instance, if your boss basically wants a “yes” person, and you are allowed few opportunities for growth and more responsibility and authority, it is time to update your résumé and seriously consider other options. However, given the current employment climate, a job currently held is worth more than many potential prospects.

One of the options to consider is talking with your boss about changing his/her utilization of your abilities. Obviously, only do this after you have defined and evaluated your skills and accomplishments. But, be honest and understand the mistakes you made and how they may have influenced your current situation. If you feel that your situation is not due to major mistakes, then proceed to discuss your future with your boss.

Remember, any discussion should be objective, and geared towards highlighting the benefits to your boss, for giving you more responsibility. While you may have strong feelings about your lack of opportunity, and value you provide, keep emotions out of the meeting. Present the case for why you should be given this opportunity, by showing your boss how this will benefit her/him. If for instance, you can take some of the drudgework from your boss, and allow him/her to prepare to move up, this can open a door for you to follow in your boss’s footsteps. Under no circumstances issue what could be considered an ultimatum, unless you are prepared to lose your current position immediately.

Listen to what your boss tells you, as you progress through the meeting. Make notes of suggestions for improvement, and any timetable for making changes. If you feel your boss has assessed your contribution inaccurately, express your dissent but do so diplomatically and in a professional manner. Do not get into an argument over the subject. Regardless of the outcome of the meeting, thank your boss for taking the time to discuss your goals and objectives. Assure him/her that you will follow up on suggestions and will be ready to meet in a specified amount of time to review progress toward your mutual goals. Do this even if you are dissatisfied with the results of the meeting and plan on looking for another job.

If you have decided to look for another job, continually strive to exceed your boss’s expectations, while you are at your current job. Give your full attention to performing your job to the best of your ability. When it comes time for references, this can be very helpful. Personally, it will also give you pride in rising above any pettiness, on your boss’s part that may have influenced your decision to leave. And by choosing, to conduct yourself in this manner, you have made a choice that places you in control.

© Copyright 2005 by David Posival

No part of this document is to be construed as personalized advice, but is intended and presented as general education and incentive to self-evaluation, thought, and motivation. Reproductions of this document must include this notice and the following link: http://www.postoakenterprises.com.

Regaining Control

It has been a very long time since my last post. I have to apologize, for the break, but also let you know that being unemployed, means changing priorities on short notice. Hopefully, by taking care of some business over the last few weeks I will be able to return to doing the things that I like and have the greatest potential for success.

Today, I want to briefly address dealing with the stress of being unemployed. If you have a job, that you absolutely hate, you still do not have the stress level you will face, if you lose your job. While in some instances, leaving a terribly stressful job, seems to improve your outlook on life; it will be short-lived, if you do not soon get another job. That is why it is important to make good use of this time.

First, during the time when your outlook has improved, seriously evaluate your options and career choices. What factors in your past jobs were rewarding and uplifting? What factors were stressful, and detracted from your feelings of achievement and pride in your work? Evaluate your skills developed through work or school. Include an evaluation of your abilities and personality as they relate to your career choices.

Once you have completed this self-evaluation, it is time to seriously and objectively look at your options. If your last job was the only kind of work you were qualified for, you have some serious soul searching ahead of you. If you feel that the stress and disagreeable circumstances of your last job were unique to that particular employer, then you may want to pursue the same job somewhere else.

If however, you find that the stress and dissatisfaction of the last job is common in all similar employers, you have only two choices. Either try to find an organization that is better than your last employer, at reducing stressful and demeaning situations, or just take a similar job, with the determination to gain skills, knowledge and abilities that will allow you to soon make a career change. Take it from me; life is way to short to waste it dealing with a job that is anything but fulfilling.

If you find that you have skills, knowledge and abilities not used by your job, it is well worth investigating other career opportunities. There is a publication, you can probably find in your public library, titled "Occupational Outlook Handbook," published by the U.S. Department of Labor. This book lists thousands of jobs and their associated skill requirements. You should also research the “Guide for Occupational Exploration,” which I believe is also published by the Department of Labor.

Take some time and match your skills, knowledge and abilities to jobs you find there. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that you are qualified for many other very rewarding jobs. At the very least, you may find that you only need a little additional education or specialized training to significantly improve your employment opportunities. You can find much of this same information on the Internet at the U.S. Department of Labor website at this link.

During this time, consider seriously furthering your education, if you do not have a degree. Depending on your financial circumstances you may qualify for assistance through various government agencies. Visit with the counseling staff at a local college, to learn more about the financial resources available, for your area. You may be pleasantly surprised, by what you learn. Remember, even an Associate degree will improve your job prospects in many cases.

Lastly, try to develop some interests or hobbies, which will provide stress relief. For instance, when I was going through a particularly stressful time in my career, I found the challenge of water painting, to be so absorbing that I forgot about work and its problems. While you may not have an inclination for watercolors, you may be able to develop some interests like photography, outdoor activities, or even learning new cooking skills. Find something that helps you appreciate life and those around you.

Remember your response to the circumstances in your life, will determine how happy or unhappy, you will be. You will feel like a victim, if you do not take responsibility for what happens in your life. When you make the decisions as to how you will feel in any given situation, you are in charge. It may only be in a minor way, but from the acorn grew the mighty oak.

© Copyright 2005 by David Posival