In case you haven’t checked it out yet, the April issue of GAWDA Edge is now available on the Web at www.gawdaedge.org. It’s got a “spring training” theme and is jam-packed with articles that will help you do your job better. One such article deals with the gases and welding industry’s constantly changing rules and regulations.

Much like Major League Baseball clubs have to manage an ever-changing rulebook, gases and welding distributors have a lot to keep up with. Unfortunately, in the industrial environment, there’s much more than just one committee to worry about. From the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to the Internal Revenue Service, regulatory bodies of all shapes and sizes are constantly updating and implementing procedures, regulations and mandates.

Ideally, it is incumbent upon management to make sure that employees understand and abide by these changing regulations. However, much like in baseball, each player or employee is ultimately responsible for his or her own compliance with the rules.

This article will help you do just that. So head on over to www.gawdaedge.org and check it out!

This morning I came into work and found a message in my inbox. It was from Bank of America. There had been failed attempts to access my account and they were going to shut it down indefinitely if I didn’t login within 48 hours to with the correct information. They even included links for me to do just that.

The message looked pretty good. It had a Bank of America letterhead as well as its legal information and several links to what it claimed was the Company Web site. However, after further inspection, there were a few problems with the message.

I’m always leery of “Phishing” so I relied on some time-test techniques to bust the “phishers.” First, I checked the e-mail address of the sender. If it was truly from B of A, it would have a B of A e-mail address. Of course, it didn’t. It was a generic yahoo.com address. That was red flag #1.

 After #1 I wanted to further confirm what I already knew to be true, so I hovered my mouse over the “B of A Web Site” link. Of course, it wasn’t a link to www.bankofamerica.com, it was a link to what was most likely a phishing site designed to look like the B of A site. I didn’t click it to find out. Red flag #2.

Of course, I really didn’t even need to investigate the e-mail because I noticed the biggest red flag of all the second I opened the e-mail. I don’t have a Bank of America Account!

So what’s the moral of the story? It’s not hype, there are people out there actively trying to steal your account information. It’s not just via e-mail either, phishers are all over social media sites. If you check out the March issue of GAWDA Edge, I’ve offered some advice for avoiding the traps.

Stay safe out there!

If you were busy last night celebrating one of the two holidays (opening night for Major League Baseball and Easter) with your family, you might have missed your industry getting some major publicity on CBS. Last night welding was featured prominently on the network’s hit show “Undercover Boss.”

 For those of you that aren’t familiar with the show’s premise, it features CEO’s of major corporations who infiltrate their own companies posing as entry-level employees. Typically, the episodes center on four or five employees who invariably have a touching story that they share with the CEO who is, of course, predictably moved by hearing them.  Then, at the end of the episode the CEO announces changes, promotions and the like based on what happened.

 So what does this have to do with welding? Well, I’m glad you asked! This week’s episode focused on RotoRooter. In one of the segments, the CEO of the company tried to learn how to weld. The results—not so nice. In an interview with the Des Moines Register, the welding instructor, Dan Nicholson, described the CEO’s welding ability “I had a real hard time teaching Hank how to weld. I told him that I had an easier time teaching my kids how to weld,” he said, adding that he taught his own brood when they were just 8 and 12 years old.

 Chock one up for the welders!

 To read more from the Des Moines Register, visit this page.

 Also, you can stream last night’s episode of Undercover Boss here. (The welding segment begins around the 27:00 mark)