The International "Fahne" Of The Kingdom Of Belgium

Europe counts quite a few countries that fly uniquely designed flags produced using the best in flagpole and flag technology. Interestingly, Europe counts many flags that are tricolor type flags. The Belgian flag is one such banner, but so is the national flag of the France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and a few more. Since a few languages are spoken in Belgium, the Belgium flag is also referred to (in these languages) as "de national banier of vlag van Belgie" or the "Flagge Belgiens," German for Belgian flag.

Since the national banner of Belgium is a tricolor flag, it shows three colors on three equally sized vertical stripes or bands. Many have said that the Belgian flag design resembles that of the banner of France. Every so often one can observe the national flag of France flown from a flagpole in areas surrounding the border shared by France (on the south) and Belgium. This flag displays the colors; red, white and blue (hoist side).

Interestingly, the Belgian flag as flown from flag poles in modern times has unique proportions. The 13:15 being the most unique but is not displayed often. The most common proportion shown and attached to Belgian flagpoles, which is 2:3. No one can really tell where the 13:15 ration originated.

Like other flags of Europe, the naval version of the Belgium flag or banner is slightly different than the national banner as attached to residential and commercial flagpoles. The naval version of this flag displays the 3 national colors of Belgium in a satire, on a white background. A black colored crown above crossed cannons on the top and a black colored anchor at the bottom. This flag came into existence some 60 years ago, during the early years of the 50-s, shortly after the re-organization of the Belgian Navy.

Flags and banners of different countries for use with a flagpole are made available for purchase at suppliers throughout the world. Note that each country has its own code with regards to etiquette. Those living outside their country of origin need to pay careful attention as to how to fly their own national banner with that of the country they reside in from their residential flag poles.

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Understanding Corporate Culture

"All companies have a culture. In order for employees to function and succeed, it is essential they understand and believe in the culture." - Bryce's Law

INTRODUCTION

The subject of "corporate culture" seems to be on everyone's mind these days; from the college graduate entering the job market, to the IRM executive who is trying to improve management and productivity in his organization. It is the topic of interest at social and professional gatherings.

The perceptive manager understands the importance of establishing and controlling the work environment, including both logical and physical considerations. Unfortunately, many managers do not appreciate the concept of corporate culture and how to use it to their advantage.

Corporate culture pertains to the identity and personality  of the company we work with, either in the private or public sectors. All companies have a culture; a way they behave and  operate. They may be organized and disciplined or chaotic and unstructured. Either way, this is the culture the company has elected to adopt. In order for an employee to function and succeed, they must be able to recognize, accept and adapt to the culture.

MEMBER VS. ALIEN

Have you ever noticed how people react to foreign visitors; whether an exchange student or a visiting professional? The stranger may be welcomed, but may never be accepted unless that person can adapt to the norms of their new environment. If they do not, the members will shun the stranger and reject the alien from their culture. The same is true in business. If the new employee, consultant or visitor cannot adapt to the corporate culture, their chances for success are slight. The members of the culture will reject the person outright and will work against them.

The reason for this phenomenon is because people tend to prefer conformity in their culture. Conformity represents a harmonious environment where the behavior and actions are predictable. Most people have a deeply rooted desire for a sense of order and stability in their lives, which is what conformity provides. A stable environment promotes self-confidence in the members of the culture and allows them to concentrate on their work.

HUMAN PERSPECTIVE

Corporate culture deals with how we see ourselves and others. We act on our perceptions, not necessarily what occurs in reality. The culture greatly influences our perceptions and behavior. For example, our values and beliefs may distort what happens in fact. Gossip, propaganda, and a sensational press, deals with what people want to hear, not necessarily what happens in reality.

DEFINING CULTURE

Before we can alter the culture, we must first understand it. Culture is defined as the characteristics of the members of a civilization. Ultimately, culture defines the quality of life for a group of people.

Culture doesn't appear suddenly, it evolves over time as people grow and learn. The older the heritage, the more ingrained the culture is in its members.

There are essentially three parts to any culture: Customs, Religion and Society. Each influences the others.

CUSTOMS

Webster defines custom as a "long-established practice considered as unwritten law." Custom dictates the expected manner of conduct for the culture. It prescribes the etiquette to be observed in dress, speech, courtesy and politics (gamesmanship). Several companies, most notably IBM, have long understood the power of customs. These norms are established to project a particular image the company wishes to convey.

RELIGION

Religion is the philosophy of life and the basis for our
values. It influences our judgement in terms of what is ethical
and what is not. Although uniform morality sounds attractive to
executives, it can be quite dangerous if unethical practices are
allowed to creep into the moral fiber of the company.

SOCIETY

Society defines our interpersonal relationships. This includes how we elect to govern and live our lives. Society defines the class structure in an organization, from Chairman of the Board to the hourly worker. It defines government, laws and institutions which must be observed by its members. More often than not, the society is "dictated" by management as opposed to "democratically" selected by the workers.

INFLUENTIAL FACTORS

Obviously, it is people, first and foremost, that influence any culture. In terms of corporate culture, the only external factor influencing the enterprise is the "resident culture," which is the culture at any particular geographical location. The resident culture refers to the local customs, religion and society observed in our personal lives, outside of the workplace. The resident culture and corporate culture may differ considerably in some areas but are normally compatible.

Anthropologists have long known the physical surroundings, such as geography and climate, greatly influence the resident culture. The resident culture, in turn, influences the corporate culture. The corporate culture, which affects the behavior of its members, will greatly influence the resident culture.

SUB-CULTURES

Within any culture there are those people exhibiting special characteristics distinguishing them from others within an embracing culture; this is what is called "sub-cultures." In a corporate culture, sub-cultures take the form of cliques, special interest groups, even whole departments within a company. This is acceptable as long as the sub-culture does not violate the norms of the parent culture. When the characteristics of the sub-culture differ significantly from the main culture, it becomes a culture in its own right. This situation can be counterproductive in a corporate culture, a company within a company. For example, we have seen several IT organizations who view themselves as independent of the companies they serve. They "march to their own drummer" doing what is best for the IT Department, not necessarily what is best for their company. Conversely, we have seen management regulate the IT department as a separate, independent group as opposed to a vital part of the business.

CHANGING THE CORPORATE CULTURE

Changing the corporate culture involves influencing the three elements of the culture: Customs, Religion and Society. This is not a simple task. It must be remembered that culture is learned. As such, it can be taught and enforced. However, the greater the change, the longer it will take to implement. It should evolve naturally over time. A cultural revolution, such as the one experienced in communist China, is too disruptive for people to understand and accept. As a result, they will resist and rebel.

A smaller company can change its culture much more rapidly than a larger company, simply because of communication considerations. In addition, an organization in the private sector can change faster than one in the public sector (such as a government agency), only because a commercial company isn't encumbered with government regulations. This is an instance where a "dictatorship" works more effectively than a "democracy."

To change the corporate culture, one must begin by defining the current corporate and resident cultures, including the customs, religion and society observed. There are several indicators for measuring the pulse of the culture: Absenteeism, Tardiness, Turnover, Infractions of Rules, Employee Attitudes, Productivity, etc. All of these can be used to gauge how people behave within the corporate
culture. To this end, we offer the "PRIDE" Survey on Corporate Culture to assist in this analysis:

This is followed by a set of requirements for the culture and a plan to implement them. In a corporate culture, a policy and procedures manual can usually stipulate the customs and society to be observed. Developing a corporate consciousness is far more difficult to implement and involves considerable training and demonstration. Great care must be taken to avoid the "do as I say, not as I do" situation.

It is one thing to enact legislation, quite another to enforce it. Without an effective means to monitor and control the culture, it is quite futile to establish any formal policies or guidelines.

SUMMARY

Management is much more than just meeting deadlines. It is a people-oriented function. If we lived in a perfect world, there wouldn't be a need for managers. People would build things correctly the first time and on schedule, on costs. The fact of the matter is that we live in an imperfect world. People do make mistakes; people do have different perspectives, etc. Management is getting people to do what you want them to do, when you want them to do it. The corporate culture is a vital part of the art of management. Failure to recognize this has led to the demise of several managers. But for those managers who take it into consideration, the corporate culture can greatly influence the productivity of any organization.

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Organizational Culture - A High Performance Culture Improves Employee Performance

Organizational culture conveys the beliefs and ideas of the goals that need to be pursued by and the appropriate standards of behavior the members of the organization utilize to attain their respective organizational goals. The organizational values in turn develop the norms, guidelines and expectations for appropriate behavior of employees while in a particular situation as well as control behavior of the members with one another. In order to make changes in the organizational culture, which is considered difficult, the areas that need to be focused on are putting the heart and mind into it, fostering understanding and conviction, re-enforcing along with formal mechanisms, developing the talent and skills, and role modeling.

In other words, for acquiring success in changing the organizational culture, your organization needs to create success that work, embed and demonstrate with change, make changes structurally for the reflection of culture, install performance management mechanisms that are strong, recruit promotions as time passes and embed new culture, make the HR prominent, communicate clear, consistent and repetitive vision, create a strong league for driving and role-modeling the change, and lastly, remove resistors and under-performers. Following these strong methods of change can eventually bring success to your organization.

Some of the elements that influence organizational culture include the paradigm that give detailed information of the functions, goal and values of an organization; control systems that monitor the on goings of the organization; organizational structures that report lines, hierarchies and the flow of work through business; power structures that define the powerful, the power and it's basis; symbols that include organizational logos and designs; rituals and routines such as management meetings, board reports and so on; and stories and myths of people and events that convey valuable message about the organization. However, power structures may depend on the control systems that may affect the routines for generating stories.

The characteristics of the organization's culture depend on factors such as innovation and risk taking that mainly determines the rate of allowance of innovation in the business, attention to details describes the importance to allot precision and detail in the workplace, outcome orientation interprets that the business model should determine the focus on the outcome or process, people orientation is one of the most controversial issues in the culture of the organization, team orientation is required to make efforts in creating teams that have complementary skills and effectively working together, aggressiveness are generally laid down for employees to work with, and stability is considered by those organizations that look at indiscriminate growth.

As a widely used concept, organizational culture is a vital environment condition that affects the systems and subsystems of an organization and examining it is a valuable analytical tool. The executive leaders have a fundamental role to play in the organization through their actions and leadership, while the employees contribute in developing the organizational culture, which is the work environment.

While recruiting, you will be happy to employ a person who fits in your organizational environment as it is important for a person to match your work environment to find comfort and thereby, give a considerably good performance. An organization can attain its collective goal when the culture of the organization is determined and taken care of. It can bring a radical change in the functioning of the organization.

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Bali Culture

Bali is an Indonesian island that is rich in indigenous culture. A lot pf people say that Bali culture is unique and that the people of Bali have always been contented with the "now." If you ask a Balinese person what heaven is like, the probable answer will be "just like Bali". This only goes to show that most Balinese people are happy to be where they are and never worry.

One factor that contributes to this laidback lifestyle is the culture of close family ties in Bali. In the Balinese culture, support is always available. Balinese extended families are so tightly knit that all members usually reside in the same complex.

Hinduism is one of the main religions in Bali. The Bali culture is based on a form of this religion, which is called "Hindu Darma". This religion reached the island during the eleventh century. Most of the family customs and traditions as well as community lifestyles of the Balinese people are influenced by this. The religious influence even expands widely into the arts, which makes Bali distinct from the rest of Indonesia.

In spite of the influx of tourists to the island, Balinese people have managed to preserve their culture. Almost every native of Bali is an artist in some form or another. Parents and villagers have passed on their skills to their children, who all seem to have inclinations either to music, dance, painting, and decor.

Another remarkable mark of the Bali culture is the series of ceremonies and rituals known as the Manusa Yadnya. This marks the different stages of Balinese life. Cremation is very popular on this island - and unlike in the West, death is a joyous and colorful event for the Balinese.

Indeed, Bali has a rich culture, making it distinctive from the rest of the islands in Indonesia.

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Leadership Qualities - Creating and Leading a Culture of Change

Let's just fantasize for a moment and try to visualise an organisational environment where people don't fear change but actually welcome it. This feels a bit like John Lennon's "Imagine"!

What would it take to make this possible? Is this possible?

A "readiness for change" culture is essentially a culture that is not only ready for change, but is also a culture that accepts change and even thrives on it.

So what does a "readiness for change" culture look like?

(1) An informed workforce

An informed workforce can be defined as a workforce that understands both the organisational vision, strategy and objectives and yet at the same time understands how what they do individually and as teams in their everyday work moves the organisation towards (or away from) these objectives.

When an informed workforce sees the organisational "big picture," they are far better equipped to make good decisions and to come up with innovative and problem solving ideas.

(2) An empowered workforce

An empowered workforce is allowed and encouraged to initiate day-to-day improvements on their own authority.

Because they are informed, they can exercise their empowerment, as they know what impact it will have; plus, they are more likely to act quickly and responsively.

An empowered workforce is re-inforced with the knowledge of their boundaries and has the freedom to exercise their decision rights (without interference) within the security of these well-defined and universally recognised boundaries.

(3) An outspoken workforce

An outspoken workforce is one that is encouraged to identify and discuss important issues they would in any other circumstances be either unaware of or unwilling to address - you could call this a preparedness to "speak the unspeakable".

An outspoken workforce that is informed and empowered recognises that these difficult issues are often the key to unblocking serious log-jams and will speak out, whereas the typical un-informed and un-empowered workforce will often feel that these issues are just "too sensitive", or too "politically difficult" or just plain fraught to openly expressed.

What are the leadership qualities that make all this possible?

First and foremost the leadership qualities that build and create a "change readiness" culture are totally focused on understanding and "reverse-engineering" the critical disconnects between organisational leadership and management, and the rest of the non-management employees. These disconnects can be summarized as an organisational management and leadership that is detached from direct feedback from the frontline and the human consequences of their decisions.

This is all about moving away from the prevalent transactional leadership style with its reward and punishment mechanisms to gain compliance, and moving towards facilitative leadership that engages directly with the informal networks and aspects of the organisation.

This isn't so hard for organisational leadership to take on board and enact once they realise that in so doing they are dealing directly with the crustacean rock bottom root causes of resistance to change whilst simultaneously unleashing a flood of new innovations and solutions.

Trouble is that are still way too many organisational leaders who act like "monkeys with their fists stuck in the jar" and who clench their fists as they hang onto to the "sweeties" of command and control.

And we all know what happened to the monkeys....

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Life In The Solar System

Introduction to Life in the Solar System: Humans and our associated kin on the third rock out from the Sun are lords of life forms in the solar system. Other abodes in the solar system, most probably Mars, Jupiter, Europa, and Saturn are anywhere from possible to probable habitable abodes to simple microbial life forms; perhaps something slightly above and beyond that. Bacteria survived on the surface of the Moon - on Surveyor Three. Astronauts from the Apollo 12 mission brought back to Earth parts of the unmanned Surveyor Three Lunar Lander. Terrestrial bacteria on those parts survived the lunar vacuum, solar radiations (UV, etc.), the massive temperature extremes, and lack of water and nutrients. Microbes are easy to transport. Translated, I firmly expect that the universe (including our solar system) is teaming with microbial life in all sorts of places. On Earth, microbes rule, OK? If fact, there are millions of microbes living inside you - most beneficial. Microbes have another decided advantage over more complex life forms, like plants. Solar energy (photosynthesis) isn't the only kind of energy available to organisms. No sun; no life. All life ultimately depended on photosynthetic plants which in turn couldn't exist without sunlight. From terrestrial environments to those of outer space and our solar system is but perhaps a small step for microbes. Mercury: The planet Mercury, closest planet to our Sun, unfortunately lacks any atmosphere to speak of, and broils on the side facing the Sun and freezes on the side facing away - much like our Moon, and is in fact is similarly heavily cratered. Venus: The planet Venus had long been thought of as Earth's twin sister. It also has an atmosphere. No life here!

In the upper atmosphere, the temperature and pressure of Venus drops to more terrestrial surface conditions. There can't be surface life-as-we-know-it on that planet, but what about simple, say microbial life existing in the upper atmosphere?

Earth (Terra): Home! The Moon (Luna): Like Mercury, our Moon is airless and subject to extremes in temperature depending on whether the Moon is facing towards or away from the Sun. While hardly indigenous Lunar life forms, they give credibility (as if any were needed) that microbes are composed of the right stuff to survive the rigours of outer space.

Mars (The Red Planet): Microbial life on the red planet Mars is just about a sure fire a thing as death and taxes, albeit it's probably spread very thinly.

The concept of there being not only life but intelligent life on the red planet Mars has been a part of the imagination of astronomers and the general public for the better part of a century. Even the two tiny Martian moons were seriously suspected of being artificial.

Several independent discoveries have all but proved that life, albeit simple life, probably exists, currently exists, on Mars.

There are those scientists involved with those Viking experiments who still maintain that microbial life was detected on Mars in 1976. Recall there was four separate and independent reasons for coming to the conclusion that the meteorite contained fossil microbial life forms from Mars. Thirdly, spacecraft orbiting Mars have detected methane in the Martian atmosphere. A major source of methane on Earth is from micro-organisms. Fourthly, there's no longer any question about Mars once having had extensive water. Where's there water, there's the probability of life.

Since microbial life exists on Earth, some of it would have been transported throughout geological history to Mars. It's quite possible that Mars seeded Earth as well, maybe even initially. The atmosphere is so thin that liquid water can't exist on the surface because the atmospheric pressure is so low. Jupiter (The Giant Planet): Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, but composed mainly of gas. In fact, Jupiter has been insulted by being compared to our Sun, but a failed Sun. Important point number one: Jupiter has its own internal energy source.

Important point's number two, three and four: Secondly, Jupiter's atmosphere is composed of the right sorts of chemicals that one identifies with origin of life events - hydrogen, methane, ammonia, water vapour, etc. Fourthly, the atmospheric bands of Jupiter are highly coloured, an indication that there's lots of complex chemistry, including organic chemistry going on within.

The upshot of all of this is that it is not implausible that within the upper reaches of Jupiter's atmosphere, as per the case of Venus, simple life forms couldn't exist, survive and thrive. Europa (A Satellite of Jupiter): Europa is, apart from Mars, the current darling of the exobiology (astrobiology) set. There is evidence that Europa has a liquid water ocean underneath a thick ice cap that is kept from freezing solid by the flexing action imposed on the moon by its parent planet, Jupiter. If you have liquid water, an energy source, you therefore have possible life, or so goes the thinking. The ice cap is thick enough so that any energy source available for life won't be solar. That is however not a death blow as not all critters on Earth rely on solar energy. All chemicals that would sustain such life would have to be efficiently recycled. Saturn (The Ringed Planet): Saturn is a quasi twin of Jupiter. Although slightly smaller and farther away from the Sun than Jupiter, the same general arguments that apply to Jupiter apply to Saturn. Titan (A Satellite of Saturn): The satellite of Saturn, Titan, is one of the largest moons in the solar system, and in fact, if it existed all by its lonesome, could be considered a planet in its own right. Titan has, fairly unique among satellites, a dense atmosphere. Were Titan the same distance from the Sun that Earth is, well, you could have a real twin of Earth, unlike our false twin, Venus.

Unfortunately, Titan is way, way, way - far away - from the solar energy source that makes Earth such a relative paradise. Thus, Titan is Earth, but an Earth in slow motion because Titan is so cold compared to Earth. If you think of Earth as liquid water at the equator, Titan is molasses at the poles!

Uranus: Uranus is a poor cousin compared to the likes of Jupiter and Saturn. Although farther out, Neptune, like Jupiter and Saturn, radiates out excess energy. It's solar independent, at least as far as any life forms might describe their environment and energy supply.

It's cold. Again, Pluto is too cold to allow for the high temperature chemistry we associate with life-as-we-know-it. If you're looking for life in our solar system, Pluto wouldn't be your first port of call.

Comets, Asteroids/Planetoids, Meteors: These relative tiny bodies can't really qualify as habitable abodes to life, except, there's evidence that not only can some of the above be rich in the sorts of chemicals associated with life (water, carbon compounds and organic chemistry), they could indeed be environments that could house dormant life forms or fossil life forms of a unicellular kind. Too hot, complex organic molecules rapidly break down. My favourite solar system locations for (probably) tough-as-nails microbial life, Mars apart, are the upper atmospheres of the Jovian (gas giant) planets (Jupiter and Saturn; maybe Uranus and Neptune). Their atmospheres are rich in organics and no doubt water vapour. The gas giants, Uranus excepted, radiate more heat energy than they receive from the Sun. There will be regions in their upper atmospheres that have Earth-like temperatures; there will be a lot of atmospheric mixing (useful for bringing different chemicals together); and of course these planets will also have been seeded with organics and water from space via comets, meteors, cosmic dust, etc., if not in fact seeded directly with microbial life forms via panspermia.

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Local Color in Literature

The setting plays major role in prose fiction. The dialect spoken, the customs observed, the dress code prevalent, and the way of living all can be peculiar to a particular region. This sort of setting is called a local color of the area or region. You must have come across such peculiarity of an area while reading a prose or a novel.

Such beautiful local color called "Wessex" (present-day Dorset) is painted by Thomas Hardy in his novels. If you read a wide range of his novels, the Wessex will emerge in front of your mind's eye - so beautiful, so vivid! Rudyard Kipling's India also shares the same local color. R. K. Narayan beautifully portrays the imaginary village of "Malgudi" - set somewhere in South India - in his novels.

The representation of the local shade or color continues emerging in the writings of several writers. After the Civil War, many American writers used the local color of America. For instance, the various parts of America just as the Mississippi region was used by Mark Twain, the south by George Washington Cable, the Midwest by E. W. Howe, the West by Bret Harte, and New England by Mary Wilkins Freeman and the Sarah Orne Jewett.

The writing concerned with the local colour focuses mainly on the particularity of the area. It is basically about the comic or sentimental representation of the surface distinctiveness of a region. It does not represent the deep, complex and the generalized characteristics and problems of the region.

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Safety Culture - 10 Things to Help Improve a Safety Management System!

In order to develop a successful safety culture, one needs to understand the basic elements that make up a management process. If you are looking to take your system to the next level, the following ten things will help you improve your safety management system and will help you with your journey:

   1. Defining safety roles and responsibilities for all levels of the organization. For example, ensuring that safety is a line management function and not part of the safety professional's role.
   2. Developing upstream measures. Stop focusing on OSHA's Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR) as a measurement. For example, document and track the number of reports of hazards/suggestions, number of committee projects/successes, number of related specific activities, etc.
   3. Ensure that management and supervisors are aligned with the vision, by establishing a shared-vision of safety goals and objectives vs. production, quality, etc.
   4. Implementing a process that holds managers and supervisors accountable for visibly being involved where they will set the proper example and leading a positive change for safety.
   5. Evaluating and rebuilding any incentives and disciplinary systems for safety, as necessary. For example, not basing the incentives and disciplinary system on the number of recordable injuries. Instead focus on specific activities that have been performed.
   6. Ensuring that all safety committees understand their roles and responsibilities, have a defined charter, and are functioning properly. For example all employees should know how to become a member of a committee, understand their responsibilities/functions, and authority.
   7. Providing multiple paths for employees to make suggestions, concerns, or problems. One such mechanism should use the chain of command and ensure that there are no repercussions against employees. The key is to track suggestions, concerns, and/or problems and hold supervisors and middle managers accountable for being responsive to all employee concerns.
   8. Developing a system that tracks and ensures that there is timely hazard correction. Many sites have been successful in building this in with an already existing work order system.
   9. Ensuring that there are methods for reporting injuries. Educate employees on the importance of reporting minor injuries and loss producing events. For example, first aid cases and any near misses.
  10. Evaluating and rebuilding the injury investigation system as necessary to ensure that investigations are conducted on a timely basis, complete, and effective. Ensure that each injury has an identified root cause. Avoid blaming employee for injuries. Take a look at the management system as a whole to see if there was a failure in the system.

As stated, if you are looking to take your safety management system to the next level, the listed ten items will help you with the needed improvement along your with your journey.

Sources:

"Developing an Effective Safety Culture: A Leadership Approach" by James Roughton

OSHA Web site - eTools - Safety and Health Management

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Cross-Culture Business Negotiations in West and East

The development of the society and the improvement of the civilization of human beings have enclosed the relationship of the whole world. Cross-culture business negotiation which targets people from different countries or areas with different social cultural background and different political economic policies has become an important part of international business communicating activity. People from different countries or areas have widely different values, thoughts, behaviors, languages and customs, thus, their negotiation styles are very different from each other. Especially during the last three decades, China has changed its political policies to open itself to foreign investment. Cross-cultural negotiation has never been an easy task. A cross-cultural negotiation requires mutual understanding of culture differences and the practice of applied negotiation styles. "Cultural differences, in contrast, increase the complexity of the relationship and the negotiation encounter, potentially jeopardizing the business relationship's future." Thus, it is important to explore the cultural differences between west and east, and to study different communication styles.

In view of the emergence of global economy, the increase of foreign investment in China and the promise of China's admission into the WTO, at no time in history has there been so great a need for international negotiating skills. In business negotiations, there might be many misunderstandings which may lead to the failure of the negotiation if people don't understand these differences between them and those whom they are come into contact with. Knowing how to deal with the differences in business negotiations has very profound impact on the success or failure of the negotiations, even on the association pattern and association relationship, so it is very important to improve negotiating efficiency in international business negotiations in accordance with business partners with different cultural background and to enhance negotiating management based on cultural differences.

Negotiation rules and practices may differ greatly across cultures. People tend to interpret and judge their negotiating opponents on the basis of their own cultural assumption, and very often the opponent "who thinks differently" will be considered as someone "who thinks wrongly". The potential for misperception and misunderstanding is immense. The greater the cultural differences, the greater the barriers to communication, and the more likely failure of the negotiation.

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Can It Be Something More Than Sushi and Pizza?

Ever since the crisis has hit, I have noticed that media speaks a lot, perhaps too much about the decline of the Japanese economy. I find all this rather confused and deterrent. Treating an entire culture entirely from an economic perspective is not only disadvantageous, but a risky approach, especially when a large percentage of people do not ask themselves about the social explanation of the economic boom in Japan or simply some people sleep on one ear and blame a bad system. Of course this fact happens not only in Japan but also in the other countries to, because the decline appears to be global. Needless to say, being a foreigner, my experience and knowledge about Japan is obviously limited. Some people might even think, that I am not qualified to talk about this. They might be right, however - being in the fortunate situation of living in Japan I have the chance to meet different people and mentalities. At this point, some might assume, that this post will be about politics - however, to prevent misunderstandings right from the start: I will not be concerned with politics because I am just a simple person and my opinion is just my opinion... that might be significant or insignificant. Instead, I am concerned with the individual,group and the power to bring a good change in every country no matter where we live. This it will be the prism, I am looking through. For any country, preservation and cultural heritage are important.

The progress of globalization, the destruction of the local culture can be challenged. At the same time there are great opportunities for diplomacy and cultural exchange. I've always thought that Japanese people have such persistence, enthusiasm, effort, love of work, if in times of crisis as we are now people will at least try to get back to that concept(team work) I am sure that the country would be prosperous and will recover from the unfavorable economic situation. Needless to say living situation will grow considerably. I look at my job as a continuous flurry of opportunities to learn and perfect myself, rather than breaks for greater achievement or accumulation of wealth. For me, it's a process. And for this very reason, I am not just ready for challenges but I actually turn everything into challenge. Unfortunately what I see happening now in many countries not only in Japan is that people have lost interest in working, seeking only part-time jobs, living just in the present, and prefer to receive a lower salary but without bring any effort, without too many responsibilities. Everybody seek stability, but I think stability as a matter of fact do not exist, is just a metaphor, as the stability comes from within us. If we as individuals are not committed to our goals, and not put heart in what we do then nobody can give us stability. Stability we build by trusting in our power to do something for ourselves and those around us. Only then we can say the things in our lives are stable (being a stable person, a responsible person).

Anyway, I always was deeply concerned with the way how Japanese people are thinking. I just wanted to know more about Japanese culture and the Japanese mind, the art of living of Japanese people. As Rene Descartes has written in a letter to the princess Elisabeth of Bohemia " Having one foot in one country and the other in another is to be able to find freedom", I came to Japan with that freedom in mind. I came to Japan because of a great person that made me want to come back here and hoping to study a lot of technique and all that Japan has. Perhaps, I got my first culture shock, the first time when I realized that I could neither read the letters nor recognize most of the things displayed on the shelves a few years ago. But per total it was not difficult for me to adjust to the different style. For example I can eat any types of Japanese dishes wich is very good for health. I am flexible, and I am able to adapt to new situations easily, always open to new ideas. Another experience, aside from the language, is the cost of liven in Japan, which is very expensive. For a foreigner, used to a relatively modest spending and living habits, the Japanese medical bills, housing and other could be very high. But I believe that everything depends on the expectations and demands of life of each individual so this does not affect me too much. Other aspect is the fact that most of the women I met here were either housewives or part-time workers. Most of them complained because the expectation are not very conducive for them to hold on to a carrier, unless one is prepared to remain unmarried.

They are unhappy about that, while most complain of being lonely because their husbands work late most of the time. This is also the main reason why the rate of unmarried women, those who do not intend to marry or divorce has increased considerably. Personally I do not think this is the solution to the problem. I mean, a woman can be a good wife, mother and also a good business women. It's all in the will to make things go as we want. My definition of the sentence "an intelligent person" does not consist in the ability to make calculations or have a high IQ (ironically though currently working as IT Programmer )but the ability to influence people, to make a change for the better. When an intelligent person entering a door you can feel the sun rises. Japan is called "The Country of contradictions" or "land between tradition and modernity". There are temples next to skyscrapers, and women wearing a kimono while writing an email with their keitai (mobile phone). This is a powerful tool to attract tourists. In terms of international relations between Japan and other countries I want to believe that exported goods are not the only window through which we see each other, but can it be something more than sushi and pizza? Is the economical dialogue the only possible one?

I will conclude this topic by saying however that generally, I come to know that Japanese are very kind people when you get to know them better, even though they initially appear shy and distinct. All what I'm trying to say is that I want people not to give up and do something for a better future. This dilemma can only be overcome through a movement toward a more worker-community-centered economy.

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Wind At The Edge of the Heart, Thoughts on Van Gogh and Ourselves

During the spring of 1967, on my way to lunch in the Student Union Building at University of Alaska in Fairbanks, I happened upon a recently published Popular Science magazine that featured a story about a new French invention. The article described a device that used infrasonic sound waves controlled in such a way as to emit varying degrees of intensity and, depending on the level, the weapon could cause vomiting, fainting, seizures, and even death. The scientists had discovered these ultra-low frequencies in the prevalent winds of southern France, known as the Mistrals.

I was particularly excited about stumbling across this article. As a student of painting and music, I had no interest in weapons, and, at the time, little interest in science but I was captivated with what I read. Like many young students of art, I was very much under the spell of the French Expressionist, Vincent Van Gogh. Perhaps it was the overall tragedy of his life ending so young. What other artist looms so large an archetype of a suffering, creative genius? I read everything I could get my hands on, including the letters he wrote, most of which were to his brother Theo, but to others as well. Included, as well, were letters to him and from others about him, particularly the French painter Paul Gauguin who briefly lived with Vincent in Arles, France.

I felt I had stumbled upon the clues to my own little Rosetta Stone. No one has ever been able to give a precise reason for Van Gogh's journey into madness and ultimate suicide. It has often been suggested that he was epileptic. When he was clinically treated in 1989, two doctors diagnosed Vincent with epilepsy - seizures consisting of acute mania with sensory hallucinations, particularly affecting sight and hearing. However there is no indication that he suffered from epilepsy prior to his arrival in Arles. Still others have long argued that his daily intake of absinthe was essentially what drove him over the edge. Absinthe is a strong alcoholic drink made in part with a poisonous, hallucinogenic ingredient called wormwood. I tend to agree that the latter is the stronger candidate, but, in my opinion, it was a combination of everything - the absinthe, his upbringing, genetic imprints, and his environment, i.e. the winds.

In a letter to Theo, Vincent recounted that when he first arrived in Arles, as he was getting off the train, a man getting on the train advised him to return to wherever he came from because, quite simply, the people in Arles were a bit strange. This is not unusual and similar behavior has long been reported in other areas where extreme winds prevail over long periods of time, causing anxiety and depression among local residents.

It should be noted that Van Gogh did not cut off his entire ear. He merely sliced off a portion. Some say the helix, the upper part of the external ear and some say the lobule, what we call the ear lobe. In any case, doing so and sending it to a prostitute in a small box, as well as his general anti-social behavior in the small city of Arles, prompted the good citizens to lock him up in the insane asylum at nearby Saint Rémy. Sometime later, during his recovery, he asked permission to leave for the day to paint in the countryside. Earlier, during his time in Arles, it wasn't unusual for him to spend hours each day struggling with 'plein air' painting, his easel staked to the ground and his canvases tied to the easel to prevent the mistrals from toppling everything over. In this case, as he was mostly recovered, the asylum allowed him a day pass. During this long afternoon of painting, the winds came up quite fiercely. It was reported that later that evening Van Gogh became terribly distraught and set about drinking his painting turpentine.

I think it would be accurate to say that when Vincent killed himself, that act represented the culmination of everything that was Vincent Van Gogh. For any of us, it is impossible to attribute any one of our actions to a single cause. But nonetheless, I find irresistible the poetic imagery imbued in the possibility of the artist being ultimately dismantled by the winds. It isn't a great leap of the imagination to see the mistrals appear in the paintings he painted while in Arles-the swirling energy found in the application of pigment as if he were as much hearing something un-hearable as anything he could see before him. Did he sense the destructive forces of the winds? I'm sure he did. What poignant irony that he tried to cut off the organ that helps sound enter the brain and shape our mental perceptions.

When Vincent was released from the asylum and left the south of France, he went to Auvers-sur-Oise, twenty-seven kilometers northwest of Paris and was somewhat under the care of Doctor Gachet. Within months after arriving, it is generally held that Vincent went to a small wooden shed, shot himself in the heart, collapsed, revived and returned to the Ravoux home in which he boarded. He died the following day. The daughter of Monsieur Ravoux, Adeline Ravoux, who was twelve yeas old at the time, wrote an account of the event some years later. However, buried in the original published letters, there is an account indicating that he shot himself in the groin. How can this be reconciled? One plausible explanation: the date, 1890, was during the final decade of the Victorian era. This was a period of such enormous prudishness that even pianos could not be said to have legs. Anything sexual or anything having to do with those parts of the body were immensely taboo. It's more than likely, if Vincent's wound had been in the groin, this would not have been discussed or divulged to the general public and certainly not to a twelve year-old girl. According to Vincent's statement, as he lay dying, when he revived from shooting himself, he tried to find the gun to finish off the job, but could not. The gun was never found. In her accounting, Adeline suggested that Vincent did not commit suicide; that, in fact, he was murdered. By whom?

Even without medical knowledge, one could easily suppose that a man shot in the groin might survive longer than had he been shot in the heart. Obviously, had he intended the heart, he must have missed by some degree. If we assume that it was a wound in the groin, we can only wonder why there, whether self-inflicted or not. It took over thirty-seven hours for him to die in extreme pain.

There has long been a belief by many that Van Gogh was homosexual. While there is no evidence to prove this, there is no evidence to disprove it. We do know that he was enormously fascinated with fellow painter Paul Gauguin. In fact, after Gauguin left Arles, he wrote to a friend that on two occasions he woke in the middle of the night to find Vincent standing above his bed. When he asked what Vincent was doing, Vincent turned and fled out of Gauguin's bedroom.

In her account, Adeline writes, "That Sunday he went out immediately after lunch, which was unusual. At dusk he had not returned, which surprised us very much, for he was extremely correct in his relationship with us, he always kept regular meal hours. We were then all sitting out on the cafe terrace, for on Sunday the hustle was more tiring than on weekdays. When we saw Vincent arrive night had fallen, it must have been about nine o'clock. Vincent walked bent, holding his stomach, again exaggerating his habit of holding one shoulder higher than the other. Mother asked him: " M. Vincent, we were anxious, we are happy to see you to return; have you had a problem?"

He replied in a suffering voice: "No, but I have..." he did not finish, crossed the hall, took the staircase and climbed to his bedroom. I was witness to this scene. Vincent made on us such a strange impression that Father got up and went to the staircase to see if he could hear anything.

He thought he could hear groans, went up quickly and found Vincent on his bed, laid down in a crooked position, knees up to the chin, moaning loudly: " What's the matter, "said Father," are you ill? Vincent then lifted his shirt and showed him a small wound in the region of the heart. Father cried: "Malheureaux, [unhappy man] what have you done?"

"I have tried to kill myself," replied Van Gogh.

These words are precise; our father retold them many times to my sister and I, because for our family the tragic death of Vincent Van Gogh has remained one of the most prominent events of our life. In his old age, Father became blind and gladly aired his memories, and the suicide of Vincent was the one that he told the most often and with great precision."

Clearly the young girl saw Vincent come in, bent over, holding his stomach and in great pain, but she did not accompany her father to the bedroom and only relies on her father's words as to the location of the bullet wound. Thus history has recorded it.

Here remains an untold and unsolvable mystery. Did he, in fact, take his own life or did someone murder him? We have no idea where he really went nor who Vincent might have seen and under what circumstances. As it stands in history, all of this - his neural highway shattered from infrasonic sound waves and his sexual coding - might mean little in the shadow of his monumental genius and what he left us. On the other hand, it does no harm to muse upon any mystery nor the possibility that Vincent ended his life because he could not find a way to express what is most fundamental in human nature-ones sexual identity.

Societies and their cultural skins have changed remarkably in some ways from the prurient age of Queen Victoria. The 20th century ushered in radical changes, such as nuclear weapons, television, fast food and the great sexual revolution I witnessed in the 1960s. Many of us believed that out of these winds of change a paradigm would rise; something more lasting with a greater understanding of the fabulous panoply of humanity and a deeper well of tolerance for racial differences, religious and non-religious beliefs, and sexual expressions. What came seems short lived.

In the last few months, five young people have committed suicide and many more suffer from brutal teasing and physical abuse. The sexual blueprint of these children is given to them by the grace of nature, yet many are choosing death rather than suffer unwarranted shame and the pain of our ignorance and intolerance. Are we doomed to devolve? Our cultural trajectory is never linear and seems weighted by anxiety, doubt and fear; history reveals how mythical are men's wings.

Whenever the winds come up, I cannot but think of Vincent toiling in his solitude beneath the intense sun of Southern France, wondering what his paintings might have been like had he not gone south and wondering, too, what more immeasurable gifts he might have left us had he, himself, not left so young.

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National Culture Vs Corporate Culture

Part A - General

Why people behave in a similar way? Do they have shared beliefs and values? Most likely, our minds shape our actions and once people talk the same language and do things similarly, they formed a culture. Different cultures can be seen in countries, companies and communities.

We grow up with our national culture values such as certainty vs. uncertainty, risk-taking vs. risk-averse and good vs. evil, and held them deeply and change gradually over time. Geert Hofstede, a Dutch social psychologist, has identified six dimensions of national culture: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, long-term orientation and indulgence vs. restraint. The dimension scores vary across countries. Power distance is high in Latin, Asian and African countries and low in Germanic, Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon nations. Latin and Germanic countries and Japan are high in uncertainty avoidance; Chinese, Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon countries are more uncertainty accepting.

On the other hand, corporate culture is comprised of dress code, systems and 'culture carriers' like its founder, CEO and managers. Companies' practices are developed and learned from the job to achieve their mission and targets. Besides, individuals can move from company to company. Thus they are more superficial and adaptable than those national culture core values. According to Hofstede, national cultures belong to anthropology; organizational cultures to sociology. Within a large company, various departments can even exhibit different cultures due to working with the different individuals.

Can corporate culture weaken national culture? Conflicts will certainly arise especially in multi-national corporations (MNC) due to the cultural differences between local national culture and imported corporate culture. Using a MNC in Middle East as example, the local worker will not stay up late to complete his work if he has a family duty and this does not mean he is an irresponsible employee. However, a Western executive might take it as though he does not care for his job and disagreements might occur. An INSEAD professor, André Laurent, has discovered that cultural differences were significantly greater among managers from different nations working within the same MNC than among managers working for companies in their own native country. In a typical MNC, Germans seemingly became more German, Americans more American, Swedes more Swedish, and so on. The explanation is not very understandable, then it might suggest that employees are not adapting into a shared corporate culture if it is not align to their national cultures. There is also a general trend that shows workers who are not fit into the corporate culture will be either not get employed in the first place or resign within a few years.

Corporate culture is not defined in a single day and it evolves and becomes more visible as time goes by. Almost all successful businesses had developed a strong and positive culture, not just based on management and administration, but leadership and empowerment. For example, Toyota introduced their "Toyota Way" and their clear devotion to teamwork and continuous improvement ("Kaizen") has given them a competitive advantage and attracted many companies to learn from them. With strong and clear corporate culture, companies can enjoy many benefits such as similar standards can be maintained, increased loyalty, higher motivation & productivity and increased management control.

How leaders create corporate culture? At the beginning of business, the founder(s) play an important role to set the standards from their beliefs, values and assumptions. However, once they start to bring in new members into the management team, more learning experiences are shared and new beliefs, values and assumptions will be passed on. As more and more people joined the company, there is a greater need for the CEO to create a shared vision, a code of practice and the same level of risk taking. Unfortunately, culture does not survive if the main 'culture carriers' depart or the main bulk of members leave. With a strong value on individualism in U.S., the companies take on similar value. Thus a corporate culture might reflect the characteristics of its founder(s) like Jack Welsh in GE and Steve Jobs in Apple. Interestingly, there are also companies with long history that are able to continue its own unique culture, no matter who is/are in the top management. IBM is an example.

Part B - Specific (BreadTalk)

BreadTalk was established in 2000 and is a designer confectionery store, most famous for its cream-filled buns topped with pork floss, named Flosss. By the 3rd year, BreadTalk Group Limited was listed on the SGX. It is one of the Singapore's leading F&B brand well known for being creative, innovative, trendsetting and for its premium quality products. Presently, BreadTalk has reached out to 12 countries with more than 300 bakery outlets (including franchises), 33 food courts and 8 restaurants, supported by over 4,000 staff. Its brands include BreadTalk, Toast Box, Food Republic, Din Tai Fung and The Station Kitchen.

BreadTalk's vision is to be an international, trend-setting, lifestyle brand and its mission is lead a new lifestyle culture with new, innovative changes and creative differentiation to craft products with passion and vibrancy. They believe in providing QSC (Quality, Service, and Cleanliness) for their customers. They treat training as an important aspect for their company. All new trainees are required to undergo training first at their BreadTalk outlets learning how to pack bread, serve customers, etc. Periodically, the training and development department also sends their HQ staff for professional development courses. They also believe strongly in team bonding and before any new BreadTalk outlet opens, all the outlet staff will go to the beach or a day of exciting and team-building activities. With a closer bonding and understanding, their staff will be able to work well together.

In addition, BreadTalk's Chairman, Dr George Quek, encourages all his staff to be creative and always think out-of-the-box. In order for his company to expand successfully, getting a reliable team of employees and partners is vital. He empowers his managers to make decisions on their own. "You can't just send someone overseas without empowering them. The market in China, for example, is so much bigger than Singapore's, so the manager that we send there has to be empowered to deal with that kind of scale." His secret to BreadTalk's success is to be diligent.

In my opinion, our Singapore culture (e.g. high emphasis on education, collectivism and diligent) does play a part in shaping the corporate culture of BreadTalk, especially by the local employees. BreadTalk is also clearly shaped by its founder, Dr. Quek. The main difficulty is to make its foreign employees comfortable working in Singapore. I believe BreadTalk culture will not be affected greatly by other Asian countries e.g. China, India, and Vietnam. However, in today's competitive market, there are distinct patterns and traits that companies have to cultivate in order to be successful such as creativity, innovation, differentiation, training, team building and autonomy.

In 2008, BreadTalk had specially created a bun, named as "Peace Panda" and all the proceeds from the sales of this bun had gone to aid the recovery of Sichuan earthquake. Together with the Red Cross, they had raised S$40,000 in just 1 week. This corporate social responsibility (CSR) act demonstrated their innovative way to use their product as a tool to raise funds by choosing the national animal of China and giving a name, starting 'P' as well. Although CSR does not really considered to be part of its corporate culture, it gives its brand free media coverage and might leave a deep impression into the heart of its customers as it shows humanity and compassion. It is like a form of differentiation from other F&B companies. When people are supporting the cause by buying its "Peace Panda", they will purchase other breads as well. It helped to boost its sales too.

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Safety Culture - Six Basic Safety Program Elements

If you run a small business, sometimes it is hard to keep up with all the rules and regulations. However, there are some very basic elements that must be implemented into a management system. One example is Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) Proposed 'I2P2' Rule.According to OSHA, the proposed rule will "require employers to develop and implement a program that minimizes worker exposure to safety and health hazards."

No one really knows what the proposed rule will look like, but we can usually make a good guess. So, to help with some these Safety program elements, OSHA's "Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines", published on January 26, 1989 provides some limited guidance that you can follow.

In many of the voluntary programs, OSHA outlines five elements that will help you to create a successful management system. From my standpoint, although management and employee participation is complementary and forms the core of an effective safety and health program, I want to make sure that there is a clear and distinct difference between management of the operation and employee participation. It will be easier to implement a management system if you understand what OSHA is considering a model system and then expand on the model to fit the organization. The following are the core elements of an effective management system:

    * Management leadership
    * Employee participation
    * Hazard identification and assessment
    * Hazard prevention and control
    * Information and training
    * Evaluation of program effectiveness

An effective management system addresses work-related hazards, including those potential hazards that could result from a change in workplace conditions or practices. In addition, it addresses hazards that are not regulatory driven by nature. The best advice is to not wait for an inspection or a workplace injury to occur before workplace hazards are addressed. If you do not already have a plan in place, then you should immediately create a plan for identifying and correcting hazards, and then implement the elements of the plan. The key is to have employees participate in the development and implementation of the plan.

It is a good practice to implement and maintain a management system that provides systematic policies, procedures, and practices that are adequate to protect employees from safety hazards. In other words, an effective system identifies provisions for the systematic identification, evaluation, and prevention or control of workplace hazards, specific job hazards, and potential hazards that may arise from foreseeable conditions.

No matter if a safety program is in writing or not is less important than how effective it is implemented, managed, and practiced. It should be obvious that as the size of the workplace, the number of employees, or the complexity of an operation increases, the need for written guidance will increase. The program should help to make sure that there is clear communication to all employees with consistent application of policies and procedures.

Management Leadership

Management leadership from the top down is the most important part of any process. "Lip service", is not going to work and does not demonstrate commitment. Management demonstrates this commitment by providing the motivating force and the needed resources by including at least the following:

· Establishing the roles and responsibilities for managers, supervisors, and employees at all levels of the organization and holding each level accountable for carrying out their assigned responsibilities.

· Providing managers, supervisors, and employees with the authority, access to relevant information, training, and resources needed to carry out their responsibilities.

· Identifying at least one manager, supervisor, or employee to receive and respond to reports about safety conditions and, where appropriate, to initiate corrective action.

Just to make it clear, demonstration means "do as I do" and not "do as I say." This is an important concept, no matter what you are tying to accomplish, always "walk-the-walk, and talk-the-talk". If you say that you are going to do something, do it!

Employee participation

Employee participation provides the means for employees to develop and/or express their commitment to themselves and/or their fellow employees. Therefore, in any successful system, employees should be provided an opportunity to participate in establishing, implementing, and evaluating the safety system. To fulfill and enhance employee participation, management should implement some form of the following elements:

    * Regularly communicating with all employees concerning safety matters.
    * Providing employees with access to information relevant to the safety system.
    * Providing ways for employees to become involved in hazard identification and assessment, prioritizing hazards, safety training, and management system evaluation.
    * Establishing procedures where employees can report work-related hazards promptly and ways they can make recommendations about appropriate solutions to control the hazards identified.
    * Providing prompt responses to reports and recommendations.

It is important to remember that under an effective safety system, management encourages and supports employees to report safety hazards and making recommendations about associated hazard, or participating in the corrective actions for hazard as noted.

Hazard Identification and Assessment

A practical hazard analysis of the work environment involves a variety of elements to identify existing hazards and conditions as well as areas subject to change that might create new hazards. Using management techniques coupled with employee participation and continually analyzing the work environment to anticipate and develop programs to help prevent harmful occurrences will help to identify hazards. The following elements are recommended to help identify existing and potential hazards:

    * Conducting a baseline workplace assessment, updating assessments periodically, and allowing employees to participate in the assessments.
    * Analyzing planned and/or new facilities, process materials, and equipment.
    * Developing routine job hazards analyses and training employees on the hazards noted.
    * Assessing risk factors of ergonomics applications to employee's tasks.
    * Conducting regular site safety inspections so that new or previously missed hazards are identified and corrected.
    * Providing a reliable system for employees to notify management about conditions that appear hazardous and to receive timely and appropriate responses. This system utilizes employee insight and experience in safety and allows employee concerns to be addressed. And the most important, the employee should be encouraged to use this system without fear of reprisal.
    * Investigating injuries, "near misses," and loss producing events so that their causes and means of prevention can be identified.
    * Analyzing injury trends to identify patterns with common causes so that they can be reviewed and prevented

Hazards that employees are exposed should systematically be identified and evaluated. This evaluation can be accomplished by assessing compliance with the following activities and reviewing safety information for example:

    * The establishment's injury experience.
    * The OSHA 300 logs
    * Workers' compensation claims (Employers First Report of Injury)
    * Nurse and/or first aid logs
    * Results of any medical screening/surveillance
    * Employee safety complaints and reports
    * Environmental and biological exposure data
    * Information from prior workplace safety inspections
    * Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS's)
    * Results of employee safety perception surveys
    * Safety manuals
    * Safety warnings provided by equipment manufacturers and chemical supplier
    * Information about safety provided by trade associations or professional safety organizations
    * Results of prior incidents and investigations
    * Evaluating new equipment, materials, and processes for hazards before they are introduced into the workplace
    * Assessing the severity of identified hazards and ranking those that cannot be corrected immediately according to their severity

It is also important to evaluate other regulatory requirements that may impose additional and specific requirements for hazard identification and assessment.

Hazard Prevention and Control

Effective planning and design of the workplace or job task can help to prevent hazards. Where it is not feasible to eliminate hazards, action plans should be implemented that can help to control unsafe conditions.

Elimination or control should be accomplished in a timely manner once a hazard or potential hazards are identified. The following are some suggested measures:

    * Using engineering techniques where feasible and appropriate
    * Establishing safe work practices and procedures that could be understood and followed by all affected employees
    * Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) when engineering controls are not feasible
    * Using administrative controls. For example, reducing the duration of exposure
    * Maintaining the facility and equipment to prevent equipment breakdowns
    * Planning and preparing for emergencies and conducting training including emergency drills, as needed, ensuring that proper responses to emergencies will be "second nature" for all employees involved
    * Establishing a medical surveillance program that includes handling first aid cases onsite and off-site at a nearby physician and/or emergency medical care to help reduce the risk of any injury that may occur

Once identified, an action plan should be developed to help solve the issues or can be used to come into compliance with applicable requirements. These plans can include setting priorities and deadlines and tracking progress in controlling hazards.

Information and Training

Training is an important part of any program to ensure that all employees understand the requirements of the safety programs and potential hazards of the operation. This training should address the roles and responsibilities of both the management and the employees. It will be most effective when combined with other training about performance requirements and/or job practices. The complexity depends on the size and the nature of the hazards and potential hazards present. The following information and training should be provided to all levels:

    * The nature of the hazards and how to recognize them
    * The means to control these hazards
    * The protective measures that can be used to prevent and/or minimize exposure to hazards
    * The provisions of applicable requirements

Anyone who has responsibilities for the information and training should be provided the level of training necessary to carry out their safety responsibilities.

The following provides a brief explanation for some specific-level training. You should review your operation and expand on the brief summary.

Employee Training

Employee training programs should be designed to ensure that all employees understand and are aware of the hazards that they may be exposed and the proper methods for avoiding such hazards.

Management Training

Management must be trained to understand the key role they play in safety and to enable them to carry out their job duties effectively as follows:

    * Analyzing of the work under their supervision to anticipate and identify potential hazards
    * Maintaining physical protection in their work areas
    * Reinforcing employee training on the nature of potential hazards associated with their work and on protective measures. The reinforcement is done through continual performance feedback and, as necessary, through enforcement of safe work practices
    * Understanding their roles and responsibilities

Note that some compliance standards impose additional, more specific requirements for information, training, and education. Make sure that you read specific training requirements.

Evaluation of Program Effectiveness

The management system should be evaluated to ensure that it is effective and appropriate to specific workplace conditions. The system should be revised in a timely manner to correct any deficiencies as identified by any program evaluation. It is important that system elements be reviewed at least annually to evaluate their success in meeting the goals and objectives so that deficiencies can be identified and the program and/or the objectives can be revised when they do not meet the goal of an effective safety process.

The key to developing a management system is to provide visible top management involvement in implementing and sustaining the management system so that all employees understand that management's commitment is serious.

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