NIC Instruments & Engineering (Pty) Ltd: July 2012

QMS - TRAINING

Some of the staff based at Secunda attended the QMS Training 30 and 31 July 2012 at the Secunda Office - Hard at work! (Training to be completed in the following weeks)

From Left to Right:

Magda Botha, Jaco Coetzee and Jannie van Zyl

From Left to Right:

Stefan Gouws, Mauritz Snyman, Quinton Karp and Ian Barkley

NIC Staff (Secunda Instrumentation Sales)

NIC's Blog post of NIC Staff - This will be a chance to see the faced of the people that work for NIC in various departments and branches.

Instrumentation Sales - Secunda

31-07-2012

From Left to Right

Gerhard Mynhard (Inst. Branch Manager), Zelda Grobler (Inst. Admin)

and Theo Grabe (Inst. External Sales)

QMS - TRAINING

QMS Training has been launched for all sites;

The following days have been confirmed for various sites (venues listed)

- Please check with your Manager / Supervisor if your attendance is required. -

If no training has been arranged for your site, please arrange with your Manager / Supervisor and the Training Officer to arrange Training Days.

Secunda:
- Boardroom - 2 x 1/2 HALF DAYS (2 Sessions)
30 and 31 July 2012
*Next Sessions to be confirmed

Head Office:
- QMS Team Only (Unit 1) - 2 x FULL DAYS
01 and 02 August 2012

Head Office:
- (Unit 1) - 2 x FULL DAYS
06 and 07 August 2012

Head Office:
- (Unit 1) - HALF DAY (Mornings)
06, 15, 28 August and 04 September 2012

- (Unit 1) - HALF DAY (Afternoons)
14, 15, 28 August and 04 September 2012

Kusile:
- Boardroom - 2 x FULL DAYS
16 and 17 August 2012

Rustenburg:
- Boardroom - 4 x 1/2 DAYS
20, 21, 22 and 23 August 2012

NIC Midrand

Celebrations happening at NIC 27-07-2012
(More photos to be added in the coming week)

Staff of Head Office joined together to celebrate NIC's 26th Birthday
and the farewell and retirement of NIC's Boet vd Heever.

NIC's staff had tons of fun socializing together

and celebrating this awesome achievement of NIC and of Boet.

NIC Staff:

Farewell Boet, wishing you many years of relaxation while on retirement, enjoy the time with the family - we will miss you and thank you for the brilliant years of service to NIC.

Boet vd Heever 27-07-2012

NIC Midrand Offices

Friday 27-07-2012 After the function the building looked so lovely we just had to take a picture.

Midrand Offices

NIC Staff (QMS)

NIC's Blog post of NIC Staff - This will be a chance to see the faced of the people that work for NIC in various departments and branches.

QMS & DOCUMENT CONTROL - Head Office (Unit 1)

27-07-2012

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

From Left to Right:

Ruan Kriek, Nicoline de WInter, Leonard Momberg, Claudette Crouch and Deven Guptar

Niiiiice hat Leonard??

FUNNY

Well as you can the QMS Department's Management Representative Leonard Momberg takes Safety to a whole other level with this.

HARD HAT ALL THE TIME??

NIC Staff (Sales/Marketing)

NIC's Blog post of NIC Staff - This will be a chance to see the faced of the people that work for NIC in various departments and branches.

Sales / Marketing - Head Office (Unit 2)

28-07-2012

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

From Left to Right:

Back Row - Tracy-Anne Walton, Thomas Nundlal and Ricardo de Bastos

Fron Row - Vicky Ferreira, Amy Jackson, Joey Ras, Letta Peteke and John Ferreira

NIC RUSTENBURG

Click to enlarge image

Over the last few years the Rustneburg has had some construction work.

At the end of 2011 the Rustenburg Branch completed the work and now boasts a lovely entertainment area, lapa, bar, jacuzzi, braai pit, kitchen and 4 Wendy-hut cottages.

NIC Staff (PROCUREMENT)

NIC's Blog post of NIC Staff - This will be a chance to see the faced of the people that work for NIC in various departments and branches.

Procurement - Head Office (Unit 1)

27-07-2012

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

From Left to Right:

Kenneth Zilimbola, Tebogo Manamela, Avinash Boodram, Leandi Smith, Peter Lawrence, Frans Monene, Tonie Wasserman and Bruwer Potgieter

WELL DONE (Staff Family)

Desiree Coetzee's (Receptionist - Midrand) granddaughter Amber has been presented with a International Dance License, placing in the IDO (International Dance Organization) World Competition for Disco and Free Style.

WELL DONE!! This is something to be very proud of and we look forward to hearing more of these achievements.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

OFFICE EXERCISES

Priya Govender, Medical/COIDA Administrations Secretary at the Maidstone Medical Centre contributed a series of office exercises. We will publish one or two of these exercises in each of the forthcoming issues of Snippets.

Desk Exercises to Lose Weight Fast
With their busy office lives, a lot of people end up complaining that they don't have the time to hit the gym and work off their excess weight. However, you don't need to exercise two hours a day to make you fitter and help you lose weight fast. What matters is the cumulative value of exercise, and not just the intensity you hit per session. So, even with fifteen minutes a day of exercise, you will begin to lose weight, provided you are not overeating. Obviously, you won't see radical difference in two months time, but by the time the year's out, you may have knocked off a few kilograms. You could begin with some of these effective desk exercises to lose weight fast.

Stretching - Stretching your body is very important to prevent stiffness and injuries and improve your muscles' range of motion. If you don't stretch enough and your body gets hurt, you can forget about exercising and losing weight fast.

Touch the floor - For this exercise, remain seated in your chair and plant your feet in a wide and stable position. Now raise your arms straight up above your head, stretching them as far as you can, with your palms facing each other. Now keeping your lower body fixed and your torso stretched, slowly lunge forward and touch the floor in front of you, breathing steadily all the time. Remain there for 2-5 seconds and come back up with control. Repeat this 5 times.

Stretch your sides - Stretch your arms up with your palms facing the sky and your fingers locked in each other. Now bend slightly to one side, come back to the centre and then bend to the other side. Do this 5 times each side.
If you remain consistent with these simple initiatives, you will soon begin to feel stronger and more energetic, while you shed off those excess calories. All in all, you will not find better weight loss tips to blend into your busy lifestyle.

Paparazzi

- Be warned the paparazzi is around and taking some photos of Departments -

As you can see on the blog we are putting "faces" to the names and voices of people we might speak to or email on a regular basis.

If any sites have taken pictures of staff or site work
- Please send to the newsletter to update the Sections

BE READY YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MIGHT BE SNAPPED!

NIC Staff (PLANNING)

NIC's Blog post of NIC Staff - This will be a chance to see the faced of the people that work for NIC in various departments and branches.

Planning Department - Head Office (Unit 1)

27-07-2012

Johann Bosman - NIC Planner

NIC Staff (Midrand)

NIC's Blog post of NIC Staff - This will be a chance to see the faced of the people that work for NIC in various departments and branches.

Support Staff - Head Office (Unit 1)

27-07-2012

From Left to Right:
Olivia Mosetlha and Athalia Nkwane

Without you ladies our lives would be a mess!

NIC Staff (PROJECT - COSTING)

NIC's Blog post of NIC Staff - This will be a chance to see the faced of the people that work for NIC in various departments and branches.

Project Management / Costing Department - Head Office (Unit 1)

27-07-2012

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

From Left to Right:

Dian Nel, Charles Ellis-Banks and Janis Moodley

NIC Staff (ESTIMATING)

NIC's Blog post of NIC Staff - This will be a chance to see the faced of the people that work for NIC in various departments and branches.

Estimating Department - Head Office Midrand / Secunda

27-07-2012

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

From Left to Right:

Chris vd Linden, Kylie Dehrmann, Dean Heyns, Dirk Botha, David Edgar and Marius Malan

Missing in action is Ruan Kellerman - He will avoid the camera at all costs?

CONGRATS - David Thulare

Congratulations to David Thulare (Gate Controller - Head Office) for completing the

In-House Access Control Course on 27 July 2012

20-07-2012 TOOLBOX TALK

STRESS MANAGEMENT

We deal with stress almost everyday – but key to a HAPPY life is a BALANCED LIFESTYLE

So here are some tips on what stress is, how to deal with it and adapt your lifestyle.

DEFINITION OF STRESS

Feeling emotional or physical tension
Any demand or change that the human system (mind, body or spirit) is required to meet and respond to.

DAY TO DAY STRESS
Day to day work load / traffic jams / things not going according to plan / weather etc.

CALMATIVE STRESS

Calmative is the buildup of day to day stress
Having a bad day / week

TRAUMATIC STRESS

Traumatic stress is caused by a Critical Incident.
CRITICAL INCIDENT (C.I.)
A C.I. is defined as an event out of the range of normal experience – one which is sudden and unexpected, makes you lose control, involves the perception of a threat to life / physical or emotional loss
Most people do recover from it. Early intervention is likely to reduce C.I. stress reaction.

VICARIOUS TRAUMA
Simple: The negative effect of caring about and caring for others who have been hurt.
Technical: The negative transformation in the helper that comes about as a result of empathetic engagement with trauma survivor and commitment or sense of responsibility to help.

IDENTIFY SOURCE OF STRESS
Look closely at your habits, attitude and excuses:
Do you explain away stress as temporary even though you can’t remember the last time you took a breather?
Do you define stress as a integral part of you work/home life or as part of your personality?
Do you blame your stress on other people or outside events, or view it as entirely normal and unexceptional?

HOW DO YOU COPE WITH STRESS? – IS IT UNHEALTHY
Smoking
Drinking
Overeating / under-eating
Zoning out in-front of the PC or TV for hours
Using pills or drugs to relax
Sleeping too much
Procrastinating
Filling up every minute if the day to avoid facing problems
Withdrawing from friends, family and normal activities
Taking your stress out on others (lashing out, angry outbursts, physical violence)

LET’S CHANGE THE WAY YOU DEAL WITH STRESS

CHANGE THE SITUATION

AVOID THE STRESSOR
•       LEARN TO SAY NO
•       AVOID PEOPLE WHO STRESS YOU OUT
•       TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT
•       AVOID HOT-BUTTON TOPICS
•       HAVE A TO-DO LIST (PARE DOWN)

ALTER THE STRESSOR
•       EXPRESS YOUR FEELINGS – INSTEAD OF BOTTLING THEM UP
•       BE WILLING TO COMPROMISE
•       BE MORE ASSERTIVE
•       MANAGE YOUR TIME BETTER

CHANGE YOUR REACTION

ADAPT TO THE STRESSOR
•       REFRAME PROBLEMS
•       LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE
•       ADJUST YOUR STANDARDS
•       FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE

ACCEPT THE STRESSOR
•       ACCEPT THE THINGS YOU CAN’T CHANGE
•       DON’T TRY TO CONTROL THE UNCONTROLLABLE
•       LOOK FOR THE UPSIDE
•       SHARE YOUR FEELINGS
•       LEARN TO FORGIVE

MAKE TIME FOR FUN AND RELAXATION - HEALTHY WAYS TO RELAX AND RECHARGE
Go for walks
Spend time in nature
Call a good friend
Sweat out tension with a good work out
Write in your journal
Take a long bath
Light scented candles
Set aside relaxation time
Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea
Play with your pets or children
Work in the garden
Get a massage
Curl up with a good book
Listen to music
Watch a comedy
COUNT TO TEN!

MANDELA DAY

Thank you to those who contributed to the Collection-Donation Day at Head Office

- We will be distributing the collection items to the relevant charities on Friday afternoon -

The Healing Light Institute of Spirituality

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

By Nelson Mandela.

CONGRATS - Claudette Crouch

Well done to Claudette Crouch (QMS & Training Officer) for completing the 3 Week In-Depth Occupational Health and Safety Act Course with Haslac in June 2012

Learners were Safety Professionals from Kellogs, Sasol, Johnson Controls, ABI and Anglo.

Claudette received a overall of 91% for her 15 Exams and was handed a Trophy for Top Student

Well done!!

Claudette will now be able to Train Staff in the following subjects:

1 Day Courses:
OHS Act Basic Awareness
Health and Safety Rep
Office Safety
Basic Incident Investigation

Basic Fire Fighting
Soft Skill Training

2 Day Courses:
QMS System (Quality Policy Manual and Standard Procedure etc)

PREVENTING SPREAD OF FLU

Germs can spread with a simple sneeze - lets try and stop / prevent the spread of flu.

Here are some ways to do it;

WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN Think about how you might have gotten the cold in the first place. It’s possible that it is airborne and someone coughed near you, which is hard to avoid.
But what if you got it from that door handle that you just touched?

CLEAN SURFACE Germs can be found everywhere so ensure that computer keyboards, phones and remote controls are wiped down at least every 2 weeks with some Specialized Anti Bacterial / Alcoholic Wipes
More germs in a average office than on a toilet seat.

BLOW YOUR NOSE It is your body’s way of cleaning debris and foreign objects (viruses and/or its byproducts) out of your system.
Use disposable tissues and flush them – do not place them in dustbins (to prevent spreading germs)

HOW TO SNEEZE & COUGH
The bodies natural way to get rid of viruses is to sneeze, cough etc.
When you sneeze and cough try and avoid using your hands, cough in your sleeve instead.
Wash hands after sneezing and couching.

TAKE VITAMINS It is always good to take vitamins, but especially when you are sick.
Whatever vitamins you take, remember to also take Vitamin C as it helps strengthen your immune system.
It is good before a cold to help buffer against getting a cold, and during a cold to help boost your immune’s power against the virus.

LIMIT CONTACT WITH SICK PEOPLE If you don’t want a cold you probably don’t want to intentionally expose yourself to people who have a cold.
If you must, wash your hands afterwards if you touched them (shaking hands) and it wouldn’t hurt to make sure you take your vitamins that day.

EAT RIGHT
Your body always needs fuel but when you’re sick a lot of your bodies energy is devoted to your immune system.
Eating regularly (perhaps a little more than you would normally) can give you the energy your body needs.
If you are an active person, just remember it is crucial to replace the energy used during this time.

REST Rest is important but keeping as close to your normal routine as possible is very effective.
Your cold won’t go away just because you are unconscious and if you are laying there with a handful of old Kleenex rubbing your eyes, coughing and scratching your eyes you are making the situation worse.

DRINK WATER! Your body naturally needs 8 glasses a day.
When you are sick treat this as a BARE minimum that you must drink, preferably more.
The human body is what 98% water? We need water to function efficiently.
An efficient body can fight off disease better.

STAY WARM AND DRY

If you get cold and wet in the rain or swimming dry off promptly.
The combination of cold and wet can use energy (while your body tries to warm itself) and this energy may have been all that was keeping that cold virus from defeating your immune system.
AVOID TOUCHING YOUR EYES, NOSE AND MOUTHIf you blow your nose, wash your hands before touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
If you need to rub your eyes (itchy eyes) try to wash your hands first. The key here is that you CAN give a cold back to yourself.