Plant Services - April 2008 - (Page 68)

Tepromark Heavy Duty Industrial Mats Improve Safety, Productivity and are Durable! Teprohold improves employee safety • “Diamond-cut” tread and open grid matting make for a superior anti-slip heavy-duty industrial mat. Cross ribs provide positive traction too. For added safety, buy Teprohold with the yellow edging. Teprohold improves employee productivity • Superior fatigue-reducing cushion cuts leg strain and tiredness especially for employees standing for long periods of time. Less stress increases productivity. Teprohold stands up to all punishment • Impervious to oils, grease and acids, flame resistant and waterproof, Teprohold won’t chip, rot, rust, splinter or fade. That produces long-life service. ® For FREE samples and a catalog call, 1-800-645-2622 www.tepromark.com - Email: customerservice@tepromark.com TP-254AD.indd 1 EMERGENCY 3/6/08 10:32:11 AM OVERHEAD PROTECTION FROM ROOF • PIPE • MACHINERY LEAKS Eliminate Down Time! Protect Machinery and Stock! Perfect for ofﬁces, shops & warehouses 101 USES! Diverts water to window, drain or sink Price subject to change without notice Diverters • Your Choice INDIVIDUALLY PACKAGED 3’ x 6’ – $65.40 3’ x 8’ – $68.16 3’ x 10’ – $70.20 6’ x 6’ – $76.44 6’ x 8’ – $82.86 6’ x 10’ – $89.22 Industrial vinyl reinforced with polyester Heavy-duty garden hose attachment Solid brass grommets Suspension and hose not included. Other sizes available upon request. Water — so essential to life, yet it can be your worst enemy when you least expect it. At last a product has been developed to make those untimely leaks a little less frustrating. Our Water Diverter protects valuable areas and equipment from roof leaks until a permanent solution can be accomplished. It is our opinion that every building that has a ﬁre extinguisher in case of a ﬁre or a ﬁrst aid kit in case of an injury, should have a least one Water Diverter in case of a disastrous roof leak. It is better to have one and not need it then to need it and not have it. Water pails in the middle of the ﬂoor are not considered Fire Protection. Keep the buckets out of sight — liability claims are there already. 1115 Main St., Holyoke, Mass. 01040 (413) 533-5347 Fax: (413) 536-4797 WWW.SUMLAC-DEWAY.COM listen to only the station designated for that time period. The designated station changed every two hours to accommodate everyone’s tastes. If you didn’t want to listen to that station, you turned your radio off. If you wanted to listen to the station, it had to be done at low volume. This solution wasn’t something most people might concoct. However, the employees suggested it, and probably for that reason, it worked. Looking at the current case, I think that Acme, Loh and Herman are out of line on this one. Loh’s behavior and language are offensive to others and she either should change or be removed. If her English isn’t sufficient to allow her to understand the rules, then get a translator. Loh should be treated the same as anyone else in the facility. Her problems with English don’t excuse offensive behavior. Should portable music devices be allowed in the workplace? It depends. The majority of companies probably ban them because they think they distract employees from the tasks at hand. Other companies permit them, given that they don’t interfere with the work or with others. The argument for the latter position seems to be that it makes work more palatable and also relaxes the employees, which in turn, leads to higher job satisfaction. However, one problem with this position is that the manager ends up with a bunch of issues like those at Acme or the plant I consulted for in Mississippi. Workplace perks are good for attracting high-quality employees and in keeping them. The occasional “Loh” probably would occur with or without the perks and shouldn’t be a reason for getting rid of perks. An interesting question in this case is whether the problem is with the music device, Loh or both in combination. Herman might have tried to improve the situation by preventing Loh from using the device to see if things improve. However, I suspect the problem is more with Loh than with the music device. If English proficiency was a nationwide condition of employment, we’d have to fire a ton of workers. Many American workers get along very well with only limited command of English. The question here is job performance, not English proficiency. Where communication in English is critical to job performance, then English should be required. Should profanity be a cause for discipline? Definitely. Plenty of cases have held that profanity produces a hostile work environment, and the quicker a company reacts against that type of behavior, the better. If Herman had been on his toes, the problem would have disappeared quickly. Professor Homer H. Johnson, Ph.D Loyola University Chicago (312) 915-6682 hjohnso@luc.edu April 2008 68 www.PLANTSERVICES.com http://www.tepromark.com http://www.tepromark.com http://WWW.SUMLAC-DEWAY.COM http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Plant Services - April 2008

Plant Services - April 2008 Contents From the Editor Letters The PS Files Up and Running Crisis Corner What Works Asset Manager Technology Toolbox Cover Story Compressors Motors Flooring Web Hunter In the Trenches Product Picks Classifieds Energy Expert

Plant Services - April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.