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| B100 E3 Transponder RC PS Battery |
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| B100 E3 RC PS Wiring |
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| N1 E3 Local Operating Console |
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| E3 NGA |
Intrepid Electronic Systems. Integrator of Fire Alarm and Security Systems in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Installations for the East Side Union High School District
AES IntelliNet Installations for the East Side Union High School District
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| AES IP Links |
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| AES IP Link Antennas |
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Deconstructing Danger
"Near-miss reporting - a workplace injury-prevention tool steadily gaining more credence - poses a conundrum of sorts. Up to a point, perhaps, you might think the more of it the better, but eventually you want to start seeing less.
That's the curious nature of documenting situations in which workers engaged in a task and escaped injury because they were lucky, well-trained, observant, or all of the above. More of such reports can signal a diligent safety culture. It can also mean the workplace is riddled with safety hazards - or a little of both.
The interpretation challenge was illustrated at a Nucor Steel Co. safety meeting a few years ago, recalls Joe Rachford, an electrical engineer at Nucor Steel Gallatin, Tenn. Addressing the gathering, he says, the company president voiced concern about the falling volume of near-miss reports. Subscribing to the theory that more is better, the executive was worried about flagging vigilance. But, as it happened, the company had actually turned a corner.
"We went back, looked at the data, and found that what was truly going on was that our focus on safety had led to more people doing thing correctly - so there were fewer reports," says Rachford, noting investigators deduced that fewer near misses was largely a function of fewer recordable injuries because there's demonstrated linkage. "We were starting to see the fruits of all the work we had put into improving safety."
But Nucor management was on the right track. It had fully embraced what many companies may struggle to understand - as a rule, near-miss reports are a strong sign that safety is being taken seriously by workers, whose knowledge, training, and observation skills are the last line of defense against injury.
"Management is used to driving numbers low, but with near misses, you really want more," says Lanny Floyd, partner/principal consultant with Electrical Safety Group, Inc., Elkton, Md.
It's hard to gauge if, in fact, more organizations today are heeding that message. What's more clear, though, is that safety experts like Floyd continue to harp on the importance of near-miss reporting as a core element of workplace safety enhancement.
A unique risk profile
That may be particularly true in the electrical realm, where everyday hazards carry potentially grave consequences. The odds of being seriously injured or killed when encountering unsafe conditions in the electrical environment may far exceed those for other classes of occupational injuries.
"Electrical injuries account for less that 0.2% of all injuries in the workplace, but they have very high severity potential," says Floyd. "One in 13 of the lost-time injuries from electrical contact are fatal, and injuries from arc flash burns and contact with high voltage have high likelihood of involving long-term hospitalization and long-term disability."
Their rarity, however, can blind even the most fastidious occupational safety experts to the need to carefully manage the risk - and that's where near-miss reporting's value becomes clear.
By training workers to spot electrical dangers and encouraging them to report minor injuries and even close encounters, safety teams can collect information on unsafe conditions or practices that could have led to serious injuries. Then, through careful documentation and study of incidents, safety managers can expose and address potent risks and hazards that can lie dormant until a severe injury or fatality occurs.
While incidents that result in injury or death can also be deconstructed to reduce hazards and better manage risk in the future, near-misses are particularly valuable. Because they're chillingly frequent - on the order of 300,000 for every 300 recordable injuries - 30 lost-time injuries and one fatality according to a probability model known as "Heinrich's Relationship," they can constitute a steady stream of valuable condition information from the field. Plus, they come to light because workers were careful rather than because someone got hurt.
Thus, near-miss review programs, says Allison Haluik, an electrical engineer in the engineering department of ArcelorMittal Dofasco, a steel producer in Hamilton, Ontario, can help vividly illustrate dangers and get workers to take safety seriously and think before they act. Haluik, who recently presented a paper at the 2016 IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Electrical Safety Workshop in Jacksonville, Fla., explained the importance of training the next generation of electrical safety workers to better manage risk perception. Papers presented at a succession of recent Electrical Safety Workshops like this one, sponsored annually by the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS), offer evidence that near-miss investigations can drive meaningful changes and improvements in electrical safety practices.
Haluik places a high value on getting workers engaged to spot electrical hazards that by their nature are hard to see. Both routine safety and reliable near-miss reporting, she says, depend on workers fighting the human tendency to make snap decisions solely on what's in front of them and to instead take time to carefully evaluate risk before acting.
"It's been said that good decisions come from experience - and that experience comes from making bad decisions," she says. "The value of communicating all accidents, including near misses, is that people, in general, have difficulty recognizing hazards and imagining possibilities of what could go wrong."
Formalizing the process
But for electrical near-miss incidents to be fully leveraged to reduce hazard and risk, organizations must demonstrate commitment. Safety experts say it's essential to foster a climate in which near misses are reliably recognized and consistently reported, incidents are thoroughly investigated, and findings are acted on and liberally shared. Near-miss reports become truly valuable when they're evaluated in the aggregate and, over time, creating a big picture that can expose glaring gaps or trends in workplace safety.
A near-miss reporting challenge that companies wrestle with is the critical reliance on gaining the cooperation of those in the field. Workers must be sufficiently trained to recognize and know when to back away from potentially unsafe situations or tasks. In essence, they must know where the safe line is and be clear on what constitutes a reportable near miss. Then they must be convinced that reporting incidents is their responsibility and won't lead to punishment. Workplace realities can make those conditions difficult to attain, but without them, a near-miss reporting program will be crippled.
It presents a unique challenge in the sense that the traditional management-employee dynamic has to change somewhat, says Shahid Jamil, an electrical engineer and electrical safety expert with BP America, Inc., Edmonton, Alberta. A confrontational environment, he says, must give way to one in which management clearly explains the value of reporting, and workers must be made to feel comfortable doing so.
"The worker has to be a part of the equation and strongly encouraged to report and train on what to look for," says Jamil. "I think we're seeing more reporting because they're getting more assurance that they won't be penalized for doing so."
But the transition from reporting to actionable information and meaningful changes is not always straightforward. To do it right, organizations have to approach near-miss incidents with the mind-set of a detective, gathering information from a range of sources and running down all possible theories for what practices, procedures, conditions, and personnel may bear responsibility. Investigations, experts say, should ideally track a formal process that produces a set of findings and recommendation or directives that aim to reduce the chances of a repeat incident.
A recent near miss at Nucor, Rachford says, was investigated by a cross-departmental audit team. The team reviewed an incident in which workers preparing equipment for maintenance locked out the wrong 120V control circuit breaker, creating a potential shock hazard.
To understand how it happened, the team "walked the procedure down," Rachford says, and verified that the fault didn't lie with the written lockout sequence. Instead, the error resulted from the combination of an overly complacent worker misidentifying equipment that wasn't marked as well as it could have been. The incident report resulted in changes to both equipment labeling and the lockout sequence that would make it harder for a worker to inadvertently select the wrong motor control center breaker.
The conclusions, Rachford says, were a good illustration of the value taking a comprehensive approach to near-miss investigating. And they supported the theory that near misses and accidents don't just materialize, but result instead from a cascade of missteps and conditions - a perfect storm that can and should be deconstructed.
"An accident is [the result of] typically anywhere from six to nine different sequences of events that happen to create the right circumstances," he says. "If you stop any one of those, you won't have the incident. And if you focus on the near misses, you can stop a bunch of them."
Communicating conclusions
That's contingent, however, on how the findings of near-miss investigations are handled. Value typically flows from a process that ensures formal reporting through appropriate channels and certain follow-up and corrective actions, experts say. While workplace safety is partially enhanced simply through the act of encouraging near-miss reporting, which leads to vigilance, it's greatly impacted when dangerous conditions, practices, and procedures and revealed and permanently corrected.
Electrical safety consultant Daryld Crow, owner of DRC Consulting, St. George, Utah, has seen near-miss investigations evolve. He notes they're getting better, and there's more accounting for how perceptions and biases can impact eyewitness reports to near misses. Properly investigated and disseminated, he says, they can help move the needle on safety.
"When they're done in the spirit of fact-finding, near-miss studies can produce more important lessons and identify the root causes of an incident, and many times there are more than one," says Crow.
There may even be an element of creativity that comes into play in how near-miss incidents are related to workers, who bear the brunt of both the risk from unsafe conditions and the responsibility of reporting. Floyd and other experts point to the need for relating near-misses as compelling stories rather than a dry recitation of facts. The more vividly near misses can be framed, the more likely workers are to see themselves as potential victims.
Floyd relates the story of a journeyman electrical worker speaking up at a company safety meeting where near misses were discussed in detail. It stuck with him, he says, because it's a stark reminder that workers may face more day-to-day risk than we think because they haven't been given the right mental tools to properly evaluate risks and hazards. More thoughtful near-miss reporting can help close that gap.
"He stood up and said, 'I can honestly say that in my 25 years doing this work, I've never understood what the hazards are. I've been to training on the rules, what OSHA and NFPA says, what my company says about safety procedures, but I've never been trained on what the hazards are. These near-miss stories have helped me understand that I could have been the victim.'"
Source: http://ecmweb.com/safety/deconstructing-danger
That's the curious nature of documenting situations in which workers engaged in a task and escaped injury because they were lucky, well-trained, observant, or all of the above. More of such reports can signal a diligent safety culture. It can also mean the workplace is riddled with safety hazards - or a little of both.
The interpretation challenge was illustrated at a Nucor Steel Co. safety meeting a few years ago, recalls Joe Rachford, an electrical engineer at Nucor Steel Gallatin, Tenn. Addressing the gathering, he says, the company president voiced concern about the falling volume of near-miss reports. Subscribing to the theory that more is better, the executive was worried about flagging vigilance. But, as it happened, the company had actually turned a corner.
"We went back, looked at the data, and found that what was truly going on was that our focus on safety had led to more people doing thing correctly - so there were fewer reports," says Rachford, noting investigators deduced that fewer near misses was largely a function of fewer recordable injuries because there's demonstrated linkage. "We were starting to see the fruits of all the work we had put into improving safety."
But Nucor management was on the right track. It had fully embraced what many companies may struggle to understand - as a rule, near-miss reports are a strong sign that safety is being taken seriously by workers, whose knowledge, training, and observation skills are the last line of defense against injury.
"Management is used to driving numbers low, but with near misses, you really want more," says Lanny Floyd, partner/principal consultant with Electrical Safety Group, Inc., Elkton, Md.
It's hard to gauge if, in fact, more organizations today are heeding that message. What's more clear, though, is that safety experts like Floyd continue to harp on the importance of near-miss reporting as a core element of workplace safety enhancement.
A unique risk profile
That may be particularly true in the electrical realm, where everyday hazards carry potentially grave consequences. The odds of being seriously injured or killed when encountering unsafe conditions in the electrical environment may far exceed those for other classes of occupational injuries.
"Electrical injuries account for less that 0.2% of all injuries in the workplace, but they have very high severity potential," says Floyd. "One in 13 of the lost-time injuries from electrical contact are fatal, and injuries from arc flash burns and contact with high voltage have high likelihood of involving long-term hospitalization and long-term disability."
Their rarity, however, can blind even the most fastidious occupational safety experts to the need to carefully manage the risk - and that's where near-miss reporting's value becomes clear.
By training workers to spot electrical dangers and encouraging them to report minor injuries and even close encounters, safety teams can collect information on unsafe conditions or practices that could have led to serious injuries. Then, through careful documentation and study of incidents, safety managers can expose and address potent risks and hazards that can lie dormant until a severe injury or fatality occurs.
While incidents that result in injury or death can also be deconstructed to reduce hazards and better manage risk in the future, near-misses are particularly valuable. Because they're chillingly frequent - on the order of 300,000 for every 300 recordable injuries - 30 lost-time injuries and one fatality according to a probability model known as "Heinrich's Relationship," they can constitute a steady stream of valuable condition information from the field. Plus, they come to light because workers were careful rather than because someone got hurt.
Thus, near-miss review programs, says Allison Haluik, an electrical engineer in the engineering department of ArcelorMittal Dofasco, a steel producer in Hamilton, Ontario, can help vividly illustrate dangers and get workers to take safety seriously and think before they act. Haluik, who recently presented a paper at the 2016 IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Electrical Safety Workshop in Jacksonville, Fla., explained the importance of training the next generation of electrical safety workers to better manage risk perception. Papers presented at a succession of recent Electrical Safety Workshops like this one, sponsored annually by the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS), offer evidence that near-miss investigations can drive meaningful changes and improvements in electrical safety practices.
Haluik places a high value on getting workers engaged to spot electrical hazards that by their nature are hard to see. Both routine safety and reliable near-miss reporting, she says, depend on workers fighting the human tendency to make snap decisions solely on what's in front of them and to instead take time to carefully evaluate risk before acting.
"It's been said that good decisions come from experience - and that experience comes from making bad decisions," she says. "The value of communicating all accidents, including near misses, is that people, in general, have difficulty recognizing hazards and imagining possibilities of what could go wrong."
Formalizing the process
But for electrical near-miss incidents to be fully leveraged to reduce hazard and risk, organizations must demonstrate commitment. Safety experts say it's essential to foster a climate in which near misses are reliably recognized and consistently reported, incidents are thoroughly investigated, and findings are acted on and liberally shared. Near-miss reports become truly valuable when they're evaluated in the aggregate and, over time, creating a big picture that can expose glaring gaps or trends in workplace safety.
A near-miss reporting challenge that companies wrestle with is the critical reliance on gaining the cooperation of those in the field. Workers must be sufficiently trained to recognize and know when to back away from potentially unsafe situations or tasks. In essence, they must know where the safe line is and be clear on what constitutes a reportable near miss. Then they must be convinced that reporting incidents is their responsibility and won't lead to punishment. Workplace realities can make those conditions difficult to attain, but without them, a near-miss reporting program will be crippled.
It presents a unique challenge in the sense that the traditional management-employee dynamic has to change somewhat, says Shahid Jamil, an electrical engineer and electrical safety expert with BP America, Inc., Edmonton, Alberta. A confrontational environment, he says, must give way to one in which management clearly explains the value of reporting, and workers must be made to feel comfortable doing so.
"The worker has to be a part of the equation and strongly encouraged to report and train on what to look for," says Jamil. "I think we're seeing more reporting because they're getting more assurance that they won't be penalized for doing so."
But the transition from reporting to actionable information and meaningful changes is not always straightforward. To do it right, organizations have to approach near-miss incidents with the mind-set of a detective, gathering information from a range of sources and running down all possible theories for what practices, procedures, conditions, and personnel may bear responsibility. Investigations, experts say, should ideally track a formal process that produces a set of findings and recommendation or directives that aim to reduce the chances of a repeat incident.
A recent near miss at Nucor, Rachford says, was investigated by a cross-departmental audit team. The team reviewed an incident in which workers preparing equipment for maintenance locked out the wrong 120V control circuit breaker, creating a potential shock hazard.
To understand how it happened, the team "walked the procedure down," Rachford says, and verified that the fault didn't lie with the written lockout sequence. Instead, the error resulted from the combination of an overly complacent worker misidentifying equipment that wasn't marked as well as it could have been. The incident report resulted in changes to both equipment labeling and the lockout sequence that would make it harder for a worker to inadvertently select the wrong motor control center breaker.
The conclusions, Rachford says, were a good illustration of the value taking a comprehensive approach to near-miss investigating. And they supported the theory that near misses and accidents don't just materialize, but result instead from a cascade of missteps and conditions - a perfect storm that can and should be deconstructed.
"An accident is [the result of] typically anywhere from six to nine different sequences of events that happen to create the right circumstances," he says. "If you stop any one of those, you won't have the incident. And if you focus on the near misses, you can stop a bunch of them."
Communicating conclusions
That's contingent, however, on how the findings of near-miss investigations are handled. Value typically flows from a process that ensures formal reporting through appropriate channels and certain follow-up and corrective actions, experts say. While workplace safety is partially enhanced simply through the act of encouraging near-miss reporting, which leads to vigilance, it's greatly impacted when dangerous conditions, practices, and procedures and revealed and permanently corrected.
Electrical safety consultant Daryld Crow, owner of DRC Consulting, St. George, Utah, has seen near-miss investigations evolve. He notes they're getting better, and there's more accounting for how perceptions and biases can impact eyewitness reports to near misses. Properly investigated and disseminated, he says, they can help move the needle on safety.
"When they're done in the spirit of fact-finding, near-miss studies can produce more important lessons and identify the root causes of an incident, and many times there are more than one," says Crow.
There may even be an element of creativity that comes into play in how near-miss incidents are related to workers, who bear the brunt of both the risk from unsafe conditions and the responsibility of reporting. Floyd and other experts point to the need for relating near-misses as compelling stories rather than a dry recitation of facts. The more vividly near misses can be framed, the more likely workers are to see themselves as potential victims.
Floyd relates the story of a journeyman electrical worker speaking up at a company safety meeting where near misses were discussed in detail. It stuck with him, he says, because it's a stark reminder that workers may face more day-to-day risk than we think because they haven't been given the right mental tools to properly evaluate risks and hazards. More thoughtful near-miss reporting can help close that gap.
"He stood up and said, 'I can honestly say that in my 25 years doing this work, I've never understood what the hazards are. I've been to training on the rules, what OSHA and NFPA says, what my company says about safety procedures, but I've never been trained on what the hazards are. These near-miss stories have helped me understand that I could have been the victim.'"
Source: http://ecmweb.com/safety/deconstructing-danger
Thursday, May 19, 2016
How Security Integrators are Implementing Green Practices
In light of Earth Day, which landed on the 22nd, we wanted to highlight an article on how security integrators are implementing green practices. This article from SDM Magazine speaks on the issue:
"Countries around the world have committed to reducing pollution and their environmental footprints. In March 2015, the U.S. submitted a target to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reduce the country's net greenhouse gas emissions by an ambitious 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. China committed to limit its greenhouse gas emissions with a commitment to peak emissions around 2030 and to increase its share of non-fossil energy consumption to around 20 percent by 2030. The European Union put forward a target to cut emissions 40 percent by 2030.
Many businesses across the country, including security companies, are willingly doing their part to develop more sustainable, environmentally friendly business practices to reduce their carbon footprint and save energy and resources as well. But, the question is, can integrators be both successful and environmentally conscious? The answer is, yes they can. In fact, integrators say they have seen countless positive benefits in many areas of their businesses with some of the "green" steps or practices they've implemented over the years, including increased employee engagement and operational improvements.
When Vivint of Provo, Utah, built its first facility more than seven years ago, the company took an interest in its consumption. After all, says Tom Few, vice president of business development at the company, the word Vivint is derived from vive meaning live, and int. meaning intelligence or live intelligently. "We are a progressive company with a dynamic future and we place a substantial amount of effort on staying green and staying contemporary."
For starters, the company offers preferred parking at its headquarters facility for efficient, low emission vehicles. "It promotes our initiatives and gives those employees that are contributing to our green efforts prime spots," he explains. In addition, Vivint has a composting and recycling campaign in its cafeteria. "Handling the compost used to be a part of the chores of our CEO's son," Few says, adding that, as a company, Vivint internally promotes its green initiatives and does all it can to ensure its employees are in line with that same mentality.
A Green Culture
To be successful with green practices, according to Few and other integrators, a company needs to promote a sustainable culture within the entire organization. "We started recycling about five years ago, but it was a half-hearted effort," recalls Joe Liguori, managing partner at Access Control Technologies Inc. (ACT), Clifton, NJ. "About a year later, we recognized that we needed to support our efforts better and make sure every employee understood. Slowly, the culture began to change."
Since that first effort, ACT has implemented more sustainable business practices, lowering the company's energy bills by about 40 percent and making employees happier and more engaged.
"We knew parts of our building were inefficient and our monthly bills for consumption were going up exponentially," Liguori says. ACT brought in a third-party company to evaluate and the first step it took was to change ACT's 460-some lightbulbs to LED and install automatic lighting that would shut off when no one was present. The company also changed out its old and inefficient heating and cooling machines to computerized, high-efficiency versions that constantly adjust airflow and temperature. Liguori says the company had thought about some of these changes long ago, but it wasn't until they found out that they would qualify for a state of New Jersey reimbursement plan for many of these upgrades that it made the decision easy.
"Our building is cleaner, brighter, and it makes our employees' work environment better and also engages them," he says. "It was an educational process for all of us and has brought us closer together as a company."
Another company that has realized an additional level of positive engagement from employees by encouraging green initiatives is Times Warner Cable (TWC), New York City. A handful of years ago, the company decided to go full speed ahead with its corporate responsibility program, of which green initiatives is a spoke of that policy, says Dave Flessas, TWC's senior vice president of network operations and executive lead of TWC's Go Green Initiative.
"Our initiatives go all the way to our CEO Robert D. Marcus and most senior levels of the company. so our changes have been really organic and the growth in participation we have seen has been pleasantly surprising," Flessas says.
The company has implemented a number of green initiatives with significant results. TWC received accreditation from the National Association of Fleet Administrators (NAFA) as a Sustainable Fleet for its progress made toward reducing total emissions and the negative environmental impact made by extraneous carbon fuel usage. After making extensive changes, including adding more than 400 diesel Ford Transit vans and 200 Transit Connect vans to its fleet in recent years, the Transit vans achieved an estimated 47 percent improvement in fuel economy, according to the company.
TWC also achieved several LEED certifications for locations throughout the U.S. and has installed solar photovoltaic systems at locations in Hawaii and at its national Data Center East in Charlotte, N.C. "We have also recently gone into a partnership with residential solar providers so that our employees will have the opportunity to install solar panels on their homes at a discount," Flessas adds. One of TWC's biggest initiatives is carbon intensity reduction. In 2012, TWC set a goal to reduce its carbon intensity by 15 percent and surpassed that goal with a 38 percent reduction. The company announced a new goal to further reduce carbon intensity by 30 percent before the end on 2016. According to Flessas, the company will continue to invest in fuel efficient vehicles, aim to reduce cooling power consumption, pursue LEED elements in all new buildings and seek additional renewable energy opportunities.
Perhaps the most impactful initiative TWC has made - not in terms of lofty goals or carbon intensity reduction, but in terms of reaching the most people and creating a company culture of environmental awareness - is its Go Green teams. A few years ago, TWC initiated local employee volunteer teams, encouraging them to come up with green events and ideas that could be implemented in their communities.
"We have had great success establishing Green Teams in 19 states," Flessas reports. "The number of the teams and participation in the teams has grown greatly over the last couple of years as we've continued. As employee participation in the Green Teams has increased, so have the ideas that the teams have come up with. In addition to conducting green fairs for educating the community and local employees about environmental issues and holding community recycling events, TWC's Green Teams have looked at everything from upgrading lighting in their individual buildings to brainstorming better and less wasteful packaging, Flessas says.
"The bottom line is, it's good business," he adds. "Almost all the green activities we have engaged in to date have been not only good for the environment, but really very effective operationally as well."
Positive Benefits; Positive Impact
WM Security Services Inc., headquartered in Houston, has seen many positive benefits from its green initiatives as well. "If you work here, being environmentally conscious is really a part of our culture from orientation through your daily work life, and it filters down through us to our community and to our family and friends," says David W. Lee, manager, security operations center.
The security firm has made several mindful changes to its business, including upgrading monitors to high-efficiency LED models, automatic lighting timers to detect office vacancies, non-disposable glassware and silverware in the breakrooms, defaulting to double-sided printing, and a company-wide email close that reminds recipients that "Recycling is a good thing. Please recycle any printed emails."
But the company's largest green initiative, embraced by its subsidiaries, is its recycling and electronics recycling or e-cycling efforts, according to Lee. "We have an in-house technical lab where we test and use different security equipment. As those items have to be put to rest, we make sure to do so in an appropriate manner," he explains.
For everyday recycling, WM Security Services, working with other Waste Management subsidiaries, launched a program it called the "tiny toter trade off," says Kimberly Levicky, business analyst at the company. Standard office trash bins were placed with smaller bins, minus the plastic liners, to save plastic and show its employees about being more environmentally conscious.
Going Green Creates Efficiencies
One of the morals of these green stories is that integrators don't have to have large budgets to implement green practices. Small and mid-size organizations can make many of the same changes of larger companies and have a meaningful impact. "We are a small business and I am not willing to spend a lot of money, but I do think everyone can make some choices to save the environment and also save some money," says Thomas Marino, president of Advanced Technologies, Baton Rouge, La. "At our office, I want everything as efficient as possible and that means LED lighting, recycling our stuff and printing on the backside of papers," Marino notes.
While a positive environmental impact is definitely an end result of sustainable initiatives, Marino and other integrators agree that it is not always the primary driver behind the change. Many years ago, Provident Security Corp., Vancouver, B.C., Canada, implemented several green initiatives, including bicycles for guard response and a paperless office. Implementing the bicycles was an operational decision first, says Mike Jagger, president of Provident. The company offers a five-minute guaranteed response time and, for some areas of the city, it is faster, more convenient and most efficient to ride a bike rather than get behind the wheel of a vehicle. "We use them where it makes the most sense," Jagger says.
In addition, more than a decade ago, Provident began moving to a paperless office, addressing the sales process, contracts and invoicing. "At this point, about 98 percent of the business is paper-free," Jagger says. "These things are good for the environment, but the real savings is in sanity. It's just so much simpler to see where something starts and finishes and all steps in between with a digital system. There is more transparency, more sharing and an ability to have more people involved. And just from a stress standpoint, the transparency brings so much value to the table before having saved a dime in costs."
Transparency and consistency were two of the reasons integration firm Cantara of Costa Mesa, Calif., implemented a cloud-based file system about three years ago, according to Jason Voorhees, president of the company. "Before, we were constantly printing out blueprints for technicians and using tons of paper. It's not only wasteful but it takes a lot more time to get those printed. Drawings can be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get lost or left at a site," he says. "Moving to a cloud-based system, there was a lot of improvement with consistency right away and far less paper wasted."
Another sustainable practice that Cantara implemented at its 4,000 square foot office space is energy management, and the benefits are two-fold, according to Voorhees. It helps the company save on energy bills and create a more sustainable office environment, but also gives the company an opportunity to use and be able to speak about some of the systems it sells to customers. "Our system is tied into the security, lighting and HVAC," adds Adam Purath, director of engineering at Cantara. "It closes the shades, sets back the HVAC and turns off all the lights when we leave, for example."
But while the ideas behind Cantara's push for paperless and energy management integration may be more than purely environmental, one push at the company that is purely green is its electronics recycling initiative for which it spends a fair amount of time, warehouse space and money to maintain. "For us, we are the type of company that waste is a guilt factor on a lot of people's minds," Voorhees says. "We don't want to throw stuff away. It's a part of tho we are." This was of thinking led Cantara to initiate an electronics recycling program that recycles its own electronics as well as a large amount of electronics from customer homes. "We put a massive amount of electronics into people's homes and our clients have the type of income where they can renovate and completely replace their entire systems in a matter of years," Voorhees says. "So it's very common for us to go into a home and within a couple of days have van loads full of old electronics. Years ago, that would end up in a dumpster and we thought, 'wow, what an impact this would make.'" The company sets aside a portion of its warehouse to store used electronics for recycling pick up that sometimes equals a few bin loads each month.
"It's a completely environmental effort that we are very happy about," Voorhees says. "It may cost us money to store everything for a month and take up a good chunk of our space, but it's the right thing to do."
Creating Consciousness
While integrators implement green practices for a number of different reasons, one of the resounding themes among companies that have taken such steps is a level of consciousness - consciousness that improvements can be made.
"You can make small changes, go after low hanging fruit, see cost savings and make an impact," says Ken Erdmann, president of Erdmann Electric Inc., Springville, Utah. "Then, you think about less obvious, more hidden ways to make an impact." The company recycles everything it can, views trade magazines in digital formats instead of print, makes an effort to buy things in recyclable containers, and refuses everything it can, including bubble wrap, paper and boxes.
"It's a matter of thinking," Erdmann says. "If a manufacturer sends me stuff with packing peanuts, I will call them up and ask them not to use that for me next time." In addition, the company sells and recycles metals from its jobs, and even allows employees to use the small amount of money received to buy donuts and coffee. "It's an incentive to encourage them to recycle," he says.
Erdmann Electric also focuses on energy management in its office with occupancy sensors for automatic heating/cooling and lighting adjustments, Nest thermostats and LED lighting. "We are selling these technologies and teaching our clients about energy management, and if we live with those technologies it makes them easier to sell," Erdmann explains.
For companies that haven't begun to go green, Erdmann encourages them to be conscious, think and evaluate all areas of their business. Some green practices may be implemented to streamline processes, reduce headaches or save money, but the main intention doesn't matter in the sense that the results will still be the same: helping make the business more sustainable and positively impacting the environment.
Tax Benefits From Going Green
Making green changes to a building or company may qualify for a tax incentive or other benefit. It is important to do the research and find a third-party evaluator that may be able to make recommendations for you and your business.
Many businesses across the country, including security companies, are willingly doing their part to develop more sustainable, environmentally friendly business practices to reduce their carbon footprint and save energy and resources as well. But, the question is, can integrators be both successful and environmentally conscious? The answer is, yes they can. In fact, integrators say they have seen countless positive benefits in many areas of their businesses with some of the "green" steps or practices they've implemented over the years, including increased employee engagement and operational improvements.
When Vivint of Provo, Utah, built its first facility more than seven years ago, the company took an interest in its consumption. After all, says Tom Few, vice president of business development at the company, the word Vivint is derived from vive meaning live, and int. meaning intelligence or live intelligently. "We are a progressive company with a dynamic future and we place a substantial amount of effort on staying green and staying contemporary."
For starters, the company offers preferred parking at its headquarters facility for efficient, low emission vehicles. "It promotes our initiatives and gives those employees that are contributing to our green efforts prime spots," he explains. In addition, Vivint has a composting and recycling campaign in its cafeteria. "Handling the compost used to be a part of the chores of our CEO's son," Few says, adding that, as a company, Vivint internally promotes its green initiatives and does all it can to ensure its employees are in line with that same mentality.
A Green Culture
To be successful with green practices, according to Few and other integrators, a company needs to promote a sustainable culture within the entire organization. "We started recycling about five years ago, but it was a half-hearted effort," recalls Joe Liguori, managing partner at Access Control Technologies Inc. (ACT), Clifton, NJ. "About a year later, we recognized that we needed to support our efforts better and make sure every employee understood. Slowly, the culture began to change."
Since that first effort, ACT has implemented more sustainable business practices, lowering the company's energy bills by about 40 percent and making employees happier and more engaged.
"We knew parts of our building were inefficient and our monthly bills for consumption were going up exponentially," Liguori says. ACT brought in a third-party company to evaluate and the first step it took was to change ACT's 460-some lightbulbs to LED and install automatic lighting that would shut off when no one was present. The company also changed out its old and inefficient heating and cooling machines to computerized, high-efficiency versions that constantly adjust airflow and temperature. Liguori says the company had thought about some of these changes long ago, but it wasn't until they found out that they would qualify for a state of New Jersey reimbursement plan for many of these upgrades that it made the decision easy.
"Our building is cleaner, brighter, and it makes our employees' work environment better and also engages them," he says. "It was an educational process for all of us and has brought us closer together as a company."
Another company that has realized an additional level of positive engagement from employees by encouraging green initiatives is Times Warner Cable (TWC), New York City. A handful of years ago, the company decided to go full speed ahead with its corporate responsibility program, of which green initiatives is a spoke of that policy, says Dave Flessas, TWC's senior vice president of network operations and executive lead of TWC's Go Green Initiative.
"Our initiatives go all the way to our CEO Robert D. Marcus and most senior levels of the company. so our changes have been really organic and the growth in participation we have seen has been pleasantly surprising," Flessas says.
The company has implemented a number of green initiatives with significant results. TWC received accreditation from the National Association of Fleet Administrators (NAFA) as a Sustainable Fleet for its progress made toward reducing total emissions and the negative environmental impact made by extraneous carbon fuel usage. After making extensive changes, including adding more than 400 diesel Ford Transit vans and 200 Transit Connect vans to its fleet in recent years, the Transit vans achieved an estimated 47 percent improvement in fuel economy, according to the company.
TWC also achieved several LEED certifications for locations throughout the U.S. and has installed solar photovoltaic systems at locations in Hawaii and at its national Data Center East in Charlotte, N.C. "We have also recently gone into a partnership with residential solar providers so that our employees will have the opportunity to install solar panels on their homes at a discount," Flessas adds. One of TWC's biggest initiatives is carbon intensity reduction. In 2012, TWC set a goal to reduce its carbon intensity by 15 percent and surpassed that goal with a 38 percent reduction. The company announced a new goal to further reduce carbon intensity by 30 percent before the end on 2016. According to Flessas, the company will continue to invest in fuel efficient vehicles, aim to reduce cooling power consumption, pursue LEED elements in all new buildings and seek additional renewable energy opportunities.
Perhaps the most impactful initiative TWC has made - not in terms of lofty goals or carbon intensity reduction, but in terms of reaching the most people and creating a company culture of environmental awareness - is its Go Green teams. A few years ago, TWC initiated local employee volunteer teams, encouraging them to come up with green events and ideas that could be implemented in their communities.
"We have had great success establishing Green Teams in 19 states," Flessas reports. "The number of the teams and participation in the teams has grown greatly over the last couple of years as we've continued. As employee participation in the Green Teams has increased, so have the ideas that the teams have come up with. In addition to conducting green fairs for educating the community and local employees about environmental issues and holding community recycling events, TWC's Green Teams have looked at everything from upgrading lighting in their individual buildings to brainstorming better and less wasteful packaging, Flessas says.
"The bottom line is, it's good business," he adds. "Almost all the green activities we have engaged in to date have been not only good for the environment, but really very effective operationally as well."
Positive Benefits; Positive Impact
WM Security Services Inc., headquartered in Houston, has seen many positive benefits from its green initiatives as well. "If you work here, being environmentally conscious is really a part of our culture from orientation through your daily work life, and it filters down through us to our community and to our family and friends," says David W. Lee, manager, security operations center.
The security firm has made several mindful changes to its business, including upgrading monitors to high-efficiency LED models, automatic lighting timers to detect office vacancies, non-disposable glassware and silverware in the breakrooms, defaulting to double-sided printing, and a company-wide email close that reminds recipients that "Recycling is a good thing. Please recycle any printed emails."
But the company's largest green initiative, embraced by its subsidiaries, is its recycling and electronics recycling or e-cycling efforts, according to Lee. "We have an in-house technical lab where we test and use different security equipment. As those items have to be put to rest, we make sure to do so in an appropriate manner," he explains.
For everyday recycling, WM Security Services, working with other Waste Management subsidiaries, launched a program it called the "tiny toter trade off," says Kimberly Levicky, business analyst at the company. Standard office trash bins were placed with smaller bins, minus the plastic liners, to save plastic and show its employees about being more environmentally conscious.
Going Green Creates Efficiencies
One of the morals of these green stories is that integrators don't have to have large budgets to implement green practices. Small and mid-size organizations can make many of the same changes of larger companies and have a meaningful impact. "We are a small business and I am not willing to spend a lot of money, but I do think everyone can make some choices to save the environment and also save some money," says Thomas Marino, president of Advanced Technologies, Baton Rouge, La. "At our office, I want everything as efficient as possible and that means LED lighting, recycling our stuff and printing on the backside of papers," Marino notes.
While a positive environmental impact is definitely an end result of sustainable initiatives, Marino and other integrators agree that it is not always the primary driver behind the change. Many years ago, Provident Security Corp., Vancouver, B.C., Canada, implemented several green initiatives, including bicycles for guard response and a paperless office. Implementing the bicycles was an operational decision first, says Mike Jagger, president of Provident. The company offers a five-minute guaranteed response time and, for some areas of the city, it is faster, more convenient and most efficient to ride a bike rather than get behind the wheel of a vehicle. "We use them where it makes the most sense," Jagger says.
In addition, more than a decade ago, Provident began moving to a paperless office, addressing the sales process, contracts and invoicing. "At this point, about 98 percent of the business is paper-free," Jagger says. "These things are good for the environment, but the real savings is in sanity. It's just so much simpler to see where something starts and finishes and all steps in between with a digital system. There is more transparency, more sharing and an ability to have more people involved. And just from a stress standpoint, the transparency brings so much value to the table before having saved a dime in costs."
Transparency and consistency were two of the reasons integration firm Cantara of Costa Mesa, Calif., implemented a cloud-based file system about three years ago, according to Jason Voorhees, president of the company. "Before, we were constantly printing out blueprints for technicians and using tons of paper. It's not only wasteful but it takes a lot more time to get those printed. Drawings can be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get lost or left at a site," he says. "Moving to a cloud-based system, there was a lot of improvement with consistency right away and far less paper wasted."
Another sustainable practice that Cantara implemented at its 4,000 square foot office space is energy management, and the benefits are two-fold, according to Voorhees. It helps the company save on energy bills and create a more sustainable office environment, but also gives the company an opportunity to use and be able to speak about some of the systems it sells to customers. "Our system is tied into the security, lighting and HVAC," adds Adam Purath, director of engineering at Cantara. "It closes the shades, sets back the HVAC and turns off all the lights when we leave, for example."
But while the ideas behind Cantara's push for paperless and energy management integration may be more than purely environmental, one push at the company that is purely green is its electronics recycling initiative for which it spends a fair amount of time, warehouse space and money to maintain. "For us, we are the type of company that waste is a guilt factor on a lot of people's minds," Voorhees says. "We don't want to throw stuff away. It's a part of tho we are." This was of thinking led Cantara to initiate an electronics recycling program that recycles its own electronics as well as a large amount of electronics from customer homes. "We put a massive amount of electronics into people's homes and our clients have the type of income where they can renovate and completely replace their entire systems in a matter of years," Voorhees says. "So it's very common for us to go into a home and within a couple of days have van loads full of old electronics. Years ago, that would end up in a dumpster and we thought, 'wow, what an impact this would make.'" The company sets aside a portion of its warehouse to store used electronics for recycling pick up that sometimes equals a few bin loads each month.
"It's a completely environmental effort that we are very happy about," Voorhees says. "It may cost us money to store everything for a month and take up a good chunk of our space, but it's the right thing to do."
Creating Consciousness
While integrators implement green practices for a number of different reasons, one of the resounding themes among companies that have taken such steps is a level of consciousness - consciousness that improvements can be made.
"You can make small changes, go after low hanging fruit, see cost savings and make an impact," says Ken Erdmann, president of Erdmann Electric Inc., Springville, Utah. "Then, you think about less obvious, more hidden ways to make an impact." The company recycles everything it can, views trade magazines in digital formats instead of print, makes an effort to buy things in recyclable containers, and refuses everything it can, including bubble wrap, paper and boxes.
"It's a matter of thinking," Erdmann says. "If a manufacturer sends me stuff with packing peanuts, I will call them up and ask them not to use that for me next time." In addition, the company sells and recycles metals from its jobs, and even allows employees to use the small amount of money received to buy donuts and coffee. "It's an incentive to encourage them to recycle," he says.
Erdmann Electric also focuses on energy management in its office with occupancy sensors for automatic heating/cooling and lighting adjustments, Nest thermostats and LED lighting. "We are selling these technologies and teaching our clients about energy management, and if we live with those technologies it makes them easier to sell," Erdmann explains.
For companies that haven't begun to go green, Erdmann encourages them to be conscious, think and evaluate all areas of their business. Some green practices may be implemented to streamline processes, reduce headaches or save money, but the main intention doesn't matter in the sense that the results will still be the same: helping make the business more sustainable and positively impacting the environment.
Tax Benefits From Going Green
Making green changes to a building or company may qualify for a tax incentive or other benefit. It is important to do the research and find a third-party evaluator that may be able to make recommendations for you and your business.
- While many Energy Star programs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy expired in 2011, there are still some credits available through 2016 for commercial buildings. See: http://1.usa.gov/1PS6Myo
- Electronics recycling may be able to be claimed as a charitable contribution when partnering with a nonprofit, according to TurboTax. See: http://intuit.me/1K0IRNO
- Other loan programs, funding opprotunities, tax incentives and rebates also exist. Good places to start:
- The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency: www.dsireusa.org
- The U.S. Small Business Administration: www.sba.gov/content/environmental-grants-loans
More Online
For more on green initiatives in the industry, visit SDM's website where you'll find the following articles:
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
The Safety Plan
It's the perfect time of the year to rehash your organization's safety plan. A good way to start off this activity is by identifying concerns and issues in your workforce. Every member of your organization should be involved, from the CEO to each other employee. Key statistics like the total hours worked, the number of injuries, the number of cases with days away from work, and other recordable data points should be collected over time. OSHA form 300, "OSHA Forms for Recording Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses." is a dependable reference to locate various other problem areas. It provides guidance on what to track and includes:
- Total number of deaths
- Total number of cases with days away from work
- Total number of cases with job transfer or restriction
- Total number of other recordable cases
- Total number of days away from work
- Total number of days of job transfer or restriction
- Total number of injuries, skin disorders, respiratory conditions, poisonings, hearing loss, and all other illnesses
"EQUIPMENT CHECK
Target equipment includes a range from the big trucks and lifts that you own down to the screwdrivers and side cutters and everything in between. Your teams should be looking for wear and tear and any maintenance that needs to be performed. When you find safety equipment that needs to be replaced, get it out of use and replaced as soon as possible.
The responsibilities don't stop when the message goes out to everyone that they need to check their tools and equipment. It's the responsibility of the management to ensure the funding is in place to replace the failed or failing equipment. The equipment check activities can help define your future budgets as some equipment can be designated for replacement in the coming years. This information is critical for your budgeting exercises.
CODE/REGULATION UPDATE
Codes and regulations change and you need to stay on top of them. This applies to more than just the National Electrical Code (NEC) and other similar documents. This applies to OSHA and other regulations that may be mandated for your business, as well. It is important to note that OSHA requirements are retroactive. Ensure you are referencing the latest version of the documents used in your business operations.
Budgets may be impacted by new regulations as well. Unaddressed, these changes can quickly suck the finances from your safety plans. It's important to not only know what current regulations and codes are in place, you need to know what is coming down the road so you can better anticipate changes in future budgets. Problems may not require an immediate fix but rather a plan over an amount of years to address them. It is important to budget and have a plan in place.
SAFETY PLAN UPDATE
Review your safety plan every year with your team. The data recorded above may influence changes to your plan. Make the appropriate changes and communicate them. This, too, may impact your safety budget. Equipment checks; statistic reviews; and, yes, new codes and regulations may influence changes in your safety plan. Take this annual opportunity to continue the improvement of this important document. Your entire team should have an opportunity to suggest changes to your safety plan. Those individuals who are implementing the plan and performing work on a daily basis are probably the best people in your group to help improve this document. They see what happens on a daily basis and, if encouraged correctly, could add valuable information that will help improve the plan.
TRAINING
By this step in the checklist you will have a lot of information that is important for your training program. You may have uncovered various areas of concern and, quite possibly, implemented improvements that will have to be communicated through your training programs. Ensure you include your performance data. equipment check information, and any codes/regulations that your people should be familiar with. This information helps reinforce your level of commitment to the safety program at all levels in the organization.
Your discussions around training should go well beyond internal training; it needs to include your "qualified individuals" and the necessary training they need to keep them up to date on their specific training needs. This is a time to the IEC meetings that are available and can be made available to meet your specific training needs. CEU credits will need to be obtained for those that hold licenses in your organization.
This, too, will need to be funded. Everyone has their role to play and the management's responsibility is to ensure the time and finances are available so that your people are adequately educated. There are many opportunities for external help in this area; all you need to do is identify the need to seek this help out, schedule it, and ensure it is funded.
COMMUNICATION
The important items above need to be communicated. A good communication plan shows the employees the level of commitment the organizations has to safety. Sharing your statistics reminds everyone of the commitment and reinforces your implemented safety procedures. Share with them information on the organization's investment in safety; this shows you have skin the game as well and are committed to safety.
The above is meant to get your head in the game and get you to start thinking about those critical safety aspects that need to occur on an annual, if not on a monthly, basis. Safety should be an ongoing process, a journey if you will. Establish the trigger for your organization to brush off your safety plan.
As always, keep safety at the top of your list and ensure you and those around you live to see another day. "
Budgets may be impacted by new regulations as well. Unaddressed, these changes can quickly suck the finances from your safety plans. It's important to not only know what current regulations and codes are in place, you need to know what is coming down the road so you can better anticipate changes in future budgets. Problems may not require an immediate fix but rather a plan over an amount of years to address them. It is important to budget and have a plan in place.
SAFETY PLAN UPDATE
Review your safety plan every year with your team. The data recorded above may influence changes to your plan. Make the appropriate changes and communicate them. This, too, may impact your safety budget. Equipment checks; statistic reviews; and, yes, new codes and regulations may influence changes in your safety plan. Take this annual opportunity to continue the improvement of this important document. Your entire team should have an opportunity to suggest changes to your safety plan. Those individuals who are implementing the plan and performing work on a daily basis are probably the best people in your group to help improve this document. They see what happens on a daily basis and, if encouraged correctly, could add valuable information that will help improve the plan.
TRAINING
By this step in the checklist you will have a lot of information that is important for your training program. You may have uncovered various areas of concern and, quite possibly, implemented improvements that will have to be communicated through your training programs. Ensure you include your performance data. equipment check information, and any codes/regulations that your people should be familiar with. This information helps reinforce your level of commitment to the safety program at all levels in the organization.
Your discussions around training should go well beyond internal training; it needs to include your "qualified individuals" and the necessary training they need to keep them up to date on their specific training needs. This is a time to the IEC meetings that are available and can be made available to meet your specific training needs. CEU credits will need to be obtained for those that hold licenses in your organization.
This, too, will need to be funded. Everyone has their role to play and the management's responsibility is to ensure the time and finances are available so that your people are adequately educated. There are many opportunities for external help in this area; all you need to do is identify the need to seek this help out, schedule it, and ensure it is funded.
COMMUNICATION
The important items above need to be communicated. A good communication plan shows the employees the level of commitment the organizations has to safety. Sharing your statistics reminds everyone of the commitment and reinforces your implemented safety procedures. Share with them information on the organization's investment in safety; this shows you have skin the game as well and are committed to safety.
The above is meant to get your head in the game and get you to start thinking about those critical safety aspects that need to occur on an annual, if not on a monthly, basis. Safety should be an ongoing process, a journey if you will. Establish the trigger for your organization to brush off your safety plan.
As always, keep safety at the top of your list and ensure you and those around you live to see another day. "
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Intrepid is a New East Bay EDA Member!
Intrepid is now a member of the East Bay Economic Development Alliance (EDA), serving to address the gap in business services such as accounting, insurance, and human resources that are currently not being represented. We are being represented by Darlene Besst on the East Bay EDA Executive Committee.
No Man's Land #WomensHistoryMonth
Many women-owned electrical contracting firms find themselves stuck in the middle when it comes to winning federal contracts.
"For many women-owned electrical contracting firms, the perception still exists that women-owned businesses are given preference when bidding on government contracts. This perception seems to hold true particularly in the construction industry, where although the number of women in the industry has been steadily increasing (See Fig. 1 below), women currently comprise only 12% of the workforce (See Fig. 2 below). This lingering stereotype also persists despite President Clinton signing the Small Business Administration Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 1994 into law, which dismantled the centralized federal program for certification of women-owned businesses (WBEs), according to the Congressional Research Service Report, 'Disadvantaged Businesses: A review of Federal Assistance.'
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| (Fig. 1) Recruiting efforts and apprenticeship programs focused on women have slowly increased the total number of women working in the construction industry. |
In its summary, the report says it is the policy of the federal government to encourage the development of small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) owned by minorities and women. However, SDBs are statutorily defined as small businesses that are owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias - and who have limited capital and credit opportunities. Under the Small Business Act, as amended, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans. and Native Americans are presumed to be socially disadvantaged. Other business owners - who do not belong to these racial or ethnic groups (such as non-minority women) - must establish disadvantaged status as individuals for participation in certain federal programs. In other programs, women and handicapped persons are defined as socially disadvantaged and are eligible for participation as long as they are also economically disadvantaged. Therefore, a woman-owned firm must be economically disadvantaged to qualify.
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| (Fig. 2) Women comprise about 12% of the workforce in the construction industry. |
'I don't get any of my work because I'm a woman-owned business anymore,' says Veronica Rose, master electrician and president and CEO of Aurora Electric, based in Long Island City, N.Y. 'Every time I think they've changed something to make it a little tighter and a little better, it's been basically useless.'
Rose began her career in the electrical industry by joining the electrical apprenticeship program under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) program. She became one of the first three women to earn her master's electrician license in New York City. In 1993, after working for L.K. Comstock, Arc Electric, and Fischbach and Moore, she went into business for herself with Aurora Electric.
By 2000, she'd built Aurora Electric into a $9 million business, employing at least eight full-time electricians - many of whom were women - and using anywhere from 30 to 50 union electricians working in the field.
But working in New York, Rose couldn't avoid the economic downfall in the aftermath of 9/11. 'It was horrible,' she says. 'We had specialized in systems, and one of our largest clients was the Port Authority. So when 9/11 hit, we lost a lot [of] our client base. But we're on the way back up. We've picked up a lot of work with the Transportation Security Administration and have been doing a lot at the airports on different high-tech security systems.'
The passage of the transportation bill in 2005, Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), also has helped Aurora build itself back up, in addition to the money reallocated to New York.
This one's too small. Although Aurora's downsized staff of seven has been busy with several projects, such as a CCTV upgrade for the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 42nd Street in Manhattan, underground work at Battery Park City, and several smaller retail projects, none of these jobs has anything to do with Ground Zero. In fact, Aurora hasn't won any contracts for reconstruction work, despite promises of hiring women - and minority-owned local businesses for those projects.
'I've talked to the big boys building down there, and basically they're spending the money to everybody together to say that they want to do it, then when they get us to participate and bid on jobs on jobs, they say 'Ah, well you're not qualified here, your price is too high there,'' says Rose.
According to Rose, small businesses aren't getting the reconstruction contracts. 'They're bundled that way to keep it that way,' she says. 'They don't bundle them less than $10 million a project, so there's no way in hell a small business enterprise is going to be able to get the project.'
Rose offers an example of a $200,000 project she was considering bidding on. The contractor asked for bids from small businesses, but then also asked for a 25% bid bond. 'I'm a small business, and they basically want me to give them a check for $50,000 at the time I bid it,' she says. 'That's ridiculous.'
Rose posits that the contractors want to discourage small businesses from bidding because they feel it's more work and effort to deal with small businesses. 'They'd rather disqualify as many as they can and say, 'Look, we did a good faith effort. The only ones that could really compete are the big boys,' she says. 'But once the big boys get involved, they waive those requirements.'
This one's too big. Fort Worth, Texas-based Stanfield Enterprises, otherwise known as S&J Electric, has the opposite problem when it comes to bidding on public contracts. At more than $30 million in revenue last year and with more than $3 million in heavy equipment and 300 employees, S&J Electric no longer qualifies as a disadvantaged business, even though the woman who started it from scratch still owns it.
'We don't meet the criteria even though we're a woman-owned company,' says Edith Stanfield, founder and president of S&J Electric. 'In a period, they set a limit at this much sales or less in order to qualify as a disadvantaged company.'
For some companies, there's also the matter of the owner's personal assets being taken into consideration. 'That's not such a problem for me because I haven't taken much money from the company,' Stanfield says. 'I've used it to grow the company. I think the limit is under $750,000 though, so even if you just own a house now, it's probably worth more than that.'
However, on large-scale projects, bigger businesses may be the only ones equipped to handle the job. Stanfield cites an instance of one contractor having to hire 50 smaller subcontractors to do the work one large firm could have completed on its own.
'The bad part about this is that the companies that need to fill some of these quotas need subcontractors that are big enough with the resources to do these jobs,' says Stanfield.
Ironically, it may be the size of the contracts awarded to a disadvantaged business one day that disqualifies the business from those same contracts the next. 'The jobs are getting bigger and bigger, the costs are getting bigger and bigger, so naturally the sales are going to be bigger and bigger,' says Stanfield.
Whose wife are you? Stanfield got her start at a young age in the field with her electrician father who was working on the Rural Electrification Act project in rural Texas. Much later, with a background in engineering, Stanfield bought the company in 1985 from her then-employer when she needed a job that would support her family and realized he didn't have enough business to keep her busy. At the time, the move was a gamble. The Texas oil business was in the dumps, and banks were going bust. But Stanfield invested $5,000 and earned her master electrician's license.
'I was over 55 when I took my master's exam,' Stanfield says. 'A lot of people at 55, both women and men, think their lives are over. This particular phase of my life was just beginning.'
To get the business off the ground, Stanfield took a lot of jobs no one else wanted, especially the jobs on weekends, holidays, and nights. 'We took a lot of work in the mud and grime,' she says.
She also experienced the challenge of being a woman in a male-dominated field. 'The first job I ever got was at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, and it happened to be a night project,' she says. 'They said, 'It's a nighttime job. Who's going to supervise it?' insinuating I wasn't able to get out at night or that my counterpart would be much better at doing it.'
When Stanfield started her company she had difficulty getting bank loans and bonding. She bought the building for the company with a personal credit card after she was turned down for a bank loan. 'But as time goes on and they learn more about you, they forget all of this,' she says. 'They're not thinking of you as a minority company: They're thinking of you as a company that is in the critical path, that got the job done, and that is the low bidder.'
The perception that Stanfield wasn't capable of running an electrical contracting company because of her gender persisted even after she'd completed jobs and built up the business. 'I've been asked, 'Whose wife are you?' and when I was representing my company and being the patent chief person in charge of everything,' she says. 'That's a perception that has been built up over many years, and it has not gone away.'
Paying it forward. To try and counteract this perception, both Rose and Stanfield mentor other women starting in the electrical contracting industry. Rose is on the apprentice board for New York City's Local 3. The apprentice program pairs each new female apprentice with a female journeyman or master electrician. By working with an apprentice, Rose hopes she can encourage more women to stick with a career in electrical contracting. She says that women used to drop out of the program because of a lack of support. 'The first time you had a problem, you might drop out if you had no one that you could call,' Rose says.
Although Aurora Electric now has only one woman electrician, Rose would like to hire more. She also offers career advice to other women. 'As long as they're an apprentice, they're considered subordinate to a traditional journeyman electrician; therefore, if they're not a threat they stay employed,' she maintains. 'As soon as they're making journeyman's money, that's where we lose the women because they're not getting the jobs. I tell them you're got to hook up with other women in the trade so you can succeed. Don't try to do it alone because the isolation will kill you.'
Stanfield also mentors women in the industry. She volunteers time to the Tarrant County Business Owners Association of Women, Fort Worth-based National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), apprentice programs, and other fund-raising activities. 'If I can reach somebody and say, 'Look, you can do this if you really want to, but be prepared. Get the facts and don't lie to yourself,' she says. 'You need not think that they're going to send you work just because you're a woman. You're going to have to fight in the same arena that everybody else does.'
S&J Electric doesn't have a formal policy of hiring other women. 'I give every bit of the credit of my company to my employees, but as far as choosing them because they were women, I didn't,' Stanfield says. 'I wasn't looking to fill this or that kind of quota.'
Lynda D. Dodson, master electrician,
'In the field, as long as you work, people look at that, not just 'She's a woman, she needs an easy job,'' Dodson says. 'It was actually easier for me in the field than in the office. When estimating, my pay wasn't up to normal. It is now, but back then it was a challenge.'
(click here to see Chart)
Sidebar: Paper Tigers
The first federal effort to directly support female business owners, or women-owned business enterprises (WBEs), was issued by President Carter in 1979. Executive Order 12138 was designed to discourage discrimination against female entrepreneurs and to create programs responsive to their needs, including assistance in federal procurement. Through the issuance of the order, the Office of Women's Business Ownership was established within the Small Business Administration (SBA) to negotiate annually with each federal agency a percentage goal for the awarding of federal prime procurement contacts to WBEs.
Under the issuance, from 1982 to 1992 the number and revenue of women-owned businesses grew at increasing rates that outpaced other small business sectors (see Table on page C28). According to data from the SBA, the number of women-owned businesses grew in every sector of the economy in which the type of business could be determined - from a low of 73.2% for retail trade to a high of 382.1% for wholesale trade. Revenue increases for women-owned businesses ranged from 53.2% in mining to the 742.3% experienced by manufacturing.
With the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988, the promotion of WBEs was given statutory authority. Under the act, WBEs were defined as a small business that is at least 51% owned, managed, and operated by one or more women. The act also established a loan guarantee program administered by SBA to guarantee commercial bank loans of up to $50,000 to small firms (not just WBEs); created a National Women's Business Council to monitor the progress of federal, state, and local governments in assisting WBEs; and authorized grants to private organizations to provide management and technical assistance to WBEs.
Annual procurement goals for WBEs continued to be negotiated between federal agencies and the SBA under the original issuance, Executive Order 12138. That is, until President Clinton announced the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994, which established a 5% annual goal for WBE participation in federal prime contracts and subcontracts. For most divisions of government, this was a severe decrease. For example, the Dept. of Transportation's (DOT) previous goal was around 10%. However, FASA did amend the Small Business Act to give WBEs equal standing with small businesses and small disadvantaged businesses (SDB) in the subcontracting plans of federal prime contractors.
However, additional legislations for the federal government's promotion of WBEs was contained in the Small Business Administration Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 1994, which codified the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership; established an Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise to recommend policies to promote the development of WBEs; and restructured the National Women's Business Council as a bipartisan federal government council to the Interagency Committee, the SBA, and Congress."
For some companies, there's also the matter of the owner's personal assets being taken into consideration. 'That's not such a problem for me because I haven't taken much money from the company,' Stanfield says. 'I've used it to grow the company. I think the limit is under $750,000 though, so even if you just own a house now, it's probably worth more than that.'
However, on large-scale projects, bigger businesses may be the only ones equipped to handle the job. Stanfield cites an instance of one contractor having to hire 50 smaller subcontractors to do the work one large firm could have completed on its own.
'The bad part about this is that the companies that need to fill some of these quotas need subcontractors that are big enough with the resources to do these jobs,' says Stanfield.
Ironically, it may be the size of the contracts awarded to a disadvantaged business one day that disqualifies the business from those same contracts the next. 'The jobs are getting bigger and bigger, the costs are getting bigger and bigger, so naturally the sales are going to be bigger and bigger,' says Stanfield.
Whose wife are you? Stanfield got her start at a young age in the field with her electrician father who was working on the Rural Electrification Act project in rural Texas. Much later, with a background in engineering, Stanfield bought the company in 1985 from her then-employer when she needed a job that would support her family and realized he didn't have enough business to keep her busy. At the time, the move was a gamble. The Texas oil business was in the dumps, and banks were going bust. But Stanfield invested $5,000 and earned her master electrician's license.
'I was over 55 when I took my master's exam,' Stanfield says. 'A lot of people at 55, both women and men, think their lives are over. This particular phase of my life was just beginning.'
To get the business off the ground, Stanfield took a lot of jobs no one else wanted, especially the jobs on weekends, holidays, and nights. 'We took a lot of work in the mud and grime,' she says.
She also experienced the challenge of being a woman in a male-dominated field. 'The first job I ever got was at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, and it happened to be a night project,' she says. 'They said, 'It's a nighttime job. Who's going to supervise it?' insinuating I wasn't able to get out at night or that my counterpart would be much better at doing it.'
When Stanfield started her company she had difficulty getting bank loans and bonding. She bought the building for the company with a personal credit card after she was turned down for a bank loan. 'But as time goes on and they learn more about you, they forget all of this,' she says. 'They're not thinking of you as a minority company: They're thinking of you as a company that is in the critical path, that got the job done, and that is the low bidder.'
The perception that Stanfield wasn't capable of running an electrical contracting company because of her gender persisted even after she'd completed jobs and built up the business. 'I've been asked, 'Whose wife are you?' and when I was representing my company and being the patent chief person in charge of everything,' she says. 'That's a perception that has been built up over many years, and it has not gone away.'
Paying it forward. To try and counteract this perception, both Rose and Stanfield mentor other women starting in the electrical contracting industry. Rose is on the apprentice board for New York City's Local 3. The apprentice program pairs each new female apprentice with a female journeyman or master electrician. By working with an apprentice, Rose hopes she can encourage more women to stick with a career in electrical contracting. She says that women used to drop out of the program because of a lack of support. 'The first time you had a problem, you might drop out if you had no one that you could call,' Rose says.
Although Aurora Electric now has only one woman electrician, Rose would like to hire more. She also offers career advice to other women. 'As long as they're an apprentice, they're considered subordinate to a traditional journeyman electrician; therefore, if they're not a threat they stay employed,' she maintains. 'As soon as they're making journeyman's money, that's where we lose the women because they're not getting the jobs. I tell them you're got to hook up with other women in the trade so you can succeed. Don't try to do it alone because the isolation will kill you.'
Stanfield also mentors women in the industry. She volunteers time to the Tarrant County Business Owners Association of Women, Fort Worth-based National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), apprentice programs, and other fund-raising activities. 'If I can reach somebody and say, 'Look, you can do this if you really want to, but be prepared. Get the facts and don't lie to yourself,' she says. 'You need not think that they're going to send you work just because you're a woman. You're going to have to fight in the same arena that everybody else does.'
S&J Electric doesn't have a formal policy of hiring other women. 'I give every bit of the credit of my company to my employees, but as far as choosing them because they were women, I didn't,' Stanfield says. 'I wasn't looking to fill this or that kind of quota.'
Lynda D. Dodson, master electrician,
'In the field, as long as you work, people look at that, not just 'She's a woman, she needs an easy job,'' Dodson says. 'It was actually easier for me in the field than in the office. When estimating, my pay wasn't up to normal. It is now, but back then it was a challenge.'
(click here to see Chart)
Sidebar: Paper Tigers
The first federal effort to directly support female business owners, or women-owned business enterprises (WBEs), was issued by President Carter in 1979. Executive Order 12138 was designed to discourage discrimination against female entrepreneurs and to create programs responsive to their needs, including assistance in federal procurement. Through the issuance of the order, the Office of Women's Business Ownership was established within the Small Business Administration (SBA) to negotiate annually with each federal agency a percentage goal for the awarding of federal prime procurement contacts to WBEs.
Under the issuance, from 1982 to 1992 the number and revenue of women-owned businesses grew at increasing rates that outpaced other small business sectors (see Table on page C28). According to data from the SBA, the number of women-owned businesses grew in every sector of the economy in which the type of business could be determined - from a low of 73.2% for retail trade to a high of 382.1% for wholesale trade. Revenue increases for women-owned businesses ranged from 53.2% in mining to the 742.3% experienced by manufacturing.
With the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988, the promotion of WBEs was given statutory authority. Under the act, WBEs were defined as a small business that is at least 51% owned, managed, and operated by one or more women. The act also established a loan guarantee program administered by SBA to guarantee commercial bank loans of up to $50,000 to small firms (not just WBEs); created a National Women's Business Council to monitor the progress of federal, state, and local governments in assisting WBEs; and authorized grants to private organizations to provide management and technical assistance to WBEs.
Annual procurement goals for WBEs continued to be negotiated between federal agencies and the SBA under the original issuance, Executive Order 12138. That is, until President Clinton announced the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994, which established a 5% annual goal for WBE participation in federal prime contracts and subcontracts. For most divisions of government, this was a severe decrease. For example, the Dept. of Transportation's (DOT) previous goal was around 10%. However, FASA did amend the Small Business Act to give WBEs equal standing with small businesses and small disadvantaged businesses (SDB) in the subcontracting plans of federal prime contractors.
However, additional legislations for the federal government's promotion of WBEs was contained in the Small Business Administration Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 1994, which codified the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership; established an Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise to recommend policies to promote the development of WBEs; and restructured the National Women's Business Council as a bipartisan federal government council to the Interagency Committee, the SBA, and Congress."
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Are We There Yet? #InternationalWomensDay
"Recruiting and retaining women is widely recognized as one solution to the electrical industry labor shortage, but progress in the field is slow. A quarter century after the Department of Labor under President Jimmy Carter issued affirmative action regulation 41CFR 60. expanding President Lyndon Johnson's 1964 Executive Order 11246 to 'provide immediate equal opportunity for women in the construction industry,' the 6.9 percent target set for 1981 has not yet been reached in any construction trade.
The National Electrical Contractor's Association reported that in 2001, 68 percent of all new construction companies were owned by women. But women are not actively seeking positions in electrical contracting, frustrating companies seeking to make good-faith efforts to close the gap and maximize the potential talent pool.
Nearly 64 million women were employed in 2002, with some 4 million more looking for work at any given time, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau. That translates to roughly 60 percent of women age 16 or older, and 47 percent of the total work force. The four leading occupations for women were still retail sales, secretary, elementary school teacher and registered nurse; none of the top 20 was in construction.
In the field
Out of some 815,000 electricians cited in the 2002 statistics on nontraditional occupations for women (those in which women comprise 25 percent or less of the total), only 2.4 percent (20,000) were women, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Web site of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) contains no specific statistics for women in the union labor force, and does not list a formal program to actively recruit women as journeymen electricians.
Although women in the field still complain of isolation, bathroom issues and the abrasive or even hostile job site culture and behavioral standards, improvements in safety and harassment policies have resulted from legislative mandates, as well as corporate self-interest. Treating women differently is no longer considered acceptable by construction owners or by contractors, some of whom are hoping to avoid litigation and further erosion of already tarnished public image.
Susan Eisenberg, one of the first IBEW apprentices, interviewed 28 other early tradeswomen about their experiences. Her book, 'We'll Call You If We Need You,' was published two decades after the 1978 mandate, and draws a depressing picture. 'Despite many examples of tradeswomen who were skilled, conscientious and productive workers, despite many efforts... to expand the participation and retention of women, the culture and the work force composition of the traditionally male industry have remained fairly intact.'
Eisenberg observes that one tradeswoman's performance on the job 'could become cause for other women's exclusion, but not for their inclusion.' She adds that the myth that no woman could do the work was replaced by the equally damning 'Myth of the Exceptional Woman,' who was successful, but not typical of her gender.
Of the ten electricians interviewed, six (including the author) have left the industry entirely. Only four were still employed in the industry as of 1998, and a fifth was considering a return to the trade.
Many of the first tradeswomen were attracted by the established wage parity in union construction, as well as the chance to do physical work they could take pride in while providing for their families. At a World of Working Women conference in New York City, NECA member Veronica Rose, founder and CEO of Aurora Electric Inc., the fifth-fastest growing privately held company in the industry, pointed out that women who work as union electricians are within the top 5 percent of wage earners in the country.
In 2001, 11.6 percent of working women age 16 and older belonged to unions, compared to 18.1 percent for all workers (1.275 million of the 7.05 million total employed in construction), according to the BLS Web site. In fact, women who are union members earn 30 percent more than their non-union counterparts, based on median weekly earnings data cited on the Web site of the AFL-CIO. With the highest rate of union membership, the financial incentives in construction trades should be attracting thousands of women.
So what's the problem?
Women still received mixed reviews from employers who struggle with job site culture and resistance by male employees. One NECA member found that placing a woman electrician on a crew raised production by at least 10 percent, 'because no man wants to be outworked by a woman.' Skilled journeymen electricians like Kris Rogne of Fargo, winner of the 2003 North Dakota worker of the Year award given by Dickies Workwear, are still the exception. The 45-year-old electrician left the banking industry six years ago to improve the standard of living for herself and her three daughters, but is still the only woman in Local 1326.
Though women comprised 3.9 percent of enrollment in union electrical programs from 1989-95, the author of a study on apprenticeship training in U.S. construction (Apprenticeship Training in the U.S. Construction Industry, Cihan Bilginsoy, University of Utah Department of Economics, September 1998) stated that 'with few exceptions, the participation of women in apprenticeship training in joint programs across trades is hardly satisfactory.' Of the 10 trades studied, electrician ranked fourth, below operating engineer (21.8 percent) painter (8.4 percent), and carpenter (5.6 percent).
At the other end of the spectrum, a five-year study by the Center for Women's Business Research notes that the fastest growing area of female entrepreneurship is in nontraditional fields, such as construction and transportation. The director of the Center attributed the change to recognition of women's leadership capability, as well as a willingness by banks to extend higher levels of credit to women.
From 1992-97, women-owned construction company revenue growth (33 percent) outpaced that of male-owned firms by 9 percent, and the 6.7 percent of companies owned by women produced 7.2 percent of the total revenues. The number of people employed by women rose by 28 percent (more than three times the increase overall) and women now employ more than 10 percent of all people in the industry. Statistics are from "A Compendium of National Statistics on Women-Owned Businesses in the U.S.,' September 2001, as cited on the Women Construction Owners and Executives Resource Center Web site (www.wcoe-rc.org).
What now?
Is the organized electrical contraction industry reaching out to women, actively recruiting and retaining them? Organizations and articles related to electrical contracting often provide limited statistics, and industry culture is slow to change. 'Man hours' has not yet been replaced by the more inclusive 'labor hours,' for example, and industry appreciation events and meetings too often include themes and prizes more suited to men.
Major construction industry associations have been actively courting women as members, and developing them as local and national leaders. The American Subcontractors Association elected its first woman president nearly 25 years ago, and has had three others since then. NECA has not yet elected any woman to a leadership position, but it does highlight profiles of key women members on its Web site (www.neca.org). Dan Walter, NECA's COO, noted that 'participation by women in the industry is on the rise' and is confident that 'it's only a matter of time.'
Approximately 6 percent of accredited company representatives are estimated to be women, although gender is not specifically requested on membership records. Although few women hold management positions on the national staff, and none in regional offices, more success is evident at the chapter level, with women now comprising about 8 percent of chapter managers. A similar situation exists in the technical and management training functions of the association. and no study grants have been awarded to women through the foundation of the association to date.
A possible explanation for this lack of progress may be found in the fairly recent entry of women into a century-old industry, and an allowable transition period to develop the many who are active at the local level for future leadership positions. As Walters observes, 'I think the association will benefit by the increased participation of women.'
Success stories
Who do women choose electrical contracting, and how do they see their roles and opportunities? Traditionally, many women follow family members into the business, or assume control when a spouse or parent retires or dies. Maryanne Cataldo began City Lights Electrical Co. Inc. of Boston in 1989, when her former employer went bankrupt, in order to service some of its key customers.
Some come from the field, such as Veronica Rose, who took off her tool belt after 25 years in the industry and started Aurora Electric Inc. in Jamaica, N.Y. Project Manager Lori Strohecker, with Morse Electric in Freeport, Ill., began as a delivery truck driver, then moved into the accounting department. Believing the industry wasn't 'quite ready for a female PM in the 1990s,' she bided her time, moved into an assistant project manager position, and finally achieved her goal.
Source.
The National Electrical Contractor's Association reported that in 2001, 68 percent of all new construction companies were owned by women. But women are not actively seeking positions in electrical contracting, frustrating companies seeking to make good-faith efforts to close the gap and maximize the potential talent pool.
Nearly 64 million women were employed in 2002, with some 4 million more looking for work at any given time, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau. That translates to roughly 60 percent of women age 16 or older, and 47 percent of the total work force. The four leading occupations for women were still retail sales, secretary, elementary school teacher and registered nurse; none of the top 20 was in construction.
In the field
Out of some 815,000 electricians cited in the 2002 statistics on nontraditional occupations for women (those in which women comprise 25 percent or less of the total), only 2.4 percent (20,000) were women, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Web site of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) contains no specific statistics for women in the union labor force, and does not list a formal program to actively recruit women as journeymen electricians.
Although women in the field still complain of isolation, bathroom issues and the abrasive or even hostile job site culture and behavioral standards, improvements in safety and harassment policies have resulted from legislative mandates, as well as corporate self-interest. Treating women differently is no longer considered acceptable by construction owners or by contractors, some of whom are hoping to avoid litigation and further erosion of already tarnished public image.
Susan Eisenberg, one of the first IBEW apprentices, interviewed 28 other early tradeswomen about their experiences. Her book, 'We'll Call You If We Need You,' was published two decades after the 1978 mandate, and draws a depressing picture. 'Despite many examples of tradeswomen who were skilled, conscientious and productive workers, despite many efforts... to expand the participation and retention of women, the culture and the work force composition of the traditionally male industry have remained fairly intact.'
Eisenberg observes that one tradeswoman's performance on the job 'could become cause for other women's exclusion, but not for their inclusion.' She adds that the myth that no woman could do the work was replaced by the equally damning 'Myth of the Exceptional Woman,' who was successful, but not typical of her gender.
Of the ten electricians interviewed, six (including the author) have left the industry entirely. Only four were still employed in the industry as of 1998, and a fifth was considering a return to the trade.
Many of the first tradeswomen were attracted by the established wage parity in union construction, as well as the chance to do physical work they could take pride in while providing for their families. At a World of Working Women conference in New York City, NECA member Veronica Rose, founder and CEO of Aurora Electric Inc., the fifth-fastest growing privately held company in the industry, pointed out that women who work as union electricians are within the top 5 percent of wage earners in the country.
In 2001, 11.6 percent of working women age 16 and older belonged to unions, compared to 18.1 percent for all workers (1.275 million of the 7.05 million total employed in construction), according to the BLS Web site. In fact, women who are union members earn 30 percent more than their non-union counterparts, based on median weekly earnings data cited on the Web site of the AFL-CIO. With the highest rate of union membership, the financial incentives in construction trades should be attracting thousands of women.
So what's the problem?
Women still received mixed reviews from employers who struggle with job site culture and resistance by male employees. One NECA member found that placing a woman electrician on a crew raised production by at least 10 percent, 'because no man wants to be outworked by a woman.' Skilled journeymen electricians like Kris Rogne of Fargo, winner of the 2003 North Dakota worker of the Year award given by Dickies Workwear, are still the exception. The 45-year-old electrician left the banking industry six years ago to improve the standard of living for herself and her three daughters, but is still the only woman in Local 1326.
Though women comprised 3.9 percent of enrollment in union electrical programs from 1989-95, the author of a study on apprenticeship training in U.S. construction (Apprenticeship Training in the U.S. Construction Industry, Cihan Bilginsoy, University of Utah Department of Economics, September 1998) stated that 'with few exceptions, the participation of women in apprenticeship training in joint programs across trades is hardly satisfactory.' Of the 10 trades studied, electrician ranked fourth, below operating engineer (21.8 percent) painter (8.4 percent), and carpenter (5.6 percent).
At the other end of the spectrum, a five-year study by the Center for Women's Business Research notes that the fastest growing area of female entrepreneurship is in nontraditional fields, such as construction and transportation. The director of the Center attributed the change to recognition of women's leadership capability, as well as a willingness by banks to extend higher levels of credit to women.
From 1992-97, women-owned construction company revenue growth (33 percent) outpaced that of male-owned firms by 9 percent, and the 6.7 percent of companies owned by women produced 7.2 percent of the total revenues. The number of people employed by women rose by 28 percent (more than three times the increase overall) and women now employ more than 10 percent of all people in the industry. Statistics are from "A Compendium of National Statistics on Women-Owned Businesses in the U.S.,' September 2001, as cited on the Women Construction Owners and Executives Resource Center Web site (www.wcoe-rc.org).
What now?
Is the organized electrical contraction industry reaching out to women, actively recruiting and retaining them? Organizations and articles related to electrical contracting often provide limited statistics, and industry culture is slow to change. 'Man hours' has not yet been replaced by the more inclusive 'labor hours,' for example, and industry appreciation events and meetings too often include themes and prizes more suited to men.
Major construction industry associations have been actively courting women as members, and developing them as local and national leaders. The American Subcontractors Association elected its first woman president nearly 25 years ago, and has had three others since then. NECA has not yet elected any woman to a leadership position, but it does highlight profiles of key women members on its Web site (www.neca.org). Dan Walter, NECA's COO, noted that 'participation by women in the industry is on the rise' and is confident that 'it's only a matter of time.'
Approximately 6 percent of accredited company representatives are estimated to be women, although gender is not specifically requested on membership records. Although few women hold management positions on the national staff, and none in regional offices, more success is evident at the chapter level, with women now comprising about 8 percent of chapter managers. A similar situation exists in the technical and management training functions of the association. and no study grants have been awarded to women through the foundation of the association to date.
A possible explanation for this lack of progress may be found in the fairly recent entry of women into a century-old industry, and an allowable transition period to develop the many who are active at the local level for future leadership positions. As Walters observes, 'I think the association will benefit by the increased participation of women.'
Success stories
Who do women choose electrical contracting, and how do they see their roles and opportunities? Traditionally, many women follow family members into the business, or assume control when a spouse or parent retires or dies. Maryanne Cataldo began City Lights Electrical Co. Inc. of Boston in 1989, when her former employer went bankrupt, in order to service some of its key customers.
Some come from the field, such as Veronica Rose, who took off her tool belt after 25 years in the industry and started Aurora Electric Inc. in Jamaica, N.Y. Project Manager Lori Strohecker, with Morse Electric in Freeport, Ill., began as a delivery truck driver, then moved into the accounting department. Believing the industry wasn't 'quite ready for a female PM in the 1990s,' she bided her time, moved into an assistant project manager position, and finally achieved her goal.
Still a small fraction of the industry, they tend to be overachievers. When asked about obstacles and opportunities, as well as the role of women in the industry, they are remarkably upbeat. Strohecker worried that her lack of technical field knowledge would detract from her relationships with customers and other contractors, but found that they were willing to allow her time to research solutions. “Time has … removed a lot of obstacles for women,” she said, although there is still some occasional awkwardness at the first project meeting. She believes that women in the field still face tougher challenges.
Customer service was the key to Cataldo’s success at the beginning, and City Lights guaranteed their customers a two-hour show-up time. Snapping up accounts their competitors declined, the company focused on being dependable and doing “the impossible easily by yesterday.” With more than 70 percent repeat business, and a proven track record of completing large, difficult jobs such as the Logan Airport Baggage Handling project and work on the Boston Central Artery Tunnel, Cataldo has altered the perception that a Women’s Business Enterprise cannot handle certain types of work.
Strohecker believes that “the industry is ready for women, and that each day will see more women in key positions.” She is convinced that women are “key to company profitability,” and that experience in office positions, multitasking, and handling paperwork contributes to their value as they move to other positions.
Women in electrical contracting actively mentor and help to recruit other women. Cataldo hires women for key positions and sits on the local board of the building trades, working to recruit more women. She hopes to see NECA intensify pressure on IBEW to accept more qualified women apprentices. She looks for ways to empower her employees and give them an equity stake and share of the company’s financial success. Like so many of her peers, she believes the industry is “a great career for women, as electrical construction requires the use of your brain as well as your back.” EC
NORBERG-JOHNSON is a former subcontractor and past president of two national construction associations. She may be reached at bigpeng@sbcglobal.net."
Additional statistics:
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| Source. |
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Repeating fast radio bursts found coming from outside our galaxy
"Multiple short bursts of radio waves have been found coming from a single location far beyond the Milky Way Galaxy, Cornell astronomers have discovered. It's the first time researchers have found these enigmatic 'fast radio bursts' to repeat, indicating that the waves are coming from a powerful source located many light years away.
Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, have long been a mystery for astronomers. Only 17 have ever
been found, and they usually appear as isolated events — flashes of radio waves in the sky that only last for milliseconds at a time. Scientists had theorized that the flashes were caused by events as exotic as the smashing together of neutron stars, but Cornell's discovery indicates that whatever produces the burst isn't destroyed in the process. Shami Chatterjee, a senior researcher at Cornell, said that the FRB in question in the paper did not have an explosive origin. 'So, either there's an odd coincidence,' Chatterjee said, 'or maybe there are different types of FRBs. Either way, it seems we've broken this enigmatic phenomenon wide open.'
The detection of FRBs has only occurred fairly recently. The first was spotted in 2007, after digging through data already collected by telescopes on Earth, and it was only last year that scientists caught a burst reaching our planet as it arrived. Astronomers know these bursts are coming from distant places in the Universe, but they've had difficulty pinpointing exactly where FRBs come from. The discovery of the most recent FRB — published in Nature last week — came from a galaxy 1.9 billion parsecs (6 billion light years) away, but the data wasn't detailed enough for scientists to figure out from exactly where it emanated.
Now we know that some of the FRBs discovered so far repeat their blasts of radio waves, we can start to work out either exactly what's causing their galaxy-spanning yelps, or classify them into different categories. Cornell professor James Cordes says that the phenomenon is not necessarily the result of a huge cosmic explosion, but neutron stars may still be the culprit. 'We're detecting these FRBs from very far away, which means that they are intrinsically very bright,' Cordes said. 'Only a few astrophysical sources can produce bursts like this, and we think they are most likely neutron stars in other galaxies.'"
Source.
Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, have long been a mystery for astronomers. Only 17 have ever
been found, and they usually appear as isolated events — flashes of radio waves in the sky that only last for milliseconds at a time. Scientists had theorized that the flashes were caused by events as exotic as the smashing together of neutron stars, but Cornell's discovery indicates that whatever produces the burst isn't destroyed in the process. Shami Chatterjee, a senior researcher at Cornell, said that the FRB in question in the paper did not have an explosive origin. 'So, either there's an odd coincidence,' Chatterjee said, 'or maybe there are different types of FRBs. Either way, it seems we've broken this enigmatic phenomenon wide open.'
The detection of FRBs has only occurred fairly recently. The first was spotted in 2007, after digging through data already collected by telescopes on Earth, and it was only last year that scientists caught a burst reaching our planet as it arrived. Astronomers know these bursts are coming from distant places in the Universe, but they've had difficulty pinpointing exactly where FRBs come from. The discovery of the most recent FRB — published in Nature last week — came from a galaxy 1.9 billion parsecs (6 billion light years) away, but the data wasn't detailed enough for scientists to figure out from exactly where it emanated.
Now we know that some of the FRBs discovered so far repeat their blasts of radio waves, we can start to work out either exactly what's causing their galaxy-spanning yelps, or classify them into different categories. Cornell professor James Cordes says that the phenomenon is not necessarily the result of a huge cosmic explosion, but neutron stars may still be the culprit. 'We're detecting these FRBs from very far away, which means that they are intrinsically very bright,' Cordes said. 'Only a few astrophysical sources can produce bursts like this, and we think they are most likely neutron stars in other galaxies.'"
Source.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
The California Automatic Fire Alarm Association's 45th Annual Conference
Intrepid Electronic Systems, Inc. was a silver sponsor at the California Automatic Fire Alarm Association's (CAFAA) 45th Annual Conference, a fundraiser to support the CAFAA's education programs, expanded training, and Fire Prevention Officer programs!
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
The History of the Drill
2016 marks Black & Decker's 100th anniversary. In honor of this momentous occasion, this article is dedicated to the history of drills. Drills are an ancient tool used worldwide to advance human innovation.
Bow drills were the first machine drills. Their original purpose was for creating fire, but as time progressed drills began to be used for holding objects together and other tasks. While the official patent of the portable electric drill came about in 1916, the rotary tool itself has existed since 35000 BCE. The bow drill functioned as following: "The bow drill was used for making holes in beads. It had two parts. The first part was a straight piece of reed or stick of wood with a sharp flint tip on the end. The second part was a bow-shaped reed or piece of wood... The sharp tip of the stick was placed in the middle of a bead, and the bow was moved back and forth around the stick to make it turn. The turning action made the tip of the stick drill a hole into the bead."
Electricity came into the equation in 1889, just ten years after Thomas Edison invented the lamp, when Arthur James Arnot and William Blanch Brain of Australia patented the electric drill. In 1895, C&E Fein of Germany used an electric motor to power a corded handheld drill.
Twenty years later, the electric drill was improved upon by Black & Decker. What started as a tiny machine shop started by Duncan Black and Alonzo Decker turned revolutionary when they combined the design of a Colt .45 automatic pistol with the mechanics of a C&E Fein drill. Thus began the upward climb of the trigger switch, pistol grip, handheld drill.
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| Egyptian bow drill. |
Bow drills were the first machine drills. Their original purpose was for creating fire, but as time progressed drills began to be used for holding objects together and other tasks. While the official patent of the portable electric drill came about in 1916, the rotary tool itself has existed since 35000 BCE. The bow drill functioned as following: "The bow drill was used for making holes in beads. It had two parts. The first part was a straight piece of reed or stick of wood with a sharp flint tip on the end. The second part was a bow-shaped reed or piece of wood... The sharp tip of the stick was placed in the middle of a bead, and the bow was moved back and forth around the stick to make it turn. The turning action made the tip of the stick drill a hole into the bead."
Electricity came into the equation in 1889, just ten years after Thomas Edison invented the lamp, when Arthur James Arnot and William Blanch Brain of Australia patented the electric drill. In 1895, C&E Fein of Germany used an electric motor to power a corded handheld drill.
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| "In 1916 the company files its first patent for a ½” portable electric drill with pistol grip and trigger switch. This innovation transformed a stationary tool into a portable one and set the cornerstone for today's power tool industry." - Black & Decker |
Twenty years later, the electric drill was improved upon by Black & Decker. What started as a tiny machine shop started by Duncan Black and Alonzo Decker turned revolutionary when they combined the design of a Colt .45 automatic pistol with the mechanics of a C&E Fein drill. Thus began the upward climb of the trigger switch, pistol grip, handheld drill.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Storage Is the Key to Solar's Future
"In the drama of renewable energy, no power source has performed better in recent years than solar. Despite improvements in efficiency and lower costs, the future of solar power is still uncertain, and as one researcher suggests, its growth could be its own worst enemy.
Shayle Kahn is a senior vice president for GTM Research. In a paper published in November, he identifies the challenges ahead for solar power.
Entitled 'The Future of U.S. Solar: Getting to the Next Order of Magnitude,' the report notes that solar has been on an impressive growth streak, having gone from 2 gigawatts of cumulative capacity in the United States at the end of 2010 to a likely 26 gigawatts at the end of 2015. He said that solar has addressed one of its biggest pitfalls, high installation costs, which has ensured the industry will be a significant part of the nation's energy mix going into the future,
Kahn said that a number of factors will contribute to the continued growth of solar in the coming years, including rising electricity prices, falling solar prices, the Clean Power Plan, and electricity market innovation.
On the other hand, a number of factors could stand in its way. Perhaps the biggest, and most ironic, challenge will be posed by its own growth.
Referring to an economic scenario known as the value deflation effect, Kahn describes how, as more solar becomes available, its value goes down. This is partly due to basic principles of supply and demand, but it is also caused by solar's inability to flip a switch on or off and trigger generation when it is most needed. Solar can only be generated during the day, when demand is not at its greatest, and as solar begins to occupy a larger space in the market during these times, it has the negative effect of driving its own price downward, providing a disincentive to developers and generators.
The future is still bright despite this scenario. Kahn notes that storage can 'serve the needs of a growing solar market.' He adds that other ambitious efforts could help solar achieve 'the next order of magnitude,' growing from 1 percent of all electricity in the United States to 10-15 percent, 'by 2030, if not sooner.'"
Source: http://www.ecmag.com/section/green-building/storage-key-solar%E2%80%99s-future
Shayle Kahn is a senior vice president for GTM Research. In a paper published in November, he identifies the challenges ahead for solar power.
Entitled 'The Future of U.S. Solar: Getting to the Next Order of Magnitude,' the report notes that solar has been on an impressive growth streak, having gone from 2 gigawatts of cumulative capacity in the United States at the end of 2010 to a likely 26 gigawatts at the end of 2015. He said that solar has addressed one of its biggest pitfalls, high installation costs, which has ensured the industry will be a significant part of the nation's energy mix going into the future,
Kahn said that a number of factors will contribute to the continued growth of solar in the coming years, including rising electricity prices, falling solar prices, the Clean Power Plan, and electricity market innovation.
On the other hand, a number of factors could stand in its way. Perhaps the biggest, and most ironic, challenge will be posed by its own growth.
Referring to an economic scenario known as the value deflation effect, Kahn describes how, as more solar becomes available, its value goes down. This is partly due to basic principles of supply and demand, but it is also caused by solar's inability to flip a switch on or off and trigger generation when it is most needed. Solar can only be generated during the day, when demand is not at its greatest, and as solar begins to occupy a larger space in the market during these times, it has the negative effect of driving its own price downward, providing a disincentive to developers and generators.
The future is still bright despite this scenario. Kahn notes that storage can 'serve the needs of a growing solar market.' He adds that other ambitious efforts could help solar achieve 'the next order of magnitude,' growing from 1 percent of all electricity in the United States to 10-15 percent, 'by 2030, if not sooner.'"
Source: http://www.ecmag.com/section/green-building/storage-key-solar%E2%80%99s-future
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
The Effect of Collaborative Robots on the Manufacturing Industry
Conventional thinking would have one believe that the integration of robots into the manufacturing industry led to major losses in human jobs and subsequent blows to the economy. In response to this, robotics technicians have created so called "co-bots," or collaborative robots, that are programmed to work with humans on the manufacturing floor. These innovations have led to positive increases in production and job openings in robot maintenance.
At companies where collaborative robots are used, production rates are higher because of the robot's ability to work without pause. Most collaborative robots also can function without a guarding cage, which takes up space and leeches expenses.
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| Source |
Humans that work near or with collaborative robots are safe from harm due to the four safety standards that globally identify collaborative robot operation: safety-rated monitored stops, hand guiding, speed and separation monitoring, and power and force limiting. The collaborative robot's awareness of human presence allows them to alert operators of any malfunction or accident instead of simply shutting down.
Although collaborative robots have not yet found their place in the majority of the manufacturing industry, their impact will most definitely expand in the future.
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