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It happens to all of us in every day life, from time to time uneven ground, slippery surfaces, or a momentary distraction can send us tumbling. In most cases, we're lucky to walk away relatively unscathed, but slips, trips, and falls can also cause major injuries and complications. This is especially true in the workplace, where heavy equipment, moving vehicles, and other factors can be involved. Let's take a look at some effective methods you can improve your efforts to prevent these common injuries. Why You Should Care While slips and falls can be serious, we witness minor tumbles more often, desensitizing us to the potential for injury, death, and work loss days as a result. To counter this perception, however, the U.S. Department of Labor put out some startling statistics: According to reports filed, slips, trips, and falls are second only to motor vehicle incidents in accidental deaths every single year. Furthermore, one quarter of all injury claims filed in a year will come from slips and falls, and the estimated work days lost per year to related injuries number nearly 100 million in the U.S. alone - accounting for over 60% of all work days lost. Clearly, there are improvements to be made, and a large cumulative consequence when they are not. Decreasing Trip, Slip, and Fall Frequency caution-wet-floor-signMinimize slippery areas: Depending on the type of business you're in, the areas that become greasy or slippery in your workplace, and the root causes behind them, are going to be different. In a restaurant kitchen or food-related establishment, kitchen floors may become slippery with water or greasy from food scraps. In a production facility, a material spill might leave a floor dangerously slick. In a supply yard, sawdust, dust, or machine grease and grime might account for your most dangerous slipping hazards. While slippery areas are sometimes unavoidable, the length of time areas are slippery can be controlled and minimized. Make it employee pr

Every time you step onto a construction site, there are countless hazards that you can come across in just a matter of seconds. That is why construction safety is not something that should be taken without serious diligence and precaution. Whether you are working on a commercial or residential site, or if you are working on a road, demolition, excavation or any other type of construction workplace, taking safety into consideration must be your first priority. Here is a comprehensive look into construction safety and why it can mean the difference between life and death if not given proper attention. Causes of Injury In 2012, 4,383 people were killed on construction sites. The math on that shows that nearly 12 deaths occur every single day around the nation. That number is incredibly high, especially when you consider the prevention that you can take to avoid death or serious injury. Of that number of people who were fatally injured in 2012, their deaths most commonly fell into one of four categories. This includes falls, being struck by an object, electrocutions, or being caught in between two objects. Falls made up for nearly 36% of all deaths, which is the most of the four categories. Second was being struck by an object, 10%, followed by electrocution and caught in between objects, 9% and 2% respectively. You will notice that that doesn't add up to quite 100%, but keep in mind that the remaining injuries that result in death are caused by other factors. But nearly 56% of all total injuries come from one of these four construction incidents. It is estimated that by being more prepared and cautious in the workplace, over 400 construction workers could prevent injury on an annual basis. While some workplace issues are still likely to occur, there is no denying that the potential of these four categories should be the first thing considered on a construction site. Importance Of Prevention The reasons that construction sites should be concerned with their safety

Learning About Lean posted an interesting blog post recently titled Organizations Which Succeed: While not a Lean expert, ESPN commentator Colin Cowherd recently made a comment I found insightful. Observing three organizations which seemed to be consistently successful, he found this common theme amongst the San Antonio Spurs, the New England Patriots and the Boise State football program. "Celebrate rarely. Grind always."

Many businesses need and even require the use of safety signs to warn employees and customers of potentially hazardous areas. However, the task of finding the right signs to portray the right message, along with finding a reputable company to provide the signs may be more difficult than originally intended. We are here to ease some of that burden with 10 helpful tips for finding the right safety signs to satisfy your business needs. 1. Identify Areas that May Need Safety Signs Before even beginning a search for a safety sign supplier, the first step in the process should be to accurately identify any areas within your facility that may be in need of safety signage. Think of all areas used by employees and/or customers such as aisles, walkways, fork lift zones, hazardous waste areas, potential slippery surface areas, etc. The key here is to identify all the locations that could pose hazardous conditions so proper signage can be created. 2. Pinpoint Potential Safety Hazards. Once certain areas have been designated as potentially hazardous, the next step would be to determine the actual safety hazards in the area that pose risks. An example of this could include an area where liquids are routinely transported. In this case, a spill may be likely which could endanger employees or customers due to the enhanced risk of a slip or fall. 3. Determine the Message to be Conveyed by the Signage Signs are posted everywhere, from "Watch Your Step" signs to "Employees Only" signs. However, for a sign to be truly effective it must convey a clean and clear message that can be understood easily by nearly anyone. For instance, in a work environment that includes welding, safety signs warning of potential arc flashes may be needed. In this case, a sign should be posted instructing anyone who enters to wear proper protective gear, this sign could read "Warning: Arc Flash Zone Proper Protection Required." 4. Consider the Conditions where the Signs will be Located Now

When running any sort of physical production based business, you will often have stock on hand. Instead of only stocking for a short time, there will be a "backup" supply of products that can be called upon as demand changes. This is known as "just in case" manufacturing and is highly common in most industries. However, several decades ago, the rise of lean business gave way to the concept of "just in time" manufacturing. In a just in time, or JIT, system, products are made as they are demanded and there is little to (ideally) no back-stock at any time. Why go lean? The idea behind JIT manufacturing is that one can eliminate several kinds of waste by taking away the need to keep inventory of excess stock. From now on, equate "stock" to "excess stock" or the concept of having too much on hand, because in a JIT environment "stock" doesn't really exist outside of individual orders. When you don't have to keep inventory, employees free up their time for other projects and tasks. Also, you have less paperwork to manage, and can focus on other things, like workplace safety, new profitability angles and marketing strategies, etc. Another reason to go to a JIT model is that you increase accountability of management. Because you have no inventory to fall back on in a JIT situation, inventory cannot be used as a crutch to make up for other problems. Slow, inefficient production is often masked by a stockpile of inventory, making it harder to realize certain areas of production may need improvement - these may include machine functionality, worker habits, reliability, and inadequate space management. Another huge place you save by adopting this method is in transportation. Materials do not need to be stocked at various sites and you need to do much less transporting. You will eliminate time wasted in transit when there is traffic or road congestion, and you'll even be more environmentally friendly by reducing fuel burned for shipping purposes

The control of important documents in today's workplace continues to be a struggle despite the incorporation of the ISO 9001:2000 requirements. To clarify document control, it can be described as ensuring that current documents are first approved by qualified personnel and then distributed to the areas or places where they are actually used and that old or redundant information is then removed. What does the ISO 9001:2000 have to say about document control? Well, the very first sentence of the section labeled 4.2.3 states that "All documents required by the quality management system shall be controlled." If this is clearly laid out by the ISO standards why does it continue to be a struggle for some businesses? Many business professionals find themselves asking "Does this document need to be controlled?" And the answer is yes if it meets the specific criteria of involving product requirements, controlling processes, provide verification or the testing of products, collect data for decision-making, or relate to any requirement of the ISO 9001:2000.

Transforming into a tech company has become top of mind for executives in all major industries. It is clear that modern technology will fundamentally alter what and how business is done in every domain, sector, and industry. This has led to a call to arms in every enterprise to understand how they can transform into a tech company. The Tech Company Magic Tech companies have fine-tuned the art of bring new digital products and services to the market, quickly, efficiently and effectively and understanding customer feedback to iterate and improve. This capability makes them incredibly agile and leads to faster experimentation that is cheaper and involves less risk. In turn, this enables them to bring new capabilities to the market and even if all do not succeed or get traction, a few do and that drives innovation, customer satisfaction, and growth. From the outside, tech companies appear to be massive juggernauts that are unstoppable and able to crush everything in their path. The 'Non-Tech' Technology has been leveraged in every sector and industry, however, it has almost always been treated as a means to an end, something that is required but never the real value driver for the customer. This has led to the typical organizational structure in enterprises into "Business", "Operations" and "Information Technology". The "Business" arm generates value for customers, the "Operations" team carries out the requirements of the Business team and the "Information Technology" team provides the systems (databases, network and compute) required to "keep the lights on" for the Operations and Business Teams" This structure served enterprises well in the last decades as customers did not have an alternative to directly working with the enterprise and this fortified the value supply chain and also established a hierarchy of sorts within the enterprise where the business looked down upon operations who looked down upon technology. The purpose of

A pitfall in the path to innovation and disruption is the lop sided focus on "creation" and not enough focus on "consumption". Creation is the process of creating platforms, products, and solutions where as consumption focusses on ensuring that the created artifacts deliver the intended value. Too often enterprises get caught up in "creation" or enabling "creation" and lose sight of the fact that without consumption, anything they create is bound to be a failure. Creation & Consumption can not be Sequenced A misconception that often exists is that "if we build it, they will come" i.e creating the product and solution is enough and its existence will automatically lead to consumption and value generation for the customer. However, creation and consumption cannot be sequenced i.e. made a focus sequentially. Creation and consumption only succeed when they go hand in hand where tight, iterative loops ensure that the creation is informed by consumption trends and feedback and that consumption is also leveraging the latest creations. What Does A Lop-Sided Focus Look Like The top 3 signs of this lop-sided focus are as follows Focus on Building Platforms When the focus of the enterprise is building platforms and when customer value is only created when a developer leverages the platform to build a customer facing application, it often means that the effort invested in the platform has no ROI. When the focus is on platforms, application investment suffers and the platform builders get sidetracked with platform KPIs as opposed to business value KPIs. The platform builders might only focus on "Developer" satisfaction when ultimately, customer satisfaction matters for the business. Focus on Tools, Not on Solutions Another sign of lop-sided investment is a focus on tooling at the expense of solutions. Enterprise teams can often go overboard with building large libraries of tools and using the adoption of the tool as a metric of success. However, simil

When you look to buy some makeup, you do so with the intent of buying a product that's safe for your skin. It's natural to assume that the majority of big-branded items qualify as safe makeup, but this might not be the case. You see, one of the little-known secrets of the cosmetic industry is that many popular makeup products on the market are full of toxic chemicals. These range from things that can alter your hormone production to chemicals that induce skin allergies, and everything in between. Consequently, you don't want to put any harmful chemicals on your skin at all. But, how do you ensure that you're using safe, chemical-free makeup? Well, this is where Youngevity mineral makeup comes into play as it's only made from natural ingredients that are safe for the skin - and the whole body as well.

Does your facility have pipes? If so, those pipes need labels. While pipe labeling may seem like a confusing process with many requirements, it doesn't have to be difficult. Starting with a plan will make your pipe-labeling project easier and more organized. Then once your facility's pipes are labeled, you'll see communication about pipes improve. Using visuals like labels makes communication direct and simple, and it reduces the need for asking questions about pipe contents. Before you begin marking pipes, you should understand the basics of pipe marking. Take a look at these seven things you should know before you begin the pipe-marking process. 1. Workers Need to See Pipe Labels, and So Do Emergency Personnel Labeling pipes will primarily help your workers and any maintenance personnel who may need to service pipes. Therefore, you'll want to keep this main audience in mind when you establish your pipe labeling system. It's possible you'll have additional people who enter your facility and need to know what's in your pipes, though. In an emergency situation like a fire, emergency responders may need to know which pipes contain fire-quenching liquids. If an accident involving a pipe containing chemicals occurs, an emergency response team would quickly need to know what chemicals it's dealing with. Because these additional members of the community may be reading your pipe labels, it's important to follow industry standards for pipe labeling instead of having an internal system that only your workers understand. 2. Colors Should Be Standardized Pipe Marking, Pipe Labels To make it easy for workers, emergency responders and other pertinent personnel to read and understand pipe labels, the labels should be color-coded according to the ANSI/AMSE 13.1 standard. The standard assigns six main colors for pipe contents: Yellow Background with Black Text - Flammable Fluids & Gasses Red Background with White Text - Fire-Quenching Fluids Orange

According to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), hot work accidents are among the most frequently reported accidents to that agency. Between 1990 and 2010, fires and explosions near flammable storage tanks caused by hot work accounted for more than 60 fatalities. Unfortunately, these accidents continue to take place. This past July, an explosion occurred during hot work near a storage tank at Omega Protein in Mississippi, killing one worker and injuring another. The tank contained eight inches of water and fish matter, which unknown to workers created flammable gases that led to the accident. When incidents like this happen, oftentimes the people and companies involved haven't sufficiently assessed hazards and properly isolated everything in the vicinity that could be flammable. These types of hot work accidents may not seem as obvious as other hazards associated with hot work such as UV light or welding fumes, but they can be even more deadly. The oil and gas industry often faces these hot work hazards, but so do the food production, paper and wastewater treatment industries, according to a video about the dangers of hot work made by the CSB. WHAT IS HOT WORK? OSHA defines hot work as "any work that involves burning, welding, using fire- or spark-producing tools, or that produces a source of ignition." Welding and cutting occur frequently at many industrial worksites, so it's important for workers involved in these operations to understand the potential unseen dangers associated with these tasks. Flammable gases and vapors can be present near storage tanks, fuel tanks and other confined spaces. PREVENT HOT WORK FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS In 2010, the CSB published a bulletin offering advice for how employers can prevent these types of hot work accidents. In the wake of recent accidents involving hot work and storage tanks filled with organic matter that might not seem hazardous (as was the case at Omega Protein), the organization has reemphasized the im

Ok, let's be honest here. Unless you are a safety professional, or you work closely with safety professionals, the chances are that no one has really told you anything about pipe marking, right? But for those of us lucky enough to work in this industry, it quickly becomes all too clear that there is an endless amount of information available about this very narrow topic. Unfortunately, about 99% of the information that people learn about pipe marking is just reiterating the standards and regulations that are put out by OSHA and other regulatory bodies. Now, make no mistake, this information is absolutely critical to learn and follow. The fact is, however, that there are A LOT of other things that someone who works with pipe marking should know. We've put together some helpful tips, tricks, information, and advice that covers a wide range of pipe marking related topics to help ensure your pipe marking strategies are as effective as possible. If you have any other 'secrets' of pipe marking that you don't see here, please contact us below so we can help pass them along in the future. Choose Your Materials Wisely Everyone knows that you can't just use the normal label materials that are basically paper with a little glue on the back, which you might buy at Office Depot. There are, however, lots of different types of industrial labeling materials out there, and picking the right one for the right area is essential. Here are several essential points to be aware of: Pipe Materials - Did you know that normal vinyl labels can cause corrosion on pipes made of nickel and stainless steel? If you have this type of piping, make sure you opt for labels that are identified as 'low halide' to avoid this potentially disastrous risk. Know the Weather Risks - When labeling outdoor piping, you need to keep weathering in mind. Most label materials are water-proof, but the constant change in temperature, humidity, wind, and more can really be rough on pipe markings

Today construction is synonymous with progress and development and hence it is a very common sight to see a number of construction works going on in different regions around the world. Especially in cities where large numbers of sky rises are seen, a lot of activity in the area surrounding the construction site is evident. But to maintain a safety circle around such areas where constructions take place, it is important to cordon off the area so that the public is not inconvenienced by the work going on there. Moreover, in cities, the roads are usually filled with traffic and such construction sites do cause plenty of problems to the smooth movement of vehicles. This is the reason why there are stringent rules in place regarding cordoning off areas, such as construction sites that can be hazardous to the traffic as well as the public on the road. This is why warning tapes are important in construction sites as they help to maintain the precautions needed for safety and protection to the public as well as the traffic on the road. Moreover, with the right kind of messaged printed on them they can be used as a very effective barricade. A variety of safety equipment should be put in place in any constriction site irrespective of the type and size of construction it is. Some of the equipment is meant for the workers involved in the construction while some of the others are to protect the people in the vicinity of the construction site. One such tool that is of utmost importance and mandatory to any construction site is the warning tapes. These tapes also known as danger tapes help in the protection of trespassers, the people walking nearby and the traffic that passes by the site. High visibility, weather friendly and brightly colored, the warning tapes have helped to alleviate the occurrence of accidents and disasters around the construction sites to a great extent. The warning tapes are made of a variety of materials and are available in a standardized set of colors.

Even though pipe marking is an essential practice when it comes to safety in any facility with exposed pipes, this practice is often undervalued and sometimes even overlooked by employers. Why? Well, it could be due to a lack of time to pipe mark or it may even be that they don't have the correct supplies to engage in pipe marking, however in many cases, it is often both of those reasons combined with a lack of knowledge concerning appropriate pipe marking. Why is Pipe Marking so Important? ANSI Makes it Easy! Instead of having each and every industrial work environment utilize different methods and rules for pipe marking, ANSI has made it quite simple by providing a set of pipe marking standards which should be in place within every facility which features exposed piping. Let's break down these standards into some smaller, bite size pieces. Color Coding: The color coding of pipes just makes visual acuity of pipes and their contents a little less complicated. According to ANSI the following colors should be used to indicate the contents. Workplace Organization Guide

When it comes to streamlining your business and following the principles of lean manufacturing, it's important to think about changeover. In most assembly-line type work floors there are significant amounts of changeover that occur on a daily, weekly, monthly, or as-demanded basis. Changeover itself is the process of taking a machine or series of equipment producing one thing to another. Depending on the product being made and the adaptability of the machinery, this can take anywhere from a few seconds to weeks at a time. Any assembly line producing large machinery (construction equipment, automobiles, etc.) is likely to have a long changeover time.

Safety managers know that everyone seems to have their own thoughts about workplace safety. In most cases, everyone seems to think that their opinion on the subject is a fact that everyone should follow. Whether it is the executive that thinks that workplace safety is largely a waste of money, or the front line employee who thinks that their experience means they don't need to wear the proper safety gear, it can be difficult to overcome people's ideas. David Castella, a marketing associate at ProcessMAP Corporation looks at all these myths in the industry in a blog post. In it, he asks for input about which ones but safety professionals the most, and which ones make their jobs most difficult. Common Workplace Safety Myths In the blog post, Mr. Castella touches on a number of myths that can lead to a loss of safety in the workplace. Some of the key myths he covered include: Workplace Safety Isn't Worth the Time - Many people in both management positions and front line employees think that safety is a waste of time. Helping to show them why this is a myth is one of the most difficult parts of a workplace safety manager's job. Slip & Falls Can't be Stopped - People often think of slip and fall accidents as events that can be reduced in frequency, but not eliminated. While it is certainly a hard task to eliminate them, that should always be the goal in every workplace. There is no such thing as a Perfectly Safe Workplace - This one is similar to the previous myth. When people state that it is impossible to have a perfectly safe workplace, it is essentially giving up. When you have a goal of perfection, you'll always be striving to make improvements. It is well worth your time to read through the blog post as he brings up a number of important points, and provides evidence to debunk these and other myths. When Mr. Castella posted this post to the Safety, Health, Environmental, Risk and Community Management group on LinkedIn, it generated some very in

VPN, i.e., Virtual Private Network, establishes a secure connection to public and private networks over the Internet. VPN helps to protect your identity and provides a secure network for accessing data. Initially, the VPN connects business networks securely over the Internet. It also allows you to access a business network from home. What is a VPN? How does it work? Why should you use it? These are some common questions that come in the mind of every person who wants to use a VPN. So, let's find out the answer to all these questions. Contents [show] How Does a VPN Work? How Does a VPN Work It is not rocket science to understand how a VPN works. We can simply learn the process of VPN by reading the following steps. Step 1: At first, you need a reliable VPN provider (ExpressVPN Recommended). Then download and install the software. Now select the preferred security settings and set up a safe connection with your desired VPN server. Step 2: After the connection is established; VPN software encrypts your data traffic on your computer and sends it to the VPN server through a secure connection. Step 3: The VPN server decrypts the encrypted data from your computer. Step 4: Your data is being sent on the Internet by the VPN server and receive a reply, which is meant for you. Step 5: This traffic is again encrypted by VPN-server and is sent back to you. Step 6: VPN software will decrypt the data on your device so you can understand and use it. Why ExpressVPN is the Best? The best thing I like about ExpressVPN is that it has a no-logging policy. Apart, from this ExpressVPN is fast, secure, and keeps your IP hidden. ExpressVPN allows you Torrenting/P2P and even works with Tor for the maximum level of privacy. It has a user-friendly interface and a great design that is easy to operate. ExpressVPN uses the government-grade encryption method as default. You can even try doing it manually. ExpressVPN is the best excellent premium VPN service to trust and work.

Social distancing is the new buzz word for 2020. Measures imposed by governments across the globe have caused the cancellation or postponement of sporting leagues, events and tournaments, leaving a gaping hole in the lives of sports fans everywhere. Luckily, the internet means there are still plenty of ways for everyone to get a daily dose of exercise and sporting entertainment. Social Distancing Exercise Daily exercise is as important now as it has always been. Whilst there are no team sports allowed, there are still plenty of ways to stay fit and active. Being allowed out for daily exercise means running and cycling are still on the cards. And for those with extra energy to burn, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) sessions are all the rage. YouTube is full of HIIT workouts lasting between 10 minutes and 1 hour. King of HIIT and the nation's favourite PE teacher, Joe Wicks, has plenty of videos online to suit everyone from beginners, kids, and seniors to hard-core fitness fanatics. Online Gaming Online gaming offers up the thrill of sports, albeit without the physical aspects. And you don't need a PlayStation or Xbox as plenty of computer games and apps are downloadable. Dream League Soccer 2020 - Take charge of a footie team, building it from over 3,500 players and rise through the ranks of eight leagues to the top flight of football. TGC 2019 - An authentic golf sim that lets players design challenging courses, compete in Skin wager matches, or become a golfing pro in the PGA Tour Career mode. NBA 2K20 - Adapted for Android, this basketball app has multiple gaming modes. Build a career, compete in streetball tournaments, or become GM of your own team. Even Formula One is getting in on the online gaming act by running virtual races with current and past drivers fighting it out via a video game. F1 fans can watch the races on Sky Sports, YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook channels. Not a fan of online gaming? You can always challenge yourself with one

You have installed Google's Pie software in your Android phone, but since then, you are noticing small issues which has a common theme with Android updates. Android 9 has made significant changes, but unfortunately, not all the adjustments are easy to follow. In this article, we will discuss four Android 9 problems plaguing users. We suggest to follow the best Android website in India for up to date news about Android and available apps. The Smart text selection If a new overview is not working in text selection, then it is the time to troubleshoot. You have to long press at an open space anywhere in your home screen. Select "settings", then "suggestions", move your cursor a little bit down to check whether the overview selection is turned off or not. Turn it on and your problem will vanish. If this trick does not work for you, then go to "settings" and select "languages and input". You need to check whether you have selected English (United States) as your language. If you have selected any other language, then it may be the source of the issue. The current hypothesis is that Google has set limits for this feature and hence, why it works best when in combination with United States English. Steps to activate split screen mode This is a common complaint, but unfortunately, at this point in time, there is no satisfactory solution to this issue. You do not need to get disheartened because there are third-party apps which will fill the void. These apps will make it easier to activate split screen function in your Android 9 device. There are free apps as well as paid which will allow you to initiate the split screen mode in your device. Adjusting the ringer volume If you are facing this issue, don't worry, you have company. Many Android enthusiasts miss old ringer volume adjustment. They wish to get it back and they are looking for different ways to get the same old behavior of the ringer volume. In order to do it hassle-free, you can make us

Pandemic & Natural Flu Prevention with Simple Daily Habits The current Coronavirus Pandemic sweeping the world is causing all of us to look at our daily habits. Most of the focus has been on hand sanitation, covering your mouth if you cough or sneeze, and keeping your distance from people who may be at risk of spreading the virus. However, a more prudent action to take would be to look at the daily habits you have in place which could protect you long term from being in the high risk group of most likely to suffer severe consequences from contracting a virus such as COVID-19. Rather than resort to waiting for an immunization to emerge, you could start now to adopt daily habits that support natural pandemic and flu prevention. This high risk group comprises people over the age of 60 who are immune compromised and/or have an underlying health condition that makes them more susceptible to disease and death from that disease. Unfortunately, the health of our population as a whole has been declining for many years now. Have a look at some of the statistics: From 1990 to 2013 there was a 141% increase in deaths from Heart Disease. From 1996 to 2009 there was a 145% increase n people suffering from Asthma From 1999 to 2015 there was a 150% increase in Inflammatory Bowel Disease From 1990 to 2015 there was a 250% increase in Epilepsy From 1999 to 2010 there was a 300% increase in Diabetes From 1996 to 2018 300% more births required fertility treatments. From 1991 to 2015 there were 783% more deaths from Alzheimer's Disease From 1990 to 2018 there was a 4,200% increase in Autism Common diseases are now increasing at epidemic rates, but none of this is hitting the headlines of our mainstream media! What could be causing this massive decline in our population's health, and therefore making us more vulnerable to pandemics like COVID-19 and seasonal flu viruses? Nutrient Deficiency Diseasesmineral-defiency-deseases-and nutrient deficiencyDr Wallach has been saying for man