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George Aptal's life destiny reflects the conditions on the Mediterranean in the beginning of the eighteenth century, which called for individuals of different ethnic background to try their best to fit in. Although he was of Greek origin, from Izmir, in their youth, George Aptal and his brother had been preordained for the career in one of the most important of the factories (merchant colony) of the Levant Company in the very Levant itself. After a short-termed sojourn in Britain, during which he had obtained his education at Gloucester Hall in Oxford, and after a series of adventures, Aptal returned to Izmir in 1704, since he had been bound by contract to the Levant Company. There are no reliable data of his life and ventures in several following years. However, Aptal rose the interest of the diplomatic circles, when in 1713 he robbed the goods of the Tunisian merchants, having killed a number of them. From that moment on, the British authorities considered Aptal a pirate. Aptal's activities influenced the British representatives in Italian and Levantine ports, who tried to dissociate themselves from the case, with raising the issue of compensation of the losses to the Tunisian merchants. The better times arrived for George Aptal when the Porte decided to declare the war to Venice at the end of 1714. The same decision presented an introduction in a much larger confrontation, when in April 1715 the Court in Vienna declared the war to the Porte. Using the new events, Aptal decided to become a pirate in the service of the Papal state, thus becoming a mercenary of Vatican. Documents from the National Archives in London, together with the press that covered the ongoing incidences in the Apennine Peninsula and Europe (Avisi Italiani), point to this event. The decision of the Porte meant for Aptal that he had escaped the punishment of the British authorities, since Britain had no mechanisms to pressure the Papal State to extradite George Aptal. The tensions in the British-Ottoman relations, caused by the Aptal's piracy were resolved in 1719, owing to the successful actions of the new British ambassador to the Porte, in the person of Abraham Stanyan. This signifies ceasing of interests in George Aptal, who most probably had decided to remain in Italy, where he was protected for a time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many developed countries, especially in the USA and UK, different models of employee shareholding and other forms of financial participation of employees exist that make up the overall operative results, so that employees have a right to participate in the earned profit, but also to participate in the organization of the business and decision making on various levels. By including workers in the ownership of the company, traditional interests of workers, management and owners of the company are changing. According to the agency theory, the goals of the workers are identified as being identical to those of the owners. By enabling workers to participate in business decision making, they can have more impact on safety protection issues of the company. Studies have also shown that employee shareholding impacts safety and work protection, and there seems to be a connection between employee shareholding and fewer sickleave days. However, there are also other possible adverse effects such as burnout syndrome and more workplace injuries caused by excessive strain at work. The paper investigates the impact of the mentioned model of employee decision making to issues of safety and protection of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]