Diversified Risk Management

Pennsylvania Bill aims to Prevent Workplace Violence

admin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:08:57 +0000

Violence in the workplace represents a real threat to employees across the U.S. Just yesterday, a man walked into a FedEx shipping facility in Bedford Park, Illinois and fired his gun several times before killing himself. The gunman, Ben Robinson, was a former FedEx employee. His wife is a current FedEx employee at the Bedford Park facility and was apparently the target of his rage. Luckily, no employees were injured. But several FedEx employees at this facility were put in a position where they feared for their safety and lives, simply because they reported to work yesterday.

Employers have an obligation to foster a safe workplace where their employees can complete their job duties without fear for their personal safety. In that spirit, Pennsylvania State Representative Nicholas Micozzie and the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals are co-sponsoring a bill aimed at workplace violence prevention in the healthcare industry. Micozzie and PASNAP understand the looming threat that workplace violence represents and have introduced House Bill 1992, which if enacted would require Pennsylvania hospitals and health care facilities to take proactive steps to prevent violence in the workplace. This includes assessing the existing security risks at their facilities, finding solutions to mitigate risk and creating a safer workplace.

The Health Care Facilities Workplace Prevention Act would require risk assessment evaluations, including reviewing access control, establish standards to expedite employee reporting of violent incidents, and provide employee preventative training and counseling services after an incident of workplace violence occurs.

Last year, a Baltimore man shot an orthopedic surgeon inside Johns Hopkins Hospital after learning of his hospitalized mother’s poor condition. After a two-hour standoff with police, the gunman, Paul Warren Pardus, fatally shot his mother before committing suicide. David Cohen, the surgeon who was shot by Pardus was simply doing his job and did not expect a patient’s son to be carrying a loaded firearm in a hospital. Incidents like this highlight the need for improved safety conditions in the workplace.

We applaud the efforts of Pennsylvania State Representative Nicholas Micozzie and the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals for raising awareness about this important issue.

Going Undercover an “Incredible Opportunity” for one CEO

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:26:04 +0000

Belfour Holdings CEO Sheldon Yellen was recently interviewed regarding his experience on the CBS show Undercover Boss. Yellen worked alongside low-level workers removing soot, hanging dry wall and crawling underneath homes. Mr. Yellen recognized that working in the trenches helped him to better understand his company’s needs and the importance of getting unadulterated feedback from his workforce.

We have previously written about how Undercover Boss has raised the profile of undercover investigations by showing a large audience the impact of real-time field intelligence on management practices.

When asked if other CEO’s could have the same experience within their organizations but without a camera crew, Mr. Yellen replied, “The Undercover Boss experience, regardless of whether you’re doing it on TV or in real life, it is an incredible opportunity for a leader to go back to what really counts and that’s getting as close to your people as you really can”.

We agree. Our owners have spent decades managing undercover cases and know how to get to the bottom of any workplace issue. If you feel that your business could benefit from a candid, unfiltered view of what is going on your workplace, we strongly recommend you contact an experienced and competent private investigation firm.

[via Inc.]

The Value of Corporate Investigations: Resignations at News Corp. Continue

admin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:55:45 +0000

As the News Corp. scandal continues to unravel, many professionals in the private investigation field have come to wonder why a proper internal investigation into the phone hacking was never conducted. Had News Corp. done so, they could have potentially avoided public embarrassment and the damage the phone hacking scandal has caused to their brand and reputation.

In the wake of the scandal, more resignations have occurred: Paul Stephenson, head of Scotland Yard; John Yates, the assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London; Les Hinton, the chief executive of Dow Jones; and, Rebekah Brooks, head of News International have each resigned in the last few days.

Rupert Murdoch and his son, James, appeared before British Parliament, but no charges have yet been filed against anyone at News Corp. These resignations are public displays of preemptive damage control but the integrity of their respective positions may have been compromised. The escalation of events at News Corp. has not yet revealed when the original ethics breach originated, or how far it reached.

As the author of the post so eloquently states, “We have found that when internal investigations are avoided it only exacerbates a corporate problem. Had News Corp. conducted an independent investigation, relying on third-party investigators to thoroughly look into the company’s illegal activities and identify (and terminate) the origin of the problem, the fate of this scandal might play out differently.” We couldn’t agree more. A thorough independent investigation can keep a company’s internal problems in the boardroom and out of the headlines.

Read more about the corporate investigations at News Corp here.

Osama Bin Laden’s Computers to be Forensically Reviewed

Rory Montez — Mon, 16 May 2011 19:49:37 +0000

The team of Navy SEALs that raided Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan stronghold on May 2, 2011 may have also stumbled upon a goldmine of Al Qaeda intelligence. According to a recent article, the raid that resulted in bin Laden’s death also led to the seizure of several computers, hard drives, electronic equipment and removable media including DVDs and USB drives.

U.S. Government Intelligence agencies will now utilize advanced Computer forensic software and techniques to decrypt, index and review the data on each piece of seized hardware. Interestingly, many of the software programs that will be used to analyze the seized data are also used in workplace investigations, such as Guidance Software’s EnCase.

Previous reports had indicated that bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound did not have any phone lines or Internet service; the Washington Times have since reported that the compound did in fact have internet access via a dedicated fiber-optic cable.

Employees Are Unproductive Half the Day

admin — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:44:54 +0000

A recent study conducted on workplace productivity found that employees spend almost half of their time on unproductive tasks. For small and mid-size business owners, the loss of worker productivity can amount to almost a million dollars a year.

According to Webtorials, who conducted the study, employees waste a significant portion of time dealing with ineffective communication. For example, forwarding e-mails and phone numbers back in forth to confirm a specific message or fax was received can represent almost 14% of an employee’s workday.

In addition, tedious tasks like scheduling meetings and dealing with unsolicited calls eat away at employee productivity by forcing over-qualified employees to handle such trivial issues. Worker productivity can have a major impact on the growth and sustainability of a business, so addressing this issue is of key importance.