Posts for April 16, 2010

April - Safety Injury Prevention Month

The UOSH Safety Line - April 2010

Why Have a Workplace Injury and Illness Prevention Program?

If you could save money, improve productivity, and increase employee morale, would you?

Businesses spend $170 billion a year on costs associated with occupational injuries and illnesses --expenditures that come straight out of company profits. But workplaces that establish safety and health management systems can reduce their injury and illness costs by 20 to 40 percent.

In today's business environment, these costs can be the difference between operating in the black and running in the red.

Taking risks is a part of running a business, particularly for small business owners. You take risks in product development, marketing, and advertising in order to stay competitive. Some risks are just not worth the gamble. One of the risks not worth taking is risking the safety and health of those who work for you.

Accidents Cost Money
Businesses operate more efficiently when they implement effective safety and health management systems. The actual cost of a lost workday injury is substantial. For every dollar you spend on the direct costs of a worker’s injury or illness, you will spend much more to cover
the indirect and hidden costs. Consider what one lost workday injury would cost you in terms of:
• Productive time lost by an injured employee
• Productive time lost by attending the accident victim
• Clean up and start up of operations interrupted by the accident

• Time to hire or to retrain other individuals to replace the injured worker until his/her return
• Time and cost for repair or replacement of any damaged equipment
• Cost of continuing all or part of the employee’s wages
• Reduced morale among your employees, and perhaps lower efficiency
• Increased workers’ compensation insurance rates
• Cost of completing paperwork generated by the incident

If you would like to reduce the costs and risks associated with workplace injuries and illnesses, you need to address safety and health right along with production. Setting up an Injury and Illness Prevention Program helps you do this. In developing the program, you identify what has to be done to promote the safety and health of your employees and worksite, and you outline policies and procedures to achieve your safety and health goals.

Your Injury and Illness Prevention Program
This is a written plan that includes procedures and is put into practice. These are the elements of a good plan:
• Management commitment - Your commitment to safety and health shows in every decision you make and every action you take. Your employees will respond to that commitment
• Safety communications system with employees
• System for assuring employee compliance with safe work practices
• Scheduled inspections and evaluation system
• Accident investigation
• Procedures for correcting unsafe/unhealthy conditions
• Safety and health training and instruction
• Recordkeeping and documentation

Put the elements of an Injury and Illness Prevention Program together, and come up with a plan to suit your individual workplace. Decide exactly what you want to accomplish, and determine what steps are necessary to achieve your goals. Then plan out how and when
each step will be carried out, and who will do it, and put this plan in writing. In developing the plan, consider your company’s immediate needs and provide for ongoing worker protection and training.

Make creating a safety plan easy.
• Assign responsibilities
• Look at what you have
• Identify existing or potential safety and health hazards
• Complete a workplace assessment
• Develop an action plan
• Take action
• Get help if necessary
• Create your program
• Maintain your program

The best safety and health programs involve every level of the organization, instilling a safety culture that reduces accidents for workers and improves the bottom line for the managers. When Safety and Health are a part of the organization and a way of life, everyone wins.

Firestone Building Products Company Achieves VPP Star Status

The UOSH Safety Line - April 2010

Congratulations to Firestone Building Products Company for achieving Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star Status for outstanding performance in the area of worker health and safety. The Salt Lake City facility becomes the eighth plant in the Bridgestone America’s family of companies to earn the prestigious recognition.

Ken Weaver, Chairman, CEO and President of Firestone Diversified Products Company stated: “This recognition is a testament to our teammates commitment to both safety and excellence. The Salt Lake City plant and its employees have demonstrated outstanding teamwork and spirit in order to achieve this VPP Star Status, and their efforts are truly commendable. They are very deserving of this honor.”

“Firestone Building Products’ qualification for one of Utah OSHA’s premier recognition programs is a testament to the efforts that management and workers have made to develop and implement a VPP-quality safety and health management system. They have joined an elite group of organizations that provide exemplary occupational safety and health protection and serve as models for others,” as noted by Louis M. Silva, Utah OSHA Administrator.

Congratulations to all those who have so diligently worked for this award!

NAICS CODES: WHAT ARE THEY? DO YOU NEED ONE?

April 16, 2010 – BusinessBrief.com

Periodically, we cover facets of regulations and law that businesses — especially small businesses — should be familiar with. Today’s topic: NAICS codes. What are they? Should you have one? More…

THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF PROTECTING YOUR BRAND IN CHINA

April 16, 2010 – Stoel Rives LLC
Protecting your brand in China can be a difficult matter, and it can be tempting to throw up your hands in despair. However, with a proper strategy, it is possible to use the Chinese legal system to gain protection against trademark infringements. Please plan to hear from a panel of Chinese attorneys, Stoel Rives attorneys, and an American business executive with extensive Chinese experience, to learn about the “Dos and Don’ts of Protecting Your Brand in China.” Chinese attorneys Lynn Wang and Zou Weining will join Tim Hennessy of Prudent Energy, and Stoel Rives Partner Michael E. Mangelson, on a panel hosted by Stoel Rives Partner Anne Glazer. The panel will address the following:

Brand protection strategies in China and other foreign countries
Chinese trademark registration and administration
Watching and monitoring trademark infringements in China
Strategies and methods for enforcing trademark rights in China
Related issues for those doing business in China

This seminar will be held simultaneously in the Stoel Rives offices in Portland, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah, linked by videoconference.

When:
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 11:30 a.m. PDT / 12:30 p.m. MDT

Cost:
Complimentary. Lunch and parking validations will be provided in both locations.

Where:
Two locations:
900 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 2600Portland, Oregon
201 S. Main Street, Suite 1100Salt Lake City, Utah

Parking:
Portland: We will validate parking for most nearby garages.
Salt Lake City: Parking available at the One Utah Center, accessed on 200 South.

RSVP: Please register by April 30, 2010. Register Here.

Contact:
Nicole Kershaw (801) 715-6657 nkershaw@stoel.com
Trina Gremaux(503) 294-9226tcgremaux@stoel.com

About Our Panelists:

Anne W. Glazer is a Partner at Stoel Rives LLP. She handles all aspects of trademark, copyright and trade secret matters including asset development, risk management, protection strategies, registration, maintenance and conflicts. Ms. Glazer handles all forms of intellectual property licensing including trademarks, software and patents, and is well versed in entertainment law.

Tim Hennessy is President of Prudent Energy. Former CEO of VRB Power Systems Inc., which was the global leader of VRB technology. Before VRB Power, he served as Vice President of Engineering and Operations and Managing Director of LECTRIX LLC (a Bechtel Siemens AEP JV), Vice President of PacifiCorp’s Energy Services, Quality of Supply Manager for ESKOM and was a founder and Principal of Power Quality Technology.

Michael E. Mangelson is a Partner at Stoel Rives LLP. He assists clients in protecting and enforcing their business IP, including trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, and in commercializing their IP through licensing and other IP transactions. Mr. Mangelson routinely consults clients on branding and marketing law and long-term IP strategies that help secure and protect market positioning and competitive advantages in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to joining Stoel Rives, Mr. Mangelson lived and worked in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China for six years.

Lynn Wang is Founder and President of Emerging Brands Inc., and Of Counsel at Peksung Intellectual Property Ltd. Ms. Wang joined the Chinese IP profession in 1994 as a trademark attorney with China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd. She has handled internationally prominent trademark matters in China. Her practice focuses primarily on management of trademark, patent, copyright, IP strategy and other IPR strategy in China. Lynn has worked and lived in the U.S. for many years, which enables her to bring a unique understanding of linguistic, cultural and legal differences to her clients' intellectual property needs in China.

Zou Weining is a Partner at the Jun He Law Offices. Mr. Zou practices in dispute resolution, intellectual property, product liability and foreign investments. Mr. Zou has extensive experience in many areas relating to litigation and arbitration proceedings in China. He has successfully represented many multi-national companies in litigations, arbitrations and administrative proceedings, involving intellectual property, product liability, labor disputes, contractual disputes and international trade.

CANADA’S MANUFACTURING SALES RISE IN FEBRUARY

April 16, 2010 – Today in Manufacturing.net
Manufacturing sales in Canada edged up 0.1 percent in February to $44.1 billion, their eighth increase in nine months... continue

HEALTH CARE REFORM WEEKLY BRIEFING

April 16, 2010 – John Zern, Aon Consulting

Last Week in Washington
Regulatory agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the IRS have begun the significant task of drafting regulations to implement the new health reform law.

Update on the Department of Health and Human Services Activities
On April 1, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent letters to the states to determine how they intended to participate in a new insurance high-risk pool program for uninsured people with pre-existing medical conditions. The pools are slated to open within 90 days of enactment of the health reform law (March 23 is the date of enactment for the Senate bill) and will operate until 2014, when they will be replaced by state-based Insurance Exchanges, and insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.
In addition, on April 6, in response to reports of fraudulent activities, the Secretary sent letters to state insurance commissioners and attorneys general, encouraging them to prosecute insurance scams that have sprung up following the new health reform legislation.

IRS Provides Guidance on Health Care Tax Credit for Small Businesses
The IRS launched a new website that provides guidance on tax credits in the new health reform legislation for small employers and tax-exempt organizations that provide health insurance coverage. The site covers eligibility rules and offers answers to frequently asked questions.

STATES CONTEST LEGALITY OF HEALTH REFORM: CAN THEY WIN?

April 16, 2010 – BusinessBrief.com
Fourteen states have filed legal action contesting the constitutionality of the health reform bill. Is it all a lot of bluster? Or can they actually put up a legal roadblock to ObamaCare? It all rests on one provision in the Constitution. More…