Up here, down there; up this month, down the next. It’s still a rollercoaster ride out there, and it’s not the grades of aspiring agents taking up real estate courses that we’re talking about. It’s the real estate industry on its sixth year since the home prices began their big slide.
The market is in a kind of holding pattern from which it is finding it difficult to break out, says Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of the National Association of Realtors. ”We’re still bouncing along the bottom in terms of new homes,” is how Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Inc. in Dallas, puts it.
According to the Commerce Department, housing permits (the telltale sign of imminent construction) tellingly slumped 5 percent in September to a five-month low, but construction starts jumped 15 percent, riding a 51 percent rebound in the inconstant multifamily category.
Meanwhile, purchases of new U.S. houses topped forecast in September as a result of buyers in some parts of the country availing themselves of discounted prices like in Florida where some individuals are consider getting a Florida real estate license. The increase in home sales reflected the rising demand in the West and South. In other parts of the country, however, sales dipped because of competition from a glut of distressed, previously owned houses.
CNNMoney has reported that at the close of September, sales of new homes increased although they remained sluggish through the month. New-home sales are seen as the traditional bellwether for both the housing market and the overall economy. (Coincidentally and not surprisingly, they also pace the demand by aspirant agents for real estate courses and real estate continuing education leading to a real estate license.)
A monthly report from the Census Bureau Sales showed a 313,000-unit annual sales rate in September, 5.7 percent over the revised estimate for August. Sales, however, were 0.9 percent less than the 2010 figure. New-home sales have hovered over the 300,000 mark for many months now, a far cry the annual rate of 1.4 million units of the boom years before the 2006 housing debacle.
Some 163,000 new homes (at $204,400 median sale price) were added to the market by the end of September. That made up a 6.2-month supply going by the prevailing rate of sale.
Meanwhile, home prices sustained five months of modest price gains through August, but they remain lower on a year-over-year basis. The S&P/Case Shiller index, a gauge of home prices involving 20 major cities, reported that prices gained 0.2 percent in August.
The modest gains notwithstanding, some sectors of the real estate industry are holding out high hopes for a recovery. Online real estate schools, like top provider Agentcampus.com, are more than ready to accommodate renewed demand for real estate courses and real estate continuing education leading to a real estate license.
Posted:
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Category:
OSHA and Safety
You’d think that safety violations were limited to accidents only as far the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is concerned. But despite appearances, safety and health are not limited to accidents alone. This October, OSHA cited Bridgford Foods Corp. for 27 safety and health violations at its food manufacturing facility in Dallas. Among the infractions was the company’s failure to establish a hearing-conservation program for its workers who are exposed to unhealthy noise levels—a topic that actually comes up in OSHA 10 hour training and OSHA 30 certification.
Bridgford was also found to have failed to put up a measure called a lockout/tagout for energy sources to protect workers from machines unexpectedly starting up. These two major violations, plus 25 others, will cost the company in penalties totaling $422,600.
“Bridgford Foods has a history of failing to implement necessary safety and health,” said OSHA regional administrator John Hermanson in Dallas. “Under the law, it is the employer’s responsibility to provide a safe and healthy workplace.”
There are routine violators and there are occasional violators. And then there are the serial violators who repeatedly and wilfully violate the U.S. Department of Labor’s OSAHA requirements for safety and health at the workplace. One such is All-Feed Processing & Packaging Inc. One would think that the company never heard of OSHA 10 hour training, OSHA 30 certification, or 40 hour HAZWOPER training.
Recently, OSHA cited All-Feed Processing & Packaging for 23 safety and health violations at its pet-food production and packaging facility in Galva, Illinois, among them nine wilful infractions of OSHA’s air-contaminant, respiratory-protection, and hearing-conservation minimums. Other violations included failure to provide appropriate fire and explosion protection in locations of high concentrations of combustible dust. In all, OSHA proposed fines reaching $758,450.
All-Feed Processing & Packaging had been issued several citations for similar violations before, including one for a dangerous, potentially fatal dust explosion and fire that occurred at the same facility in 2009. “By showing a blatant disregard for worker safety and health, this employer continues to expose workers to deadly hazards,” said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels.
OSHA health and safety standards are a focus of training programs for workers, safety directors, foremen, and field supervisors at OSHAcampus.com, a leading online training resource for OSHA and HAZWOPER programs such as OSHA 10 hour training, OSHA 30 certification, and 40 hour HAZWOPER training.
The Pacman of the medical transcription (MT) world has done it again. For those of you who are just beginning their medical transcription training but like to keep close tabs on the industry news, here’s an update: Major medical-transcription firm iMedX Inc., of Shelton, Conn., has gobbled up yet another MT organization; this time it’s the National Medical Transcription LLC (NMT) of Port Washington, N.Y.
The New York firm said that it will soon incorporate its customers into iMedX following the buyout. iMedX, for its part, explained that the buyout will increase its customer base, especially in the Mid-Atlantic region. NMT, which specializes in medical transcription systems, becomes the tenth firm (at least) in the medical software field to be assimilated by iMedX since March 2008.
iMedX is privately held, and is backed by New Canaan, Conn.-based RFE Investment Partners. The company makes the TurboScribe, TurboRecord, TurboRx and TurboFlow medical transcription software products.
The rapid expansion of iMedX reflects the robust health of the medical-transcription industry in the U.S., belying fears that outsourcing is hurting the industry. It also reflects the industry’s ever-growing reliance on new technology.
One such technology, however, is causing concern among transcriptionist. It doesn’t need any medical transcription training, it doesn’t need any coffee breaks, and it sure doesn’t need to get paid. It’s called speech recognition transcription (SRT) software and it’s giving newly-fledged and veteran medical transcriptionists alike an inferiority complex. But should it?
SRT is a child of the computer age we live in. It enables the translation of a voice file into an editable text file in much the same manner that your scanner’s OCR (optical character recognition) magically transforms a page of your book into, say, a .doc file. SRT completely cuts out the traditional middleman, the transcriptionist, from the process. Theoretically, it can make the transcriptionist completely unnecessary, obsolete. But that time has not yet come because the technology to do it is definitely not yet here.
The two main stumbling blocks of SRT in medical transcription are transcription accuracy and medical terminology. To put it simply, it cannot yet transcribe well enough for the job, especially if that job is loaded with medical jargon. SRT, at this stage, simply makes too many mistakes to be considered reliable. In one recent study, in fact, over 600 radiology reports were transcribed, half by a medical transcriptionist, half by SRT. The SRT reports returned an error rate 800 percent higher than the transcriptionist’s report.
At Meditec.com, a premier provider of many online courses (including pharmacy technician courses, medical billing and coding training, and medical office assistant training), reliability and accuracy are focus points of its medical transcription training program. They will serve well the aspirant medical transcriptionist in a future that will see SRT attempt to make inroads in the medical transcription world.
Posted:
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Category:
ISO Training
Last October, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) announced the arrival of the seven billionth human being on the planet. Now the world’s population officially stands at seven billion, a hefty number that would take the world’s national governments and international organizations all acting in concert to properly take care of. That undertaking will go hand in hand with the already widespread availability of coursework such as ISO 14001 training, ISO 22000 training, and ISO 9001 training to help propagate and implement the ISO standards.
Said the announcement: “This unique moment in human history represents both an achievement and a challenge, and will have an impact on every single person on the planet. A world of seven billion has implications for sustainability, urbanization, access to health services and youth empowerment – however, it also offers a rare call-to-action opportunity to renew global commitment for a healthy and sustainable world.”
The ISO and ISO standards have a lot to contribute to this undertaking, considering that today the standards define how people work, conduct their personal and commercial businesses, and interact with one another every day around the world. Says ISO secretary-general Rob Steele: “Every day, thousands of ISO standards help people at work, in the home and at play, by promoting quality and efficiency, making lives safer and more comfortable, fostering economic prosperity and looking after our planet.”
The challenge of sustainability will be a big issue that the world must confront soon, and so standards for food safety, water quality, and energy management will be pivotal to the proper use of the world’s limited resources.
For the ISO one important way to do that is to standardize the way architects, interior designers, and engineers size the interior spaces of a building. This, according to the ISO, has been done through the completion of its latest standard—the ISO 9836:2011, Performance standards in building-Definition and calculation of area and space indicators.
Coming on the scene as a natural upshot of a standard like the ISO 14001 (environmental management)—with ISO 14001 training already available online to individuals, organizations, and companies— ISO 9836 is being seen as the common template for the building industry, the real estate sector, and the financiers when evaluating the performance of a building.
In essence, the new standard plays on area and volume indicators as the basic data for calculating against capital costs and for running costs and maintenance. Limiting the amount of space and the cost of individual materials minimizes running costs.
ISO 9836 is for establishing specifications for the geometric performance of a building and its spaces technical documentation, work floor area that will not be available because of furniture and the like, and evaluation, comparison or control of the properties of a building.
“Many countries have local rules for measuring surfaces and volumes, but such rules differ from one country to another,” said Gerald Davis, ISO project leader of this standard. “ISO 9836:2011 will provide a set of rules which can be applied in any country.”
Today, ISO standards are inextricably linked to how industry and society work together. Successful businesses almost always are ISO-standards compliant and certified. ISO certification training, such as ISO 14001 training (environmental management), ISO 22000 training (food safety), and ISO 9001 training (quality management), is the business of ISOCampus.com, a premier online ISO training provider. ISO certification training is not just for companies but also for organizations and individuals.
Magnitude 3.5 may not sound like a lot for an earthquake (it isn’t, in fact), but the seven temblors in Oklahoma this October (plus the 200 minor quakes in 2010) did rattle a lot of nerves and countless windowpanes. Many are worried and for good reason are looking for comfort to their insurance policies and to those who hold a property and casualty insurance license. But Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak says that may not be the best thing to do.
Doak points out that most property insurance policies, unfortunately, don’t include earthquake damage, something covered specifically by earthquake insurance. He advises policyholders to ask to be oriented on earthquake insurance by their agents, who in turn must be conversant and forthcoming about the subject and their clients’ options.
Doak reminds policyholders that there’s a waiting period before coverage can be added to a property insurance policy after a quake. That waiting time, he says, is the best time for policyholders and insurers to discuss all options—as well as for the former to inventory their belongings and make sure that their current coverage is adequate.
Understanding the nuts and bolts of property damage and insurance is an endeavor best undertaken with the help of a licensed insurance professional. To become one, LearnInsurance.com provides the best insurance licensing classes online leading to a property and casualty insurance license, in particular, or to an insurance license, in general.
Meanwhile, there is no quake to speak of though to shake up vast flat landscape of post-housing-crash America. But there are at last indisputable signs of revival. Among them—and one of the more important ones—is the insurance industry, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported to have gained 2,500 jobs in October, following small dips in September. According to the employment report the industry employment at 2.2 million jobs is just incrementally lower by 0.8 percent than that of October 2010.
Nationwide, unemployment lost traction by 9.0 percent, on the heels of new jobs created totaling 80,000. Private-sector employment also gained, with small but continuing increases in business and professional services, and in health care.
Total insurance industry payrolls are reported each month on a seasonally adjusted basis, along with the current month’s non-farm payrolls. Separately, data by industry segment — broken out by various insurance carrier and non-carrier categories — are available only on an unadjusted basis for the prior month.
Year-to-year, agents and brokers were the only sector to post a positive employment growth (+0.8% to 638,300) based on September 2011 data. Employment in all other sectors of insurance declined in 2011 compared with 2010, but not substantially.
Interestingly, the following sectors posted gains in weekly pay: life (+1.3% to $1,039.58), health (+6.9% to $1,037.62), property/casualty (+6.5% to $1,096.52), agents/brokers (+2.3% to $809.41), claims adjusting (+6.6% to $977.03) and third-party administration of claims (+4.5% to $813.28).
If the good signs continue, the good times should start rolling in sooner or later for aspiring insurance professionals.
If you’re a contractor finishing your contractor continuing education so you can renew your license, beware more of routine violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards during your practice than of the big ones that can result in catastrophic consequences and even deaths. Lawyers specializing in workplace safety cases revealed that it is routine violations that are more likely to expose companies to large fines from OSHA.
The lawyers pointed out that among the most common routine violations involve fire extinguishers, blocked exits, personal protection equipment issues, improper materials handling and racks, record-keeping, and housekeeping.
Routine violations per se do not usually mean heavy penalties. But if the violations are found to be willful or repeat problems (discovered in previous inspections within the last five years), each violation can actually merit a proposed fine of up to $70,000.
To avoid incurring hefty penalties, the attorneys suggested the following remedies:
- Inform the company’s other worksites about all citations issued to your location. Make sure those problems don’t exist at other facilities.
- Know if your company is covered by an OSHA emphasis program. If it is, the chances of an inspection are greater.
- Conduct a job safety analysis.
- Involve the employees in the company’s safety plans.
- Do not take for granted paperwork details.
Taking for granted the small things is a case in point of two Chicago contractors. In their case the “small thing” is dust—asbestos dust.
Asbestos is among the health hazards mentioned in contractor continuing education; unfortunately, it becomes just nuisance construction dust once the contactor gets his license to practice. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA), however, rightly recognize its significant danger to health, asbestos being a potent carcinogen that causes malignant mesothelioma (asbestos cancer).
Because of this taken-for-granted health hazard, OSHA has cited two Chicago construction outfits, T2 G.C. LLC and Gramek Construction Inc. for their failure to protect their workers from asbestos dust at a construction site where the former was the general contractor overseeing the demolition activities of the latter. T2 Construction has been assessed fines amounting $141,600 while Gramek Construction is looking at fines of $138,600.
“Failing to conduct an asbestos assessment and require workers to wear personal protective equipment when working with material potentially contaminated by asbestos shows a blatant disregard for their health and safety,” pointed out OSHA regional administrator Michael Connors.
T2 Construction, as the general contractor, was found to have willfully violated two health standards by failing to have a competent person conduct an initial assessment before starting Class I and Class II asbestos work.
Contractor responsibilities are a primary focus of contractor CE (contractor continuing education) course programs at Industrialinstitute.com, a major provider of online continuing education for the electrical industry and engineering industry. And because OSHA health and safety provisions are an integral part of these courses, they help keep workers safe and the contractors on their toes for hazards at the construction site.
As unbelievable as it may seem, it has taken the U.S. government over 10 years to put in place the first major change in food-safety laws since the last revamp was made in the 1930s! This after a long, heaving series of food-borne illness outbreaks, panic, and deaths. Finally last January, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama. Now, food safety—and consequently, food safety training and food handler certification—is first of mind for both health authorities and those in the food and drink industry.
The new law requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue standards for safe agricultural products (such as melons and tomatoes) and mandates more frequent inspections of domestic and foreign food-processing facilities. The FSMA also equips the FDA with new enforcement capabilities, such as mandatory recall authority and the right to recall the registration of an erring processing plant.
According to the FDA, all establishments now that handle foods with a high potential to cause harm must be inspected within five years of the law’s enactment and at least every three years after that. The FDA also said that the law dramatically increases the number of required inspections for foreign facilities.
Meanwhile, the job market in the industry is looking up. That, in a nutshell, is what National Restaurant Association chief economist Bruce Grindy said of the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that eating and drinking places created 24,500 new jobs in December 2010, the fifth straight month of employment growth at a time when other industries are distressed. Eating and drinking places, as the primary components of the industry, constitute three-fourths of the restaurant and food-service workforce.
Last year, restaurants boosted the national employment with 188,000 jobs—a stark contrast to the 2008-2009 span when the industry shed a total of 294,000 jobs.
Grindy also noted that the DoL data also showed the national unemployment rate slipping to 9.4 percent in December from 9.8 percent in the previous month. Significantly, the drop represented the biggest single-month drop in more than 12 years.
According to industry insiders this signifies that restaurants are hiring again and new restaurants are opening in most of the major dining areas. Good news of course for those who want to pursue a career in the food and drink industry. For quick employment, one of the keys is to be certified in food safety, which happens to be a core program at Learn2serve.com, the premier provider of online food safety training, alcohol server certification, and food handler certification. These courses directly address the current requirements of a food industry that constantly needs to guard against illness outbreaks caused by food-borne pathogens.
Posted:
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
Category:
Cosmetology
With 24 fingers doing the wetting, washing, shampooing, conditioning, and drying, will the shampoo robot that debuted at the annual CEATEC (Cutting-edge IT & Electronics Comprehensive Exhibition) Conference in Tokyo run the world’s hairdressers and barbers out of their careers? No chance—even if the robot took all the cosmetology CE available from California to Texas.
In October this year, Japan’s consumer-electronics giant Panasonic unveiled the world’s first and, so far, only hairdresser robot at CEATEC 2011, a crowd-drawing tech exhibition for high-technology consumer electronics. As expected, the robot easily attracted a fair amount of amused spectators, but Edward Scissorhands it was not.
It doesn’t have scissors and so it doesn’t cut hair. What it does have is a precision scanning system that thoroughly looks over the customer’s head shape before proceeding to the hair washing itself—accomplished with professional results by 24 specialized massaging “fingers” (up from the original 16 of the prototype, which was introduced to the public last year) working in three-part harmony with jets of water and soap. Panasonic pointed out that the old prototype lacked the new robot’s conditioning and drying functions.
But that’s as far as Lady Robota goes. Professional hairdressers (and cosmetologists) are trained to be more than hair cutters or hair washers. To have a successful career in hairdressing and cosmetology you have to undergo training first before you can be awarded your cosmetology license to practice.
Not the case for Arizona’s eyebrow threaders though.
It was about time for an about face last October for the Arizona Board of Cosmetology when it backed down from its opinion of half a year ago about “threading,” this time announcing that practitioners of the ancient Oriental art of eyebrow plucking using a thread do not need a state license to practice. Should they desire though, they can enroll in a cosmetology CE (continuing-education) program to round out their knowledge of cosmetology.
Tim Keller, an attorney with the Institute for Justice which went to court on behalf of several eyebrow threaders, said the decision by the board to reverse itself was a victory for the rights of businesses to operate without excessive regulation.
An Arizona law gave the board the power to regulate who can perform certain treatments. That includes “arching eyebrows” and “removing superfluous hair by means other than electrolysis.”
Keller pointed out that initially the board required that the threaders be licensed as cosmetologists. That meant 1,600 hours of training at a state-approved school. Now, that requirement has been lifted.
For the rest, however, a cosmetology license is still required by the state to practice hairstyling, hairdressing, hair curing, and the like. At Cosmetologycampus.com, a premier provider of online cosmetology training, cosmetology CE (continuing-education) program is available for both aspirant cosmetologists and professional cosmetologists.
Posted:
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
Category:
Cosmetology
Capital Heights, Maryland (CNN) — If you’re looking for an industry that’s thriving even during these tough economic times, look to the hair industry. It may be the closest thing to recession-proof and for that learn cosmetology ce from a reputed cosmetology school either online or onsite.
According to Census data, the number of barbershops in Maryland rose nearly 11% between 2007 — when the recession hit — and 2009, while the number of beauty salons in the state jumped more than 17%. Nationwide, there were 18.6% more barber shops and 14.4% more beauty salons in 2009 than in 2007. You can also get your cosmetology license from the ease of your home and make a good living.
“Barbering is definitely on the upswing. We see it in our schools. The enrollment is up,” said Derek Davis, a vice president of the National Association of Barber Boards of America. “We’ve seen an increased number of people taking the exam to get licensing.”
Tarsa Scott, a real estate agent turned stylist at Fabulocs, a natural hair salon in suburban Maryland, chalked up the sector’s strength to one thing: the desire to look and feel good.
“Most people — especially women — even when there are bad times, we want to feel good,” said Scott, who got an office job after the housing market collapsed, but turned to hair styling to supplement her income. “We’re not going to sacrifice feeling beautiful just because we’re in a bad situation.”
Janice Washington, who comes to the salon every three weeks or so, said she has stopped spending as much money on shoes in order to keep getting her hair done. “It’s a necessity, because I do want to keep my hair looking like it’s well-maintained.”
Fabulocs owner Nimat Bilal expects business at her salon to remain strong.
Fabulocs owner Nimat Bilal said business has always been strong and is only getting better. It’s a job that cannot be outsourced. It has to be done locally.
”I’ve never felt the economy with the business I’m in,” Bilal said.
In another sign of the effect the recession has had on even educated workers in other industries, seven of the nine stylists at Fabulocs have college degrees.
Bilal works just three days a week and makes enough money to survive. She also trains stylists like Scott, with the help of her sister Aisha, who has a master’s degree in education. She lost her job at a nonprofit in 2009.
”A lot of the ladies that work here, some of them were clients who lost their jobs and they saw business was good and wanted to know how they could get involved,” Bilal said.
Scott began working at Fabulocs after completing a six-month training course. She now plans to quit her office job. She’s one of several stylists at the salon who spent years working in other professions before turning to hairstyling during the economic downturn.
Two years ago, as other industries struggled, Bilal moved to a larger space to accommodate the growing number of people who wanted to work with her. She rents booths to the stylists, who use them to run their own mini-salons, building their own clientele and marketing their skills.
”This is the business to be in. It’s consistent and it’s growing,” Bilal said.
In these times of global-warming awareness and Eco-friendliness, it’s important to know that a (whole new) world of difference separates a greenhouse from a green house—or to be more precise, a green home.
A green home not only makes it possible for you to put in your due to saving the planet (well, just a little bit), but also allows you, if you’re in the real estate business, to get ready for a near future that will be increasingly about green homes and green-compliant properties. The reason for that is simple and practical: It pays to get ready.
So what is a green home? Here are some basic characteristics:
A green home. . .
- Uses natural and renewable resources through passive design or renewable energy systems.
- Uses some recycled or re-purposed materials.
- Uses energy efficient appliances and systems.
- Is built or renovated with the least impact on the natural qualities of its surroundings.
- Does not contain chemicals harmful to health and environment.
- Is well insulated and energy and water efficient.
- Is designed to be space-efficient manner.
Be ready to talk green and talk green planet. But before that, make sure that you have renewed your real estate license or have updated yourself through real estate CE courses or real estate continuing education. After all, green is the color of money.
