Significance of HRM to organizational profitability and survival Term Paper

Significance of HRM to organizational profitability and survival - Term Paper Example On the other hand, affirmative action refers to the deliberate organizational approach to addressing past practices of discrimination, by proactively recruiting, hiring and promoting the previously marginalized groups at the workplace including women, minorities, and disabled individuals, among others. EEO is essential at my workplace because it has fostered fairness in all the various human resource aspects of our organization, from hiring to training and development, to promotion of deserving human resources. At my workplace, EEO regulations protects all employees against discrimination on the basis demographical factors; as a result, everyone is treated with respect and dignity that they deserve, regardless of their sex, color, religion, nationality, disability and age. The new knowledge gained in the process of this reflective exercise is that EEO instills confidence in all employees at the workplace while enhancing their self-motivation and commitment towards the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. This fosters the development of a unified and fully integrated workforce that is not only highly motivated and committed to the organization, but also actively engaged in the pursuit of organizational goals and objectives (Koà §, Çavus & Saraà §oglu, 2014). My future career plan as a HRM professional is more likely to be greatly influenced by the understanding that all human resources are entitled to a fair chance in the hiring process, as well as equal opportunities to promotions.

The problem of realism in Animation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The problem of realism in Animation - Essay Example The essay "The problem of realism in Animation" analyzes he issue with Realism in the context of animation. Contemporary film production has and currently, is undergoing a rapid makeover ever since the onset of digital revolution. Film makers today, storyboard, shoot and edit their films with the assistance of computer manipulation of images commonly referred to as digital imagery. With respect to the ordinary audience, the most evident relevance of these technologies is the new wave of computer generated and computer enhanced special effects which are capable of generating outstanding graphic images – which have conquered new heights and reached the epitome of visual excellence. Examples include: the watery creature in The Alyss (1989) or the glistening, irregular shaped Terminator 2 (1991). The images viewed in these movies were unlike any of those witnessed previously. However, such swift transformations and the resultant changes is creating grave setbacks for film theory f or the reason that the digital manipulation of ordinary images is so original and the artistic potential it presents are so unparalleled, that its impact on cinematic depiction as well as on the viewer's reaction are inadequately understood. This paper seeks to analyze, explore and discuss the various aspects involved in animation with respect to its relativity to realism. Realism in visual arts and literature refers to the representation of themes, premises and characters as they appear in everyday life, devoid of exaggeration.

American health care since 1994 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

American health care since 1994 - Essay Example These efforts have thwarted efforts to attain affordable, effective and accessible healthcare for Americans. In the last fifteen years, the cost of American healthcare has increased by more than two times with the yearly growth rate being over double that of inflation. The costs have become a burden to the federal government, businesses, as well as families. Employers have had to cut back on their expenditure on healthcare so as to remain competitive against international companies that do not have such costs. Fewer companies are offering health benefits forcing individuals to look for coverage in the highly unregulated private market. This has affected Americans’ productive capacity as well as the country’s fiscal health. While there are varied reasons for the rising costs, the increase is attributable to excess costs of the country’s healthcare system and the underlying inefficiencies. In addition, the number of people who do not have sufficient insurance coverage or even any coverage at all has been increasing. It is noteworthy that the uninsured end up getting healthcare in an extremely costly way, thereby increasing the premiums of those with medical insurance. Unfortunately, this has not translated into quality healthcare or improved outcomes. These aspects underline the importance of pushing forward with the reforms. The American healthcare has been on its knees for quite some time. This calls for comprehensive reforms to enhance the delivery and quality of healthcare, provide accessible, comprehensive and affordable health insurance and reform payment so as to reward

Associates Capstone Essay Example for Free

Associates Capstone Essay Executive Summary In going through some of things regarding buying the business I think Mike should make sure that the coffee shop is up to code. He should talk to officials about required standards, for running a coffee shop, licenses; the different laws for having the shop in Sunnydale, Illinois, all of will be needed and will help to keep the restaurant running properly inside and out. It is also important that he reviews each file for all employees making sure all documents that are needed for hire are there, reading through and seeing the difference in their duties and the performance prior to him buying the shop and respond accordingly and whatever decisions he makes with each one or if hiring new document all that is done to cover himself within the law. Going through the business files and reading the comments given by customers is important for this will help to give him proper information on what is liked and dislike about the coffee shop and making a plan to change things or get new things to keep them satisfied and coming back, for ex: as accepting credit cards for payments as well as cash. Going more into the business files checking on the finances and accounting is important to be sure all is accounted for, profits are being make and what the next plan would be according to what is found. This will also help in what they are spending for supplies and necessities and where he can save money and use it for other things needed, also go over the income part to see where they can change prices and get better ideas compare the coffee shop to the competitors place and prices. Also make sure all appliances are up to date and properly handle according to code. After reviewing all of these things an going forward making a proper business plan and procedures of moving forward will give Mike a properly ran business with happy customers coming in and employees glad to keep it running and making profits. Regulations In reviewing some of the personnel files on the employees it seems you will have to definitely put together a company/employee/personnel manual. This will help with the government regulations for the State in which the coffee shop is in and it will also spell out what the Company will expect of the employees and what they expect in terms of benefits and other topics related to employment. (The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business, page 203). Be sure that when creating this manual you have included all the necessary rules that you want and intend to enforce, (no drinking on the job, no smoking in the workplace, excessive tardiness, or absenteeism, no sexual harassment, no discrimination in the workplace, no stealing and all other rules that will be enforced, then have a meeting with the current employees and any new employee to review before getting started and have them each sign it to keep in their personnel files. This will let them know that you intend to en force these rules and if not followed the consequences could be termination. Management First thing I would do is create a business plan, Mike is considered the Strategic Manager for the coffee shop and he will need to create a plan, organize it, lead it and control the outcome of all that will happen within the business. He will need to focus on the long term goals of the shop and once he has these can move forward in communicating with the employees. He will then need to meet with each of the employees individually to go over their files, be sure to update them with all proper paperwork and they are legal to work. When discussing things with them do not bring up personal topics: marital status, race, religion, etc. for this would be a violation and is not permitted during any type of interview or meeting with an existing employee or new employee. You can let them know the good things about working for you at the shop and even some things that are not so good, make sure the employee knows what work they will be doing and agrees to it and they will be able to perform these duties, you can also see if they have questions regarding the manual and take care of it at that moment have them sign indicating they have read and understand it. I think he should also review the break room and clean it up putting up the proper documents on the board and take down all that unnecessary stuff on it. He needs to have posted the proper documents of the law with minimum wage and health. The only other thing up there could be the schedule and notes of reminders of what needs to be done. He then should take care of the stock room and office to have them both properly cleaned up things in right places. Once all these things have been accomplished it will make for a better organized area and easier for him to control and lead his employees and have a well established running coffee shop. Finance and Accounting Reviewing the finances is important; it seems they have a very high salary expense (for a coffee shop) and supplies expense that needs attending to. This means checking with other suppliers and their prices. As for the salaries we would need to go over everyone’s positions held and the salary they are being paid and make sure it fits with their positions and pay scale. As I continued going through the files I noticed the income tax/employment tax and other forms were still from 2006, need to get all those updated from previous owner or get them taken care of and all financial and payroll taxes to date. Not filing properly for state taxes/employment/unemployment is a violation and subject to penalties. I would also review the loan that was taken out on the freezer and be sure all payments had been made previously on time and see what the payoff is, he may be able to save monies on paying it off then paying the extra interest each month. Once all of these are reviewed and items that need attention either corrected or forms filled out and all things brought to date, Mike will have a better understanding of the numbers and all within in the business to get him started and ready to go. Make the decisions on what actions need to be taken to achieve these goals. This is part of the strategic planning of the long term goals for the company; it covers major portions of the company. Organizing, Joe will have to get organize the departments, get the right people in place, create the proper systems needed to properly run the company, bring together all resources needed to have it run properly. Now he will have to take these and lead his employees under him to want to be there and work and give there all, with motivation and communication. He will maintain good contact with them to give them what they need to keep the company running properly with all he has organized. Proper leading of employees will help to give more of themselves to produce quality work by giving guidance and inspiration to them. Leading takes place in many areas of the business not just from the top, also from teams, divisions and departments. He will also set values and mission with his leading. Now the last part of the management function is controlling, taking all of the planning, organizing and leading and controlling it to keep it functional. All the other functions isn’t the success of the company it is the monitoring the performance and make changes where necessary. He needs to make sure the plans are being used and goals are being met within the company, also needs feedback in all areas so that he can make changes, to processes, procedures where needed. Financial Statements Checking to be sure all the financial statements have been done and balanced is very important. In checking the business files it seems they balanced but not all were completed, this will help to know where the business stands and where changes could be made. There are 4 parts to the financial statements, income statement, balance sheet, cash flows and owner’s equity. I only noticed 2 of the 4 mentioned in the business files each one of these statements has its own meaning that should be understood even if Mike plans to have someone else handle it, income statement will let him know whether or not the business is profitable, it totals the revenue and then subtracts the expenses associated with making that revenue; results being the pretax profit and after taxes are paid net income. These statements can be done monthly, yearly, quarterly or year to date, I think for Mike monthly would be good for it will show how much he has sold and what it cost to create the sales each month. The balance sheet is a snapshot of how things are at a particular moment, shows the amount of assets and liabilities at a particular point and time, where his income statement shows the flow of money in and out of the company in a specific time frame. His cash flow statement could be the most important for it will tell him whether or not he has enough cash to pay the bills. This statement will reflect investments, borrowing, etc. and other balance sheet changes. The key challenge is that he will need to keep more cash coming in than going out especially with just starting out. His owner’s equity will be the portion of the balance sheet which shows what is left over when all liabilities are subtracted from all assets. This is the number he wants to maximize because it can reflect th e book value of his company. Once Mike has reviewed all of these and are updated he will know what changes will need to be made within the coffee shop from many points. Problem Solving Problem solving and decision making are very important factors in every managers or persons within their business, even in the Coffee Shop for Mike. He will have things that happen or a daily basis and even on an hourly basis in which his skills as the owner and manger are in demand. He may at first with many as a reaction to things react against it, which can cause a downward spiral. He may look at the past and use the old way to fix a current problem and that usually doesn’t work. Mike will need to have a planned approach and then execute it. By doing this he will avoid having the same problem over and over again and use doesn’t continually solve a different problem the same way as the other. There are a few approaches he can take, he can define the problem, look at the potential causes, find different ways to solving the problem, choose which solution is best, make the action plan and then monitor and verify the solution. By doing these things it will help to ensure all is working properly as it should after the solution has been decided. Mike can use these basic steps in his new role as Owner/Manager of the Coffee Shop, making this plan to solve a problem and the decision will make for a better team in the Coffee Shop. Reference(s) Management, Bateman and Snell, Chapter 1 and Chapter 4, 2010 http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Level-of-Managementid=20181389 The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business, Fourth Edition by Edward Paulson http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/article/87158.aspx

Fire Safety Principles Analysis

Fire Safety Principles Analysis The aim of this report is to survey existing means of fire escape in a number of local houses of multiple occupations with a view to give recommendations for the preparations of a guide for fire escape in houses of multiple occupations. For that purpose, a comprehensive literature review of fire safety principles as well as fire escape issues is required. A set of survey criteria has to be drawn from the literature review to be able to evaluate the existing houses. If necessary, officers from the East Sussex Fire Services will be interviewed to prepare the criteria for evaluation. The survey will be made once the criteria are developed. Each house will be visited and observed in regard to the criteria developed. An analysis of the observations will be made and conclusions drawn. Finally, recommendations will be made for the preparation of the guide. The recommendations will be based on the survey and the conclusions of the analysis. The actual preparation of the guide is beyond the scope of this project. 3.1 Fire and Combustion 3.1.1 Theory of Fire Fire can be described as â€Å"a process of combustion characterised by the emission of heat accompanied by smoke and flame† (Malhotra, 2001). Combustion is a series of very rapid chemical reactions between a fuel and oxygen (usually from the air), releasing heat and light. (Stollard, 1991). For combustion to occur heat and a fuel source must all be present and the removal of one of these will terminate the reaction. Flames are the visible manifestation of this reaction between a gaseous fuel and oxygen. If the fuel is a solid or liquid, there is first a gasification process as it is heated. So, heating a solid does not necessarily lead to combustion. Combustion will only occur when the gas is ignited. The temperature to which a fuel has to be heated for the gases given off to flash when an ignition source is applied is known as the fuel’s flash point. Once the ignition has begun and the vapours are ignited, these flames will in turn further heat and increase the rate o f production of flammable vapours. For the flames to exist at the surface of the fuel, the combustion process must be self-sustaining and capable of supplying the necessary energy to maintain the flow of flammable vapours from the fuel. 3.1.2 Fire Development Once a fire is started, there are 3 ways the heat is transferred: Conduction – Conduction is the mode of heat transfer where the heat flows from one point (at higher temperature) to another (at lower temperature) by direct material contact. There is no flow of the material itself. This is the predominant more of heat transfer in solids. Convection – In the convection mode of heat transfer, the particles of the material flow, carrying the heat with them. This is the predominant mode of heat transfer in liquids and gases. Radiation – Radiation is a mode where there is no need of a material at all. The heat gets transferred from a hot surface by radiating in all directions. The way a fire develops in the open is much different from the way it evolves in a closed space such as a room in a building. The existence of walls and a ceiling changes the way the heat transfer modes affect the growth of the fire. The development of a fire in a room has several stages. Figure 1: Standard fire growth curve The growth period starts at ignition and lasts until all the contents of the room are alight. Initially, the flame remains near the surface of the fuel, with excess oxygen supply from the air of the room. The flame provides more heat and the rate of growth, controlled by the amount of surface of fuel available, increases. At one point, the flames reach the ceiling and spreads. The surface area being heated is suddenly increased considerably. Also, the ceiling then radiates the heat back towards the other contents of the room. The remaining of the room catches fire very quickly because of this sudden rise in temperature and the stage is called flash over. Flash over is short-lived and marks the start of the stable stage, where all the contents are burning. In this stage, the rate of burning depends on the amount of fuel left and the flow of air to the room. Eventually, all contents will burn out and there will be no more fuel to feed the fire. The fire will slow down and that is called the decay stage. 3.2 Principles of Fire Safety 3.2.1 Fire Hazard and Risk to Life Statistics and surveys (Marchant, 1973) on fire have shown that most fires occur between 10 am and 11pm. This is the time when people are awake and active. Also, the greatest number of fires occurs in dwellings. There is a lot more fire in winter months than in summer months, clearly showing a link between fire and energy use. More than one third of all fires can be attributed to human error. Rubbish burning, children with matches and electrical appliances are the biggest culprit among the causes of fire. Due to the hazardous nature of fire: involving flames, heat, smoke and toxic gases, 1000 people lose their lives in fire each year. Unsurprisingly, (Malhotra, 2001) 85% of those deaths are in occupied buildings. The heat generated in a fire is hazardous to the building structure and can lead to the collapse of the building. This presents a serious threat to the safety of fire fighters. But the main cause of death is neither the heat nor the flames. The burnt bodies found give the impression that the occupants were burnt to death. However, studies have shown that heat and flames account for only a small minority of deaths. Most of the deaths are related to smoke and toxic gases. More than half the deaths in fires are attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Smoke also significantly decrease visibility and people often cannot reach safety only because of lack of visibility. 3.2.2 Approach to Fire Safety The prime objective of fire safety is â€Å"to reduce to within acceptable limits the potential for injury or death to the occupants of the building and for others who may become involved† (Stollard, 1991). In order to achieve these objectives, there are 5 fire safety tactics that can be employed. Prevention Communications Escape Containment Extinguishment They can be used together for best efficiency. The traditional approach to fire safety in buildings has been to prescribe certain acceptable levels related to some components of fire safety. These components are (Stollard, 1991): Travel distances and routes Load bearing elements of the structure Roof construction Separating walls Compartment walls and compartment floors Protected shafts Concealed spaces and fire stopping Internal surfaces Stairways. There is a newer approach that consists of looking at the building as a complex system. Fire engineering goes beyond merely satisfying prescriptive criteria of the building regulations. The building is a complex system where fire safety interacts with all other systems and services. 3.3 Prevention As explained in section 3.1, fire can only occur if all of the three requirements are present. These requirements are fuel source, oxygen and ignition. The absence of any one is sufficient to avoid a fire. However, it is impossible to exclude oxygen from a building as it is present in the air in more than sufficient proportions. Fire prevention is therefore all about avoiding the occurrence of the fire in the first instance by controlling fuel sources and ignition. 3.3.1 Fuel Limitation Fire can be prevented or the risk of fire can be reduced by limiting the amount of fuel available. Reducing the quantity of potential fuel has two main advantages. Firstly, there is less fuel to burn (fire load) and therefore fires will grow at a slower rate and temperatures will be lower. Secondly, less fuel also means less smoke (smoke load) Fuel limitation can be achieved by controlling the building fabric. B building fabric is meant the structural components and finishes of the building. It is very important that the structural components of a building are not potential fuel sources in case of fire. The structural integrity and stability of the building depends on it. Also, structural elements are essential for containing a fire. Interior finishes on walls and ceiling are also crucial to fire prevention. The outer surface of the finishes is as important as the substrate behind it. The King’s Cross fire in 1987 demonstrated that adding successive coats of paint on older ones can present a danger. Fuel limitation can also be achieved by controlling the contents of the building. The type and amount of textile and furniture play a determinant role in fire behaviour. However, the contents of a building are likely to change over time. 3.3.2 Ignition Prevention To prevent ignition, the four main classes of ignition have to be understood. Natural Phenomena – The most common source of natural ignition is lightning. Lightning can be very destructive. In 1984, lightning struck the York Minster and the resulting fire was very destructive. Another source of fire is earthquake. Because of the very low probability, such occurrences can be neglected for the common dwellings. Human Error – Human carelessness is the main cause of fire in dwellings. Cooking appliances and smoking material account for almost all fire-related accidents and deaths in dwellings. Some of the accidents can be avoided by simple house keeping and general vigilance. Kids playing with matches have also contributed significantly to the number of fires in houses. Technological Failure – Electrical and cooking appliances are a major source of ignition, especially in non-residential buildings. Buildings services are not perfect and are likely to fail at point or another. In small domestic dwellings, the improper installation of services can lead failure leading to fire. Instead of counting this as a technological failure, this should be classed as human error. Deliberate Fire – Arson can be for many reasons: insurance claim, concealing a crime, vandalism, terrorism, or to deliberately hurt somebody. 3.4 Communications Once a fire is started, the response time has a great impact of the effectiveness of that response. As seen in Figure 1, fire growth is exponential. So, the sooner action is taken, the better. The response to a fire depends to a large extent to communications at that time. The location of the fire and the deployment of evacuation and fire fighting all depend on effective communication. There are four facets of communications that are important to fire safety. 3.4.1 Detection How fast a fire is detected has a crucial impact on the response and the effectiveness of that response. As fire grows exponentially, an early detection gives a better chance to fight the fire and limit damage. The best method of detection remains the occupants of the building. Humans can detect and locate a fire by sight, sound and smell. There is no better detection system than human presence. Places where there is more movement are less liable to have an undetected fire because of constant human presence. It is very important therefore that fire escape routes are not kept exclusively for that purpose. That would lead to a fire in that zone being undetected. Also, an unused portion of a building can very quickly become ‘temporary’ storage spaces which always contain boxes and crates full of rubbish. Other detection mechanisms include smoke detector that is fitted to most houses in UK. There are also heat detectors, flame (light) detectors and thermal turbulence detectors. 3.4.2 Analysis Once a fire is detected, it has to be interpreted and analysed before coming to a conclusion. Here again, nothing beats the human brain. Detection and analysis sort of overlap each other when it is by the occupants. Otherwise, conventional systems consist of relaying the detection information to a panel where the data will be analysed and an alarm raised if need be. With use of micro processors, analysis has become better and addressable systems have become common. 3.4.3 Alarm If the conclusion of the analysis is that there is a fire, an alarm has to be set off. This alarm can be in the form of a simple bell that marks the need to evacuate the building. This is the most common system used. Other systems are connected to the fire services and the latter are then notified of a fire automatically. 3.4.4 Signs Signs are very important to occupants as well as fire fighters when they give clear and concise information. However, in a dwelling type building where the occupants are familiar with the exit routes and the surroundings, they are unnecessary. 3.5 Escape Perhaps the most important part of fire safety, escape from a building once a fire breaks is the only measure that ensures the safety of the occupants. The occupants must be able to safety reach a place of safety without being hindered by smoke, fire or heat. It is therefore essential that they manage to escape before the fire spreads. There are three main means of escape: Egress – Egress simply means getting out of the building as soon as the alarm is heard. Refuge – Sometimes in large buildings, the time to get out is too much or the way out is too complicated. Then, a fire-safe compartment is used to provide a safe place within the building. Evacuation can take place at a slower rate from that compartment. Rescue – Rescue should be kept as a last resort but is still important, especially for old and disabled person. In an apartment with only one entrance, a fire at or near the entrance can prevent escape even if the rest of the apartment is not on fire. Rescue via ladders from outside is then crucial. The effectiveness of escape depends on several factors. Occupancy – the occupants and their behaviour is very important to how successful an escape can be. Buildings such as houses where people sleep are naturally more risky than industrial buildings and offices where people are only present during the day. The amount and density of occupation as well as the mobility of the occupants are also important factors to consider. One of the most important factors is familiarity to the place. A house owner is more likely to escape than a guest because he is more familiar with the place. Travel Distances – The total distance to be travelled to finally reach a safe place depends on a lot of factors. The layout of the room itself may change the distance to be travelled. The number of storeys and the building layout generally controls the travel distance. Escape Lighting – Escape during the night or when there is an electric fault are made possible by emergency escape lighting. This can make the difference between success and failure of an escape. The precious minutes during which the occupants find their way are crucial because fire can spread very fast. Rescue – As said previously, rescue should be relied on as a last resort. However, is rescue is to be used; it must be possible for the rescuers to get access to the building from outside. 3.6 Containment Containment is the ability of a building to contain a fire even in the event of every other tactic failing. It should be a built-in capability of the building. A fire should be contained to its compartment of origin to prevent it from spreading to other parts of the building. Containment is also responsible to preventing spread of smoke. Containment must ultimately limit the fire spread to the building only to prevent fire spread to neighbouring buildings. The first step on containment is to design the structural elements to resist the fire. The amount of protection to be given to structural elements depends on the escape time required. Also, if fire fighters are to work inside the building, the structure must maintain its stability and integrity throughout the operations. The collapse of the World Trade Centre has shown how fire fighters can be at risk when entering a building on fire. If the structural elements are not capable of ensuring structural integrity on their own, it will be important to apply fire protection. Steel structures are usually protected with plaster boards, cement sprays of intumescent paints. Wooden structures need protection as well. Compartmentation in a building can be compared to that on a ship. It involves physically incorporating fire and smoke tight barriers between different zones of the building. This gains time and limits the fire to one particular zone. Compartments can be rooms or storeys. The number of compartments into which to divide a given space is a function of the occupation and contents of that space. The higher the fire load, the smaller the compartments should be. Also, there must be a separate escape route from each individual compartment. The exterior envelope of a building is used as the final barrier for the fire. It protects the building from external fires and fires to adjoining buildings. It also prevents the spreading of internal fires to spread to adjoining properties. Fire can spread by debris falling on the roof, flames spreading through openings and radiation through glazed areas. The fire containment methods described up to now are passive methods. They are built-in characteristics of the building design. Active measures are those that operate only in the event of a fire. Pressurisation allow escape route to be clear of smoke even when the fire doors are opened to get access to the escape route. Venting is used to provide the smoke an easier way out of the building than by spreading to the rest of the building. 3.7 Extinguishment Even after escape and containment are successful, a fire still needs to be extinguishment to limit the amount of property loss and to prevent spread to adjoining properties. It can be achieved by removing one of the three essential ingredients of fire: fuel, oxygen and ignition. When a fire is already started, it is self igniting and does not need additional ignition. Therefore, extinguishment can be achieved by cutting off the oxygen supply. Alternatively, the temperature can be brought down below that of self-ignition and thus killing the fire. There are several material used in fire extinguishment: Water – Water is the most commonly used material for fire fighting. It has the capacity of achieving both tactics of fire extinguishment discussed. It will drop the temperature down and will also cut off oxygen supply. However, the main problem with water is that it is a relatively good conductor of electricity. It cannot therefore be used on electrical appliances. Foam – Foam is particularly good at extinguishing fires from liquids. They act mainly by smothering the fuel from the oxygen. They can also be high-expansion types which will fill the area and are generally used by fire fighters. Carbon Dioxide – Carbon dioxide fire extinguishers provide both a cooling and smothering agent. Carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen and will displace oxygen on and around the fuel. It is light and a large amount can be contained under high pressure in relatively light extinguishers. They can be used on electric fires but they are restricted to localised fire spots as concentrated carbon dioxide can be lethal. Dry Powder – Dry powder act by quenching the chemical reaction of the fire. There are a number of possible substances available, some more appropriate than others on a given type of fire. In section 3.5, fire escape has been introduced as one of the tactics of fire safety in buildings. In the context of the current research topic, the factors influencing escape in a fire are brought under the magnifying glass. Other key topics related to escape during a fire are discussed. 4.1 Occupancy The nature and number of occupants as well as their likely behaviour pattern is a crucial factor in determining the speed and success of an escape from a fire. Five key characteristics of occupants that are most influential are: Sleeping risk Numbers Mobility Familiarity Response to fire alarm 4.1.1 Sleeping Risk Buildings where people sleep are more at risk of a fire than buildings with only day-time occupation. A building where people sleep is likely to be occupied for longer hours, combining day and night occupancy. Also, a fire start while people are sleeping is likely to be detected at a much advanced stage. Once detected, the response of people who are asleep is bound to be much slower than in day time. To understand the extent of the risk, consider the same people in the same building but in day time. A cigarette butt or red ashes fall on the bed sheet and the latter immediately gets a hole in it, which slowly grows wider and wider as the red edge of the hole eats at the bed sheet. In day time with people fully awake, such a minor incident will be dealt with promptly. The ashes will be rapidly removed and the growth stopped by water and even by hand. At night, the same incident may have a completely different turn out of events. The unchecked growth would soon lead to the bed sheet catching fire and setting fire to the mattress. The surrounding furniture, curtains and carpet will soon be alight and that room will have a fully developed fire that can potentially spread over the whole buildings very fast if undetected. Consider another scenario. A house wife has been cooking for breakfast before going to bed. She switches off the electric hob, turns off the lights of the kitchen, and goes upstairs to sleep. A kitchen towel has been left in contact with the hob by mistake. It does not catch fire immediately because there is no naked flame. It heats up, and eventually catches fire after a few minutes even though the hob is off. This fire can grow, away from the eyes of the sleeping occupants, in the kitchen and spread to the rest of the house. Had it been during the day, somebody will eventually walk into the kitchen and detect the towel starting the smoke and will simply put it in the sink and open the tap. Such is the difference between normal day time and at night, where people are asleep. 4.1.2 Numbers The number of people in a building and their likely position within the building are important factors in designing an escape route. To a large extent, these factors depend on the purpose of the building. For houses of multiple occupations, the main purpose is obviously residential, but there can be more people at a given time than the actual number of residents. The maximum number of people that can be present can be estimated by the use of an ‘occupancy loaf factor’. The area of the building divided by the occupancy load factor gives and idea of the maximum number of people that can be present. A general guide is given in the form of Table 1. Table 1: Building type and occupancy levels (Stollard, 1991) Building Type Occupancy 1 Houses Five times bed spaces 2 Flats an maisonnettes Five times bed spaces 3 Residential institutions (hospitals, prisons etc.) Three times bed spaces 4 Hotels and boarding houses Two times bed spaces 5 Offices, commercial and schools Occupancy load factor = 6 6 Shops Occupancy load factor = 2 7 Assembly and recreation (a) bars Occupancy load factor = 0.5 (b) dance halls, queuing areas Occupancy load factor = 0.7 (c) meeting rooms, restaurants Occupancy load factor = 1 8 Industrial Occupancy load factor = 5 9 Storage Occupancy load factor = 15 10 Car-parks Two times parking places For example, consider a small family house with two bed rooms. One bed is double and another is single. Building type=House Occupancy rate=Five times bed spaces Number of bed spaces=2 + 1=3 Maximum number of people=5 x 3=15 This is only a guide but is quite useful. It may seem at first sight that with only 3 bed spaces, the occupancy should have been 3 instead of 15. However, the maximum number of people can occur during a party or while receiving guests. Another factor to consider is the likely hood of concentration of people in a particular area. A concentrated number of people behave differently from individuals. They move at a much slower rate and therefore travel distances to escape routes should be kept shorter. The escape routes should also be wider than would normally be required to allow evacuation of a larger number of people at the same time. 4.1.3 Mobility Different people move at different rates, depending on their age, fitness, state of mind, disability, any special requirements and several more factors. It has been found from experiments that a normal healthy person can move between 60 and 80 metres a minute. At the other extreme of the spectrum, very old and disabled persons may need assistance to move at all. A patient in intensive care in a hospital may have to be moved along with an array of bulky equipment to sustain his life. There are no hard rules about figures to use and a reasonable estimate has to be made from the information about the occupancy of the building. The design of the escape route also has a big incidence on mobility. The layout of the escape route may include obstructions such as furniture. Changes in direction and use of stairs etc would normally reduce mobility. A qualitative assessment is the best that can be done. 4.1.4 Familiarity If people are not familiar with a building, they will find more difficulty finding and reaching the escape route. In buildings such as normal houses, the occupants are likely to be residents and will normally be well familiar with the place. In an office with a regular staff, there is not likely to be problems related with familiarity. However, in buildings such as hotels, bed and breakfast etc, familiarity can be a problem. People will instinctively try to get out the same way they came in, and that may not b a protected fire escape route. 4.1.5 Response The response to a fire or the sounding of a fire alarm is a very important factor to consider. In an office with a regular staff, there will be more discipline and the staff will be trained by means of evacuation drills. In a flat or other residential house, the response is most likely to be decided on the spot in the real fire. The response will also depend on the state of mind and attitude of the occupants. People who are asleep or drunk will be slow to react and may not react in a strictly rational way. Very often, people do not immediately head for the evacuation route. Instead, they try to contact others in the building to confirm that there is fire and how serious it is. 4.2 Travel Distances The maximum travel distance in the escape process is crucial for a successful escape. To quantify a travel distance, the steps involved in the escape process have to be considered one at a time. 4.2.1 Stage 1 – Escape from room of origin Stage one of the escape process is getting out of the room of origin. The speed (and hence time) at which the room has to be evacuated depends of the rate of fire spread. However, the rate of fire spread is hard to quantify. It is therefore best to ensure early detection of the fire in the room. The room has to be evacuated as soon as possible. For small rooms with low occupancy, one exit is sufficient. For larger rooms or rooms with high number of people, two or more exits may have to be provided. In some instances, there may be a smaller room inside a larger one. The escape from both the smaller room and the larger one has to be considered as stage 1. It is also crucial to make sure that the occupants of the inner room are aware of any fire incident in the larger room. 4.2.2 Stage 2 – Escape from compartment Stage 2 involves the escape from the compartment where the fire started. This is usually via escape routes to the final exit, to a protected stairway or protected escape route, or an adjoining compartment that can be used as refuge. Compartments are usually designed for one hour protection and sub-compartments are designed for 30 minutes protection. This should give the occupants time to escape before being overwhelmed by the fire spread across compartments. The combined travel distances of stages 1 and 2 have to be maintained within a certain limit to allow the occupants to evacuate within that time. Table 2 below gives a list of types of buildings and suggested travel distances. This is based on the

Medieval world reflected in Japanese literature: examples of changes an

As with most societies, as time progresses there will always be many changes. Likewise, as Japan moved into the medieval period there would be changes, specifically in some noticeable changes that are found in the literature. In looking at how prose and poetry was affected during this time, it should be noted that in many ways the literature of the period was made as a method of honoring the old literature and building beyond it. An example can be seen in the poems of ShinkokinshÃ… «, and in drawing from KokinshÃ… «, Shinkokin waka shÃ… « is a â€Å"New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern† (Handout 10). That being said, ShinkokinshÃ… « was compiled exactly 300 years after KokinshÃ… « was originally compiled, therefore making ShinkokinshÃ… « an anniversary collection that would also be inspired by the original works. ShinkokinshÃ… « shows within it there are parts that draw a lot from the past, while there are also works from the modern time period. As for prose, there have been some changes in language that can be seen between some examples. Descriptions of residencies and everyday life will always vary from person to person, as it is seen in The Pillow Book by Sei ShÃ… nagon with its decriptions of life in the Imperial court and the very different An Account of My Hut by Kamo no ChÃ… mei and its description of a very different world as seen by the humble Buddhist monk. The two accounts were also written about 200 years apart, which allows for there to be some significant societal changes to be seen between the writings, in addition to the difference in the lifestyles of the of the respective authors. These examples are just a small representation of the changes that occurred in Japanese literature, particularly poetry and prose during the medieval period, ... ...s that both have as they build upon the previous works from earlier times. The very obvious example is KokinshÃ… « and ShinkokinshÃ… « and their connections. There are many aspects of the works that are similar, and quite possibly the same, but there are the innovations and changes that are very noticeable in these works as there is progression through time. The most notable innovation, which is also seen in the zuhitsus, is the changes in structure. The best examples are the use of the x-no-y-no-z pattern and taigendome as found in ShinkokinshÃ… « as they stand out very clearly and the coherent and broken into groups and sections in the structure between the two zuhitsus. With all art forms, there will be changes and innovations as they evolve. While they eventually not resemble their predecessors, they will represent the survival of the art and honor it in its own way.

Overcoming Marital Conflict :: essays research papers fc

Overcoming Marital Conflict Marriages are made, not in heaven, but by wonderfully fallible human beings who hope for the best, but who often do precious little to make this most challenging and complicated relationship work. From the very first couple and their differing view point over the apple to modern times, men and women have always disagreed. Both sexes are born with inherently different personality traits. Although mankind knows they will never see eye to eye with the opposite; they still are attracted to them, perhaps for that very reason. Unfortunately it also means there will be unavoidable conflict in the union of a woman and man. Woman's inherent sexuality and the widely dissimilar sexuality of her mate is one of the primary conflicts in marriage. They will also find diversity in their views on sex, communication, emotional expression, nearly every aspect in their lives. Sex has made marriages and broken them. Great relationships do not always translate into wonderful sex! Many couples love each other deeply, but still don't have a fulfilling sexual relationship. Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) wrote in The New Spirit, "The omnipresent process of sex, as it is woven into the whole texture of our man's or woman's body, is the pattern of all the process of life". This leads me to believe our sexuality is the core to ourselves. Unfortunately there are so many variants between men and women emotionally that unavoidable conflicts will surface in the bedroom. Adam and Eve are the only union who ever had the freedom of entering marriage and lovemaking with no preconceived ideas no hang-ups, and no inhibitions. Men and women each possess different outlooks toward the act of sex. Most women need an emotional connection prior to experiencing a truly satisfying sexual encounter. Whereas men tend to avoid deeply emotional bonding. Men can be happy with superficial love, not that all men stop there. Women also feel affection is the essential cement of her relationship with a man. She marries a man that cares about her, and she wants him to express his care often. Without it she usually feels alienated from him. With it she will become emotionally bonded to him. Learning the sexual outlook of each other's partner will increase the ability to deal with the sexual conflicts that materialize. Fear of failure and rejection and the belief that something is wrong infiltrates many sexual experiences. Case studies show that most couples who complain of sexual problems in their marriages are really experiencing a deeper problem. Letting go of assumptions, most of which come from books, movies, and fantasies, and sharing desires and fears with their mate, their individual