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Winter is well upon us, and with it as always comes the potential for hazardous, slippery roads and driving emergencies. Here are some helpful reminders for staying safe in less-than-perfect conditions:

Make sure your car is “winterized,” meaning it is tuned up, with full amounts of all necessary fluids and tire pressure, good wipers and tire treads, and plenty of gas, washer fluid and antifreeze. Keep a good spare tire, ice scraper, shovel, jumper cables, tow/tire chains, tool kit and bag of salt or cat litter in the trunk—these items can make or break your ability to free your car if you get “stuck.”

Outfit your car to be stranding-friendly by equipping it with a working flashlight and batteries, reflective triangles, bright cloth, flares, compass, first-aid kit, wooden stick matches in a waterproof container, scissors, cord, blankets and non-perishable, high-energy foods like nuts, dried fruits and hard candy.

Avoid driving in bad winter weather if at all possible. If you must drive, try to wait until the snow plows and sanding trucks have worked on the roads for awhile. Allow plenty of extra time to reach your destination.

If possible, make use of a bad-weather day early in the year to practice winter driving techniques in a snowy, open parking lot. It will help you become familiar with how your car handles and the various techniques you can use for control.

Before driving in bad weather, tell someone where you are going, the route you plan to take, when you plan to leave, a description of your vehicle including license plate number, any overnight stops you plan to make along the way, and an estimated time of arrival to your destination.

Violence in the workplace continues to be on the rise in corporate America, and it’s taking many forms. Disgruntled employees, domestic disruptions, stalking, harassment and threats are just a few of the challenges facing business management today. A review of recent statistics on workplace violence in the U.S. is staggering:

2 million workers each year are victims of, or threatened with, violent crime in the workplace
Domestic violence follows women (and men) to work
Homicides are second leading cause of death in workplace (2.7 deaths per day)
Workplace murders account for 1 of 6 fatal injuries
Half a million employees annually are affected by workplace violence
Employees lose 1.2 million days of work to violence
Estimates place the cost of workplace violence at $36 billion annually

What is Workplace Violence?

The Workplace Violence Institute defines workplace violence as any act against an employee that creates a hostile work environment and negatively affects the employee, either physically or psychologically, including physical or verbal assaults, threats, coercion, intimidation and all forms of harassment. These sometimes subtle examples of workplace violence are real dangers and cannot be ignored. Every workday, an estimated 16,400 threats are made, 723 workers are attacked, and 43,800 are harassed.

Negligent Hiring Practices

As mandated by the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), employers have a responsibility to safeguard employees from recognized hazards that may cause serious physical harm or death. OSHA has stated that it is their policy to cite employers who fail to adequately protect their employees from acts of violence under Section 5(a) of the OSHA act.

Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, or P.L. 91-596 (the "General Duty Clause")
provides that: "Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment
and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are
causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees."
29 U.S.C. 654(a)(1)

OSHA is not the only law that requires employers to guard against workplace violence. Under the common law doctrine of negligent hiring or negligent retention, employers must protect workers from individuals who have demonstrated a propensity to behave violently toward others.

An employer has “duty of care” for its employees, including safeguarding them from those with whom they must interact as a consequence of their employment. This duty imposes an obligation on employers to hire and retain only safe and competent employees. Breach of this duty can give rise to a cause of negligent hiring or retention.

An employee can take action against an employer for negligent hiring or retention when:

An employer hires/retains an “incompetent” employee;
An employer knows or should have known the employee was unfit to perform his/her job;
The employer fails to act, or acts in a negligent manner, such as through lack of supervision and/or inadequate security;
The resulting injury was foreseeable, and
The injury was proximately caused by the employer’s negligence

Strategies for Prevention

As with any serious threat to an organization, workplace violence must be addressed systematically, starting with development of a best practices strategy and program of prevention. This can include physical security, pre-employment screening, review of termination practices and provision of employee assistance programs, etc.

Keep in mind that the most effective violence prevention programs involve ALL employees. Training employees to recognize warning signs of violence increases the odds of identifying and addressing problem behavior early on, and having a staff that is alert and proactive can prevent violence from ever occurring in the first place.

This year, travelers through major airports such as Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Newark and San Francisco can get a flu shot right at their departure gate. The shots, which are offered by clinics local to the airports, cost from $15 to $35 and can be safely administered in less than five minutes. (Note: people with allergies to chicken eggs and feathers or thimerosal, a preservative in flu shots and contact lens solution, should not receive the vaccine.)

It is estimated that more than 15,000 shots have been given out so far. Frequent business travelers have been active users of the convenient program, which has seen a spike in utilization during December since the vaccine takes two weeks to reach maximum efficacy and peak flu season hits in January.

Officials say that the airport program may eventually expand to include other vaccinations, as well as cholesterol testing, screening for high blood pressure and education about altitude sickness.

Doug*, a 60-year old trucker delivering fuel to Louisiana pulled into a rest stop for lunch on a cool, sunny day in early December. Before eating, he decided to check the gas level in the tanker, requiring him to climb atop the tank and check a hatch gauge. He marked down the reading and turned to descend, but slipped on the first step of the access ladder, plunging 13 feet down onto the asphalt, shattering both major bones below his right knee and cracking a vertebra in his lower spine.

He was brought by ambulance to a hospital in the town of Marrero, and he called Assist America. We talked with his treating doctors and found that he was receiving excellent treatment. We monitored his care and progress for 8 days, at which time he was discharged to go home with the caveat that he receive rehabilitation therapy.

Since Doug could not walk easily or even bear weight on his leg, he required special transportation home. We arranged for him to fly on an air ambulance with a medical attendant to ensure the proper positioning of his leg and back in flight. Upon landing, we provided a ground ambulance and medical escort to take him to an excellent rehabilitation facility in his hometown of Port St.Lucie, Florida. He arrived safely, thanked Assist America and wished all a good holiday.

Several commercial airlines are giving a bigger nod to the value of nodding off in the air by providing fully-reclining, 180 degree, flat-bed seats on certain flights and in select cabin classes. Carriers offering such accommodations include British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, United Airlines, Singapore Airlines and South African Airways.

The beds vary in size from 72 to 79.5 inches depending on the airline and seating class, but are in most cases able to accommodate passengers of average height comfortably. Some carriers, such as Singapore Airlines, have gone so far as to offer suites with double beds, sliding doors, wardrobes and window blinds; Virgin Atlantic’s sleep-oriented package can include ground transportation, in-flight massages, and a private airport clubhouse for showers, dining and checking email.

Flat sleeping quarters have been making sporadic appearances on airplanes since the 1930s, when Pan Am offered fold-down snoozing berths. Japan Airlines and Philippine Airlines 747s at one time had spiral staircases leading to entire upper decks of beds. Eventually, such extensive sleeping arrangements were eliminated on virtually all airlines for economic reasons.

But times are changing again and airlines are seeking to differentiate their services and add value to their customers—especially luxury travelers. Flat-bed accommodations are one way to do this.

Delta will introduce flat-bed seats in business class starting next year, and American is continuing to replace some of its business-class seats with angled lie-flat seats, which take up less space than full beds but still offer an enhanced sleep solution. Lufthansa is even considering an all sleeper-seat economy cabin with triple bunk beds.

The international language of business is English, and the international unit of measurement is the meter. Right?

Though most countries have “officially” adopted the metric system (some with more practice than others), if you travel to three places in the world, you will find they are holdouts to this standardization: Liberia, Myanmar and, of course, the United States.

The metric system, also called the International System of Units (SI) was introduced in 1790 Europe, when the FrenchAcademy of Sciences was commissioned to bring order to a hodgepodge of confusing regional standards. They developed the meter, which is roughly equal to on ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator along the meridian that passes through Paris (bet you didn’t know THAT!). They then divided and multiplied the meter by units of ten for larger and smaller measures, and devised comparable scales for volume and mass.

It was hailed as an excellent solution and widely adopted around the world. France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Algeria, Colombia and Monaco were among the first users; Jamaica, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa among the most recent, and most every other country in the 230 years between.

Global standardization takes time and practical motivation. The U.S. did not standardize the width of train tracks until 1886, or time (by developing Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific zones) until 1918—a full 63 years after British counterparts. Despite myriad treaties and commissions, the U.S. has yet to buy into the metric system, continuing instead with what is called the US Customary system of feet, inches, miles, gallons and pounds. And so, for visitors to the U.S. (or to Liberia or Myanmar!) and Americans going abroad, a handy reference:

For the latest, up-to-date information regarding key regions, click on the links below:

AFRICA
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to Africa.
EAST ASIA & PACIFIC
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to East Asia & Pacific.
EUROPE & EURASIA
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to Europe & Eurasia.
NEAR EAST
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to Near East.
SOUTH ASIA
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to South Asia.
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
For detailed information on the region or country specific data, please follow the link to Western Hemisphere.

Sources for this document include, but are not limited to: CNN, ABC News, AP, National Safety Council, New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Washington State Government Information & Services , MSNBC, 2007 Institute for Workplace Violence, Occupational Safety Health Act (OSHA), U.S. Department of Justice, The CDC, The U.S. State Department.