security

08/10/2018 By Jason Bean

The Absolute Fundamentals of Designing Employee ID Cards

For every organization, their employees are highly valuable assets. Employee satisfaction is almost as important as customer satisfaction. Employee ID cards validate your employee’s role in your organization. By giving your employee ID cards that they can flaunt, you let your organization’s name become even more visible around town and other business establishments, thus increasing your marketing footprint.

Here are a few factors that can set your employee ID card apart.

Stick to a Sensible Design

Going for an outlandish design for your employee ID card is not necessary to set it apart. You can look for office ID badges online and find multiple templates. Things to decide about the design of the card are:

Orientation: Depending on how you want your employee to carry the ID you can decide on orientation.
Single or Double Side: smaller businesses opt for single-sided cards. To highlight your organization and keep your employee details on the same card, double-sided cards work the best.
Color Choices: Keep the IDs in tune with your company’s color scheme if you have any. Backgrounds of flashy colors make the cards look tacky as well as making them hard to read.
Fonts: Going crazy with fonts for an ID card is a bad idea since it makes them hard to read. Stick to clear and bold fonts.
Encoded Data: for many organizations these are necessary for office space access. Do not add redundant barcodes if they are not necessary.

Let your Logo be Seen

Your employees' ID can be a good way of getting your organization's name out there. The logo of your company should be the first thing that comes to view on the ID card. To ensure this you need to make the size of your logo bigger than the other components of the ID. The colors you choose for your ID should make your logo stand out.

Along with the organization logo, you can opt to add some organization information. Add your company corporate address lines and contact information. Adding the area of work that your business handles is also an option.

Choose the Best Quality

No matter how well the design is of your office ID, it is bound to be tacky if the quality of the card is bad. You can find bulk printers that offer ID cards printed for cheap. Buying office ID badges online should be done from reputable sites which offer the best quality product. The durability of the card sets trendy ID cards apart from tacky ones.

Employee Identification and Details

The most eye-catching feature of an office ID card, after the company logo, should be the employee picture. Keep a nice prominent space on the front side of the ID for your employees’ picture. For double-sided IDs, keep space for your employee’s name, designation, year of validity of the ID card and employee number (if any) on the front side.

Personal information, like your employee’s business address, office contact details and emergency contact details, should always be on the flip side of the card.

Update: Canva, the popular tool for more easily creating custom graphics for your social media or online marketing efforts now has the ability to create ID cards for your company or organization with the same ease, quality and simplicity.

12/06/2017 By Jason Bean

How Much Can Identity Theft Impact Your Life?

Identity theft is at an all-time high in today’s digital world. Identity theft can happen to anyone including teenagers browsing their smartphones to middle-aged families securing their nest egg. Security is no longer guaranteed and crucial steps need to be taken to make sure safety is within reach. Last year alone, 15 million people lost over $16 billion due to identity theft. Identity theft doesn’t stop with just bank accounts either. Medical records, credit scores, and even criminal records are at a higher risk.

The most common form of identity theft starts with an unauthorized credit card or bank account charge. About 86% of fraud victims initially notice the intrusion by noticing an unauthorized charge on their bank account or credit card. Those diligent enough to find the unauthorized charges early usually have the charge taken care of within a couple of hours. Not all cases are so quick. Some identity theft cases can take years to resolve and 25% of cases are never fully solved. As a freelancer, you also need to understand the importance of protecting your credit as well.

Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking platforms have become a hotbed for identity theft. Social networkers have a 46% higher risk of identity theft. Online shopping also carries a higher risk. Your risk raises 30% online than in traditional brick and mortar stores. Taking steps such as clearing your card information in your browser, creating complex passwords, and securing your online shopping purchases can help protect that extra money you worked hard for safe from identity theft.

Whether you’re 18 and graduating high school or 80 and making your retirement fund last, keeping an eye on your digital footprint is more important than ever. Check out the infographic from Investment Zen below. It shows extra information on the risks of identity fraud as well as a additional information to keep you safe from harm. If you suspect identity fraud at any time, call the Federal Trade Commission and file a report.

Via: InvestmentZen.com

11/17/2017 By Jason Bean

How Manufacturers Keep Medical Devices Sterile and Safe

Cyber-security has added a new dimension to medical device safety, and the FDA is urging device manufacturers to begin incorporating digital security into safety procedures, the administration’s blog reports. With devices such as implantable cardiac pacemakers and insulin pumps now incorporating digital technology connected to the Internet of Things, a computer security breach can now threaten the lives of patients as well as their medical records. To address this, the FDA has released guidelines for medical manufacturers on how to incorporate digital security into safety procedures throughout product life-cycles, starting during the design phase. These guidelines aim to help manufacturers prevent risks as well as manage any risks that do emerge.

While the digital dimension of medical device safety is new, device manufacturers have long been required to take steps to ensure product safety. Here’s a look at how medical manufacturers keep the devices they produce sterile and safe for consumers.

Material Selection

Strategic material selection lays a foundation for safe medical devices. In order to remain sterile, medical device parts are often made of special materials that are resistant to heat expansion, chemical change, and gas permeation. They must also come in very precise sizes to retain a good seal as they are used. Medical o-rings actually come in over 7,000 sizes. Some of the highly specialized materials used include liquid silicone rubber (LSR), which can withstand a range of temperature from -85 degrees F to 400 degrees F. LSR can also retain its properties during sterilization processes involving gamma radiation, ethylene oxide and steam, enabling it to meet United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary safety standards, which represent compliance with federal law. LSR is further resistant to cleaning agents and microbial growth. The properties of liquid silicone rubber make it ideal for medical applications such as syringes, as well as face masks or inhalers. (Read more: guide to sources of ventolin online and their reviews)

Manufacturing Process

The materials used for medical devices must go through special processes in order to remain sterile. Best-in-class medical device manufacturers use medical device cleanrooms that meet different classes of regulatory standards. Cleanrooms control contamination by careful monitoring to ensure that contaminants are not concentrated at more than a specified number of particles per cubic meter of a given particle size. Highly refined filters and recirculation of purified air help ensure air quality. Staff must enter the room through secure air locks while wearing protective clothing. Substances that could potentially contaminate products are banned from the cleanroom, and furniture and other items are kept to a minimum. Special walls that can be wiped down with antiseptic may also be used to maintain strict conditions and humidity may be controlled.

Shipping and Handling

Rigorous shipping and handling policies also help ensure medical device safety. Packages intended for use in shipping medical devices must be tested for compliance with International Organization for Standardization safety guidelines. Medical device manufacturers must demonstrate that package barriers ensure sterility over the duration of the product’s intended life-cycle. The medical packaging must also hold up under testing to ensure integrity during the handling, distribution, and storage processes. Environmental controls, artificial aging and simulation of distribution are used to test package integrity. Inspectors check for factors such as leaks, seal strength, plastic tears and puncture resistance. Packaging labels must also provide directions for use and warnings against unsafe practices.

Once medical devices and medical gas outlets arrive at medical facilities, medical staff take additional steps to ensure safe handling and storage. Hospital loading docks and warehousing services follow special materials management procedures to ensure that devices remain sterile during storage and preparation for use. Items such as sterile instruments and medical pumps are often stored in a separate sterile processing department for extra protection.