I can see Canada from my deer blind

Well, you might have to squint a little...

We're just back from a productive and enjoyable vacation hunting whitetail deer north of Badger, MN (aka "Almost Canada").

My buddy Greg shot only one deer, but not for lack of trying; not for nothing was his elevated hunting shack nicknamed "Disaster Stand."  My son Erik shot two nice does, one on Saturday, another Sunday, and then went back to school.  His Ameristep "Doghouse" pop up blind was in a very productive spot so I sat inside it Monday and Tuesday, harvesting mature does each day.  While waiting for my deer to arrive I read Inferno, written in 1976 by sci-fi collaborators Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle ($0.50 at Half-Price Books, Apple Valley, MN).  I also got caught up on a variety of podcasts on my iPhone.

Most evenings Greg prepared our meals at the home of our host Kasey, the son of my cousin Rick, but three nights we drove to Roseau, MN, to dine at The Silver Dragon, our favorite Asian eatery north of Minneapolis.  Word on the streets of Badger (yes, it has at least two) is that Kasey enjoyed meals that didn't come from the microwave and which were served on plates he didn't have to wash.  We even vacuumed before we left.

After sleeping in Wednesday I commenced to skinning, cutting, and wrapping our venison, which took two days. This work was accompanied by Richard Pogge's most excellent Ohio State University Astronomy 161 - Introduction to Solar System Astronomy course on iTunes.  I did not get a chance to listen to Astronomy 162 - Stars, Galaxies, & the Universe, which is even more fun.  Yes, this in one of the podcast lecture series that I've listened to more than once.

Once I had some spare time I got to engage my most recent book purchase, Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age, by Robert Neely Bellah.  Be warned, the first chapter or two is a mind-stretching conceptual slog, but then it picks up and becomes very readable.

On Thursday my vacation finally became fully effective - I forgot what day of the week it was.

Minnesota is a party hunting state - we can shoot to fill the tags held by others in the hunting party.  On Saturday morning I was asked to join an old-fashioned deer drive.  The youngsters and the huntmaster did the pushing through the thick stuff.  The elder cousins and uncles sat post - stationary spots where we prevent the deers' escape if they bust out to the left, right, or rear of the drive.  It just so happened two ran past me so I made quick work of them with Erik's Kimber 308 (I had loaned my Remington 30'06 to a cousin for the morning).  I chose factory loaded 150 grain bullets for both rifles this year as time and money got a little tight.  These conventional "cup and core" bullets are too destructive if you hit anything edible up close (despite our scenic vistas our longest shot was 125 yards), and are made of lead, which is less that good.  That said all six fell to the hit and our four now reside in our freezer.  We will use non-lead and perhaps heavier (slower) bullets in 2012.

All in all, it was a fine season.

Things We Learn at the Annual Deer Rifle Sight-In 2011

Changes I'd make if it were up to me...

Iron sights would be made of iron...not pot metal or plastic.

Every rifle or shotgun not fitted with a scope would be equipped with an aperture rear sight and a post front sight.

The owner of any gun fitted with see thru scope mounts would be detained while their rifle is fitted with a Weaver rail and medium rings.

People who have heard that red dot sights are the fasheezy would be asked to try them outside the sporting goods store or gunshop on a sunny day before parting with their hard earned cash.

No one would be allowed to purchase any scope cheaper or of lesser quality than a Redfield 2-7x ($150.00).

Red dot sights would be prohibited on 12 ga slug guns.

No one under 21 years of age would be allowed to shoot 12 ga slug guns.

Everyone under 21 shooting a 20 ga slug gun would be issued a PAST Recoil Shield.

Sons and daughters would be given their own 243 rifles instead of being expected to use their dad's 30'06 or their grandpa's open-sighted 30-30.

Young shooters would insist on having fun at the range and the adults who brought them would be pleased to listen.

Each and every Remington 74XX series rifles would be forcibly retired and replaced with Mossberg ATR bolt actions in 243.

The stock of every rifle and shotgun would be cut to the correct length of pull for its shooter and fitted with a Limbsaver recoil pad.

Even grown men would be required to try Remington Managed Recoil or Federal Low Recoil ammunition in their 30'06 rifles...just once.

Anyone insisting that a magnum cartridge is needed to hunt whitetail deer would be subjected to merciless eye rolls and wry smirks.

More On Violence In The Workplace

As you know, I've been musing on the idea of breaking down the workplace violence data into less alarming yet more useful chunks...

I wouldn't be averse to breaking apart the categories. Doing so would help us put the different elements of the problem in better perspective, allow our profession to develop a variety of effective preventatives, and encourage firms to tailor their responses to their risks.  Let's walk through the numbers while I explain.

Using the BLS final numbers from 2009 we see that “assaults and violent acts” is the second leading cause of death in the workplace but, unbeknownst to many with strong opinions on this topic, this category includes both the 542 homicides and 263 suicides that occurred that year.

TOTAL 4,551
Transportation accidents 1,795
Assaults and violent acts 837
Contact with objects and equipment 741
Falls 645
Exposure to harmful substances or environments 404
Fires and explosions 113
Other events or exposures 16

If we break “homicide” and “suicide” out of assaults and violent acts in 2009 then homicide falls to fourth place and suicide becomes the sixth place hazard.

TOTAL 4,551
Transportation accidents 1,795
Contact with objects and equipment 741
Falls 645
Homicides 542
Exposure to harmful substances or environments 404
Suicides 263
Fires and explosions 113
Other events or exposures 16

According to the BLS between 1997-2010 75% of all workplace homicides are perpetrated by criminals, many while engaged in armed robbery (Type I). The remaining 25% are divided between clients, customers, and patients (7%); coworkers and former coworkers (10%); and family, friends, and associates (8%). Offenders in these categories are Types II, III, and IV, respectively.  If we regroup the 2009 homicides according offender types then the 124 cases of what most people think of when the phrase “workplace violence” is used (or misused) assume their proper place in relation to other workplace hazards.

TOTAL 4,551
Transportation accidents 1,795
Contact with objects and equipment 741
Falls 645
Homicides – Criminal (Type I) 407
Exposure to harmful substances or environments 404
Suicides 263
Homicides – Types II, III, and IV 124
Fires and explosions 113
Other events or exposures 16

Once broken down to this level of granularity I propose the solutions our profession needs to continue to develop at least four in number.  We could break down the homicide into the three remaining types but that does not seem to illuminate any more solutions.

A) Robbery prevention and survival training
B) Police and security officer training, equipment, and procedures
C) Suicide prevention efforts
D) Workplace violence prevention and intervention program

There is still plenty of work for security professionals (and our peers in HR, EHS, and Legal) to do in this area.  All forms of workplace violence - threats, assaults, injuries, homicides, and suicides - remain important issues to address.  We do our profession no service by using the aggregated statistics to motivate our peers, employers, or clients unless the businesses in question are enterprises with known high risk factors. Sooner or later the decision makers will catch those who rely on hyperbole to move their programs forward.

Sources:

Fatal occupational injuries, comparison of 2009 preliminary and updated, selected characteristics http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfoi_revised09.pdf

Using percentages from Occupational homicides by selected characteristics, 1997-2010 http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/work_hom.pdf

Photo credit: Sam Mugraby at Photos8 http://www.photos8.com/view/bullet_on_desk-normal.html

Half A Loaf Is Better Than None

I guess...

ASIS and SHRM have just completed a collaboration to create the ANSI Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention ASIS/SHRM WVPI.1-2011 American National Standard

According to ASIS:

This Standard provides an overview of policies, processes, and protocols that organizations can adopt to help identify and prevent threatening behavior and violence affecting the workplace, and to better address and resolve threats and violence that have actually occurred. This Standard describes the personnel within organizations who typically become involved in prevention and intervention efforts; outlines a proactive organizational approach to workplace violence focused on prevention and early intervention; and proposes ways in which an organization can better detect, investigate, manage, and - whenever possible - resolve behavior that has generated concerns for workplace safety from violence. The Standard also describes the implementation of a Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention Program, and protocols for effective incident management and resolution.

I've been looking forward to the results of this collaboration so I read the standard with enthusiasm.  Having done so I've come away with half a loaf, so to speak.

The Good News:

The new ANSI national standard was put together by many of the top names in the business and does a solid job outlining a corporate response to threats and violence by coworkers and former coworkers (Type III), and family members, friends, and associates (Type IV). It emphasizes the value of a cross-disciplinary team and a broad-spectrum response when assessing and responding to threats within the business.  To the degree that this sort of violence is what most people, employers, and the news media think of when they hear the term "workplace violence" the standard is a move in the right direction.

The Bad News:

Unfortunately, the new ANSI national standard pays but the briefest of lip service to violence perpetrated by criminals – especially during robberies (Type I) or clients, customers, and patients (Type II). Violence by criminals accounts for 75% of all homicides at work. Violence by patients in health care and social services, especially in mental health setting, accounts for the bulk of injuries to employees (and until recently has long been the only category of workplace violence subject to specific OSHA regulation). By not addressing the prevention of or response to these issues in any way the new standard ignores the majority of the problem of workplace violence.

No mention of suicide:

The standard does not even mention the word, let alone examine the idea that some troubled employees end their lives at work.  The 263 suicides in 2009 represent roughly a third of all workplace deaths due to "assault and violent acts."  There are twice as many suicides at work as there are Type II, III, and IV deaths combined.  Why the silence?

I look forward to learning more about why it played out this way and if there is any hope the standard will be broadened to address all aspects of workplace violence.

UPDATE: I corresponded with a friend and peer who served on one of the standard's development committees.  He agreed Type I was left hanging, but makes a good case that Type II offenders can be addressed using this model.  When I think on it further the behaviors exhibited by many clients and customers can be a lot like Type III violence.  Still, attacks and injuries in the health care setting - especially in custodial units - remains more like Type I violence.  My friend was pleased the standard turned out as well as it did on the first pass given the size and scope of the project, three associations in the mix, strict standards criteria, hundreds of participants, and four years of development.  Fair enough.

Radical Red Potato Salad

A good friend of ours brought a delightful potato salad to Labor Day dinner...

As you might guess he's been busy at the Occupy event here in the Twin Cities, but I finally got him to toe the line, return to his desk, put his nose to the grindstone, and submit to my recipe request.  So, without further delay, here is the Eclectic Breakfast's first recipe post:

Below is the very confidential potato salad recipe. Keep it secret. Keep it safe.

RENEGADE POTATO SALAD

Resources:

- 6 medium red potatoes (better red than dead)

- 1/3 cup olive oil (liberated)

- 1 cup feta cheese (crumbled, as in "the vestiges of capitalism crumble into ruin")

- 2 tablespoons garlic powder (unless you're inviting the bourgeoisie parasite to dinner)

- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar (or just soured red wine, if you're a peasant)

- 2 tablespoons dill (generously)

- 1/2 cup scallion (optional, I didn't have any at the time)

- 6 diced black olives or 6 slices roasted red bellpepper (also optional, did not have any at the time, what with the war on and all)

- salt and pepper (freshly ground under a jackboot)

Tactics:

1. Put the potatoes in hot water and let them sweat. 18-20 minutes ought to suffice before they give in.

2. Chop, press, crumble, and otherwise "re-educate" whatever other ingredients are at hand.

3. Let the potatoes cool again. Once all that agitation is out of their systems, dice them into 3/4-inch cubes. You will find their resistance has lessened.

4. Toss the potatoes with the olive oil and add the garlic salt. Allow them to return to "room temperature," as capitalist commentators call it; we prefer to call this process "mingling with the objective conditions."

5. Add feta and the optional scallions. Drizzle with vinegar. Add dill, salt, and pepper, and toss gently, just to show it who's boss.

6. Allow to rest for at least an hour. This way, the flavors mingle and can appreciate the full extent of your mercy.

7. Add an optional garnish (yuppie poseurs only).
Strategy:

Enjoy - but not too much, or else we'll accuse you of not sacrificing enough to the Party. And for Engel's sake, scrape your plate, there are starving marginalized children in Africa! ... and Asia ... and Europe ... and the Americas.

Photo credit Photos8