As winter weather approaches, you may start to turn to alternative heat sources in your home such as fireplaces and space heaters. They will keep your warm and toasty, and they may even help keep your heating bill down, but these devices also put your home at risk.

Crushed hands and arms, severed fingers, amputations, burns, blindness. Machinery-related injuries are numerous, and their impact on a worker’s life can be catastrophic. Most often these injuries are preventable with the use of safeguards. OSHA shares a good rule to remember: “Any machine part, function, or process which may cause injury must be safeguarded.” What are the methods for properly safeguarding machinery?

Kobe Bryant ____________. How would you finish that sentence?

• is fourth on the NBA's all-time points leaders list
• captained the US Olympic gold medal team in 2008
• was once a regular season and twice a finals MVP
• led the NBA in scoring two years in a row
• has been named to 14 All-NBA teams
• is a five-time NBA champion
• has missed more shots than anyone in the history of the NBA

Tweet, retweet, hashtag. This could sound like a foreign language to you. But most likely you have at least heard these terms in some context since there are over 271 million active monthly Twitter users.

Twitter is not for everyone. It is a fast-paced social network and has its own world of terminology, but it can offer immense resources for you and your brand. Take some time to determine if Twitter is right for you. 

If you’ve decided to give Twitter a try, the following are tips for you to consider.

The threat of workplace violence is real. We see incidents in the news every week and those are only the severe and high-profile stories. Many more incidents can go unreported each year. If you recognize indicators of potential violence in your workplace, how should you handle them? How can you help de-escalate a situation?

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we asked our employees: what are you thankful for? 

Check out the image below to see what they said. 

In my last blog, I mentioned how we make a big deal of the month of October as National ESOP Month. We celebrated our GESOP, Gibson’s ESOP, all month long. It culminated with our major event: GESOPtoberFest!

Workplace violence can happen anywhere…and at any time. No one is immune. It comes in many forms from threats or acts of physical violence and verbal abuse, to homicide or active shooter incidents. Training your employees to develop a mindset of situational awareness can help better prepare your organization.

“Greatness is a decision. It must be chosen.”

- Joe Calloway, Author of Be The Best At What Matters Most  

Have you ever pursued something “great”? If so, it likely started as a dream you knew would stretch you, your family, or your company beyond what might even seem possible. It developed out of wonder or excitement for the future or maybe just a necessary move to remain relevant. Then the dream evolved into an idea, a concept, or a strategy. Meetings were held, conversations were had, and plans were made. You critiqued it, talked about it, and ultimately decided to go for it.

So where do things sit now? Did you achieve what you wanted to? Too often, the answer is sadly “sort of” or “not entirely”.

It’s no secret the rising costs of employer-sponsored health plans have led to an explosion in workplace wellness programs. For decades, employers have turned to employee health promotion and wellness programs in an attempt to help employees get and stay healthy.

In some cases, the efforts have an impact on individual employees, though I’ll contend the few who make changes are already motivated. In many instances, the results have been mediocre at best. In the world of big wellness incentives and penalties, why do we see little, if any, sustainable behavior change? The answer lies in motivation.