The Advice Thread

[So Long Architect]

Isn't locking other people in rooms or similar an issue? How has he explained that?

I've only just heard about that one. He was leaving for the day and said he'd be helpful by putting down the internal shutters as he left. For some reason he then put down the external ones too. Just an absent-minded thing, I guess, but taken with the other stuff it's a bit concerning.

Like you say, I wonder if an occupational health assessment would be the way to go.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Anyone got any thoughts on this one...

We have an older employee, 67 years old, who's been with us for around 10 years. Of late he's been acting quite odd - not turning work round at his usual speed, making an unusual amount of errors, and getting very flustered and anxious over really trivial work stuff. The other day he locked one of his colleagues in the office, who he'd been talking to just minutes before. And when he talks he's switches subjects at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason.

We've no desire to get rid of him as he's very much part of the team and has a level of knowledge we wouldn't be able to replace. We've mentioned to him that we're concerned but he says he's fine and that he just had a run of unusually difficult jobs (he hasn't).

He has no close family - lives alone and isn't married and the job is pretty much his life. We're probably the only people he sees who would notice anything wrong with him.

So what to do when you see there's something wrong (no idea what, and not looking for a diagnosis on here) but the person says everything's fine?

Can well recognise this scenario as am myself fast approaching my official retirement age (2 mths to go) but will be carrying on working for the time being. Hopefully I will recognise when/if my capability is starting to fail, but that's not a given.

He may well have realised, but is afraid of the diagnosis so is trying to ignore it. Agree with LJ that Occ Health dressed up if necessary as a review of his working practices/conditions to ensure that they are as optimum as possible - as we age sometimes small improvements in these impact greatly on our ability to continue doing the job.

As the default retirement age has been scrapped he has to be treated in the same way as a younger employee so the only other option is to go down the 'capability' route. Doesn't sound as if you are at (or want to) that point yet

 

[So Long Architect]

Can well recognise this scenario as am myself fast approaching my official retirement age (2 mths to go) but will be carrying on working for the time being. Hopefully I will recognise when/if my capability is starting to fail, but that's not a given.

He may well have realised, but is afraid of the diagnosis so is trying to ignore it. Agree with LJ that Occ Health dressed up if necessary as a review of his working practices/conditions to ensure that they are as optimum as possible - as we age sometimes small improvements in these impact greatly on our ability to continue doing the job.

As the default retirement age has been scrapped he has to be treated in the same way as a younger employee so the only other option is to go down the 'capability' route. Doesn't sound as if you are at (or want to) that point yet

No, I'd really rather we got him back to working at the level he was as a couple of months ago. We're happy for him to keep working as long as he's up to it and we're happy to make allowances for a drop-off in output as he contributes plenty in other ways. What's a bit worrying is that it's been quite a sudden, noticeable decline. Might simply be that he needs a holiday. He only takes random single days off. In the seven years I've been here, I don't think he's ever taken more than a couple of days at a time.

 

[Parkins left foot]

No, I'd really rather we got him back to working at the level he was as a couple of months ago. We're happy for him to keep working as long as he's up to it and we're happy to make allowances for a drop-off in output as he contributes plenty in other ways. What's a bit worrying is that it's been quite a sudden, noticeable decline. Might simply be that he needs a holiday. He only takes random single days off. In the seven years I've been here, I don't think he's ever taken more than a couple of days at a time.

Don't know whether, as a firm, you have targets for work output etc. & whether he is trying to maintain his level which is subconsciously creating stress which is impacting on his current performance.

If you are happy to accept a lower output as he brings other benefits in knowledge levels etc. does he know this. It may help him & may stop him putting pressure on himself.

The holiday point is valid - I benefit as I work in education so do get fairly regular breaks as whilst I do work some of the holiday period do get fair amount of time off, so even if I don't go away much less pressure and hassle. Certainly the long summer break is like a reboot each year (even though I had a building project on the go last year only needed to pop in once a week to check progress & field a couple of calls).

 

[Penk Wolf]

Don't know whether, as a firm, you have targets for work output etc. & whether he is trying to maintain his level which is subconsciously creating stress which is impacting on his current performance.

If you are happy to accept a lower output as he brings other benefits in knowledge levels etc. does he know this. It may help him & may stop him putting pressure on himself.

The holiday point is valid - I benefit as I work in education so do get fairly regular breaks as whilst I do work some of the holiday period do get fair amount of time off, so even if I don't go away much less pressure and hassle. Certainly the long summer break is like a reboot each year (even though I had a building project on the go last year only needed to pop in once a week to check progress & field a couple of calls).

I'm printing that off for future use against any teacher.

 

[So Long Architect]

Don't know whether, as a firm, you have targets for work output etc. & whether he is trying to maintain his level which is subconsciously creating stress which is impacting on his current performance.

If you are happy to accept a lower output as he brings other benefits in knowledge levels etc. does he know this. It may help him & may stop him putting pressure on himself.

The holiday point is valid - I benefit as I work in education so do get fairly regular breaks as whilst I do work some of the holiday period do get fair amount of time off, so even if I don't go away much less pressure and hassle. Certainly the long summer break is like a reboot each year (even though I had a building project on the go last year only needed to pop in once a week to check progress & field a couple of calls).

Yes, we do have targets, and while he's obviously encouraged to meet them to ensure fairness to all staff, it's been made clear that we're not going to be jumping all over him about it. He's always been a bit under target, but made up for that in the quality of his work, but that's gone out of the window recently.

I guess we just monitor it and go down the occ. health route if he continues to struggle. Might help if he didn't smoke so much!

 

[Parkins left foot]

I'm printing that off for future use against any teacher.

I'm not a teacher & my work pattern is different to theirs in that I work term time + 2 weeks so am only paid for those plus normal holiday entitlement (adds up to 46.5 wks per year)

Don't use me to attack teachers :icon_biggrin:

 

[lemonjelly]

I'm printing that off for future use against any teacher.

Parkin, like me & machin ain't a teacher. We got proper jobs!

I'm having debates at work at the mo, as they want me to book the rest of my annual leave.
I want to book it all in the summer, but won't have the dates for 2-3 weeks, so want them to wait.

 

[So Long Architect]

Anyone got any thoughts on this one...

We have an older employee, 67 years old, who's been with us for around 10 years. Of late he's been acting quite odd - not turning work round at his usual speed, making an unusual amount of errors, and getting very flustered and anxious over really trivial work stuff. The other day he locked one of his colleagues in the office, who he'd been talking to just minutes before. And when he talks he's switches subjects at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason.

We've no desire to get rid of him as he's very much part of the team and has a level of knowledge we wouldn't be able to replace. We've mentioned to him that we're concerned but he says he's fine and that he just had a run of unusually difficult jobs (he hasn't).

He has no close family - lives alone and isn't married and the job is pretty much his life. We're probably the only people he sees who would notice anything wrong with him.

So what to do when you see there's something wrong (no idea what, and not looking for a diagnosis on here) but the person says everything's fine?

Just a quick update on this one. We took our man to hospital today as he seemed to be getting worse and it turns out he's been having mini strokes or TIAs. He's been completely unaware of anything being wrong, which apparently is quite normal, but to everyone else he appeared to be in a right state. So after many scans and tests, he's been admitted which is a bit of a relief.

 

[lemonjelly]

Is he ok? Likely to return to work etc?

 

[So Long Architect]

Well, if it is TIA then Google tells me that if he gets treated he should be fine in the long term. Though my colleague who's with him at the hospital just said they've changed their mind and they don't think it is mini strokes any more. They're getting a neurological consultant to take a look at him.

 

[PPB]

To any gardeners out there. I have a huge Maple tree in the center of a big flower bed. I have covered the roots and base with inches of decorative stone. Underneath the stone is a layer of black matting to stop the weeds coming through ( the type that allows water to pass through) I have been told by two people that I am at risk of killing or damaging the tree as I am 'suffocating the roots' .Ive never heard such bollocks before, and have put stone round trees before. But can you do damage by laying TOO much stone?

 

[visage]

Isnt there a risk that you're stopping the natural 'recycling' of leaf matter and such?

 

[PPB]

Isnt there a risk that you're stopping the natural 'recycling' of leaf matter and such?

I just blow them off anyway with the leaf blower, collect and burn them. Have done for 15 years.

 

[PPB]

Double post due to sticky button. Not had one of them in ages.

 

[lemonjelly]

To any gardeners out there. I have a huge Maple tree in the center of a big flower bed. I have covered the roots and base with inches of decorative stone. Underneath the stone is a layer of black matting to stop the weeds coming through ( the type that allows water to pass through) I have been told by two people that I am at risk of killing or damaging the tree as I am 'suffocating the roots' .Ive never heard such bollocks before, and have put stone round trees before. But can you do damage by laying TOO much stone?

The short answer is yes, it is possible. Your last sentence is the key bit here.
Tree roots do not just grow downwards.
All living parts of the tree need oxygen for respiration. The leaves gain oxygen through stomata on the underside of the leaves and the woody parts of the tree use lenticels (tiny holes in the bark). Unlike animals, trees cannot transport oxygen around their ‘bodies’ so they need oxygen to be present everywhere, even underground in spaces between soil particles. Soil compaction closes the tiny air pockets in the soil and can eventually suffocate tree roots. Soil compaction can also prevent adequate soil drainage, leading to water runoff leaching valuable nutrients from the soil. It can also cause water logging, which further prevents tree roots gaining the oxygen they need. Above ground symptoms of soil compaction are usually reduced crown vigour, dieback or even death.

 

[PPB]

The short answer is yes, it is possible. Your last sentence is the key bit here.
Tree roots do not just grow downwards.
All living parts of the tree need oxygen for respiration. The leaves gain oxygen through stomata on the underside of the leaves and the woody parts of the tree use lenticels (tiny holes in the bark). Unlike animals, trees cannot transport oxygen around their ‘bodies’ so they need oxygen to be present everywhere, even underground in spaces between soil particles. Soil compaction closes the tiny air pockets in the soil and can eventually suffocate tree roots. Soil compaction can also prevent adequate soil drainage, leading to water runoff leaching valuable nutrients from the soil. It can also cause water logging, which further prevents tree roots gaining the oxygen they need. Above ground symptoms of soil compaction are usually reduced crown vigour, dieback or even death.

Many thanks for that Jellybean. Maybe I have been a little heavy handed with the stones around the base of the trunk then. But surely 2 inches of stone on the roots growing outwards on the ground won't cause damage?

Thanks again

 

[Wolf Hunting]

I suspect that this is going to be easy...

I have thousands of photos of Susie stored, you know how it is, you set your camera (/phone) on 'Burst' then fire away. 3 minutes later you've got 70 photos all slightly different.

Is there a bit of software that's easy to use that will paste them all together to make a little passage of 'Susie growing up'?
As it is as you scan through some of them it looks like a little movie clip as she moves imperceptably between each shot?

 

[lemonjelly]

Many thanks for that Jellybean. Maybe I have been a little heavy handed with the stones around the base of the trunk then. But surely 2 inches of stone on the roots growing outwards on the ground won't cause damage?

Thanks again

You're welcome matey.
It isn't the amount, it is the weight. A tree near a path can, depending on the amount of footfall end up dying as a result.
It isn't certain it's bad, but just there's a risk.

 

[YoungWolf]

Moving into a new house in Southampton in July, and need to look at tv and broadband. With Virgin and Sky it seems like you HAVE to have the phone line too?

We want to have good broadband and a decent selection of channels, but we don't want to be spending much (obviously). Thoughts?