Black Friday Safety

    Thanksgiving is less than a week away!  It's one of my favorite holidays because it reminds me to look around and realize all that I have to be thankful for.  It truly is a feel good holiday. 
     Thanksgiving also marks the beginning of the Holiday Season and provides shoppers a day to plan their approach on the biggest shopping day of the year -- Black Friday.  For many customers Black Friday shopping is a sport and they line up hours before a store opens to get "the best deal" of the season.  For business this frenzied atmosphere may produce a potential hazard to customers and employees.  The US Dept. of Labor issued a news release including a fact sheet that provides information on the planning, pre-event setup, and handling emergencies in crowd control.  Educating employees about potential threats will keep the situation as it is meant to be -- a fun, fruitful day both for the customers and employers.

 
  Happy Thanksgiving! Have a safe holiday season!

Millenial Quiz

It's been a while since my last posting because I've been having technical difficulties with my computer.  For this short Friday post I wanted to share a link to a quiz that relates to one of the biggest struggles of the workplace:  fitting together all the different generations and making all that work for the "team".  This quiz from Pew Research measures how your actions and acitivites correlate with the milleniums.  It's a new perspective on the issue!  Could it be me????? Gasp!  Have a great weekend!  http://pewresearch.org/millennials/quiz/intro.php

Upcoming Events

Sep 13 (Thu) – Government Contracting 101: The HI-PTAC (Hawaii Procurement Technical Assistance Center) is sponsoring this free workshop on doing business with the government. The goal of the workshop is to teach attendees how the government buys goods and services; how to become certified and registered on the federal, state and local levels and finding government contracting prime and subcontracting opportunities. The workshop will be held at ING Direct (1958 Kalakaua Ave)  For more info: see http://hiptac.ecenterdirect.com/Conferences.action
Sept. 18 (Tues) Job Fair  JobQuest is holding a Job Fair at the Neil Blaisdell Center.  Entrance fees are $3 General, $1 Students; Seniors; and Military.  Job seekers can pre-register at successhi.com.  Exhibitor information details at 536-7222.  For more information visit Job Quest/Workforce Facebook Page

Labor Day

       Every Labor Day the  Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (Department)  is reminded of its purposes under the law to ". . .administer programs designed to increase the economic security, physical and economic well-being, and productivity of workers, and to achieve good labor-management relations, . . " (Section 26-20, Hawaii Revised Statutes). While this requirement in the law provides direction, it is the compassion and energy of the individuals who work in all the programs throughout the State that make the execution of these goals possible.  Like every business in Hawaii and across the United States it is the laborers, the employees, the workers, who make the business succeed, and the Department  is no exception.
     Many of the Department individuals are dedicated State employees with decades of experience and expertise.  This year the Department recognizes three employees with 40 years of service.  Edwina Luke    in the Administrative Services Office, Carol Kanayama with Workforce Development Division, and Nora Ebata with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board.  All three women are valuable assets to the Department.  Other dedicated employees will be recognized for 30, 20 and 10 year anniversaries of their State employment. 
    No matter how long someone has worked for an employer each person's contribution to the business is notable and that is an important element of the Labor Day holiday.   I hope other employers around the State will pause this Labor Day and recognize the value each one of their employees brings to their business and remember to say "Mahalo."  Happy Labor Day 2012!

Proposed Rules Public Hearing Sept. 18

      Notice of the public hearing on Sept. 18 for proposed rules for Boilers and Pressure Vessels appeared in the Star Advertiser yesterday, August 15.  A copy of the proposed rules and the legal notice summarizing the changes have been posted on the DLIR website.  To view them click here. 

      These proposed rules have already been reviewed by the Small Business Regulatory Review Board who supported the need to update the safety standards of this type of equipment. See SBRRB Minutes of June 20 Meeting, Item IV A. 

Free Workshops Developing Language Access!

August is Language Access Month in Hawaii.  This August, The Office of Language Access, ((OLA) will sponsor its 5th Annual Hawaii Conference on Language Access. It is a two day conference on "Translation: Maximizing Quality and Minimizing Costs" and will take place August 22-23, 2012 at the East-West Center at UH Manoa.

The registration deadline has been extended to Wednesday, August 15, 2012.The conference is free but you must register.   This is also a great opportunity for businesses with Language Access Services and Products to reach customers.  See the registration form for how to be an exhibitor! Exhbitors space will be available from 8 to 4:30 each day with several breaks throught out the day for attendees.   The Agenda for the two days is full of great programs and speakers.  Continental breakfast and lunch is included. The second day has two tracks of programs to select from. Selected programs scheduled are listed below.   

 

 

WEDNESDAY, AUG 22 

• Keynote – Federal Guidelines on the Translation of Vital Documents, Deeana Jang, Chief, Coordination and Compliance Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
• Keynote – Implementation of Federal Guidelines Among DHHS Recipients in Region IX, Michael Leoz, Regional Manager, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services, Region IX, San Francisco 
• Translation of Vital Documents in Hawai`i 
•  Luncheon Speaker – Hawaiian as an Official Language: Issues and Challenges, Dr. Kerry Laiana Wong, UH Hawaiian Studies (bento lunches provided)
• Translation of Vital Documents: The NYC DOE Experience – Kleber Palma, New York City - Department of Education, Translation and Interpretation Unit
• Translation of Vital Documents: The Washington State DSHS Experience – Jason Reed, LEP Program Manager, Economic Services Administration, Department of Social and Human Services, State of Washington
•  The Basics of Translation 
•  Panel: Language Issues in Translation -

Optional: Pau Hana Gathering, no host dinner, for those interested at Ryan’s Grill at Ward Centre, 1200 Ala Moana Boulevard.

 THURSDAY, AUG. 23

 

 Breakout 1                                          Breakout 2
 Ethics for professional Translators         Identifying Vital Documents and Languages for Translation
Careers in Translation                            The Use of Plain English
Internet Resources for Translators          Contracting and the Cost of Translation
Certification of Translators                      Funding Resources for Translation
Translation Techniques                           Tracking and Managing the Translation
Running a Translation Business               Translator's Top 10 Pet Peeves

FINAL PLENARY SESSION :Ensuring Accuracy in Translation.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Updates: Prevailing Wage Surveys and Proposed Rules

   Proposed Rules:  Work continues on revising and proposing elevator and boiler rules.  Proposed amendments to the Boiler and Pressure Vessel rules Chapters 12-220 to 12-225, Hawaii Administrative Rules, passed the Small Business Regulatory Review Board at the June 20 meeting and next step of getting the governor's approval and publishing the notice of public heaing is in process.   Proposed changes to the Elevator rules continue to be developed.  The focus of the changes continues to be bringing the rules up to current national industry standards and providing a safe environment for the public.

   Prevailing Wage Surveys:  Due  August 3. This Friday is the deadline for submitting any information on the Prevailing Wage Survey being conducted by the Reasearch and Statistics Office.  The prevailing wage survey reaches out to contractors who conduct the following work:  Chlorinator, Drapery Installer, Fence Erector (Chain Link), Concrete Mixer Driver/Booster Driver, Termite Treater and Water Well Driller.  The surveys are important to the State as they determine the prevailng wage on the wage rate schedule for the next year in those classifications of jobs for all State and county construction work under Hawaii's "little Davis-Bacon", Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  Contractors should have received their survey forms last month.  If contractors believe they should be participating and want to be included in the survey, they can contact the Research and Statistics office at by email at dlir.rs.wrs@hawaii.gov or call (808) 586-9019, for information on how to participate.