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The Panda Post is brought to you twice a month by veteran safety reporter Bamboo Buchwald, a proud member of the AP (Associated Panda). Through intrepid reporting (which is pretty easy even for a cartoon since it takes little more than checking the websites of actual, reputable news outlets) I bring you the exciting, the not so exciting, and offbeat news from the Safety Industry.
Good information about what’s going on in the industry is priceless. What I offer might provide some value as well—hardly priceless, but at least worth a look. |
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The Panda Post, Volume 5
I’ve just returned from my duties as an Election 2008 correspondent for The Cartoon Network (of course). It was exciting work, but you try sitting at an anchor desk in the middle of a bickering Tom and Jerry, or put up with a reporter like Yogi Bear constantly stealing your lunch from the break room fridge (trust me, Yogi’s making enough on residuals to afford his own “pickinick baskets”).
So now it’s back to covering the Safety Industry. Hopefully, you’ve been trying to ride out the economic storm and have not resorted to stuffing your life savings in the mattress. The best way to weather a slow economy is to stay informed (or already have $1 million plus in the bank). So hopefully I’ll provide you relevant information to help. If not, I suggest cutting along the seams of the mattress, it makes the stuffing job less obvious |
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New Administration Likely Means OHS “Change”
Jerry Laws, editor of Occupational Health & Safety Magazine, writes an insightful article about the large scale changes that will likely happen to occupational health and safety regulatory and appropriations committees. Note that “Obama” and “OSHA” both start with “O” and end in “A”. Coincidence? Yeah, pretty much. |
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“Small Business meet OSHA. OSHA this is Small Business”
A recent OHSA forum, “Challenges Small Businesses Face in Complying with Regulation”, took place in Washington and outlined how OSHA is trying to help small businesses with their compliance issues. OSHA's "$afety Pays" program, which helps employers estimate the costs of occupational injuries and illnesses, was one of the points addressed at the forum. Safety Distributors take note. If your smaller customers need to confide in you about regulatory guidance, be prepared to offer advice (not in the weird “I’m a 40-year-old guidance counselor and trying to be your friend way” but more like as a big brother/sister). It can only increase their level of trust in your business. |
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NIOSH, Your New Facebook BFF
Believe it or not, NIOSH has its own Facebook page. No, this isn’t so that you and the safety organization can share info on music, play online games together, or wish each other happy birthday. But it should give NIOSH added exposure, help you keep up-to-date on NIOSH products, and provide a networking tool. And who knows, it may enlighten some college kid who stumbles across it at 3 a.m. (and perhaps save him from posting that embarrassingly candid message on the page of “Naomi”, the cute redhead in his American Lit. class). |
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Voters Believe in Green Investment
A short article on ISHN’s website mentions poll results that show an overwhelming percentage of voters agree that continued investment in clean energy is important to the future of the United States. Investing in this type of green may have more benefit currently than investing your hard earned green elsewhere (unless you get a kick out of magically turning dollar bills into pennies). Keep that in mind Safety Distributors. As we told you in a previous issue, “there’s gold in them thar windmills”. Keep an eye on clean energy advances; it’s a field that needs safety equipment too.
With more people thinking green, try to be an ecologically friendly Safety Distributor by stressing a few environmentally sound products. |
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West-Chester Chrome Free Pigksin Gloves do not go through a chromium tanning process, which makes them safe when they are disposed of in landfills. |
Anderson Mats (a member of DPA Safety/Panda Group) has a new WaterHog ™ EC mat. It is made of recycled PET polyester fibers from reclaimed plastic bottles, and recycled rubber from used tires. Cool. |
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Being green is nothing new to Simple Green. These guys were environmentally conscious before anyone knew what “environmentally conscious” meant. |
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