MUSCATINE, Iowa Larry Strause has been promoted to Contractor Safety Specialist in the Safety Department at Grain Processing Corporation. He joined the company in 1976 in the MALTRIN department, and later held positions as Starch Shift Supervisor and most recently Night Superintendent overseeing General Plant operations.

Ted Miller has been hired as Shift Supervisor for the Sweetener Division. He has worked at GPC through RJK Inc. as a relief supervisor in both the Alcohol and Sweetener Departments. Prior to working at GPC, Ted spent 6 years in the United States Air Force.

Jake Kilburn has joined the company as an Electrical & Instrumentation Specialist. He has worked at the company through Shaw Electric since August 2010, as both a Shift Electrician and an E&I Shift Supervisor.

Grain Processing Corporation (GPC) is a major manufacturer of grain neutral spirits, food and pharmaceutical starches, industrial starches, maltodextrins and corn syrup solids, specialty products, and feed ingredients. The Company, a subsidiary of Kent Corporation, markets its products worldwide.

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GPC announces new hires and promotion

Most parents say their children are their highest priority and that parenting is among the most important things they do. Yet, they often approach parenting in a reactionary and defensive way. Instead, all of us need a proactive offense!

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Most parents say their children are their highest priority and that parenting is among the most important things they do.

Yet they often approach parenting in a reactionary and defensive way.

In fact, during our 30 years of writing and speaking to parents and families all over the world, three of the most prominent parenting models, be they intentional or unintentional, are:

• The all I can do is keep them fed, sheltered and clothed model. Many parents are so burdened and busy that all they can do is try to meet the physical needs of their kids.

• The general contractor model. Like a general contractor who lets the plumber and electrician and carpenter do all the work, parents often farm everything out to the teachers, the coaches and the tutors and dont actually do much parenting themselves.

• The wait for a problem and hope I can solve it model. So many parents just drift along, thinking things are OK with their kids and that if there is a problem, they can buy a parenting book and find out how to handle the situation.

Instead of these passive approaches, parents today need a proactive parenting model, one where they set and strive to meet specific objectives for and with their children. In fact, we all need a model much like a business plan, where we clearly define what we want and then come up with a plan and set aside the time and the priorities to make it happen.

Continued here:
Linda & Richard Eyre: Proactive parenting builds stronger kids and families

Minister for Education and Skills Ruair Quinn: Government sources said the Minister does not want a similar situation to arise as happened in the UK some two decades ago where many dozens of institutions were accorded university status without sufficiently rigorous scrutiny.

Legislative proposals will be brought to Cabinet this morning paving the way for new technological universities to be established in the State.

Minister for Education Ruair Quinn will bring the general scheme of Technological Universities Bill to the weekly meeting of Government Ministers this morning.

The memorandum will give the legal underpinning that will allow new universities in the State for the first time since the University of Limerick and Dublin City University were given that status.

The other two main universities are Dublin University (TCD) and the constituent colleges of the National University of Ireland (UCD, UCC, NUIG, and NUI, Maynooth).

Comprehensive reviewIn a separate development, Mr Quinn will also be bringing the report of an expert group that conducted a comprehensive review of existing apprenticeship schemes in Ireland and which has recommended major changes for the future.

The review looked at traditional apprenticeships such as plumbing, carpentry and electrician-training and has also identified the need for training and new skills in more modern industry such as ICT, pharma, and green energy.

The heads of the technological university legislation will allow some of the institutes of technology in the State progress to university status.

Government sources said Mr Quinn does not want a similar situation to arise as happened in the UK some two decades ago where many dozens of institutions were accorded university status without sufficiently rigorous scrutiny.

The word university is very important, said the source. We want to make sure that we protect the word and the concept.

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Quinn to outline proposals for technological universities

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Electrician bikies to lose jobs by July, gang members or not

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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.

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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.

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Iodine-enriched eggs wipe out illness in Udon Thani babies