Risk Assessment Approaches To Constructing Road

Risk Assessment Approaches To Constructing Road As an employer you have a business objective as well as a moral and legal obligation to provide and maintain a safe and healthy workplace that is, as far as reasonably practicable, free from risk and hazards. In doing so employers conducts risk assessment, this is intended to determine the potential harm to workers and other persons in the workplace, and implement control measures to eliminate these risks or to reduce them to a tolerable level. The most important element in the risk management cycle is risk assessment usually comprises of a combination of risk identification and risk evaluation techniques which make it also the most complex element of the risk management cycle. Evolving out of this were two parts in conducting risk assessment they being quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative Assessment was the more complex of the two as it depending on the collection and analysis of a great deal of data use to calculate probability and potential loss. This dependence of accuracy of data also acts as an Achilles heel for the process because of the share difficulty associated with data collection. However qualitative risk assessment is regarded as the lesser of two evils and is the most commonly used approach to risk analysis. This is due to the fact that probability data is not required thus making the process more attractive to safety practitioners and industries that are new to safety. Because there is no need for great amounts of historical data, companies that are newly expose to safety use this method simply because there is no data to collect. This paper discusses the different techniques to risk assessment, then describing the reasonable approach which can include both qualitative and quantitative approaches within a civil construction company. Company Overview Tee Pavers Limited is a local independent civil construction company locating at the southern part of Trinidad which has been in operation for the past 25 years. They have a workforce of over 120 skilled workers and a fleet of excavating, landscaping and asphalt paving machinery numbering in the hundreds. The company entertains government contracts for road construction and rehabilitation, they currently have a fully operating asphalt plant where they supply asphalt to several private and public companies throughout the country. Despite the number of years in operation the company was only recently introduced to Health and Safety as part of the compliance requirement of the OSH Act 2004 (Amended 2006). Figure 1 outline the detail process of road construction. Is simple and straightforward. Just what is needed in a safety- new company such as Tee Pavers Limited Can be complex and require suitable explanations. This process would not be well received at Tee Pavers Limited a company that is now being exposed to safety practices. The Calculation of frequency of risk to worker is largely judgmental and does not require extensive data. This proves to be effective due to the fact that techniques such as JSA and PHA focus on job task in identifying hazards and workers can participate. Calculation of frequency of risk to workers requires extensive, appropriate data that may not be relatively available. Thus as in the case with Tee Pavers where prior projects was done by gut feelings see that safety was never a concern. It provides estimation of risk levels to workers to particular fault and hazards. This is a simple process that could be understood by all workers. Provides numerical assessment of the level of risk. It is best carried out by an experienced team of people throughout the assessment which may include operators, supervisor and long standing workers. A team approach is best needed for the hazard identification stage. Techniques like FEMA and FTA usually need to be done by just a specialist to ensure consistency of logic. Processes and results are deriving objectively, easily supported. Process results are subjective and may not be repeatable. It requires structure logic to identify controls, protection and mitigation measures to support decision made by analyst. This was evident that Tee Paver workers were resistant to change. Logic is implied with quantitative, but requires explanation to support safety case arguments. Does not readily lend itself to assessment of combinations of failures leading to a hazard on the road. Assessment of combinations of failure is implied in techniques like FTA and ETA. Risk analysis of all hazards and consequences not readily achievable since it is largely judgmental. Risk analysis of hazards and consequences easily achievable. Appropriate at early stages before the start of new project when identifying major hazards and risk. The use of the PHA is ideal for Tees Paver road construction process. Mainly appropriate at the later stages of the project when details of design and intended operation are known and data is available to support the assessment. Evaluation of Risk Analysis of the Road Construction Process Taking into consideration the five steps risk assessment process (Health and Safety Executives) will determine the type of risk assessment techniques needed qualitative or quantitative. Table 2 shows all the various risk assessment that can be consider in the road construction process. However due the nature of the organization and past safety culture I believe that qualitative assessment Job Safety Analysis (JSA) and Preliminary hazard analysis (PHA) would be a more effective with comparison to the quantitative approaches like FEMA and ETA which is too intense in terms of complexity, dependence on historical data and time consuming which does not sit well with this type of business that strives on spontaneous contracts. Simplicity best describes Tees Pavers road construction process; therefore the qualitative approach is ideal in identifying basic hazard and risk. During the early stages of operation and the details of the project is identified PHA can be used. This process encourages participation and so the Project manager, Engineer, Supervisors and the Health Safety Environmental personnel all work together to identify the major hazards, and rank them according to severity with the aim of implementing preventative measures. The potential hazards identified during the phase 2 processes (Asphalt Paving). When laying the asphalt base the main hazardous events would be unprotected physical contact with the hot asphalt. The probability of a person getting burn from the hot asphalt is medium to high and the severity of injuries will also be medium to high. Therefore putting preventative measures in place would be easier, for instance; having workers wear insulated PPE thus reducing the risk factor. This type of assessment is effective because it deals with the hazards and risks before the commencement of the projects and the fact that a wide array of employees are included means that effective preventive measures can be put in place. Some might argue that some of the hazard and risk may be overlooked since it is done before the project starts but in Tee Pavers case this process never changes, the worker are experience and thus the accident or incident rate is close minimum. Feasibility Safety is inevitable. The Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2004 (amended 2006) states that every employer must conduct a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. In complying with the OSH Act the safety official can achieve a two prong approach by introducing task based assessment (a form of qualitative assessment). This allows every worker irrespective of educational background to participate thus fostering awareness. Appendix 1 shows a simple effective JSA for asphalt laying road works which has deemed suitable and sufficient meeting all the requirements stated in TTS 620: 2008. Appropriateness When you look at the culture of the workforce that predominates Tee Pavers you get the sense of being expose to the 1980s ones again. Workers with the average age of 46, limited educational qualification (some even partial illiterates), most of them originate from areas within 10 square miles of each other and the general sense of simply coming to work to do an honest day job without concern for safety ills driven by the competitive nature of individually pleasing the boss. Taking that into consideration one can only select the qualitative approach considering conducting risk assessments. Initially introducing safety measures must be done in simple steps even thought safety is becoming mandatory the intension is to encourage the worker to buy into it not to view it as a hindrance or a threat. Conclusion Tee Pavers is undoubtedly a prime example of a company that would greatly benefit from qualitative assessment. Some of these benefits include complying with legislation fulfilling the requirements of every employer providing a workplace that is free from risk. I my view conducting qualitative risk assessments over a period of time prepares a company for the more detailed, accurate and more complex quantitative approach. The workers who were once naive with regards to safety and health would now be coached into maturity. This would prove to be a welcomed combination when companies would be venturing toward greater horizons. However the stark reality is its all about money. With legislation playing a bigger part in the world of safety company now know that in order to be viewed as an attractive commodity they must show some level of compliance to these safety laws thus a concerted interest in the employment and establishment of safety department within these companies. These departments are mandated to establish safety guideline and assessments for projects (existing and proposed). The companies know that they will be audited and that successful audit would indicate compliance thus making them more marketable for new contracts. As distasteful as it sounds it is a reality that we face every day with existing and emerging companies competing for government contracts.

The Impact of Divorce on a Teenager :: Impact of Divorce on Children

All over the world, parents decide to divorce and this leaves children hurt and confused. The children may lose contact with one parent or they might decide to makes some bad decisions in their life due to the feeling of neglect. Some of the bad choices could be mental health disorders and struggling in academics. There are impacts on teens that could be short term but there are also long term effects too, because most of them look up to their parents as role models. (decent statement of theme) Family clearly impacts teenagers, especially a divorce. [Why this last sentence? This is a â€Å"no duh† comment=you knew it before you started. Maybe it works as a 1st sentence, but not a last one.] In the book The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, the main character, Esperanza, was affected by many external forces, including family. Esperanza is a young teen who just moved to Mango Street, and she doesn’t like her house because it’s ugly, and she dreams of another house that her family has promised one day. â€Å"I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window (Cisneros 11). This was in reference to her great grandmother who didn’t want to marry, but Esperanza’s great grandfather kidnapped her and forced her to marry, where Esperanza’s great grandmother never forgave him and looked out a window for the rest of her life. Esperanza didn’t chose her name, her family did, and she didn’t chose who her family is either. The external force of family is an issue in real life just as it is in this novel, and the teens learn to either love it or hate it. [Whoa! Where’s the divorce here? Why not use the mothers who are single parents? Isn’t that closer to divorce?] Adolescents tend to find ways to let out their emotions and try to escape their problems, and this unfortunately leads them to make poor decisions that hurt them more than they know that it would be. Alcohol actually is a depressant because it slows down the function of the central nervous system and it cause people to lose coordination and not be able to think straight. [Again, whoa! Where’s the divorce here? Why start with drinking? Suggestion: if this is what some teens do when faced with divorce, then maybe this should go as your 2nd or 3rd comment, not your 1st.

Duality of Jekyll and Hyde Essay

Focusing on the opening and closing chapters, how does Robert Louis Stevenson explore the conflict of duality in human nature in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. ‘The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ is a book published in a Victorian society with strict moral codes. This was also a time of discovery and science, and tension between religion and science was constantly rising. In this book you can infer that religion doesn’t bring answers or contentment, but also a warning to the use of science, and what could become of it. The book explores the duality of a man, Dr Jekyll, and how neither science nor religion brought him salvation. The duality in Jekyll and Hyde is represented by Jekyll and Hype as good and evil. The cause of why Jekyll made the potion was to satisfy his inner desires, but was prevented because of â€Å"the high views I had set before me, I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shames†. This quote from Jekyll explains that, because of the strict moral codes, and high respectability, Jekyll was unable to fulfil his desires without dishonouring his name, and so buried his fascinations away, showing self control. â€Å"These polar twins†¦ continuously struggling†, describes the duality fighting in Jekyll mind before he split himself. The â€Å"polar twins† is cleverly used and the two poles (Arctic and Antarctic) are on two different sides of the world, in two different hemispheres of the earth. This could be that the poles are so far apart, but similar in climate, so closer than they might think, as is the case for the 2 sides of Jekyll, and each is strugg ling to gain power over the other. To avoid dishonouring himself, he split his good and evil personalities, so only one side of himself could be threatening his good or neutral name, but where Jekyll possessed normal human self control, Hyde had none. What actually happens to Jekyll, once he had taken the potion, was that it allowed both his evil and his good sides to roam free, with little consequences. Until the changes start to get out of control, and Jekyll’s grasp over Hyde alters in Hyde’s favour. Jekyll becomes addicted to the use of the potion, and leads to a twisted world of murder, deception and death. The physical change from Jekyll to Hyde is described by Jekyll as â€Å"grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death†. Jekyll’s alteration is show through mainly his pain in the description. â€Å"Grinding in the bones† sets the scene with not just visual, but audio. It describes the cringing sound of the change more than the appearance. Also, â€Å"deadly nausea† is possibly a symptom or side effect of the potion that causes sickness and confusion during the event, and Stevenson used ‘deadly to emphasise the pain. At the time where religion was being doubted, Jekyll chose the opportunity to play god with science. Some certain, powerful phrases use both spiritual and scientific vocabulary and references, such as ‘Horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth and death’; this phrase is important to comparing the scale of what Jekyll had just disc overed. It illustrates that both birth and death are a major event, and play a big part of a living organism’s life, which God was believed to have controlled and kept balance of good and evil, whether it’s the birth and death of us, or of someone who was a part of our lives. Yet, Jekyll was able to manipulate the power of science to over through God’s rule and will, pushing boundaries no one had dared dreamed of reaching before. Comparing a scientific discovery, and what happens when using that discovery, would imply that it was on a grand scale of great importance. Also, events such as birth and death tend to be painful experiences, so it could also link into the pain of such event. However, from Lanyon’s narrative, he describes the changing from Jekyll to Hyde slightly more viciously, which also gives us insight into what it is like from someone else’s point of view. ‘Staring with infected eyes, gasping with open mouth.’ The description of ‘infected eyes’, seem as though it would be slightly exaggerated. When thinking of ‘infected’, we usually think of illness. This is probably, from what we can imply, what Lanyon thought it was. Also, ‘gasping with open mouth’, could be panic from Jekyll, for regrettably knowing that once again e is unleashing Hyde back into the world. However, other meanings can be interpreted. If someone was to ‘gasp with open mouth’, you would expect somebody to be doing this during their death, therefore symbolising that it was the death of Jekyll, and the re birth of Hyde. Although Jekyll thinks the potion is a solution, there are also long term effects of using the potion, and what happens. Jekyll begins to get addicted, to some extent, to the freedom and unlimited boundaries of Hyde’s power. Little does Jekyll know that the more times he uses the potion, the more powerful Hyde becomes over Jekyll, which results in Hyde coming and going as he pleases. The contrasting descriptions of Jekyll and Hyde, and also the reactions caused by their appearances link to the confliction between the two characters, Jekyll and Hyde, are similar from the people who meet them. Nearer the end of the novel, a constant battle is taking place, and Stevenson is able to show duality of Jekyll through confliction of the contrasting personalities, trapped by one another’s limits. As Jekyll is a doctor, it is his choice of career that he is able to help, and heal people, and once again representing good. Whereas Hyde makes doctors, who are obliged not to judge people, and help in any circumstance, â€Å"turn sick and white with the desire to kill†. If just one look at Hyde makes a healer want to kill, his personality must match his appearance. In contrast, Jekyll is physically described as â€Å"extremely handsome†, â€Å"well proportioned† and with† every mark of capacity and kindness†. The physical description of this character reflects on the reaction other people treat him with. Also, as Jekyll is a well respected doctor, his personality is expected to match his appearance. This is also the case with Hyde, however, he doesn’t get the same judgments as Jekyll gets. Hyde is described as â€Å"pale and dwarfish†, giving an â€Å"impression of deformity† and â€Å"Satan’s signature upon a face†. From these descriptions, we can see why his was disliked so much, and Hyde’s personality reflected his features to every last detail. Stevenson used the phrase â€Å"Satan’s signature upon a face†, which is related to religion, and ties in nicely with the books theme. Where people may say their faces are blessed by god, this phrase is implying that Hyde’s face was blessed by the devil, giving the impression that he is hideous, because Satan left his mark on him. Stevenson also explores the hidden duality in this book is doors and windows. At the beginning of the book, many questions are asked and are hidden behind doors. For instance, Hyde’s house is described at the beginning as â€Å"two stories high; showed no window, nothing but a door†¦ A blind forehead of discoloured wall†¦ And bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence. The door†¦ Was blistered and distained†. The language used to describe Jekyll’s house was also very interesting. Utterson described this house referring to Hyde’s influence, but also as if it was a person. â€Å"Blind forehead†¦ every feature†¦was blistered† are all ways we would somehow describe a human, which nicely links into the idea of the doors hiding and almost keeping secrets, and windows openly showing themselves. The house is also hidden and secluded around a back alley, out of view from the public, and very secretive, and it had no windows, and windows are let you see what is going on, they have no secrets. Through this idea of doors and windows, reflects also on the people. Before Hyde was entered into the picture, Jekyll was a very open and honest man. His door was always open. As Hyde’s power begins to grow, we can see that Jekyll becomes more engulfed and isolated in his own home because of his secret, and finds it hard to let anyone in, even people, such as Utterson, whom he trusted with his life. As the book goes on, doors are opened to show that questions are being answered, but there is also a physical use for the doors and windows. Jekyll’s house is very welcoming on a main street. The courtyard behind the house links to Jekyll’s house. Hyde is allowed to come and go as he pleases through the back door, creating even more mystery and arousing suspicion with occupants of the house. Basically, the front of the house was the well respected, first impression view, but the back was hidden, so could not be judged by who came and went. At the time in the book, where science has failed to provide any answers, Jekyll turned his head back towards religion. We can see this taking place when Jekyll â€Å"had fallen upon his knees and lifted his clasped hands to God†. At this point, Hyde’s power had grown beyond any imagination, or plight for help as Jekyll barely has control of himself, let alone Hyde. I think this quote symbolises how desperate Jekyll had become, from being a man of science, to resorting to religion to ease his soul and conscience. Other characters of interest the book also represent some of the themes to the book, but more subtly. For example, on chapter one, Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield are described as unlikely friends because nobody could see what they shared in common, they would go on walks every Sunday and â€Å"Set aside occasions of pleasure, but even resisted calls of business, that they might enjoy them uninterrupted†. This links to Jekyll and Hyde because no one can see why they are associated with one another, such as Jekyll leaving Hyde everything in his will, but Utterson couldn’t understand why. The hypocrisy of the hidden duality in the book is demonstrated not just through Jekyll and Hyde, but through other, fairly decent characters as well. We can only assume that from the book, Hyde’s influence causes people to change. For example, in the first chapter, ‘Story of the Door’, Hyde tramples a young girl. Mr. Enfield, who witnessed this crime, blackmailed Hyde by saying â€Å"we could and would make such a scandal out of this, as should make his name stink from one end of London to the other†¦ We screwed him up to a hundred pounds for the child’s family†. Even though Enfield had told Hyde it was wrong to blackmail, but they did it anyway. There is also hypocrisy in how Dr. Jekyll’s experiment backfires. After the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, Jekyll had given Utterson his word that he had gone and was not coming back. The hypocrisy of it all is that even though he had prevented Hyde taking power over him again, the temptation was too great, and went back to using the potion and increasing Hyde’s strength. I also think hypocrisy is shown through Jekyll’s head butler, Poole. As he is in charge of those lower than him, such as other butlers and maids, he encourages them not to ask too many questions, as that is what their job requires. However, Poole goes out to get Utterson for help, and does ask questions about what is going on with his master, and by doing so, he is being hypocritical. To conclude, I think that Robert Louis Stevenson explores the conflict of duality in the human nature in ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ by his clever use of themes and language to engage different meanings. We can gather that from the background conflict of science and religion, that Stevenson was using the warnings and deceitfulness of the two to show that neither is right or wrong. He explains â€Å"that man is not truly one, but two† and was able to put this into context by using the gothic horror genre so that people would understand and want to read. In the end, I think that the main theme of duality in the book is not just a theory, but a belief, and that the only thing that man has to fear, is man itself.

Marketing Plan For A Marketing Strategy - 1961 Words

A marketing strategy is vital for any business, and the focus of any marketing strategy is to make sure that both your products and services are meeting not only the needs of your customers, but the long-term relationships with them as well. In order to be truly successful, a marketing plan must be flexible to allow for changes in your customers perceptions as well as demands, merely creating a marketing plan is not enough. Furthermore, your marketing plan should be monitored periodically for its effectiveness and any adjustments should be made accordingly. There are several different marketing strategies which one can employ in order to help make his/her business successful, from guerilla marketing, where you can market your business at promotional events through low-cost trades. If you own your own a restaurant you could set up a concession stand at a high school sporting event, donating the profits to in exchange for product sampling. Positioning, this is one way in which to m arket your specific brand where there is no spending, the business merely creates a brand image or position within the marketplace. Another key marketing strategy is cause marketing, this can be done through sponsorships like a sporting event or tournament, not only does this develop brand loyalty, but it is also an effective means by which to introduce new products or services into the market. For my particular business, I would like to open up a BBQ sandwich shop which serves primarilyShow MoreRelatedMarketing Plan For A Marketing Strategy909 Words   |  4 PagesA marketing plan is crucial to the survival of an organization. Marketing plans need to be well thought out and target a certain market. The market that an organization chooses will demonstrate what direction they want the organization to head in. However, choosing just one market will be problematic to the organization because they will be missing out on other opportunities to grow. 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