May is Electric Safety Month - Is Your Home or Condo Safe From Electrical Hazards?

May is national Electrical Safety Month, a good time to remind everyone of ways to be safe around and electricity and to treat electricity with respect. We all take electricity for granted because we use it everyday in our homes, businesses, etc. We surely could not be writing this blog, nor could you be reading it without electricity. It’s just simply become a way of life for us, and like many other things, we take electricity for granted. Electric Safety Month is dedicated to educating people on the dangers of electricity.

By being careless in our use of it in our homes and at the work-site we can cause serious injury, possible death, and fires. The majority of electrical accidents and injuries caused by electricity come from unsafe equipment or installation, an unsafe environment, or unsafe work practices. 

Electrical Safety at Home:

• Use only appliances and equipment approved by Underwriters Laboratories. (Look for the UL listing on the label). 
• Keep all radios, hair dryers and other appliances secured or out of bathrooms. Hair dryers should never be used near water-filled tubs and sinks. Teach your children that electricity and water don't mix.
• Don't overload electrical outlets. If your TV picture shrinks or flickers when major appliances are turned on, or if you notice that fuses or circuit breakers blow out frequently, then you should have your circuits and wiring checked.
• Never unplug or carry an appliance by its cord. Don't run cords under carpets or furniture. The cords can overheat and/or become frayed.
• Teach your children not to poke things into electrical outlets, toasters, or any other appliance, whether they're on or off.

Electrical Safety Outdoors:

  

• Keep all ladders and tools at least ten feet away from any power lines. Put up ladders only when you have work to do. Make sure that if the ladder were to fall, it would not contact any power lines or electrical equipment.
• Any outdoor outlets should be on a circuit that is protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). These are required in newer homes in bathrooms, garages, outdoors and near sinks. GFCIs can be added as a temporary plug-in adapter, added as a replacement outlet or installed as a circuit breaker. Check with your electrician for options.
• Teach your children not to fly kites near power lines or around electrical substations.
• Teach your children not to climb or play in trees if there are power lines nearby or lines touching or growing through the branches.

Electrical Safety at Work:

  

• Train all employees to make them thoroughly familiar with safety procedures for their jobs. 
• Use insulating protective equipment.
• Properly maintain tools that help protect workers against electric hazards. When a defect is found in a tool, it should be removed from service and tagged so that no one will use it until it has been repaired or replaced.
• Where extension cords are used, make sure that they are factory-assembled, 3-wire type cord sets.
• Do not remove cords from receptacles by pulling on the cords themselves.
• Use double-insulated tools and equipment that are distinctively marked.
• Visually inspect all electrical equipment before use. Remove from service tools with frayed cords, missing ground prongs, cracked tool casings, etc.

Although Electrical Safety Month only comes once a year, it's important for you to pay attention to the basic safety rules all year long. Your life depends on it.

4 Steps to an Effective Board Meeting - Before and After You Leave The Meeting Room

We often hear Board Members and homeowners gripe about ineffective community meetings where nothing get's done. In response to these complaints we've developed a simple process we use to train our Board Members on holding effective and decision focused community meetings. We outlined this process in our recent Blog titled Decision Making at Board Meetings.

However, we also often find that although Board Members may hold successful meetings where many decisions are made, there is very little follow up that occurs after the meeting. Our manager's are held responsible for leading community meetings, keeping the Board focused on agenda items throughout the meeting, and carrying out the wishes of the Board after the meeting. We've developed a simple 4 step process to running effective Board Meetings - before and after you leave the meeting room.

Through our simple 4 step process we are certain your Board of Directors will get more accomplished not only during your regular Board Meetings, but once you walk away from the meeting room.

Here are the 4 steps your Board can take to ensure your meetings come to a productive close and result in effective action after you leave the meeting room. The list is short and simple because the process is simple.

1. Action Plan. Your Board should always create an Action Plan before every meeting. The plan should include key decisions to be made at the meeting, follow up steps after the meeting, identify responsibility for each task, and provide completion dates or deadlines. Your Action Plan should be kept to one page or less. Usually the President or Vice President will prepare the Action Plan.
2. Communicate quickly. Many times a Board will not communicate for weeks after a board meeting. This is not very efficient and causes everyone to lose momentum on accomplishing their assigned tasks. We suggest you get an e-mail out to meeting participants within 24 hours after the meeting, to ensure momentum is not dissipated. The e-mail can include meeting minutes or a simple summary of your Action Plan that reiterates the Board's goals and realistic deadlines.
3. Follow up. Your Board should assign a specific Board Member with the duty of following up. As deadlines approach this persons responsibility is to send out reminders to make sure everyone is on track. By following up your Board remains informed on the status of a project and whether or not the deadlines will be met. This will also help you prepare for future Action Plans and in setting realistic achievable goals in the future.
4. Inform. Once all the tasks have been accomplished or are nearing completion, inform the group of the status of each item. E-mail all Board Members the Action Plan for the following meeting and outline any further steps necessary, if any.

By making these 4 Steps to an Effective Board Meeting - Before and After You Leave The Meeting Room a part of every community meeting your association holds you will never again be accused of wasting people’s time, nor will you yourself have to sit through hour long meetings to accomplish very little.

We take pride in holding effective Board Meeting for our clients and in preparing our Board Members to do the same. Should you have any questions or if you would like additional information, please contact us!

5 Tips to Green Your Home

Four Points Property Management wishes you a Happy Earth Day! Yes, we know, Earth Day was days ago... We're sorry for the late post, but in keeping with our commitment to Green Communities, we've decided to prepare a list of 5 easy ways to green your home.

Over two years ago we began the “Green Our Office” initiative. Through equipment upgrades, paper recycling, using recycled and earth-friendly print/copy ink, and by making lighting improvements we have reduced our total energy consumption and our office is officially Green. However, we are constantly looking for ways to become more energy efficient and we enjoy passing these green ideas to the residents of our community associations.

In our efforts to provide residents with tips and ideas on how to better green their homes and reduce their energy consumption, we’ve compiled 5 green tips for making your home more eco-friendly.

1. Turn off your home office equipment when not in use. This can reduce energy by 25 percent. Turning off televisions and entertainment equipment can save an additional 50 percent.
2. Tightly turn off all faucets, one drop per second wastes 10,000 liters per year.
3. Need new home or office furniture? See if your existing furniture can be refurbished which saves waste and money.
4. Use a Smart Strip power cord that can sense when a device is turned off and cut their “phantom power” (the power that electronics use even when they’re turned off). The savings provided are huge!
5. Efficiency heating and cooling saves the earth and money. Have a technician repair and test leaks, and check regularly for faulty filters, coils, compressor fans, and drains throughout your home.

For more eco-friendly ideas feel free to contact us. We are always interested in learning from you and sharing valuable information. You can reach us online at www.FourPointsProperty.com or at 305-403-0575. 

Our commitment to Green Communities continues....