WorkSafe Vic no longer focussing on safety prosecutions in small ...

VICTORIA?S workplace safety watchdog has quietly shifted its prosecuting focus away from small and medium-sized companies ? where most workplace deaths and serious injuries occur! ? to large businesses. WorkSafe?s shift has taken big industry by surprise and infuriated unions, which believe the move will send a poor message to small and medium-sized businesses. The Australian Industry Group?s Victorian branch director, Tim Piper, said the same rigour should be applied to all businesses

The shift comes as WorkSafe?s successful prosecutions have dipped to 100 from a record high of 134 three years ago. Total fines against errant companies in the same period were $1.7 million down.

Only one in two WorkSafe investigations last financial year led to a prosecution or enforcement, the lowest rate in at least four years.

Unions, grieving families and workplace safety experts fear a growing timidity in WorkSafe?s approach to prosecution after an overhaul of its legal team in 2010 saw the organisation lose experienced occupational health and safety lawyers.

Sources within WorkSafe say the body needs better-quality investigators.

Louisa Giandinoto, who lost her father in a workplace accident, yesterday spent Father?s Day visiting his grave. She believes WorkSafe let her family down by not prosecuting the owner-builder from whose house roof John Giandinoto fell two years ago.

She understands her father shared responsibility for safety, but says he had little control over the site?s overall safety.

Amid their grief, Mr Giandinoto?s wife and daughters did not order an autopsy. So WorkSafe, which told The Age it had conducted a comprehensive investigation, told the family there was no evidence that he fell because of a safety issue ? it could have been a heart attack.

?He lost his life because of an unsafe site,? said Ms Giandinoto, 32. ?I feel that the owner-builder should still have responsibility for that. Unfortunately people take shortcuts to get the work done. No one thinks of the consequences or the loss that grieving families are left to deal with.?

A senior source within WorkSafe told The Age: ?We are scared to do the job, we are so risk averse. We are unable to do the job the way we did it a few years ago.?

In a statement to The Age, WorkSafe publicly revealed its new focus on larger companies. A spokesman said WorkSafe was now taking on ?larger, better-resourced businesses who have breached the law?.

WorkSafe sources say they believe big fines against large firms will send a strong message to all companies. Larger firms have no excuse to skimp on workplace safety, they say.

WorkSafe?s own figures show the highest rates of serious-injury claims are in medium-sized businesses that employ between 100 to 500 people and smaller businesses that employ between 20 and 100 people.

On injury rates Victoria has the safest workplaces in the country, but fatalities at work jumped last financial year to 24, a 25 per cent increase from the previous year.

WorkSafe?s shift has taken big industry by surprise and infuriated unions, which believe the move will send a poor message to small and medium-sized businesses. The Australian Industry Group?s Victorian branch director, Tim Piper, said the same rigour should be applied to all businesses.

Steve Dargavel, the Victorian secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, said the shift was outrageous and came on top of an increasingly risk-averse approach to prosecution. ?There are an awful lot of workers being killed and maimed for life in small to medium enterprises.?

Frank Cosentino spent Father?s Day without his son Joey, who died last year when his van blew up in a gas explosion. Mr Cosentino is still waiting on WorkSafe to decide whether to prosecute, almost nine months after the accident. Joey worked as a refrigerator mechanic for a small business.

?This is all about keeping people safe. When you lose a life, it doesn?t matter if they are going to work for a small business or a large business. They should be safe,? he said.

An Age analysis of WorkSafe?s prosecution rate revealed the organisation has been double-counting successful prosecutions. WorkSafe includes committals in its list of successful prosecutions, even though a person or company may be cleared at trial. Because of lags in the justice system, this also means Worksafe has been counting a committal to trial one year, then the result at trial the next year, thereby counting the one prosecution twice.

It also counts enforceable undertakings ? such as agreements by companies to improve safety equipment ? even when all charges have been withdrawn by WorkSafe and no prosecution has occurred.

When taking committals and enforceable undertakings out of its figures, WorkSafe actually conducted only 90 successful prosecutions last year, despite its target of 150. That was up from 64 in the year 2010-11 (compared to its official figure of 76) but down from 116 in 2009-10 (Worksafe?s figure: 134).

Labor?s spokesman for WorkSafe, Robin Scott, called on the minister, Gordon Rich-Phillips, to make WorkSafe give a clear explanation of its prosecution rates.

Phillip Priest, QC, an experienced occupational health and safety law barrister in prosecution and defence, said WorkSafe?s attitude to prosecution had changed for the better.

?They will not prosecute a case unless there?s evidence to support it,? he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/safety-watchdog-just-wants-to-chase-the-big-boys-20120902-258k7.html#ixzz25N2lZHJb

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Source: http://aworkcovervictimsdiary.com/2012/09/worksafe-vic-will-no-longer-focus-on-safety-prosecutions-in-small-medium-sized-companies/

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The EDGE: Phys.Org Newsletter Week 35

Prehistoric bugs from 230 million years ago found in amber (Update)
(Phys.org)?An international team of scientists has discovered the oldest record of arthropods?invertebrate animals that include insects, arachnids, and crustaceans?preserved in amber. The specimens, one fly and two mites found in millimeter-scale droplets of amber from northeastern Italy, are about 100 million years older than any other amber arthropod ever collected. The group's findings, which are published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pave the way for a better evolutionary understanding of the most diverse group of organisms in the world.

Inverted polymer solar cell efficiency sets world record
(Phys.org)?For many years, researchers have strived to reach the goal of 10% efficiency for polymer-based organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells, a target widely considered to be the threshold for commercial applications. Now in a new study, researchers at the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou have constructed an inverted OPV that has set a new record with a certified efficiency of 9.2%, a significant improvement over the previous record-high efficiency of 8.37%. Expecting the new design to catalyze developments to the 10% target in the near future, the research team is partnering with Houston-based Phillips 66 and Solarmer, a photovoltaic company in El Monte, California, to prepare for commercialization.

Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent ever recorded (Update 2)
(Phys.org)?The blanket of sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean melted to its lowest extent ever recorded since satellites began measuring it in 1979, according to the University of Colorado Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Space-warping white dwarfs produce gravitational waves
(Phys.org)?Gravitational waves, much like the recently discovered Higgs boson, are notoriously difficult to observe. Scientists first detected these ripples in the fabric of space-time indirectly, using radio signals from a pulsar-neutron star binary system. The find, which required exquisitely accurate timing of the radio signals, garnered its discoverers a Nobel Prize. Now a team of astronomers has detected the same effect at optical wavelengths, in light from a pair of eclipsing white dwarf stars.

Quark matter's connection with the Higgs
(Phys.org)?You may think you've heard everything you need to know about the origin of mass. After all, scientists colliding protons at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe recently presented stunning evidence strongly suggesting the existence of a long-sought particle called the Higgs boson, thought to "impart mass to matter." But while the Higgs particle may be responsible for the mass of fundamental particles such as quarks, quarks alone can't account for the mass of most of the visible matter in the universe?that's everything we see and sense around us.

Japan court rejects Apple patent claims against Samsung (Update)
A Japanese court Friday rejected Apple's claim that Samsung stole its technology, dealing a blow to the iPhone maker which last week won more than $1 billion in damages in the US from its bitter rival.

WISE survey uncovers millions of black holes
(Phys.org)?NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission has led to a bonanza of newfound supermassive black holes and extreme galaxies called hot DOGs, or dust-obscured galaxies.

MASSIVE advances in aerodynamics
Engineers are closer to understanding, and therefore manipulating, invisible aerodynamic drag forces, that cause an estimated 50 per cent of transportation fuel to be lost before we can use it.

Ray of light could lead to next generation of superconductors
A superconductor, which can move electrical energy with no wasteful resistance, is the holy grail of cost-effective, efficient, and "green" power production. Unlike traditional conductors such as copper or silver, which waste power resources and lose energy when they heat up, an ideal superconductor would continuously carry electrical current without losing any power.

New research eclipses existing theories on the Moon formation
The Moon is believed to have formed from a collision, 4.5 billion years ago, between Earth and an impactor the size of Mars, known as "Theia." Over the past decades scientists have simulated this process and reproduced many of the properties of the Earth-Moon system; however, these simulations have also given rise to a problem known as the Lunar Paradox: the Moon appears to be made up of material that would not be expected if the current collision theory is correct. A recent study published in Icarus proposes a new perspective on the theory in answer to the paradox.

Researchers discover the 'anternet'
(Phys.org)?On the surface, ants and the Internet don't seem to have much in common. But two Stanford researchers have discovered that a species of harvester ants determine how many foragers to send out of the nest in much the same way that Internet protocols discover how much bandwidth is available for the transfer of data. The researchers are calling it the "anternet."

Computational biologist solves 200-year-old oceanic mystery
(Phys.org)?The origin of Cerataspis monstrosa has been a mystery as deep as the ocean waters it hails from for more than 180 years. For nearly two centuries, researchers have tried to track down the larva that has shown up in the guts of other fish over time but found no adult counterpart. Until now.

'Super Wi-Fi' poised for growth in US, elsewhere
Move over Wi-Fi, there's a new wireless technology coming.

Curiosity rover begins eastbound trek on Martian surface
(Phys.org)?NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has set off from its landing vicinity on a trek to a science destination about a quarter mile (400 meters) away, where it may begin using its drill.

Study: Adolescent marijuana use leaves lasting mental deficits
The persistent, dependent use of marijuana before age 18 has been shown to cause lasting harm to a person's intelligence, attention and memory, according to an international research team.

New technique could mean super thin, strong graphene-based circuits
(Phys.org)?Integrated circuits, which are in everything from coffeemakers to computers and are patterned from perfectly crystalline silicon, are quite thin?but Cornell researchers think they can push thin-film boundaries to the single-atom level.

Fossil skeleton of strange, ancient digging mammal clears up 30-year evolutionary debate
Shortly after dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops went extinct 65 million years ago, Earth's ancient landscapes were filled with unusual mammals only distantly related to those alive today. Until recently, one of these creatures, Ernanodon antelios, was only known from a single, highly distorted specimen that raised many questions about its habits and evolutionary relationships. In the most recent issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, scientists describe a second specimen of Ernanodon that sheds new light on this curious beast from the dawn of the "Age of Mammals."

Advance makes possible near-instantaneous DNA analysis
Picture this: You've brought your sick child to the doctor's office. After checking her pulse and blood pressure, he takes a nasal or throat swab and inserts it into a mysterious black box. Before the doctor finishes his examination, the black box beeps, indicating that the pathogen that's making your child sick has been identified.

New record in quantum communications
(Phys.org)?Researchers from The Australian National University have taken a quantum leap towards developing the next-generation super-fast networks needed to drive future computing.

DNA scan sheds new light on mankind's mysterious cousins (Update)
Max Planck researchers describe Denisovan genome, illuminating the relationships between Denisovans and present-day humans.

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Source: http://mabsj2.blogspot.com/2012/09/physorg-newsletter-week-35.html

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Seven Inspirational DIY Projects - Positively Splendid

Wanting to feature an idea you've found here at PS on your own blog? I am honored! If you do so, please use only one image and provide a direct link back to the original post. You may not share a post in its entirety without my express permission. Questions about my sharing policy? Contact me at amy (at) positivelysplendid (dot) com for more information.

Source: http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2012/09/seven-inspirational-diy-projects.html

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Obama says he's a 'huge Clint Eastwood fan' (San Jose Mercury News)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/245296539?client_source=feed&format=rss

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The Way To Utilize Small Business On line ... - Seo Site Manager

Knowing the way to use small business on line marketing to improve presence is incredibly important. Small companies don?t get the advantage of recognition that big companies enjoy. In addition, small businesses do not have the funds that larger companies do to spend on marketing. Nonetheless, a large number of small business owners are managing to make the most of their situation. Continue reading for ways on the way to make small business online marketing work for you.

Each and every business should have an internet site. However, getting a firm internet site up isn?t enough. Key to efficient small business online marketing is providing possible customers or customers with useful information. They?ll stay on your web page and come back if they locate effective information. Making certain that your web site contains effective content will work to your advantage. In addition, it?s important to constantly post new information on the web page. Post updates on completely new products, or upcoming events. You may also provide your take on local news and how it influences your industry and your customers. By doing so, you establish yourself as an authority in the relevant industry. More people will begin to take notice. Once individuals start to refer to your website every time they require answers, you know that you?re doing effective small business on line marketing.

As content is important, it does no good if nobody may locate your site. Make use of of the right key phrases is actually essential. Keywords ought to be relevant. Utilizing multi-word phrases could be better simply because they?ll be less competition for them. Another essential component to effective small business on line marketing is making sure your content is SEO optimized. Make it effortless for search engines for example Google to locate you.

as of late, a number of social media platforms exist from which individuals and businesses may interact with the public. Probably the most popular and regularly utilized are Twitter and facebook. All of these are incredibly powerful equipment , ones which can be utilized in small business on-line marketing. You may connect with individuals, reply their questions and provide info on new products or developments. Social networks expand the amount of people who a business could reach. So generate an account and post updates and tweet.

Once possible clients get to your web site, it?s essential that they can easily find reading material. Link back to older but still effective posts on your web-site. Furthermore link back from emails, Facebook posts and tweets. One other effective option to reach more people is to set up a RSS feed. Every time you update, your readers will get the new information instantly.

Consistency also is essential . Small business on line marketing desires to be put into practice every day of the year. It takes time to increase a client base. To catch the attention of your specific audience, you must constantly put up Facebook updates, web log posts, send out emails and tweet. More individuals will take notice. More people will recommend highly you as a supply of info and as a service provider or supplier. Eventually, your buyer base will grow. Patience is key.

Small business online marketing is essential for companies that do not get the funds or recognition that bigger companies have. Setup a website and boost it such that all search engines like google could find it. Consistently update your web site with effective content. Set up a Twitter and facebook account to reach and interact with possible clients. In time, you?ll have the client base that you are aiming for and so way more.

Escajeda Suel has been writing articles or reviews on small business online marketing since 2004.

Source: http://www.seositemanager.com/829661/the-way-to-utilize-small-business-on-line-marketing-effectively.html

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World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim to visit C?te d'Ivoire and South Africa September 4 - 6

WASHINGTON, August 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim will visit Africa in his first official visit outside the U.S. since taking up his new position in July 2012. He will visit C?te d'Ivoire and South Africa September 4-6 to meet with national leaders, government ministers, women leaders and young people, along with business representatives, to discuss how the World Bank Group can better support African countries achieve higher economic growth, significantly reduce poverty, and create more jobs and opportunity for the people of the continent.

?Reducing poverty and creating opportunity for people to succeed are vital to the World Bank Group's mission and I plan to continue to strengthen our work towards these goals. For this reason I chose Africa for my first official visit as World Bank Group President, recognizing the priority given by the continent's governments to faster growth and less poverty. In the past, Africa was often defined by its problems, but today, whether it's empowering women or creating job opportunities for young people or spurring new businesses, Africa is increasingly home to some of the best development ideas and solutions,? said Dr. Kim. ?Africa is truly taking off and I look forward to hearing directly from governments and people on the continent on how the Bank can help drive more inclusive development throughout Africa.?

Dr. Kim will also discuss with leaders in both countries the importance of stepped-up regional integration for Africa's future. The continentloses billions of dollars in potential trade earnings every year because of high trade barriers with neighboring countries, making it is easier for Africa to trade with the rest of the world than with itself.

Joining President Kim will be MakhtarDiop, the World Bank's Vice President for Africa.

C?te d'Ivoire

In C?te d'Ivoire, an important economic engine in West Africa,Kim will meet with President AlassaneOuattara and senior cabinet members to discuss the next phase of the country's development and growth.

Dr. Kim will also meet with women leaders to discuss the importance of women to the country's efforts to create jobs, open more businesses, and achieve lasting reconciliation and development in the former war-torn country. The Bank Group President will meet unemployed young people, including former soldiers, who are learning new job skills in a World Bank-financed training program. C?te d'Ivoire has as many as four million young people who are jobless.

?C?te d'Ivoire's efforts at peace and reconciliation are important elements for laying the foundation for sustainable development for itself and neighboring countries. I look forward to learning more about how the World Bank can better help fragile and post conflict states transition to stability and development,?said Dr.Kim said.

Dr. Kim will also see first-hand the emerging dynamism of African private sector in a visit to an industrial park for small and medium-sized agri-businesses. C?te d'Ivoire is boosting food production in a region increasingly challenged by hunger and high food prices. Agriculture has broad development impact and plays an essential role in reducing poverty and hunger, while creating jobs and private investment.

South Africa

In South Africa, Dr.Kim will meet with President Jacob Zuma, Finance Minister PravinGordhan, and cabinet members to discuss how the World BankGroup can support South Africa's efforts towards inclusive and sustainable growth. He will also exchange ideas with local entrepreneurs on how the private sector is creating opportunities and growth.

?South Africa is a key factor of African growth and a leading voice for the African continent in the G-20 and other global forums. It is also an important driver for trade and investment,? said Dr.Kim. ?I look forward to discussing how we can strengthen our partnership for better development prospects, both in the country and across the continent, especially in the vital area of better regional integration.?

Background

C?te d'Ivoire, with a population of 22 million people, has the second largest economy in West Africa. The World Bank Group has currently invested approximately US$ 1 billion in the country's development programs.

These include a post-conflict assistance project to help young people and ex-combatants reintegrate into the national economy, along with others that improve water and sanitation, governance and public sector reform, and foster the creation of small and medium businesses (SMEs) and a more dynamic private sector.

The World Bank Group's private sector arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC), focuses on strengthening financial institutions for the growth of SMEs, supporting the country's agribusinesses and improving the business climate to attract more private investment. The World Bank Group's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is helping to carry out a bridge project over the Ebri? lagoon in Abidjan which is expected to have significant benefits such as creating jobs and easing traffic congestion. This project is one of the first private sector- led foreign direct investments in the country since the end of the recent conflict.

The World Bank Group's program in South Africa is still in early stages. In April 2010, the World Bank approved the US$3.75 billion Eskom Investment Support Project to help bring badly needed electricity to homes and businesses in Southern Africa while also pioneering the biggest solar and wind power plants in the developing world

The IFC's strategy in South Africa focuses on supporting South African companies ?going north? and ?going global? as well as providing advice and financing to underserved niches of the market; technical assistance to small businesses; and supporting the development of renewable energy.

MIGA provides support to foreign investors looking for opportunities in South Africa and to South African companies wanting to invest abroad. The Bank Group agency has provided support to agribusiness and financial services over the past three years.

To see more on the World Bank Group's work in Africa, please visit: www.worldbank.org/africa

Do you have an article for publication? Please email it to editor@thenigerianvoice.com.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNigerianVoiceNews/~3/A5WcxORHH0s/world-bank-group-president-jim-yong-kim-to-visit-c.html

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Presidential Proclamation -- National Childhood Cancer Awareness ...

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 31, 2012

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NATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH, 2012

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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A PROCLAMATION

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Every year, thousands of children across America are diagnosed with cancer ? ?an often life threatening illness that remains the leading cause of death by disease for children under the age of 15. ?The causes of pediatric cancer are still largely unknown, and though new discoveries are resulting in new treatments, this heartbreaking disease continues to scar families and communities in ways that may never fully heal. ?This month, we remember the young lives taken too soon, stand with the families facing childhood cancer today, and rededicate ourselves to combating this terrible illness.

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While much remains to be done, our Nation has come far in the fight to understand, treat, and control childhood cancer. ?Thanks to ongoing advances in research and treatment, the 5 year survival rate for all childhood cancers has climbed from less than 50 percent to 80 percent over the past several decades. ?Researchers around the world continue to pioneer new therapies and explore the root causes of the disease, driving progress that could reveal cures or improved outcomes for patients. ?But despite the gains we have made, help still does not come soon enough for many of our sons and daughters, and too many families suffer pain and devastating loss.

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My Administration will continue to support families battling pediatric cancer and work to ease the burdens they face. ?Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies can no longer deny health coverage to children because of pre existing conditions, including cancer, nor can they drop coverage because a child is diagnosed with cancer. ?The law also bans insurers from placing a lifetime dollar limit on the amount of coverage they provide, giving families peace of mind that their coverage will be there when they need it most. ?And as we work to ensure all Americans have access to affordable health care, my Administration will continue to invest in the cutting edge cancer research that paves the way for tomorrow's breakthroughs.

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This month, we pay tribute to the families, friends, professionals, and communities who lend their strength to children fighting pediatric cancer. ?May their courage and commitment continue to move us toward new cures, healthier outcomes, and a brighter future for America's youth.

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NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 2012 as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. ?I encourage all Americans to join me in reaffirming our commitment to fighting childhood cancer.

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty first day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.

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BARACK OBAMA

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/31/presidential-proclamation-national-childhood-cancer-awareness-month-2012

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