It must be a curator’s sweatiest nightmare. Beyond the collection being swiped by thieves, the museum burning to the ground or, of course, your funding being withdrawn, there is always the dread possibility that some malign, clumsy or plain unlucky member of the public might destroy a prize holding.

That has happened at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. According to witnesses, an unfortunate visitor tripped over his shoelace and fell on to three Qing dynasty vases, shattering them.

Another visitor said: “We watched the man fall as if in slow motion. He landed in the middle of the vases and they splintered into a million pieces. He was still sitting there stunned when staff appeared. Everyone stood around in silence, as if in shock. The man kept pointing to his shoelace, saying, ‘There it is; that’s the culprit.’ ”

Duncan Robinson, director of the Fitzwilliam, said: “It was a most unfortunate and regrettable accident but we are glad that the visitor involved was able to leave the museum unharmed. Conservators are evaluating the damage prior to repair work being considered.

“While the method of displaying objects is always under review, it is important not to overreact and make the museum’s collections less accessible to the visiting public.”

The Chinese vases date from the latter part of the reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722) and are painted in enamels with traces of gilding. The incident happened at lunchtime on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the museum – which refused to say how much the vases were worth – said: “Conservators will be evaluating the damage in the next couple of days, and the plan is to restore them.

HOW EASILY THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED……

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Often the smallest and most trivial modifications in a high-risk environment can be responsible for preventing minor and major injuries.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures in 2013 indicated that just over ten percent of the Australian workforce was made up of the mining and construction industry.*Within the construction industry alone; falls, trips and slips of a person accounted for 26% of the total injuries reported in 2013.**

These statistics show that over a quarter of all injuries reported are results of slipping or tripping over. In the environment of a construction or mining site, appropriate work gear is a strict requirement. Taking extra safety precautions, particularly simple ones, never goes astray though.

Business development manager at Construction Hunter, Tom Scash, has been in the construction and mining industry for the last ten years.Construction Hunter isan online platform that providesjob resources and career solutions for people in Australia’s mining and construction industries. Experience in varying fields of the trade has meant Scash has unfortunately witnessed some workplace injuries.

“Working on construction sites often leaves no room for error,” he said.

Five years ago while working on a building site, a labourer carrying scaffolding up a flight of metal stairs actually stumbled on his own shoelace. He ended up in hospital with quite serious back injuries as a result,” Scash reported.

Keeping up to date with the newest personal protective equipment is crucial in this industry.

While untied shoelaces aren’t the only hazard within a high-risk work zone, it goes without saying, even the smallest precautions could literally save a life.

www.safelace.com.au

www.constructionhunter.com.au

*Australia Bureau of Statistics

**Key Work Health & Safety Statistics Australia

By Claire Newton

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Shoes have a lot of uses for kids. They are protection for young feet. They also allow kids to play without much risk; preventing injury and contact with substances on the ground that may cause them problems. For this reason, it is crucial that they are given shoes that will not wear easily from constant use. You must also make sure to keep their shoelaces tied even through rigorous activity to maximise protection.

Shoelaces can be a challenge for children. For younger kids, tying shoelaces is like working on a complicated puzzle. They often have to ask their parents or teachers to tie their shoelaces for them. This can be a problem for two reasons, as you cannot be with your children all the time to retie and it can also be rather embarrassing for them to have to ask someone else to tie their shoe lace for them. If their shoelaces continue to untie, they will have to repeatedly look for adults who can help them. That or they will have to spend the day tripping over their untied laces.

If your child is a runner or an athlete, an undone shoelace can become a big risk. It will prevent them from performing at their best on the track or on the field, which may lead to loss and disappointment for them. In other cases, they may even trip on their shoelaces, leading to different kinds of injuries. As such, keeping shoe laces tied is paramount to protecting them from harm and helping them to achieve their goals and concentrate on what is important to them, playing and achieving.

Safe Lace is a revolutionary product designed specifically to keep shoelaces securely tied. They are simple to operate and can be used by kids who can or cannot tie their own shoelaces. Children who can tie their own lace just add one step by locking the tab over the bow and knowing that it will stay tied….children who cannot tie their own lace can have their parents tie the lace, lock it in place with Safe Lace and know without a doubt that their child will not have to worry one single time about their lace untying. They are very small and light, so they won’t even know they are there and will not cause any pain or injury to the foot even when kicking a ball.

Safe Lace can be used for your children’s school shoes or running shoes. They even come in different colours to ensure that whether your child wants to make a statement and have them stand out with a bright colour or they want them to be unseen and just get the job done there is a Safe Lace colour to suit their choice  This means that even the most visually discerning kids will not mind wearing the Safe Lace and never again have to worry about their laces.

Safe Lace is also perfect for use by adults in sports and in the Industrial and Military industries. To learn more about the product, visit our website www.safelace.com.au

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Shoes are a runner’s lifeline. They affect your performance on the track and the condition of your feet after a marathon. It is therefore normal that you would invest in getting the highest-quality shoes ensuring that you are running with the best possible shoes for your feet.

Shoelaces can be trickier than other shoe parts. Apart from being sturdy enough to endure the demands of your sport, they must also remain tied until you cross the finish line. When shoelaces come undone in the middle of the race, not only do you risk being overtaken while having to stop and retie your laces, you also lose focus and rhythm….not to mention you also put yourself at risk of possible injury.

Sure, after years of tying your shoelaces, you must have become a master at it by now. You may even be able to do it within a few seconds—with your eyes closed—without even thinking about it. In a marathon however, you have other runners who have trained just as much as you have to run faster than the average human being. If you have to tie your shoelaces mid race, this may be the difference between achieving your goal and being left behind.  So yes, you woke up early every day to run a lot of km’s, perspired through endurance exercises, said no to a craving or two, and outlaid on top quality sports wear just to get your dreams dashed by undone shoelaces!  Worse still, you could get injured!

As a kid, you have most likely tripped on your undone shoelaces at least once. Now imagine that happening in the middle of a marathon. With how fast you and your fellow runners are moving, tripping on undone shoelaces can lead to anything from scrapes and bruises to broken bones.

All of that said, it’s now possible to make that something that you never have to think about again…Safe Lace is a simple but extremely effective product, designed to keep your shoelaces where and how they should be. Safe Lace is small and light so you can wear them easily without even knowing that they are there….until you realise that you haven’t had to retie a lace….ever again!  They even come in different colours so they fit in with any shoes you are wearing or you can make them stand out to make a statement!

Safe Lace is recommended for kids, industrial workers, athletes and especially runners. With it, you will not ever have to stop to check on or retie your shoelaces. You do not have to worry about injury or losing places or your focus.  So if you are looking to enjoy your run and eliminate the frustration and danger from untied shoe laces, make sure to include Safe Lace among your sportswear so you can run with confidence.

Safe Lace is Your Advantage!

For more information about the product, visit our website.

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Part of my Practice Nurse job looks at school readiness and assessing the lovely 4 year olds for just that.

So what does it look like this school ready child?

What are the important skills that you, the parent, can help them practice to ensure a smooth transition?

Communication

• Are they speaking clearly and in sentences? It is important that the teacher and the other students can understand them.
• Any speech issues may need referral to a speech therapist, especially a stammer. Children often have issues with consonants and this can be entirely normal. It is usually the hard consonants that come ‘late’ such as B, D F, G, K and Y. These are usually mastered by age 4. By age 6 the letters T, L and R are usually mastered with more complex sounds and blends not until age 8.
• It is important to check they are hearing correctly. Whilst children may have passed their newborn screening test other hearing problems can develop that affect hearing such as glue ear and this in turn affects speech. Check with your GP if this is a concern and ask for a referral to an audiologist.
• Eyesight problems need to be screened for. Your practice nurse or school nurse can do a simple sight test. We are looking for things such as squints, as well as short and long sightedness. For more complex issues see an orthoptist (your local clinic probably has one) or you can visit an optometrist for assessment.

Social skills

• Confidence and social skills are really important. We can help by letting the child attend playgroups, childcare and kindy or pre-school. It is important that your child has exposure to other children and adults before starting school. Try and make sure they have 2-3 days a week in another environment other than home before starting school. This ensures a smooth transition and creates school readiness. By creating independence in your child it is a positive thing you have created as a parent. They still need you and love you but they are able to form other friendships and relationships. The attachment bonds you created as a baby are always there and a healthy attachment allows for short periods of separation.
• By attending some type of pre-school it teaches the child about play with others, turn taking and sharing. It helps them understand and follow some rules and take direction.
• It also encourages social cohesion and reduces bullying. It helps them express emotions and form friendships.
• Can they concentrate and complete a task? Attention span is vital for school. They need to sit still for long periods of time.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8148507_checklist-speech-development-children.html

http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/47B8A7F882590379CA25759B001EE259/$File/GetSet4LifeBrochure.pdf

I ‘ll give you part 2 and 3 over the next couple of weeks…

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Being a food technology teacher for 13 years andmother of two, I noticed how many students arrive in their teens without knowing about basic nutrition and healthy eating practices. They can go from having healthy home-made lunches during primary years to buying processed, canteen food daily in secondary school. There is a huge shift in the eating practices of children to teens, so we need to start earlier, teaching healthy habits that will follow them through the years.

In the context of Australia’s rising obesity rates, the healthy cooking workshops offered by The Travelling Kitchencould not have come at a better time. Australia has among the highest rates of adult obesity in the world according to a 2013 OECD report ‘Health at a Glance’ (at 28.3% of the population aged 15 and over) and, more alarmingly, 1 in 4 Australian children are overweight or obese. We can’t just wait for Government to invest in strategies to reverse these rates, nor on schools or families alone – we need to all work together to intervene, educate and inspire healthy thinking and practice as early as possible. Learning to cook is a life-long skill and learning to eat healthy is knowledge that is required to live a long, fulfilling life. These skills and habits can be taught, they ought to be taught given the alarming rates of obesity in this country and children simply love and are good at cooking, creating and experimenting – so it’s a match that is meant to be! The earlier and more personal the educating – the better- that’s where TK comes in – teaching cooking skills to the young children of Australia in a direct, engaging, fun, sensory-rich and memorable way.

The Travelling Kitchen has visited more than 50 different locations this year, cooking with more than 400 students, and most of them agree one of The Travelling Kitchen’s best recipes’ is TK RICE PAPER ROLLS TAKE HOME – so quick, easy, fresh and nutritious, able to be made with an array of different fillings!

Have a go at it today!

Please contact Karen to find out more www.thetravellingkitchen.com.au or hello@thetravellingkitchen.com.au

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The very nature of manufacturing plants and industrial sites actually make them easy prey to workplace accidents and injuries. And we’re not just talking about major ones like falling debris, scaffolding falling down, or machine malfunctions. Even simple everyday safety precautions you thought as being mundane should not be taken lightly. Just like securing and keeping your shoelaces tied!

Just imagine this scenario: you are on the second floor of a metal scaffold, carrying a heavy load on a wheelbarrow. You are so preoccupied, focussed on doing your best, and delivering the load to where it should be, that you do not notice your trusty workboots have become untied. You keep walking and walking, and then suddenly, you trip on your own untied shoelaces. You stumble and almost fall from the second floor, and the load you are carrying drops to the ground, maybe even hitting something or someone. Yep, talk about disaster!

But you need not worry about that anymore! Small and simple investments can actually go a long way when you consider Safe Lace. With Safe Lace, your workboot laces are sure to stay tied tight for the entire day. It is made from durable silicone so it’s strong and tough, and will keep your laces safe and secure!

Take it from one of our satisfied customers – Oliver, an electrician from Adelaide who has been using Safe Lace on different job sites, and ever since he added this to his lace up boots, all he needs to tie is a single knot and he knows its not going to come undone for the whole day! Such small addition to his PPE gear but the outcome is 365 days of safety! And who wouldn’t want that?

The good news here is, accidents and injuries can actually be avoided. You just need to arm yourselves with the right safety rules and precautions, and the right PPE. It’s just like the saying, Prevention is better than cure. Carelessness and ignorance are the worst defence against accidents and injuries.

So get Safe Lace on your workboots and keep safe onsite!

The post INDUSTRIAL: Safety Practices at Work Everyone Should Know About appeared first on Shoe Lace.

Being disappointed with her online search looking for a solution to this problem, and without having to replace the entire shoelace, it led to her ‘aha’ moment: Knowing this was a problem that so many children and parents struggled with and believing in herself that she could be the one to fix it!

So this brilliant idea fed her drive and passion towards finding a convenient and easy solution to untied laces. Realising it would not only be of great help to her, but to all mothers as well. It actually took her four years of perseverance and hard work to finally complete and launch the product now known as Safe Lace. And as Loretta expected, the product’s reception has been warmly received, but what Loretta could not have realised is the vast audience that this product is now help.

So from thinking about the welfare of her highly active and dynamic children and their shoelace woes, this Melbourne-based mum has taken the world by storm with her Safe Lace product and brought it into the sports and industrial markets as well.

The beauty of Safe Lace is that it is not solely for little kids – it is applicable to everyone! Everyone wears shoes with shoelaces, right? And everyone, anytime, anywhere can experience shoelaces coming untied. It is versatile, too! It even comes with a wide range of colours and styles to fit not just the type of shoe, but to fit different personalities as well. Safe and stylish! That’s Safe Lace!

We’re so glad that you have dropped by to read our new blog! We are excited that Safe Lace has an avenue to reach you with our latest news, updates, promos and other information about our product. We will also be inviting guest bloggers in the fields of Education, Sport and the Industrial sector to share with you their stories and useful information.

So don’t forget to leave your comments, feedback, suggestions and reactions, as they are so valuable to us!

Stay Safe always with Safe Lace!

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