The First Facility Management Blog

Fast Company has compiled a list of 25 top jobs, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For a look at the list, click here.

P.S.–Facility management didn’t make the cut, but some other interesting affiliated professions did.

In one of the most talked about business collapses in American history, Enron’s former top brass, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, are finally getting to defend themselves in front of “a jury of their peers.” The Enron meltdown culminated in a 2001 collapse of the company that put thousands of people out of work and nullified retirement savings accounts for many.

Despite requesting a change of venue, both defendants expressed satisfaction with jury selection that took place yesterday in Houston. The judge in the case actually selected the 16 candidates himself without giving lawyers for the defendants an opportunity to question them. Candidates had been prescreened through a survey designed to weed out those who expressed bias.

The case, which was called “one of the most important ever tried,” according to the judge, is expected to last approximately four months.

In Goleta, CA, authorities are still deciphering the details in another tragic case where an ex-employee expresses dissatisfaction and anger in the form of violence. This time, the setting was a 24-hour postal sorting facility, and the former employee was a woman. More than 50 people were working inside the facility at the time of the shooting.

More coverage to follow on this late breaking story.

For TFM’s past coverage of this topic, see “Is It Safe?” in the archives.

This story should make any facility manager for a museum gasp in disbelief and horror.

In Cambridge, England, a museum visitor tripped on his own shoelace and shattered three valuable Chinese vases from the Qing dynasty. For the full story, see the following link.

Fast Company ran “Death to the Cubicle” last June (2005), and it has since been posted on the Fast Company Blog. An amusing piece to start out with, the story by Linda Tischler is only made better by the additional posts at the end of the original piece. Read the whole exchange here.

In the aftermath of the Ford’s announcement that it will cut 30,000 jobs in North America and close 14 plants, staff at the Dearborn truck plant are being strongly advised to drive Ford vehicles…or ELSE! Specifically, new company policy at the plant will exclude non-Ford drivers from the plant’s parking lot, a plan put in place by Plant Manager Rob Webber.

The plan goes in place this Wednesday, February 1. So far, there has been no move to institute the policy at other Ford plants.

To read more about the policy, see the following link.

Today’s Friday Funny comes from the Lots of Jokes Web site.

This quiz consists of four questions that tells you whether or not you are qualified to be a professional. SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ANSWERS. There is no need to cheat. The questions are not that difficult. You just need to think like a professional.

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. This question tests whether or not you are doing simple things in a complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Incorrect answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the door.
Correct answer: Open the refrigerator, take out of the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This question tests your foresight.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct answer: The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator! This tests if you are capable of comprehensive thinking. OK, if you did not answer the last three questions correctly, this one may be your last chance to test your qualifications to be a professional.

4. There is a river that is known to have many crocodiles in it. How do you cross it?

Correct Answer: Simply swim across it. All the crocodiles are attending the animal meeting!

That completes the test!

This question tests your reasoning ability. So…

* If you answered four out of four questions correctly, you’re a true professional. Wealth awaits you.
* If you answered three out of four, you have some catching up to do but there’s hope for you.
* If you answered two out of four, consider a career as a hamburger flipper in a fast food joint.
* If you answered one out of four, try selling your organs. It’s the only way you will ever make any money.
* If you answered none correctly, consider a career that does not require any higher mental functions at all, such as management, politics, law or medicine.

The State of Hawaii is launching a comprehensive and integrated approach to reducing oil dependence, Republican Governor Linda Lingle’s “Energy for Tomorrow” bill. Energy is not a partisan issue; majority Democrats offered their own energy package containing similar themes. In the absence of federal leadership, however, states will be the laboratories for change and policy innovation on energy, with Hawaii poised to be in the forefront of state leadership.

The Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) 2004 study, Winning the Oil Endgame, detailed a comprehensive list of policy actions that would accelerate society’s adoption of efficient technologies and biofuels and move America into a post-oil era. The Governor’s “Energy for Tomorrow” bill is a comprehensive energy policy package that incorporates many of RMI’s policy recommendations and has the potential to transform Hawaii—the most oil-dependent state in the nation and the one with the highest energy costs—into a state that will lead the nation with a low-cost, sustainable, locally produced, and secure energy system.

“This bill embraces Winning the Oil Endgame’s strategy to reduce oil dependence through efficiency, renewables, and biofuels while strengthening the economy through agricultural revitalization,” said Kyle Datta, RMI senior director of research & consulting, who coauthored the report. “We knew that energy leadership had to come from the state level, but Hawaii, with the highest energy prices, a 90% dependence on oil for energy, and few traditional energy options, could become a test lab for redesigning our entire nation’s energy architecture on a state-by-state basis.”

According to Datta, who has worked on dozens of energy policy initiatives and efficiency projects in Hawaii, the state has never seen such a broad-ranging and comprehensive suite of policies aimed at ending the state’s addiction to oil. The increase in oil prices since 2002, has, he said, cost the state over $1 billion and increased energy expenses by approximately $1,850 per household.

While Hawaii has no fossil fuel resources, it has the full portfolio of renewable energy resources. RMI will be working with the State of Hawaii to provide the energy strategy and implementation plan to wean the state off its oil addiction.

Innovative Policies
The “Energy for Tomorrow” bill establishes a bold and strategic energy policy framework of measures to encourage and support market-based development of reliable, cost-effective, and self-reliant energy systems. The bill’s five major components include:
o “Savings through Efficiency,”
o “Independence through Renewable Energy,”
o “Fuels through Farming,”
o “Security through Technology,” and
o “Empowering Hawaii’s Consumers.”

Four of the bill’s elements stand out as important innovations of national significance.

First, “Savings through Efficiency” calls for the creation of a Public Benefits Charge that will be used directly to fund efficiency and distributed renewable energy through an independent third party. The approach is based on the State of Vermont’s efficiency utility, Efficiency Vermont, which was created to implement energy efficiency services and programs in an unbiased, independent, rigorously accountable, and evenly applied manner. Today, Efficiency Vermont has achieved twice the national average in energy savings of other states’ efficiency programs, while Hawaii currently achieves roughly half the national average.

Second, “Independence through Renewable Energy” contains provisions that strengthen Hawaii’s renewable portfolio standard, setting it at 20% and explicitly tasking the Public Utilities’ Commission with defining a methodology for valuing the long run benefits of renewable power in reducing fossil fuel risk. The bill also calls for sharing the fossil fuel risk between the utility and its ratepayers.

Third, the centerpiece of “Fuels through Farmings” is a 20% Renewable Fuels Standard backed with exemptions from the state fuels excise tax and state preferences for biofuels procurement.

Finally, this energy bill, Datta noted, could lead the 50th state to become a world leader in hydrogen energy technology. It calls for the immediate establishment of a world-class renewable hydrogen program.

The Democratic majority package mirrors the call for state leadership in energy efficiency by requiring LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver certification and providing significant funding for energy efficiency in state buildings and photovoltaics in schools. The critical innovation is the Pay As You Save (PAYS) pilot program that provides a revolving fund to finance solar water heating for low-income residents that is paid back through energy savings.

This bill, Datta noted, would be good for Hawaiians, good the environment, and good for business. Implementation of all the conservation, renewable energy, and alternative transportation fuels components of this package, he said, are expected by the year 2020 to displace 110.5 million barrels of imported crude oil, saving Hawaii’s consumers $6.32 billion and avoiding 48.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

The Energy for Tomorrow bill also points the way to the development of the Hawaiian biofuels industry and robust agricultural sector. A 2003 study by Stillwater Associates projected that Hawaii has a ethanol industry capable of producing 90 million gallons a year, which “could add as much as $300 million to Hawaii’s economy in direct and indirect value.” RMI’s Winning the Oil Endgame estimated that moving the United States off oil could stimulate a 750,000-job biofuels industry worth tens of billions of dollars.

“This really represents sweeping change for Hawaii, and it’s an affirmation of the hard work we put into Winning the Oil Endgame,” said Datta. “Our energy future is choice, not fate. This bill means Hawaii will define its energy destiny. RMI is committed to working with the State of Hawaii to develop and implement a forward looking energy strategy.”

What should your workplace do to prepare for a possible flu pandemic? Keep informed, develop a plan, and implement public health programs are some of the tips offered to businesses by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Healthcare Practice Specialty group.

Many occupational safety, health, and environmental practitioners on the front lines of protecting workers have expressed concern over outbreaks of bird/avian flu. The Healthcare Practice Specialty notes that a pandemic is a global disease outbreak; an influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza A virus emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population and spreads easily from person-to-person worldwide. Recently, a virulent strain of the bird/avian flu, also known as H5N1, spread from Asia to Europe. The virus can infect humans as well as birds and can cause serious disease and death.

“In the past, flu pandemics have led to thousands of deaths in the U.S.,” ASSE President Jack H. Dobson, Jr., CSP, said. “This information could help in controlling the spread of a possible flu outbreak.”

Three strains of flu are most commonly discussed. The first form is seasonal flu, which happens every year in the U.S. and kills about 36,000 people annually. The second strain is bird flu or avian influenza, H5N1, which occurs among birds. However, in 1997, a lethal strain of H5N1 appeared among humans in Hong Kong hospitalizing 18 people and killing six people, according to officials. The victims had had close contact with poultry. As of December 2005, the H5N1 bird flu strain had only been transmitted from birds to humans, according to officials, who also note that there have been no reported cases of H5N1 passing from one person to another. The third form is pandemic flu. The H5N1 bird flu strain in Asia is causing concern about the possibility of a pandemic. If and when the H5N1 bird flu strain mutates to an H5N1 human pandemic strain, it could spread rapidly around the world within several weeks to months, according to officials.

From a workplace standpoint, avian flu may be more threatening to employees of poultry farms, other farm workers, and animal handlers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Guidance for Protecting Workers Against Avian Flu, it is these workers who are most likely to recognize an infected bird or animal.

The avian flu can be transmitted in many ways. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes “In an agricultural setting, animal manure containing influenza virus can contaminate dust and soil, causing infection when the contaminated dust is inhaled. Contaminated farm equipment, feed, cages, or shoes can carry the virus from farm to farm. The virus can also be carried on the bodies and feet of animals, such as rodents. The virus can survive, at cool temperatures, in contaminated manure for at least three months.

Dobson notes there are ways the infection can be controlled on farms, including the quarantining of infected farms and destruction of infected or potentially exposed flocks. However, avian influenza viruses are readily transmitted from farm to farm by mechanical means, such as by contaminated equipment, vehicles, feed, cages, shoes, and clothing.

There currently is no commercially available vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus that is being seen in Asia and Europe. However, research studies to test a vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus began in April 2005, and a series of clinical trials is under way.

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, workplaces and individuals should:

• Develop and implement preparedness plans as one would for other public health emergencies;
• Participate and promote state and community public health efforts and implement prevention and control actions recommended by public health officials and providers who can supply information about the signs and symptoms of a specific disease outbreak and to communicate this information with employees;
• Participate in influenza vaccination programs annually, especially if at a high risk to acquire influenza infections;
• Participate in annual health promotion programs to prevent airborne, blood borne, waterborne, food borne and contact types of diseases and infections if you are a healthcare worker, school teacher, work in protecting public safety, prison population and an emergency responder;
• Adopt business and school practices that encourage sick employees/students to stay home;
• Anticipate how to function with a significant portion of the workforce/school population absent due to illness or caring for ill family members;
• Practice good health habits, including eating a balanced diet, exercising daily, and getting sufficient rest and take common-sense steps to stop the spread of germs — wash hands frequently with soap and hot water; wash hands before eating, drinking and before applying cosmetics and lip balm to prevent accidental ingestion of pathogens, eat only cooked meats and poultry, and, cover coughs and sneezes with tissues and try to stay away from others if you are sick;
• Stay informed about pandemic influenza and be prepared to respond; and
• Use national and local pandemic hotlines that will be established in the event f a global influenza outbreak; and consult www.pandemicflu.gov, the White House Web site, for updates on national and international information and strategies.

OSHA notes that highly pathogenic avian influenza is a select agent and must be worked with under Biosafety Level (BSL) 3+ laboratory conditions. Furthermore, all employers processing biologic specimens suspected of being infected with H5N1 must ensure that their employees comply with all provisions of 29 CFR 1910.1030 for employee protection against blood borne pathogens.

Contact the following for additional information:

• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has established avian flu public hotlines: Public 888-246-2675; Spanish 888-246-2857; and for Clinicians 877-246-4625;
• The World Health Organization; and
• physicians, employers, and employees should contact their state or local health departments.

Earlier this month, North Hanover and Lindenwold opted to use the Honeywell Instant Alert™ system to connect with parents and help improve attendance. The two school districts are the first in southern New Jersey to purchase the service, which broadcasts messages to parents and guardians via e-mail, phone, cell phone, pager, or PDA.

“With the click of the mouse, Instant Alert gives us the ability to communicate with parents at home, at work or on the road,” said Scott Strong, principal of Lindenwold Middle School, which serves 700 students. “This tool will help us bridge the communication gap.”

Since its introduction in 2004, the Web-based service from Honeywell has been selected by more than 530 schools across the country. It can be used to disseminate critical information about everything from weather-related delays and school closures to routine communications about athletic practice cancellations and bus delays.

Although many schools use the service for both types of messages, North Hanover and Lindenwold officials said they plan to use Instant Alert for more urgent situations. Lindenwold currently is using Instant Alert at the middle school while North Hanover is employing the system at five schools — four of which are located on McGuire Air Force Base.

Besides communicating to parents about school emergencies, Lindenwold Middle School will use the tool to address daily student attendance issues. For example, Principal Strong and other administrators plan to use Instant Alert to communicate with parents whose children aren’t in attendance to make sure the parents know that their child is not in school that day. As a side benefit, Strong said the system will help ensure the school has up-to-date contact information for parents.

North Hanover Superintendent Dr. Richard Carson said his district will use the service mainly to communicate urgent messages, such as school cancellations to the parents and guardians of its 1,300 students. In the past, North Hanover relied on television announcements to spread the word of events like weather-related closings.

“Parents don’t always have the time to sit in front of a television set and wait for word on whether their children will go to school that day,” Carson said. “Instant Alert gives us another, direct method of communication. We can reach everyone with one shot.”

To use Instant Alert, a designated representative for the school initiates a message through a secure Web site or by phone. The message is instantly relayed to all contact points provided by parents or guardians. Parents can update their contact information online and specify how they want to be reached — for example, e-mail for a routine message, and e-mail and cell phone for emergency communications.

Instant Alert uses the same Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption protocol that protects financial and banking sites, which ensures that all parent and school data is secure. And because it is Web-based, the district does not have to install any hardware, software or additional phone lines, keeping costs low.

In addition, schools can develop an unlimited number of subgroups — such as sports teams, clubs, committees and parent organizations — and send customized messages.