christopher Harper, Author at DJ Products

When Nurses Go On Strike Hospital Administrators Fear the Worst

Does your hospital have a contingency plan in place in case of a nurses’ strike? Such an event could end up costing dearly in terms of both money and patient care.

Can You Afford to Survive a Strike?

Consider the case of Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center, which experienced a brief labor dispute in 2011. Staff nurses held a one-day strike that was followed by a five-day lockout, and for that short period the hospital spent $6 million in temporary staffing and other related costs.

You and other administrators should develop a Plan B before any contract negotiations begin, even if it appears they will be amicable. If you end up getting caught unawares by a strike, it could force your hand and result in an unsatisfactory settlement.

Planning Ahead

So how do you craft an emergency plan for work stoppages? Curt Kirschner Jr., a San Francisco-based attorney who provides legal counsel on labor issues for the American Hospital Association, suggests that you predetermine the answers to these questions:

• Should patient services be reduced? If so, how far?

• How many non-union staff members could step in on an emergency basis?

• How many patients could reasonably be released to outside options like home care?

No matter how difficult negotiations get, always take the high road regarding unionized employees. They are the public face of your hospital, and speaking ill of them ultimately does more harm than good.

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Trash Rooms and Compactors are Dangerous!

Trash collection and disposal seems like it should be a fairly benign activity, but sadly trash rooms and compactors have been the sites of a number of serious injuries and fatalities over the years.

Compactor Accidents Can Have Tragic Results

One of the more devastating accidents occurred at Grocery Outlet in Redwood, CA. Mendie Udo, a 43-year-old janitor who had worked at the store for several years, was discovered inside the trash compactor by another employee. Responding firefighters declared him dead at the scene.

Although there were no witnesses, a spokesperson for Cal/OSHA said there was no doubt that Udo was crushed in the compactor and there were no signs of foul play. Based on the position of the body, authorities speculate that Udo leaned into the machine.

Enforce Compactor Safety Rules in Your Workplace

Any employee who uses a compactor should be thoroughly trained in its proper operation. Here are some other safety measures that should be implemented in your workplace:

• The operating key should never be left in an unattended machine.

• Always examine the inside of the compactor’s bin before starting.

• Employees should never climb into the compactor or put any body parts inside the bin.

• Turn off the power and use long-handled tools to clear jams.

• Point of operation guards should be firmly in place at all times.

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Transporting dumpsters and waste bins to the trash room can also cause injuries. Visit our website to learn how our battery-powered WasteCaddy can improve efficiency and cut down on workplace injuries and costly medical claims.

Tips for Your Staff on Using Your Dumpster Safely

Whether you’re working a temporary construction project or you manage a large multi-family housing property, effective trash removal is a major part of the job. Avoid injury claims and work stoppages by making sure your employees are trained in these dumpster safety tips:

• People sometimes open dumpster gates as a shortcut for loading trash. If the gates do get opened, be sure they are securely closed immediately. Trash that spills out of the dumpster can be a safety risk and result in fines.

• Overfilling the dumpster is another sure way to end up with unsightly and dangerous spillage. Some states and municipalities prohibit trash pick-up if the waste extends beyond the top of the dumpster, which makes additional work for your employees.

• Eco-friendly trash removal involves more than toxic or radioactive materials. Ordinary household items such as paints, pesticides and batteries should never be placed in a dumpster. Take electronic waste like computers and televisions to the appropriate recycling facility.

• Distribute trash evenly throughout the dumpster so it stays level and balanced, especially when it’s being moved.

• Paper, cardboard and other lightweight materials can easily fly out of the dumpster. Keep these objects weighted down by heavier items, placing them all in bags if possible.

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Even if you carefully follow these dumpster safety tips, moving awkward and heavy dumpsters is a two-person job. Visit our website to learn how our battery-powered WasteCaddy lets a single employee maneuver dumpsters up to 5,000 pounds, even up inclines and across snow and ice.

How to Take the Risk Out of the Trash Room

Handling trash is no excuse for neglecting the cleanliness of your dumpster room. In addition to being an eyesore that affects your professional reputation, a messy trash room is a safety hazard for members of your staff.

Tom Van Sickle, general manager of DJ Products, explains the negative impact of a sloppy trash room and offers tips for maintaining a tidy and safe dumpster area.

Drawbacks of a Messy Trash Room

• Overall productivity suffers when you have to hire temporary or permanent replacements for injured staff members.

• Many cities impose fines if trash is not well-contained.

• If you’re a property manager, you’ll find that poor waste management affects tenant morale, resulting in complaints, high resident turnover and bad online reviews.

The Key to Effective Trash Removal

A sloppy trash room usually results from a lack of proper equipment. Dumpsters are heavy and bulky, making them difficult to move with two people. Therefore, staff members resist putting forth the effort when they’re at risk of incurring a serious injury.

Our WasteCaddy electric dumpster mover allows a single employee to maneuver trash bins weighing up to 5,000 pounds, even on inclines, or snow and ice. One of our satisfied clients refers to the WasteCaddy as “an extra employee.”

WasteCaddy: Eco-Friendly Solution to Trash Management Problems

Put your staff to work on more important tasks. We have the right dumpster mover to fulfill the needs of any operation, big or small. Call 800.686.2651 or use our convenient online chat feature to consult with one of our friendly sales engineers.

Protect Your Hospital Property with These Slip and Fall Tips

Safety is always in season, but winter brings a special set of concerns. Hectic schedules, understaffed shifts, and even tracked-in snow and sleet can make a workplace more vulnerable to accidents, such as slips and falls. EHS Today has some winter safety tips for businesses of all kinds, and the lessons can certainly be applied to hospitals and health care organizations.

Regarding slips and falls, the main concern during the cold months of the year stems from wet surfaces. Even indoors, the threat may be greater than normal because people track snow in on their footwear. The inevitable melted pile of slush can make hospital hallways slippery in unexpected places.

Winter Slips and Falls in Hospitals

Workers are more likely to slip and fall inside your hospital when they’re moving equipment. For one thing, their view of the ground in front of them may be obstructed. If they’re exerting force to manually push a wheeled cart, a wet floor is even more dangerous.

Hospital cart movers that use battery power to propel motorized carts can help with this situation. The worker can walk at a normal pace, alongside the cart if preferred. By avoiding pushing heavy carts manually, your workers retain a better sense of balance and are less prone to slipping on the unseen wet floors.

Hospitals can also post safety notices, add non-slip mats to key areas, and hold staff meetings about safety practices. However, hospital cart movers are a more permanent solution.

Looking to avoid slips and falls at your hospital? Consider DJ Products’ electric hospital cart movers to improve safety for health workers and maintenance staff.

Automakers Strive to Tap into Social Currency to Boost Sales

Social media, with its ability to gather unprecedented amounts of data, has revolutionized marketing methods. How can big-ticket items like automobiles, where purchases often involve more time and research, take advantage of this access to consumers?

The Value of Social Currency

Vivaldi Group, a global marketing consulting firm, has come up with a creative way for car companies to create consumer engagement. CEO Erich Joachimsthaler has dubbed this process “Social Currency,” which applies both figuratively and literally.

As conceptualized by Vivaldi, social currency consists of seven dimensions. The top two, personal identity and social identity, are self-explanatory; they define a consumer’s self-image and place within the social structure.

How Social Currency Boosts Consumer Engagement

While the first two dimensions are already established, the other five present valuable opportunities for automakers to engage with consumers and help them solve problems. These dimensions are:

Expression, or brand identity

Conversation, or brand-consumer discussion

Affiliation, or how the brand builds a peer community

Information, or how the brand and the peer community combine to educate consumers

Utility, or how these dimensions personally affect consumers

In addition to creating a bond with consumers, social currency provides companies with avenues for real-world feedback so they can continually evaluate and refine their approach.

Improve Workplace Safety with a Car Pusher from DJ Products

Whether you’re moving autos around a lot or down an assembly line, a battery-operated car pusher from DJ Products lets a single employee maneuver vehicles up to 20,000 pounds. Call 800.686.2651 and let one of our friendly sales engineers help you find the right solution for your needs.

Tips for Packing Semi Trailers for Improved Efficiency

Your warehouse places a huge focus on efficiency, but are you doing everything you can to be as efficient as possible when packing the semi trailers? Before the truck can depart, your system for packing trailers has a huge impact on your team’s productivity as well as how efficiently the trailers can get moved out and on the road.

Freight experts know that efficient packing for semi trailers consists of several key steps:

• Have forklifts and hand trucks ready to move the freight.

• Use a semi trailer mover to safely position your trailers in the best locations.

• Know the weight of your cargo and plan on packing it with even distribution.

• Use appropriate tie-downs to hold items in place and maximize space efficiency.

It sounds simple, but even with a great strategy for loading the cargo, you need the right tools to get the job done safely and quickly.

How does your team move semi trailers? If you’re using a pick-up truck or tractor as a semi trailer mover, you may be wasting precious hours every week. A heavy-duty trailer dolly can more efficiently maneuver semi trailers with near pinpoint accuracy.

A motorized semi trailer mover is about as easy to use as a shopping cart. For sites that need to move semi trailers around the yard like puzzle pieces, a semi trailer mover can be the key to unlock the next level of warehouse efficiency.

Our semi trailer movers work great with 48’ and 53’ trailers and tons of other heavy equipment — find out how DJ Products can improve your efficiency with a powered trailer dolly.

Department of Defense Contractors Urged to Report Data Breaches

Cybercrime is estimated to cost U.S. companies up to $2 trillion by 2019. Beyond the financial toll, cyberattacks on Department of Defense (DoD) contractors pose a crucial threat to national security. In an effort to limit the risk, DoD recently enacted stringent rules governing cybersecurity and breach reporting.

Protecting Sensitive Government and Defense Data

The latest Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), enacted in August 2015, includes the following provisions for DoD contractors:

• Implementation of security measures is required for all computer systems.

• Any occurrence of hacking or other cyberattacks must be reported to the Department of Justice within 72 hours.

This action was prompted by a series of high-profile hacking incidents involving government agencies including the IRS and Office of Personnel Management.

When Cyberattacks Go Unreported

Unfortunately, this regulation has not caused much improvement in breach reporting. One 90-day review revealed 199 instances of suspected leaks, but only 12 agencies reported any breaches.

Failure of DoD contractors to report cyberattacks leaves the door open for whistleblowers via the False Claims Act, which provides for awards of 15-30% of the government’s total recovery against companies found guilty of reporting violations.

DJ Products: The Solution to DoD Contractor Equipment Needs

Military and DoD projects require timely and efficient operations through every step of the process. DJ Products offers a comprehensive line of battery-powered tugs and movers to meet any DoD contractor equipment need up to 50,000 pounds. Call 800.686.2651 and let our friendly sales engineers help you choose the right product for your application.

Will the Trend to Concierge Trash Services Make a Difference for Your Property?

As a growing number of states enact mandatory recycling, the already challenging matter of waste management has become even more intricate. Many property managers are turning to concierge trash services as a practical and cost-effective solution.

Solving the Messy Problem of Trash Collection

In multi-family housing units, effective waste management is dependent on cooperation from residents, who often use leaky garbage bags or fail to place trash inside the proper receptacles. Recycling complicates the issue with its requirements that items be sorted within separate containers.

Private concierge trash collection companies offer a simplified process that takes most of the burden off the shoulders of the property manager. When a company contracts with a housing unit, they provide door-to-door trash and recycling from each individual unit five to seven times a week.

All residents have a bin located right outside their front door, usually with one section for trash and one for recycling, which is single-stream with no sorting required. The company will haul the recyclables to a collection facility if necessary, and some even include cleaning of the dumpster and trash collection areas in their services.

Adding Value to Multi-Unit Rental Properties

Not only does concierge trash collection make a cumbersome maintenance task much easier, they raise a property’s desirability in the rental market. Prospective tenants appreciate a service that allows them to maintain a green lifestyle with less effort.

WasteCaddy Dumpster Mover from DJ Products

One satisfied client described our battery-powered WasteCaddy dumpster mover as “like having another employee on staff.” Visit our website and use the handy on-line chat feature to learn more from our helpful sales engineers.

Economic Trends Encourage Property Managers to Show Caution

As 2016 winds down, what does the near future hold for property management? Current economic trends suggest that the best course of action may be watchful waiting as you carefully observe and evaluate today’s realities.

What’s In Store for Q4?

After close to eight years of low interest rates, the Fed has delayed a rate hike until at least December based on a number of recent events:

• In August, the U.S. economy had a modest job increase of only 151,000.

• Oil prices and equity markets took heavy hits from the sluggish Chinese economy, which is feared to be the harbinger of a full-blown financial crisis in that country.

• The turmoil of Brexit during the summer was followed by the uncertainly of maybe the wildest ever U.S. presidential campaign.

Add in the fact that car sales have begun to slip after more than five straight years of increases, all signs appear to be pointing to an economic slowdown.

On the Brink of Recession

The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) maintains a Purchasing Managers’ Index that measures the strength of the country’s manufacturing sector. During August the index dropped to 49.6, and a number below 50 is considered the onset of recession.

So what does this all mean for property management? Take stock of your business and make any technology upgrades needed to offer state-of-the-art services. Get feedback from clients so you can incorporate their preferences.

Streamline Operations with Dumpster Movers from DJ Products

This is also a great time to upgrade equipment for maximum efficiency. Visit our website to learn more about our WasteCaddy line of battery-powered dumpster movers.