As most of you have heard by now, Nancy Buck is retiring as PCOC's Manager of Financial Services on Aug. 31. Nancy has worked for PCOC for 21 years...in fact her first day on the job was Sept. 1, 1991. Exactly 21 years later she is retiring and moving to the Pacific Northwest. We honored Nancy at the Expo Banquet last month.

As small business owners, employers and managers, we all know the hugely important value in hiring and keeping good employees. A good employee is worth his/her weight in gold, as the saying goes. Well, PCOC could not have been better served over these many years as it has been by Nancy. She has been a faithful and committed employee who has worked diligently on behalf of all PCOC members. She loves her job and has provided untold services to countless members...because her job does not only entail keeping the books for PCOC and its four subsidiaries.

Here are some things you probably don't know about Nancy: She was born and raised in Stockton. Her father was a conductor on the Western Pacific Railroad and her mother was a registered nurse. She moved to Sacramento in 1979 and still lives in the original house she purchased. Between she and Lon, her husband, they have nine children and 19 grandchildren. She currently lives with four Chihuahuas, a cat and two birds.

Nancy loves wordcarving...and she is very good: caricatures, animals and chip carving mostly. She is a member of two woodcarving clubs and travels throughout the West with a group of similar enthusiasts.

Nancy started riding a scooter at the young age of 57.

We bid Nancy a very fond farewell and send her best wishes in her retirement. The PCOC family will miss her but know that she and Lon will have many years ahead together in well-deserved retirement. Well done Nancy!

Over the years, the members of PCOC have together faced and conquered many challenges, including some which have even threatened our industry and our way of life. Through the sheer determination and collective strength of our members, we have welcomed each challenge as an opportunity to build our organization into one that truly represents and works on behalf of all pest control companies, both large and small alike.

To achieve all that we have accomplished, there is no greater weapon in our arsenal than the board of directors. One of the first pieces of advice I was given when I was appointed to the executive committee six years ago was from one of our past presidents, Bobby Gordon. Bobby urged me to always remember that PCOC is run by the board of directors. Over the years I have remembered his exhortation that this organization is run, not by the executive committee, not by Martyn or the staff, but by the directors who carry out the wishes and desires of each of the districts they represent. Bobby is right. Without the input from the districts through the voices of their directors at our quarterly meetings, PCOC would become a stale ivory tower institution run by a select few. That is certainly not the vision held by any member I have ever met, whether it be from a past president, or from a brand new member who is engaged at the district level. Our staff at the PCOC office does a fantastic job and the executive committee members put in many extra hours to create an agenda and try to navigate the issues we face, but all of that hard work can only have meaning with input from the directors.

It is imperative, then, that we have an effective board of directors and strong committees at the state level to react to the needs of the districts as well as to communicate to them effectively on the issues of the day. It is that combined synergy that makes PCOC the strong and effective organization that it is. But there is a problem.

Over the last three years, we have seen on average only about 60 percent of the elected directors attending the quarterly board meetings. I cannot impress upon you more the importance of having all of the directors present so that each district is represented as intended by those who created our bylaws. When a district is not represented by its "full complement" as Ron Suber used to put it, that district runs the risk of having little or no say in the direction and activities of PCOC. It also runs the risk of missing out on vital discussions that produce a wealth of information that the members of their district desperately need. And perhaps most significantly, we as an organization begin to lose the strength that of our collective power to make a difference across California.

Something must be done.

During my year as president, I am making it my top priority to find out why so many of our districts are under-represented at the board meetings. Right now there are a number discussions about how to "fix" this problem. I am sure you have heard about proposals to reduce the number of directors or to reduce the number of meetings. Perhaps these ideas might seem controversial, but without more input and other creative solutions, we lack the full range of options from which to make the best decision for the direction we are to take.

The truth is we cannot solve this problem without input from EVERY district speaking with the voice of ALL of their elected directors. I urge each director to be sure to come to the next meeting on Sept. 29 in Monterey so that we can have a much needed discussion about this matter. Is your district strapped for money? Is your district having a hard time finding volunteers? Are there too many other PCOC commitments that prevent all of the directors from attending all of the functions? Is it the economy? Is there just too little value in our board meetings since they don't last for four or five hours anymore? I ask each of the directors and district chairs to ask these and other questions at your district meetings and bring those answers to the board meeting in Monterey so that we as a group can tackle this issue and resolve it in a way that is amenable to everyone.

If you have any ideas you wish to share, please email them to me at showell@missioncity.net.

Thank you.

You consider your company's safety incentive program a harmless and effective way to promote safe behavior among your employees and reduce injuries. But OSHA could see the very same program as unlawful discrimination and a violation of OSHA recordkeeping regulations and whistleblower protections.

OSHA regards the ability to report injuries or illnesses without fear of retaliation as "crucial to protecting worker safety and health." Without that right, "Employees do not learn of and correct dangerous conditions that have resulted in injuries, and injured employees may not receive the proper medical attention or the workers' compensation benefits."

Earlier this year, OSHA released a memorandum to compliance officers and whistleblower investigative staff that outlined "employer practices that can discourage employee reports of injuries and violate section 11(c), or other whistleblower statutes."

According to the memo, certain incentive programs discourage the reporting of injuries and encourage discrimination against workers who report injuries. These include:

1. Taking disciplinary action against all employees who are injured on the job, regardless of circumstances. Reporting an injury is always a protected activity, and OSHA views discipline against an employee who reports an injury as a direct violation of whistleblower statutes.

2. Taking disciplinary action against an employee who violates an employer rule about the time or manner for reporting injuries and illnesses. OSHA recognizes that employers have a legitimate interest in establishing procedures for receiving and responding to reports of injuries. However, such procedures must be reasonable and may not unduly burden the employee's right and ability to report. For example, the rules cannot penalize workers who do not realize immediately that their injuries are serious enough to report, or even that they are injured at all.

3. Disciplining an injured employee because the injury resulted from his/her violation of a safety rule. OSHA encourages legitimate workplace safety rules to eliminate or reduce workplace hazards and prevent injuries. In some cases, however, an employer may use a work rule as a pretext for discrimination against a worker who reports an injury. OSHA will investigate these situations carefully, looking at whether the employer monitors for compliance with the work rule in the absence of injury and whether it consistently disciplines employees who violate the work rule in the absence of an injury. Enforcing a rule more stringently against injured employees than noninjured employees may suggest that the rule is a pretext for discrimination against an injured employee.

4. Creating a program that unintentionally or intentionally incentivizes employees to not report injuries. For example, an employer might enter all employees who have not been injured in the previous year in a drawing to win a prize, or a team of employees might be awarded a bonus if no one from the team is injured over some period of time. Such programs might be well-intentioned efforts to encourage workers to use safe practices. However, there are better ways to encourage safe work practices.

Acceptable Safety Incentives

A safety incentive program structured to recognize and reward positive behaviors, rather than punishing negative ones, is less likely to draw the wrath of OSHA. Suggestions include:

· Providing tee shirts to workers serving on safety and health committees

· Offering rewards for suggesting ways to strengthen safety and health

· Throwing a recognition party at the successful completion of company-wide safety and health training

For more suggestions on structuring a safety program, please contact the PCOC Insurance Program department of Jenkins Insurance Services at (877) 860-7378.

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