WorkShoppers Online

Truck inspections show safety failings

A commercial truck safety-enforcement campaign this week showed a failure rate similar to a Delta-wide blitz last April.

In a three-day truck enforcement campaign last April, provincial inspectors and Delta police officers checked nearly 400 trucks, almost 30 per cent of which failed the inspection. The national failure rate is between 20 and 25 per cent.

Source.

Residents vote today on proposed capital projects

Abbotsford residents will have their chance today to say Yes or No to the city's three proposed capital projects, known collectively as Plan A.

Voters can go to any one of the 16 polling stations at various schools around the city.

The polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and voters are advised to bring two pieces of identification.

Residents can vote on each of the projects separately. These are: a $10-million museum and arts centre, to be situated at city hall; a $20-million expansion to the facilities at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre; and a $55-million spectator arena, to be built just west of the University College of the Fraser Valley.

As polls close, the results will be displayed on a screen in council chambers at City Hall, which will be open to the public.

The final results will be announced by chief elections officer Bill Flitton after 8 p.m.

The official results will be announced at the regular public council meeting on Monday. Abbotsford has about 76,274 eligible voters. Flitton said the turn-out at the advance poll on Wednesday was "normal."

Source.

Smart brainstorming combines, extends ideas

Perhaps you've had the experience. The boss calls everybody in to brainstorm and, as they sit around the table, one of two things happen. There's total silence, until ideas are slowly and grudgingly pulled out of the participants, or, it's a free-for-all, with the topic for discussion quickly subsumed under arguments about any number of things.

There's no question a badly managed brainstorming session is a pitiful thing.

But coming up with ideas alone is a bit like solitary confinement. Besides, how are we going to learn to develop ideas if there isn't a give and take among the group?

In fact, the best way to brainstorm is for those two modes -- solitary and group -- to mingle during the creative process, says Stanford University Prof. Robert Sutton.

He offers eight guidelines for running effective face-to-face brainstorms.

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Workplace safety is a wise investment

Sometimes companies pay little attention to health and safety. Employers may rush dangerous jobs to get their returns quickly. They may fail to provide training or allow toxic interpersonal environments to fester.

There are three ways organizations ensure worker health and safety:

- Provide injury prevention programs and policies

- Promote wellness

- Invite involvement

Source.

Disability no obstacle for builder of custom bicycles

If you can't ride 'em, build 'em. That's the philosophy of Al Bergman, a promising mountain biker whose cycling dreams were dashed six years ago when he fell off a cliff during a forest fire fighting training exercise and broke his back.

And while wheelchair sports are still a big part of his life, Bergman has moved on to a new passion -- building custom bikes at his Vancouver Island hobby farm north of Victoria.

The result? The launching of Berg Bikes Ltd. at the start of 2006.

Source.

Housing sales boom in resource-rich northern B.C.

Real estate markets in British Columbia's resource-rich North are continuing to boom with rocketing sales and prices, which defy the slowing trend across the rest of the province.

The North's 523 transactions in October represent only seven per cent of the 7,196 sales across B.C., but Northern Board president Ted Shepherd said the dramatic rise reflects the optimism of communities witnessing a resurgence of forestry, oil and gas drilling, mining and port construction in Prince Rupert.

Source.

Newsprint sales declining

Declining newsprint consumption is spelling trouble for North American newsprint producers like British Columbia's Catalyst Paper, according to a research report by Salman Partners.

Source.

Website promotes skilled trades

The skilled trades in British Columbia are regaining respect among young people looking toward their working future -- and the province's Industry Training Authority is turning to the Internet in the hopes of keeping that renewed interest alive.  With 18 per cent of B.C. high school students planning to pursue a trades program or apprenticeship, up from a mere seven per cent four years ago, things are looking up. There are now 4,000 young people in apprenticeship programs, up from 861 in 2004.  Website:  www.theskilledlife.com .  Source.

Focus on individual

If you hope to be a magnet for talented employees, think personal, not personnel.  That's the word from a senior executive of professional services giant KPMG [Canada], who spoke to the Vancouver Board of Trade this week about the importance of a successful and diverse workplace. Source.