Real Estate & Investing

The offshore oil and gas industry is notoriously dangerous, where death is an ever present danger for those out in the field.  However, changes and improvements in leadership training have helped to cut down on such deaths.  With executives at some of these companies getting the best training possible, workplace safety is slowly becoming better and better for their employees while still maintaining great levels of production.

Health and Safety Executive show how deaths and serious injury are very low today.  In this previous year in fact no deaths were reported in any offshore locations.  The year before that showed the same figures.  Such findings are becoming a common and positive thing.   As for injuries, they are very low at the moment, the lowest they been for about twenty years.  There were only thirty cases this year, which is even less than what Health and Safety discovered last year in their research.

The cause for all these excellent findings?  Altering how management back onshore comprehended the safety of their offshore employees says Health and Safety Executive Ian Whewell.  Because most senior level executive got promoted through positions in departments like marketing not in engineering or other fields associated with offshore practices, they did not fully understand what serious hazards were involved in the business of drilling and how important workplace safety is, especially for their company.  Because management leaders have received the proper business training and injury was reduced, and as a result, so did production and morale.

Though the training was simple in nature, it made a great improvement in comprehension for those leaders with no experience outside of the cubicle environment where it is difficult to imagine the tragedies that can happen in offshore drilling.  The effect of such training seminars were immediate and obviously successful, seeping down into all areas of the bsiness.

About two years ago, on August 22, I fell. I was jogging around the block with my dog. Of course, it was dark and the sidewalks where I go jogging were uneven and crumbly from tree roots breaking through the cement. I dislocated my jaw and broke my arm. I ended up with a big, heavy fiberglass cast around my arm. It was a bad summer. I felt damaged and worried that I wouldn’t be able to play the violin anymore. But, the crazy thing in all of this, just a month before my big fall, my older sister who was staying at one of the luxury Singapore business hotels while she was visiting me, had a fall and broke her hip to where she was put on bed rest. I’d been on the phone with her everyday. But, that’s still not the craziest thing. Our cousin, who was vacationing in San Francisco, had a fall a month before my older sister and broke her leg!

The three of us formed a club called the ‘Fallen and the Broken’, and we’d talk to each other daily. We’ve never done that before, talked to each other daily. Our relationships became closer and more intimate. When my cast was removed, there was this huge scar. It was a crooked line with little white points on either side where the stitches were. There was an indentation on the side where a long pin held my bones in place. I started thinking about covering it with a tattoo. I looked over tons of images, and would contemplate on which one would be the best. About a year and a half later, my arm was still sensitive in that area, but that didn’t stop my sister an me from getting a small purple heart. Mine was on my arm just outside the injured area and hers was on her hip.

But, a few months after that, I was getting my hair cut and realized that I had two arms. So, I thought I could tattoo the other arm. I’m really happy with my decision. It’s about intentional healing, about being balanced, about being happy, being alive and being aware of all that I have to be grateful for and I renamed our club ‘The Indelibles’.

I came to Cape Town to visit a dear friend of mine, who insisted I come and see how these architects transformed her home into a more sustainable, earth friendly home. She wanted me to stay in her newly remodeled home, but no matter where I go, I always prefer not to put my friends out, so I made reservations at one of the top Cape Town hotels, hoping this would not offend my dear friend. It did not, as a matter of fact, she was waiting for me in the lobby as soon as she found out I had arrived. She was that excited to show me her new way of living in South Africa.

The drive took about an hour, she lives just outside of Cape Town on some pretty prime property. During our drive this gave her the opportunity to tell me about the process of her remodel and the firm she hired to do it. The architects core philosophy is to create holistic architecture. This intrigued me, I never thought about our living area could be holistic. They integrate living spaces with the natural environment. They honor the site with taking a tremendous amount of care and time to get connected with the land itself. They identify its characteristics, both on the energetic plane and the physical plane. That sounded weird to me, but my dear friend continued. She told me that the architect firm took a journey into the history of the land and its spiritual ancestors. They even engaged in conversations with the native folk of the surrounding land and connected with the ancestors on an esoteric level. I asked my friend if she was being duped, but she just smiled at me and told me that I will eat my words once I see her place.

She told me what the architecture that manifested as a result of their nurturing harmonised with nature and man. They created synergy by integrating the natural elements with contemporary features. Therefore, they created a healthy space of mind, body and soul. This all sounded so laughable to me, but as we approached her land and her home. My jaw dropped, goosebumps raises on my skin. I was totally taken by what I saw. I can’t show you a photo, but a photo would barely describes just how wonderful it felt to be here on her land and in her home. My dear friend had to hold me as she walked me around the grounds and through her home. I felt like time had stopped, I felt at home, a oneness and at peace. Earth Temple Architects philosophy is by far the most amazing concept I’ve ever experienced.