Preventing Identity Theft: Protecting Customer and Employee Private Information

Identity theft occurs when someone uses personally identifying information, such as Social Security numbers or credit card numbers, without permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. Thieves obtain this personally identifiable information by going through business trash, intercepting credit card information, "pretexting" or "phishing" to obtain personal information under false pretenses, or hacking into vulnerable computer systems.

Identity theft is serious. While some identity theft victims can resolve their problems quickly, others spend thousands of dollars and countless hours repairing damage to their good name and credit record. Some victims may lose out on jobs, or be denied loans because of negative information on their credit reports. In rare cases, they may even be arrested for crimes they did not commit. And the business that allows customer information to be compromised faces a significant customer relations problem.

Many companies collect personal information from their customers, including names, addresses, and phone numbers; bank and credit card account numbers; income and credit histories; and Social Security numbers. In addition, businesses collect and store a multitude of personal information from their employees as well. It is essential that businesses take adequate steps to safeguard this data, and to prevent identify theft.

Employers should keep employee personnel records under lock and key. These records contain names, addresses and Social Security numbers, as well as performance information and salary history. Stored separately, and also under lock and key, should be information relating to employee health information, including workers comp information, doctors' notes, and leave requests.

These records should be taken out only when needed, and otherwise locked. Employees should not leave this information lying around. Rather, employees should secure such information if they need a bathroom break or are needed on the sales floor.

Protecting customer information is just as important.

First, be conservative in what information is collected in the first place. What is the minimum amount of information needed on each customer? Social Security numbers should be used only for reporting employee taxes and not as customer identification numbers.

Think about whether you should keep customer credit card numbers and expiration dates on file at all. Does it serve an important business function? Is the convenience to your customers of having this information on file important enough to justify the potential risks? Full credit card numbers should not be printed on receipts - use the last four digits only. Expiration dates should not be stored. Check the default settings on credit card processing machines and make sure they are not set to store this information permanently and are printing only the last four digits of the credit card number.

If you do need to keep private customer information for business reasons or to comply with the law, we recommend having a written document retention policy that sets forth how long you will keep the information, and how you will destroy it.

Paper records should be shredded so that they can't be reconstructed. Media containing electronic records should be erased or destroyed so that records cannot be recovered or reconstructed.

Many of these records will be kept electronically. It is imperative that your computer have adequate firewalls and anti-virus protection. These programs should be updated regularly. Sensitive information should be kept in password protected files.

Sensitive information may also be stored in cash registers, inventory scanners or cell phones, and the security of these devices should be assessed as well. If possible, store sensitive information on a computer that does not have an Internet connection. Web applications, including those where you send information to vendors, are particularly vulnerable to hackers or security breaches.

If a computer is compromised, disconnect it immediately from Internet access. Investigate incidents immediately. You may be required by law to make certain notifications to customers, law enforcement, credit bureaus or your business partners (banks, credit card processors, etc). It is important to have a security plan in place.

The Federal Trade Commission has significant information on how to protect yourself and your customers from identity theft, as well as what to do if you've had a breach of security. For example: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/idtheft/bus69.pdf

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Placemats Designs: Making Dining a Royal Experience

In royal tradition table mats or place mats used to be an important part of dining experience. With time people have neglected the role of these mats in enhancing the look and feel of the dining environment. Thanks to the surge in people lifestyle and their splurging ways, table mats have come to the reckoning once again. Many designers have also shown interest in developing mats with beautiful and artistic designs to make your dining a royal experience once again.

Placemats offers the dual purpose of protecting your dining table from dirt, dust, and stains while at the same time beautifying and decorating your eating place. Whether it is your own dinning room or a public eatery, aesthetically designed table mats has a role to play. For restaurant and hotel owners the choice of these mats is even more important because to them serving is an art and a way to impress customers. They even go the extent of choosing a mat design with matching napkins. This shows the extent of importance given to small things such as table mats.

Talking about variety, these mats are available in different designs, color, shapes, sizes, and materials. The materials commonly used include plastic, paper, and silicone. These materials are water-proof and have surfaces which are easy to clean. The shapes and sizes are designed keeping in mind the tabletop items and dishes. Modern designers of table mats have also come up with theme-based designs to suit particular occasions.

There are seasonal celebration designs which are designed for occasion such as Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, New Year, and St. Patrick's Day. Each of this has graphics instilled which suit the events. Again there are designs which are in sync with the different seasons of the year. For example, colorful autumn foliage designs to suit the fall season. Again there are designs which are specially made for kids. These mats are featured with fun games for children to keep them entertained while dining. There are also inspirational designs which have wisdom quotes.

To save cost, you order for wholesale placemats, which are also available online.

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Moral PSA - Save our environment

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Moral PSA - Save our environment

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Light Bulbs and Safety

Despite the many jokes associated with light bulbs, they are no laughing matter. When handling and changing light bulbs, care should be taken to avoid doing any harm to your home, your self, and the environment.

Avoiding Electrocution when Changing a Light Bulb

When changing a light bulb or doing electrical work of any type, it is important to do everything possible to minimize or eliminate the threat of electrocution. This means cutting all power to the light fixture before proceeding with any work.

Simply turning off the switch is not enough, as there have been incidents of people being electrocuted while working on fixtures that were turned off at the time. If the bulb is in a lamp or other fixture with a cord that plugs into a wall socket, unplug the fixture before removing the old bulb and inserting the new. If the fixture is hard-wired into the house, as in the case of a chandelier or ceiling fan with lights, it is best to turn off the power to the circuit at the electrical box.

Light Bulbs as a Fire Hazard

Incandescent light bulbs (the rounded, screw-in type that have a glowing coil at the center) generate large amounts of heat. The coil, called a filament, is heated using electricity until it glows white-hot. This large amount of heat output makes incandescent light bulbs a potential fire hazard. (For this reason, it is also important to allow any in-use incandescent bulbs to sit turned for several minutes to cool before handling to avoid burns.)

To avoid a fire started by an incandescent bulb, there are several important things you can do:

* Always use the proper wattage of light bulb for the fixture. Different lamps and other light fixtures are rated for different bulbs, and using a bulb that is a higher wattage than recommended in a fixture could cause a fire.
* Always keep flammable materials away from incandescent light bulbs. For instance, do not drape fabric over top of a lamp shade, as the portion of fabric directly over the bulb could heat to the point of combustion.
* Try switching to compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs. Not only do CFL bulbs operate at a lower, safer temperature, they also conserve energy and save money.

While fluorescent bulbs do not generate heat, there are still fire risks associated with fluorescent light fixtures. Fluorescent bulbs require a ballast to operate, which is often separate from the bulb itself. When a separate ballast needs replaced, it should always be done by a licensed electrician. Improper wiring of a light fixture ballast can cause it to heat to extreme temperatures and possibly catch on fire.

Fluorescent Light Bulbs and Mercury

Fluorescent light bulbs do contain trace amounts of mercury. Because of the presence of this toxic element, care should be taken when both handling and disposing of them.

Fluorescent bulbs should never be incinerated. Since mercury that ends up in landfills can pollute groundwater and begin to accumulate in aquatic life, fluorescent bulbs should also not be thrown away in household trash. A growing number of municipalities and waste management companies offer fluorescent light bulb disposal services; find out if such services are available in your area by calling your local government or waste management service. Some retailers, like IKEA, offer safe fluorescent light bulb disposal to their customers.

If you find yourself with no other option than to put burnt out bulbs in the garbage, take precautionary measures to prevent environmental contamination. Wrap the bulbs well with a plastic bag or place them in a sealed container before throwing them away.

Cleaning Up Broken Light Bulbs

As with any broken glass, care should be taken when cleaning up a broken light bulb. The most important thing to remember when cleaning up a broken bulb is to never use bare hands. Wearing heavy gloves for protection or, if cleaning up a broken incandescent bulb, using a broom or vacuum cleaner is a wiser, safer idea.

Rather than placing loose glass pieces in the garbage, it is a good idea to first place them in a plastic bag or a sealed container. This will help prevent rips or punctures in the garbage bag from the sharp edges of the glass as well as reducing the chances of receiving lacerations while taking out the trash.

When cleaning up a broken fluorescent bulb, extra safety precautions must be taken because of the bulb's mercury content. These safety measures should be observed:

* To reduce exposure to mercury in the air, open a window for at least 15 minutes. Keep any pets out of the room and do not let anyone walk through the area.
* Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean up a broken fluorescent bulb. The vacuum will disperse harmful mercury into the air, increasing inhalation exposure.
* Use a broom and dust pan to clean up as much of the broken glass as possible. Any small pieces of glass that remain can be picked up using the sticky surface of a piece of tape.
* Place all pieces of the bulb in a glass jar with a lid or a sealed plastic bag before disposal.
* To clean any remaining residue off of hard surfaces, use a damp cloth or paper towel. The cloth or towel should then be placed in the jar or bag with the bulb fragments for disposal.

In some cases, such as a bulb that breaks on deep-pile carpeting, vacuuming may be unavoidable. Be sure to clean up as much of the bulb as possible by other means before vacuuming. After finishing, the vacuum's bag or the contents of its canister should be placed in a glass jar or plastic bag for safe disposal.

Most safety issues concerning light bulbs can be addressed or eliminated using common sense and basic safety procedures. Always observing these simple safety tips will greatly reduce the chances of bodily harm, property damage, and pollution.

Check out more light bulb how to articles.

Workplace Control

Control systems in the workplace are necessary tools to monitor, forecast, or diagnose performance and performance deviations. Some control systems like Six Sigma have reportedly saved organizations millions of dollars and some safety control systems have even saved lives. There are numerous control mechanisms available to help detect any operational performance issue. However, oftentimes the control systems seem to run the organization rather than the other way around. When this occurs, the workplace culture can become negative and inefficient. The role of management and leadership is to find the balance between control and maintaining a positive work environment. This paper will examine what happens when an organization's focus gets out of balance in those areas and then suggest ways to achieve a healthy balance of control and work environment.



Too much workplace control



Control is essential for the attainment of any management's objectives. The dangers of management maintaining too much control over plans and projects can create friction throughout an organization. Employees can become dissatisfied when they are not allowed to exercise their opinion or use their creativity and experience to make decisions. They may also begin to feel unappreciated. When a supervisor has too much control, power and authority, a lack of respect from the employees can arise. The wrong kinds of control- frequently cause irreparable damage to organizations. Too much power in the wrong hands causes resistance in the workplace. Power is something not everyone deserves. For example, a new manager may experience difficulty adjusting because they are trying to become comfortable in their position and they want to relay a message to everyone that they are in charge. Some new managers simply cannot handle the responsibilities of instructing people, and may intimidated when the people they are instructing are older or have been on the job longer. As a result, the manager wanting to appear "in control" may come off, instead, as overbearing. Even in these tough economic times, it is important that your job be a source of satisfaction and respect.



Neglecting workplace control



On the other hand, a different imbalance in the workplace can occur when management's focus is solely on the workplace culture. The danger of focusing too much on a good work environment is that you lose balance. Everyone wants a good work environment. The problem with focusing too much on it is that you can lose sight of the daily tasks. Companies focus on creating a good work environment for several beneficial reasons; a main reason is to avoid employee burnout. A company can only go so long on focusing on good work environment - pretty soon the tasks are not getting completed and everyone's using all their creative freedom on extracurricular activities that are non-goal related. There are some areas for individuals to focus on that would be beneficial to the overall organization and they are primarily health and safety. The benefits safety and health bring:

• Healthy workers are more productive and can produce at a higher quality;

• Fewer work-related accidents and diseases lead to less absence. In turn, this results in lower costs and less disruption of the production processes;

• Equipment and a working environment that are optimized to the needs of the working process and that are well-maintained lead to higher productivity, better quality and less health and safety risks;

• Reduction of injuries and illnesses means less damages and lower risks for liabilities.

Balance is the key when creating a sustaining business in today's marketplace. When organizational improvement stops, the business stops. With proper balance, a good workplace can become great.

Strategies for a healthy workplace balance

When an organization is comprised of employees from various backgrounds, it is critical that top management strives to maintain a healthy workforce in order to achieve specific organizational goals. Control strategies and mechanisms must be in place to ensure that plans stay on track and sustain good quality. There are three broad strategies for achieving organizational control: bureaucratic control, market control, and clan control.

1. Bureaucratic control covers how we use rules, regulations, and formal authority to guide employee performances. As we need to regulate behavior and results, this control area includes such things as budgets, statistical reports, and performance appraisals.

2. Market control covers how we use pricing mechanisms to regulate activities in organizations. Profit and loss scenarios would form the evaluating basis for managers.

3. Clan control covers area which our organization's employees may share the values, expectations and goals thus act in accordance with them.

Management must review the nature and culture of its workforce together the organization's objective to determine the best mechanism to select. It may be difficult to identify what is best but it is very important to gauge the most appropriate control strategy.

Conclusion

There are definite advantages to implementing control mechanisms within an organization. Greater cost savings, increased efficiency, better product quality, enhanced customer service, and a more cohesive workforce are just a few positive results of utilizing control strategies and mechanisms. However, problems can arise when an organization does not balance its control mechanisms with its workforce. Too much control can cause a hostile work environment and adversely affect employee morale. Moreover, too much control may bring about a downturn in employee productivity.

Neglecting control in the workplace can also cause the same damaging outcomes, however for different reasons. Focusing too much on maintaining a good work environment and not enough on control can result in an undisciplined, unmanageable workforce. In this instance, the workforce seems to dictate what happens operationally.

In either case, an organization has cause for concern. Leadership's role is to find a good balance between control and maintaining a positive work environment where both the employees and the organization can contribute and grow.





Mike Ridpath was raised in Ferndale, Washington, currently is a senior manager for Evergreen Team Concepts Products and Services. He is responsible for the development and implementation of multiple projects at Evergreen Team Concepts and is on the board of directors for the Lean Leadership Institute.

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