Saturday, January 25, 2020

Quantitative Research in Health, Safety, and Environment

Quantitative Research in Health, Safety, and Environment Casey Bird Abstract In this article, quantitative research in the health, safety, and environmental (HSE) field will be discussed. The primary quantitative tool utilized is the safety committee. With the safety committee, direct communication lines with management on issues in the field can be achieved. Quantitative research provides the ability to understand other peoples safety needs or perceptions (Austin Sutton, 2014). It allows an organization to become a safety-first culture. In order to achieve this type of culture the organization needs to be aware of needed enhancements. This is why quantitative safety research is vital to an organization. This paper will discuss the methods utilized for quantitative research, and how the effectiveness is measured in that research. MGs safety committee will be utilized to reflect other quantitative tools. This includes Stop Work Authority (SWA), Core Values policy, and regular HSE meetings. This paper will also inform the reader on the importance of quantitati ve research to enhance any organizational programs. Quantitative Research in Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) A vital primary tool utilized in the health, safety, and environmental (HSE) field is the safety committee. The committee is required to provide input on incidents, recommendations, and better practices to enhance the overall organization (Kellerman, 2012). A safety committee is one way that management and frontline employees can disseminate share knowledge opinions. This sharing of information can be vital as there are different levels of insight from the employees on this committee. By having different levels of insight, an organization is able to grow and expand. The safety committee is also utilized in workplace inspections to provide insight as well as to increase production levels. A supervisor is may be busy supervising employees and production levels which could compromise safety. With a designated committee performing safety inspections, it allows the supervisors to fully perform tasks safely. A safety committee is also paramount as another tool for quantitative research. Quantitative research is a systematic process that examines relationships and interactions (Burns Grove, 2005). In order to be more proactive towards accident prevention, an organization should work towards becoming a safety-first culture. In becoming a safety-first company, an organization should initially understand the needs of the employees. This can be accomplished by utilizing questionnaires. Every safety committee member is given a questionnaire at the beginning, middle, and end of the time served on the committee. It is required each member serve a tenue of one year on the committee. So each questionnaire provides a starting point to understand individual views and on-going needs for the organization. Questionnaire results could show other immediate needs of an organization, such as more support from management.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   It also reveals various best practices to utilize in specific opera tions that keep people safe, and increase profit margins. These best practices allow for a much higher successful implementation rate, due to employee buy-in. With safety committee providing quantitative research to the organization, it truly provides direct money-saving tasks to an organization (Kellerman, 2012). In addition to the safety committee, all employees are issued Stop Work Authority (SWA). A SWA gives any employee the right and obligation to stop any unsafe tasks or condition. As cited in Morrison (2015), if employees utilized SWA every time an issue arises, majority of incidents and fatalities would be eliminated. However, a gap commonly seen in SWA is employees do not utilize it as often due to fear of retribution from the employer (Morrison, 2015).   To overcome this issue, MG Resins has implemented a Core Value policy. MG Resins is a polymer production plant that is under construction. The Core Value policy defines employee roles and responsibilities, including the safety committee. It outlines that all employees have the right and obligation to utilize a SWA for any individual or group tasks without any retribution. If any retaliation occurs, it should be reported to management immediately. In order to effectively and efficiently close any gaps involving HSE issues, management holds regularly scheduled meetings with employees. These meetings include weekly, monthly, and quarterly held review meetings with employees. During these meeting with management top HSE issues are presented and discussed with employees. Employees are constantly encouraged to engage in the discussion. With employees feeling that their insight is needed and approved, the more proactive effects an organization will achieve. This increase in employee involvement also increases employees morale to work in a safe, healthy, and environmentally friendly workplace. MG Resins has greatly improved since implementation of these quantitative research tools. With these quantitative methods of the SWA, Core Value policy, and regular HSE meetings more employees are freely voicing opinions and reporting incidents. There were zero recordable injuries, zero environmental spills, and only two first-aid cases this year to date. Management has also fully supported and embraced proactive solutions to reduce and eliminate future incidents. With this quantitative involvement, management is now able to effectively document and understand HSE issues directly via employees. With more proactive employee involvement, the more likelihood the organizations goals and visions should be achieved. As a matter of fact, one employees quantitative feedback allowed MG to increase production rates by eliminating human involvement and establishing robotics. One production line required employees to physically bag and tie-off the final product. To complete only one order could take up to four hours. During an HSE meeting this topic was brought up not only for safety reasons, but for production as well. This proactive action of implementing robotics allowed employees to perform other critical tasks, while the robotics completed this one lengthy task. In my opinion, as a safety professional, quantitative research is a required necessity to improve any organization. The future use of quantitative research is solidified in the MG organization as well as in the HSE field. Without quantitative research employers and safety professionals would not be able to be as proactive in their programs. The future of quantitative research should include researching newer technologies. The newer generations are becoming more tech-savvy, and this may be an opportunity to get in-touch with a bigger audience. The more input an organization can receive, the greater the potential for the organization to succeed. Management needs to grasp this opportunity to support the employees and customers in order to enhance the organization. However, a roadblock with many safety professionals is the ability to convince upper management that quantitative research is vital in supporting production operations. It is my opinion, that at times, management disregards safety at employees detriment and well-being. It is only when a tragedy happens, that management will then seek out safety. A good safety professional must find common ground for proving to management that quantitative research and production go hand-in-hand. Before tragedies occur, it is my opinion, that implementing a quantitative safety program can be an asset for any organization. Any organization, including MG, would do well in finding a balance between implementing quantitative safety and production. When all levels of management and employees equally understand that no safety will be sacrificed for production, it is then that the companys goals will be achieved. References Austin Z. Sutton J. (2014). Qualitative research: getting started.Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4275140/ Burns N., Grove S.K. (2005). The practice of nursing research: conduct, critique, and utilization. Retrieved from http://www.health.herts.ac.uk/immunology/Web%20programme%20-%20Researchhealthprofessionals/definition_of_quantitative_resea.htm Kellerman M. (2012). Safety committees: Just hype or do they really benefit a company.Retrieved from http://www.usfsafetyflorida.com/Resources/Consultant-s-Corner/Safety-Committees-Just-Hype-or-Do-They-Really-Benefit-a-Company Morrison K. (2015). Stop-work authority: Empowering workers to halt a dangerous situation can help prevent injuries, experts say. Retrieved from http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/12346-stop-work-authority

Friday, January 17, 2020

Activision: Case Study Essay

Activision was established in 1979 as a third party video game developer-publisher. Formation of Activision has been one of the most significant events for gaming industry. Activision is publisher of one of the most famous game publisher today. Games like Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Pitfall series are published by Activision. Currently Activision is merged with Blizzard (creator of world’s most played subscription based game) to form Activision Blizzard World’s largest gaming company in a deal worth ? 9. 15 billion. Around the time of formation of Activision, companies used to dominate market place. Gaming industry was not stable. But the things have changed today it’s a global multibillion dollar business. In the starting days of Activision, they had to compete with Atari in games. But later both companies came to understanding that availability of more game for Atari platforms meant more sales of hardware. And both companies kept building games for Atari platforms competing with one another and being benefited from competition. Creating games is a long and expensive process as normal games take about 2 year and $20 million while MMOG’s may take from $50 to $100 million in five years. What Activision and Atari started as co-operative competition still prevails in gaming industry and has helped a huge deal in development of gaming industries. In 2010 there was 8% loss of packaged goods sales of consoles game but online revenue was booming. Activision was able to predict this change in gaming industry market and locate itself in front of customers. In 2010, around 50% of total revenue made by Activision came from digital sources. Since its merger with Blizzard, Activision is becoming more and more console independent. Starting as publisher for console games, today Activision publishes games for anything that can play games like ipad, iphone, phone social gaming (facebook), etc. And the ability to adapt to changing market has kept Activision in top of the gaming industry for so long. There is an argument that more than half of Microsoft’s xbox live subscribers are there for Activision’s Call of Duty. This raise an issue should Microsoft be the only one being benefited from this while Activision only gets paid once during sale of game disc. This makes console gaming dull in compared to World of Warcraft’s online subscription payment (Activision Blizzard charges fees for playing World of Warcraft online in PC). Activision’s competitor EA games seems to have found a simple solution, In order for online multiplayer, gamer have to either buy new disc or buy online registration code that allows them to go online using old disc whose online code is already used. Activision could use this strategy restricting people who bought used games and people who borrowed games to get online hence focusing only on customers who paid for online. For first time ever, in 2008 Activision was the number one US console and handheld game publisher in dollar. In 2008 it published two games: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock which were number second and first best selling game in US and Europe in dollars during fiscal year. Net revenue earned by Activision in 2008 was $2. 9 billion. Activision’s stage gate model â€Å"Greenlight Process† has helped in development in its product a lot. This process includes analysis of new products in development stage before entering market in four stages as concept, prototype, first playable and alpha. Making sure that product functions properly and is as demanded by current market customers is a very important step in product development which is carried out by high-level cross functional team. Keeping your product polished and problem free is very important. Gaming industry is product based market. Even though there will be customer grouping making your product fit and well is the most. If the product is good customer from another group can be attracted by this (RPG players are different than first person shooter players). In July 9 2008, Activision finally merged with Blizzard entertainment. Blizzard is owned by French conglomerate Vivendi and is the owner of World of Warcraft, world’s largest subscription based MMORPG. This merging helped Activision expand its reach in the industry. Instead of diversifying product Activision move toward merging has proven rather useful. Gaming industry is one of the fastest growing industries. Changes occur daily in market place. Gaming industry started with text games then moved to cartridge based platforms to today’s next gen consoles. And research shows that any gaming device staying in market for more than 10 years is considered to be outdated. So the change is obvious and Activision has to be aware of these changes. Transition period between one generation of console to another generation of console hugely effects gaming industry. Activision’s performance record shows that gaming industry faces a huge halt at these times. During recession Activision was able to maintain its sales and profit curve but in 2005 when all console developers like Sony and Microsoft were preparing for launch of their new consoles gaming companies like Activision and its rival EA has to face depreciation in their business as customers are waiting for newer version of game and gaming consoles.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

The Place for Diversity Multimedia Analysis - 1086 Words

RUNNING HEAD: My Place: The Place for Diversity Chawn A. Thomas My Place: The Place for Diversity Multimedia Analysis COMM 315/Diversity Issues in Communication November 4, 2010 Barbara Lach-Smith Although, I am not the type of person who judges people based on their superficial characteristics, after reviewing the examples depicted in the multimedia analysis, I did find myself judging†¦show more content†¦Example #2 â€Å"I began working part-time on a regular basis at the age of 13. After high school, I talked my way into a job as a runner at the Chicago Board of Trade. A runner is the person who runs all the buy and sell orders to the brokers in the pits. I have been successful in blue collar jobs, such as roofing and painting, as well as white collar jobs, such as being an account executive for a national mortgage lender. At the age of 21, I decided to attend college and later graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in telecommunications management. I am currently working on a master’s degree and am married with two children.† In this scenario, once again I selected the wrong person. I selected the woman because she was older, an d being more mature led me to believe that she had more work experience than the two males that were pictured. In my opinion, both males appeared to be too young to have so much work experience; especially having worked as an account executive for a national mortgage lender. They both appeared to be high school or college students. Example #3 â€Å"I received a Bachelor of Science degree in graphic communications and spent 7 years working in the prepress industry. After a 2-week trip to Italy, I realized I wasn’t happy with my life and needed to change. So, I quit my job, moved out to California,Show MoreRelatedMy Place - the Place for Diversity Multimedia Analysis1152 Words   |  5 PagesMy Place - The Place for Diversity Multimedia Analysis Coral Ann Rogers University of Phoenix Diversity Issues in Communication Comm / 315 Dr. Tatyana Thweatt August 07, 2011 My Place - The Place for Diversity Multimedia Analysis Diversity, a term that affects every person, group, and culture, is simply the ways that all of us are different. Diversity consciousness is our knack of distinguishing and adjusting to these differencesRead MoreEducational Manifesto: The 21st Century Classroom895 Words   |  4 Pagesmeant by diversity in education or necessary to be effective as a modern teacher? In essence, the idea of diversity in the classroom is to operate with the idea of a global village and overlap in cultures within the microcosm of the classroom. This means simply that the modern educator be sensitive about culture, gender, sexuality, and individual differences within the classroom. History, for instance, has been incredibly Eurocentric and male oriented for generations. Successful diversity within theRead MoreStrategic Planning, Learning Theory, and Training Needs Analysis1729 Words   |  7 PagesThe five phases of the training process model include; Needs Analysis Phase; Design Phase; Development Phase; Implementation Phase, and the Evaluation Phase. The â€Å"Needs Analysis Phase† is to determine each employee’s needs and ask â€Å"What do we want our employees to get out of the program?† This phase will help identify the difference between comparing the company’s current results to the company’s â€Å"expected organizational performances. 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Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Essay about Public Health Care Reform in America - 1352 Words

We all know that this country has a system of doctors and hospitals to take care of us when we get sick. What many people dont know is that there also is a system that keeps us healthy. It works in the ways that we arent usually aware of. Its the public health system. Everyday you see headlines about public health in the newspaper. But you probably dont even recognize that the headlines reflect a public health system at work. Public health protects you and keeps you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Everyday. Day after day. There are several public health measures that need to be actively engaged in order to help reform health care in America. Public health measures focus on the population, sanitation, disease control,†¦show more content†¦However, 40% of the U.S. population, still live in areas without a fluoridated water supply. After you dressed, did you stop for breakfast? Did you have orange juice, or perhaps scrambled eggs, or maybe a bagel with cream chees e? The only reason you can be sure that your orange juice, eggs and cream cheese are not contaminated with bacteria that would make you sick is that public health regulates the safety of your food supply. We also teach and promote safe food handling practices that kill bacteria and help you and those who handle your food from contaminating it. Sometimes, despite everybodys best efforts, outbreaks of disease caused by contaminated food occur. The public health system then does detective work to find the source of the contamination and to stop it. We apply the methods of epidemiology to learn what the sick people have in common and locate the source of the contamination. Then we make sure that all contaminated food is removed from the supply. Did you have cereal for breakfast? If you are a woman who might become pregnant, your cereal, fortified with folic acid, will help prevent some serious birth defects. 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