Child Labour in India Essay Example

Child Labour in India Essay Case on Child Labour Gap Admits Possible Child Labor Problem Journalist Videotapes Conditions at Subcontractor Plant; Gap Official Tells ABC News, This Is Completely Unacceptable By HILARY BROWN, LONDON, Oct. 28, 2007 The multi-billion dollar global fashion company Gap has admitted that it may have unknowingly used child labor in the production of a line of childrens clothing in India. This followed allegations by an investigative reporter based in Delhi, whose story was splashed across two pages of the British paper The Observer on Sunday. ABC News obtained some of the video material he used to substantiate his story. It shows children who appeared to be between the ages of 10 and 13, stitching embroidered shirts in a crowded, dimly lit work-room. The video clearly shows a Gap label on the back of each garment. The reporter, Dan McDougall, said the children were working without pay as virtual slaves in filthy conditions, with a single, backed-up latrine and bowls of rice covered with flies. They slept on the roof, he said. Gap Inc. was quick to order a full investigation into the allegations and to re-iterate its policy never to use child labor in the production of its clothes. This is completely unacceptable and we do not ever, ever condone any child laborer making our garments, said the president of Gap North America, Martha Hansen, on ABC News Good Morning America Weekend Edition on Sunday morning. We act swiftly, Hansen went on. And quite honestly, Im very grateful that this was brought to our attention. McDougall said the children seen working on the Gap clothing all came from the poor Indian state of Bihar, a favourite hunting ground for traffickers looking for cheap underage labor. We will write a custom essay sample on Child Labour in India specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Child Labour in India specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Child Labour in India specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Impoverished parents are tricked into selling their children for a few dollars with the empty promise that they will be well cared for and will send back their wages. They had been trafficked by train, he said. Its nickname is the child labor express. At any time, you can see 80 children on this huge train. Most are trafficked to work in the garment industry, which is huge in New Delhi. Like many international companies, Gap Inc farms out huge production orders to subcontractors in the developing world, where child labor is virtually endemic. The company takes pride in its record of ethical out-sourcing and has almost 100 inspectors monitoring 2,700 factories worldwide, it says. But in India one of its suppliers evidently broke the rules. Child sweatshop shame threatens Gaps ethical image Dan McDougall ,The Observer, Sunday 28 October 2007 An Observer investigation into children making clothes has shocked the retail giant and may cause it to withdraw apparel ordered for Christmas Amitosh concentrates as he pulls the loops of thread through tiny plastic beads and sequins on the toddlers blouse he is making. Dripping with sweat, his hair is thinly coated in dust. In Hindi his name means happiness. The hand-embroidered garment on which his tiny needle is working bears the distinctive logo of international fashion chain Gap. Amitosh is 10. The hardships that blight his young life, exposed by an undercover Observer investigation in the back streets of New Delhi, reveal a tragic consequence of the Wests demand for cheap clothing. It exposes how, despite Gaps rigorous social audit systems launched in 2004 to weed out child labour in its production processes, the system is being abused by unscrupulous subcontractors. The result is that children, in this case working in conditions close to slavery, appear to still be making some of its clothes. Gaps own policy is that if it discovers children being used by contractors to make its clothes that contractor must remove the child from the workplace, provide it with access to schooling and a wage, and guarantee the opportunity of work on reaching a legal working age. It is a policy to stop the abuse of children. And in Amitoshs case it appears not to have succeeded. Sold into bonded labour by his family this summer, Amitosh works 16 hours a day hand-sewing clothing. Beside him on a wooden stool are his only belongings: a tattered comic, a penknife, a plastic comb and a torn blanket with an elephant motif. I was bought from my parents village in [the northern state of] Bihar and taken to New Delhi by train, he says. The men came looking for us in July. They had loudspeakers in the back of a car and told my parents that, if they sent me to work in the city, they wont have to work in the farms. My father was paid a fee for me and I was brought down with 40 other children. The journey took 30 hours and we werent fed. Ive been told I have to work off the fee the owner paid for me so I can go home, but I am working for free. I am a shaagird [a pupil]. The supervisor has told me because I am learning I dont get paid. It has been like this for four months. The derelict industrial unit in which Amitosh and half a dozen other children are working is smeared in filth, the corridors flowing with excrement from a flooded toilet. Behind the youngsters huge piles of garments labelled Gap complete with serial numbers for a new line that Gap concedes it has ordered for sale later in the year lie completed in polythene sacks, with official packaging labels, all for export to Europe and the United States in time for Christmas. Jivaj, who is from West Bengal and looks around 12, told The Observer that some of the boys in the sweatshop had been badly beaten. Our hours are hard and violence is used against us if we dont work hard enough. This is a big order for abroad, they keep telling s that. Last week, we spent four days working from dawn until about one oclock in the morning the following day. I was so tired I felt sick, he whispers, tears streaming down his face. If any of us cried we were hit with a rubber pipe. Some of the boys had oily cloths stuffed in our mouths as punishment. Manik, who is also working for free, claims unconvincingly to be 13. I want to work here. I have somewhere to sleep, he says lo oking furtively behind him. The boss tells me I am learning. It is my duty to stay here. Im learning to be a man and work. Eventually, I will make money and buy a house for my mother. The discovery of the sweatshop has the potential to cause major embarrassment for Gap. Last week, a spokesman admitted that children appeared to have been caught up in the production process and rather than risk selling garments made by children it vowed it would withdraw tens of thousands of items identified by The Observer. He said: At Gap, we firmly believe that under no circumstances is it acceptable for children to produce or work on garments. These allegations are deeply upsetting and we take this situation very seriously. All of our suppliers and their sub-contractors are required to guarantee that they will not use child labour to produce garments. It is clear that one of our vendors violated this agreement, and a full investigation is under way. After learning of this situation, we immediately took steps to stop this work order and to prevent the product from ever being sold in our stores. We are also convening a meeting of our suppliers where we will reinforce our prohibition on child labour. Gap Incorporated has a rigorous factory-monitoring programme in place and last year we revoked our approval of 23 factories for failing to comply with our standards. We are proud of this programme and we will continue to work with government, trade unions and other independent organisations to put an end to the use of child labour. In recent years Gap has made efforts to rebrand itself as a leader in ethical and socially responsible manufacturing, after previously being criticised for practices including the use of child labour. With annual revenues of more than ? 8bn and endorsements from Madonna and Sex and The City star Sarah Jessica Parker, Gap has arguably become the most successful brand in high-street fashion. The latest face of the firms advertising is the singer Joss Stone. Founded in San Francisco in 1969 by Donald Fisher, now one of Americas wealthiest businessmen, Gap operates more than 3,000 stores and franchises across the world. In Britain Gap, babyGap and GapKids are very successful, their own-brand jeans alone outselling their retail rivals lines by three to one. Last year, the company embarked on a huge advertising campaign surrounding Product Red, a charitable trust for Africa founded by the U2 singer Bono and backed by celebrities including Hollywood star Don Cheadle, singers Lenny Kravitz and Mary J Blige, Steven Spielberg and Penelope Cruz. As part of the fundraising endeavour, Gap launched a new, limited collection of clothing and accessories for men and women with Product Red branding, the profits from which are being channelled towards fighting Aids in the Third World. On its website the company states that all individuals who work in garment factories deserve to be treated with dignity and are entitled to safe and fair working conditions and not since 2000, when a BBC Panorama investigation exposed the firms working practices in Cambodia, have children been associated with the production of their brand. Gap has huge contracts in India, which boasts one of the worlds fastest-growing economies. But over the past decade, India has also become the world capital for child labour. According to the UN, child labour contributes an estimated 20 per cent of Indias gross national product with 55 million children aged from five to 14 employed across the business and domestic sectors. Gap may be one of the best-known fashion brands with a public commitment to social responsibility, but the employment [by subcontractors ultimately supplying ajor international retail chains] of bonded child slaves as young as 10 in Indias illegal sweatshops tells a different story, says Bhuwan Ribhu, a Delhi lawyer and activist for the Global March Against Child Labour. The reality is that most major retail firms are in the same game, cutting costs and not considering the consequences. They should know by now what outsourcing to India means. It is an impossible task to track down all of these terrible sweatshops, particularly in the garment industry when you need little more than a basement or an attic crammed with small children to make a healthy profit. Some owners even hide the children in sacks and in carefully concealed mezzanine floors designed to dodge such raids, he explains. Employing cheap labour without proper auditing and investigation of your contractor inevitably means children will be used somewhere along the chain. This may not be what they want to hear as they pull off fresh clothes from clean racks in stores but shoppers in the West should be thinking Why am I only paying ? 30 for a hand-embroidered top. Who made it for such little cost? Is this top stained with a childs sweat? Thats what they need to ask themselves. Seeking to combat its image as a sweatshop operation, the company detailed the findings in its first social responsibility report. The full 42-page document is available on the website, gapinc. com  · The investigation was carried out in partnership with WDR Germany. Gap admits to child labour violations in outsource factories David Teather in New York , The Guardian, Thursday 13 May 2004 03. 06 BST The Gap yesterday admitted to widespread problems from unsafe machinery to child labour violations in the thousands of factories it uses around the world to produce clothing for its retail chains. The Gap said it has a team of more than 90 compliance officers who conducted about 8,500 factory visits last year. The company produces garments in 3,000 factories located in 50 countries. The Gap said it cancelled supply deals with 136 plants last year because of various violations. Contracts were terminated with 42 plants in China, another 42 in south-east Asia, 31 on the Indian subcontinent and nine in Europe. In two factories at which contracts were terminated, The Gap identified under-age workers though in both cases hey were older than 14. The most frequent violations of The Gaps code of conduct included factories not complying with local laws on annual leave, failure to pay the minimum wage, working weeks in excess of 60 hours, inaccurate record keeping and machinery lacking safety devices. It said outright physical punishment and coercion was rare but that monitors had identified verbal harassment by supervisors and the use of physical labour as punishment. Few factories, if any, are in full compliance all the time, wrote compliance officer Anne Gust. If they were, we wouldnt need a code or the resources we devote to monitoring. When we find problems, we work with management to try to resolve them as quickly as possible. We will stay with a manufacturer as long as we believe it is committed to making ongoing improvements. The report was broadly welcomed by lobbyists for better working conditions in the developing world. Nikki Bas, of California-based Sweatshop Watch, said it was the kind of information we have been pushing them to provide for years. ___________________________________________________________ ____________ Gap pulls child labour clothing Fashion chain Gap has withdrawn from sale childrens clothing allegedly made using forced child labour in India. A 10-year-old boy was filmed making clothes for Gap shops in the US and Europe as part of an investigation by the UKs Observer newspaper. The boy told the Observer he had been sold to a factor y owner by his family. Gap, which has made commitments not to use child labour, said that only one item a girls smock blouse was involved. The boy said he had been working for four months without pay and would not be allowed to leave the job until the fee his family had received was repaid. Another boy of 12 said children were beaten if bosses thought they were not working hard enough, the paper reported. Dan Henkle, a spokesman for Gap, said: We were made aware earlier this week that a reporter had found an incident of children working in a factory that was producing for one of our brands, and this is completely unacceptable to us. We have a strict prohibition on child labour, and we are taking this very seriously. This is very upsetting and we intend to investigate thoroughly. Emergency meeting The spokesman said Gap monitors factories which make its clothing and in 2006 revoked approval for 23 factories which it said failed to comply with its standards. Mr Henkle also said the company was calling an emergency meeting with its suppliers in the region. The smock blouse will not be offered for sale in the companys 3,00 0 stores around the world, Gap said, and instead will be destroyed. Western clothing chains increasingly get their products made in Asia, taking advantage of cheaper labour. A 2006 report by the Child Welfare Committee found that 12 of 22 children from a village in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar were re-trafficked, mostly to different states, within a year after being rescued from a Delhi hand-embroidery sweatshop. They go back to the parents, but then what? asked Bharti Sharma, chairwoman of the Child Welfare Committee, a quasi-governmental body. Unless there is close supervision, the children will be going back to work. Rights groups estimate there are as many as 60 million children working in violation of the Child Labor Act, which prohibits children under 14 from working in 72 jobs, ranging from cutting diamonds and shelling cashews to blowing glass. New occupations are still being added, including domestic work and jobs in restaurants and hotels. There are myriad reasons children get sucked back into the labor cycle, activists say. Poor parents are ignorant of the law and seduced by promises that their child will master a trade while sending home ever-higher paychecks; illiterate child laborers lack the confidence to start school; government rehabilitation and monitoring programs are only now being implemented; and natural disasters. In fact, the parents of the children rescued in the Gap case told their attorney that severe floods destroyed their crops in their West Bengal villages, leaving them with no choice but to send their children to work in the capital. Many Indians believe children and their families would be worse off without such jobs. Seeing a child serve tea in restaurants, tea stalls, hotels and corporate offices should be shocking, said Shireen Miller of Save the Children India. But theres a kind of cultural tolerance toward it; there isnt outrage. Millers point was brought home early this month when two 10-year-old boys were seen on videotape plowing in Bihar state on fields owned by the minister for rural development. The high-profile rescue at the sweatshop making Gap clothes in October was followed by rescues of 103 boys from two other textile factories in New Delhi. The sweeps have jolted the Indian government and Gap. Government officials have since drawn up a child-labor eradication plan, promising regular audits in such labor-intensive export industries as textiles, carpets and jewelry. They have also pledged a large funding increase from $170 million to $1 billion for rehabilitation centers that offer informal education and vocational training to rescued minors. On its Web site, the Ministry of Labor acknowledges the challenge, calling child labor a â€Å"socioeconomic problem inextricably linked to poverty and illiteracy† that â€Å"requires concerted efforts from all sectors of the society to make a dent. A Gap spokesman says a New Delhi subcontractor sent the work to an illegal, makeshift facility without Gaps knowledge. Gap ordered the vendor, who they declined to name, to fire the subcontractor who had employed the children in violation of the companys policies. Gap has also placed the vendor on probation, reduced orders to his factory by 50 percent, and is organizing an industry f orum called Global March Against Child Labor early next year, according to Bill Chandler, Gaps vice president of corporate communications. † Gap Inc. elieves very strongly that under no circumstance should work on any of our garments be done by children, said Chandler. We require all of our vendors to comply with our strict code of conduct that includes an absolute ban on child labor. Gap says it will donate $200,000 to create community centers in India that will closely monitor the 200 garment factories that manufacture their products to ensure that no child is hired. Some of the boys who hand-stitched sequins onto Gap shirts were as young as 10 and worked up to 16 hours a day, rights activists say. Many had been packed into tiny rooms in a series of factories, working from 9 a. . until midnight with just a 30-minute lunch break, and were beaten with rods if they missed a stitch, activists say. All were reunited with their parents last week after spending six weeks in the cu stody of the nonprofit organization Save the Childhood Movement, while a New Delhi court reviewed their case. The court had initially refused to allow the parents custody of their children after learning that they had personally delivered them to the factory administrator, said attorney Ashok Agarwal. He said he agreed to represent the parents only after they promised to protect their children from future traffickers. On a recent afternoon at the Save the Childhood Movement shelter, the boys became reacquainted with their childhoods, climbing trees, playing cricket and watching television. They also practiced yoga, meditation, and attended counseling sessions conducted by former child laborers. The children have to learn how to be free, said shelter manager Manish Sharma. When the court finally ordered the boys home, it gave each family $500 to be used to generate income by purchasing items such as livestock, a motorized rickshaw or a cigarette vending cart. S. K. Das, the principal secretary of the West Bengal Labor Department, said local officials work with families to devise an income plan, which must be approved before payment. But childrens activists say there is little follow-up after most payments. The 2006 Child Welfare Committee report found that families exhausted all the money in a few days. Children have obviously not benefited at all. Activists said families typically use the money to for such items as ceiling fans, alcohol, weddings and unpaid debts. Bhuwan Ribhu, a lawyer for Save the Childhood Movement, says his group will visit every few months the boys who left the sweatshop manufacturing Gap clothes. But without an effective government rehabilitation system in place, he says it is impossible to insulate them from traffickers who are often residents of the same village. Individual states are responsible for enforcing child labor laws, creating a fragmented and disorganized system in which blame for inaction is traded back and forth between state and federal governments, rights advocates say. This summer, the Delhi High Court ordered local government to stop traffickers from bringing out-of-state children to the capital after the northern state of Jharkhand argued that New Delhi has done little to stop it. The Delhi Labor Department is woefully understaffed, with only 50 inspectors for a workforce of 8 million, said a department official who requested anonymity because he is not permitted to speak on the record. We are supposed to implement 26 labor laws with merely nine people, he said. And the inspectors are not qualified. Their nderstanding of the legal issues is poor. Most of the boys swept up in the raid on the sweatshop producing Gap clothes were under age 14 and earned less than $15 per month in a nation whose annual per capita income is $3,600. But when they arrived at the shelter, they recited phrases that their bosses had drilled into them that they were 14 (the legal working age) and earned decent money, said attorney Ribhu. Mohammed Nadim, 15, who was recent ly rescued after working two years in a garment sweatshop in New Delhi, smiled uncomfortably when asked why he had left home. I went with the man (trafficker) to earn money, he said. Reached by phone at his village in Bihar state, his father, Mohammed Tohid, contradicted his son, saying he found his own way to the factory. I know he is too young to work, he said. I know hes a child. But if he wants to work, he can. Kolkata : With 50,000 children working as domestic labourers in Kolkata alone, the ineffectiveness of the amended Child Labour Prevention Act (CLPRA) implemented in the state becomes conspicuous. At a workshop organised by Save the Children, an NGO working for children’s rights, speakers highlighted various issues detrimental to the implementation of CLPRA in West Bengal and across the country. â€Å"West Bengal is one of the largest contributors in child labour and trafficking. There is a greater need to define the responsibilities of the judiciary, police, state government and civil society in implementing the CLPRA. There is a need for public-private partnerships,† said Manabendra Nath Ray, state programme manager, Save the Children. The workshop focused on the role played by the state Labour Department and the Women and Child Development Department in implementing the CLPRA and stressed on the contribution of education, rehabilitation and awareness to eradicate child labour. â€Å"Our study has shown that most of the children exploited as domestic helps are brought to Kolkata or trafficked mainly from adjoining districts of North and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore,† said Thomas Chandy, CEO, Save the Children (Bal Raksha, Bharat). The NGO claims that though census 2001 estimates over 12 million children aged between 5 and 14 continue to work in hazardous industries, the actual number of child labours is much higher, as nearly 20 million children are working in roadside eateries or are employed as domestic workers in the country. Experts also stressed on the need to cover the loopholes of the CLPRA which says that children under the age of 14 are banned from working as domestic helps, in dhabas, restaurants, hotels and other hospitality sectors. According to a study conducted by Save the Children, 74 per cent of the child domestic labourers are aged between 12 and 16, leaving a crucial gap in bringing a huge number of children aged between 17 and 18 under the Act. ‘Inspectors, who are responsible for implementing the CLPRA, face a lot of restrictions. We would like the civil society and NGOs to help us by providing information about the cases where children are being exploited,† said S Islam, Assistant Labour Commissioner. Questions for discussion: a. What are the primary and secondary causes of child labour in India. What are the challenges faced by governments, NGO’s, domestic international businesses when they try to eradicate child labour? b. Are you satisfied with the actions taken by Gap? What would you do in similar situation that can lead to a sustainable solution to this problem? c. What are the inadequacies of the various Regulatory Departments? Discuss a few actionable and practical suggestions to make them more efficient? d. Elaborate on the role played by the NGO’s in such a scenario as above? Would a multi stakeholder approach work better – give pros and cons of such an arrangement.

How far and in what ways do you consider that Malan presents the black person viewpoint in My Traitors Heart. Essays

How far and in what ways do you consider that Malan presents the black person viewpoint in My Traitors Heart. Essays How far and in what ways do you consider that Malan presents the black person viewpoint in My Traitors Heart. Essay How far and in what ways do you consider that Malan presents the black person viewpoint in My Traitors Heart. Essay Malan wrote a different book to the one he set out to write but this finished autobiographical memoir was written because he was searching for a way to live in this strange country-for an alternative, if one existed, to the law of Dawid Malan. To live in this world he needs understand the world and in this quest he needs to understand the problems that his country must endure. The tale of the Hammermans murders is told by Malan but it is not told in his typical criminal journalist way it is told almost as if it were a story. Introducing the characters, telling the reader of their lives Dave and Jay used to smoke zol and jol, but theyve outgrown all that. Theyre both turning thirty, both newly turned onto free enterprise. Then once the reader has identified with them he (Malan) tells of their killings Jay is slumped against the wall, dead with a dozen hammer holes in his skull. His half naked wife is lying on the floor. Shed spent hours spinning around in a pool of her own blood, trying in vain to get up. In the section on the court case there are a few interjections, from Simon Mpungose but the main story is told through Rian Malan. Malan tells us of how eloquently Simon tells his story but much of this we cannot experience because we are not told this story by Simon we are told of what Malan remembers of the story. This eloquent speech is actually third hand when the reader comes to hear it. The translator translates Simons speech from to English. The minutes are then typed up by someone, from what the translator has said and then Malan reads these minutes and puts them into his book. Here Malan is putting across this black mans point of view but he is not really allowing him to do it himself This section devoted to the Hammerman is different to many of the other sections because there are much more quotations from Simon. These help us the reader to see his point of view, to see into his mind and maybe over this long distance from South Africa share some of the emotions that Simon feels. Maybe Malan allows Simon to better put his point across because he feels more empathy for him for the troubles he had to endure as a young man because of the apartheid laws. It is understandable but somehow strange of the sympathy Malan finds for the Hammerman. Although Simon struggled to live in the apartheid state and due to ver unfortunate circumstances was forced into poverty so were many other black people in South Africa and these people didnt go out on a six month murdering spree, brutally killing men and women in their beds, with a hammer used to kill pigs. Malan did not seem to feel the same sympathy for people like Samuel Mope.

Transport planning policy article critique Essay

Transport planning policy article critique - Essay Example â€Å"Peak everything† is a phrase that Heinberg and other ecological advocates use to indicate that most finite resources are reaching or will reach exploitation limits and will thereafter only give less and less of the resource at higher and higher cost, but peak oil has achieved special attention. Since every element of the economy needs petrochemicals in production (and not just in factories but also in high-intensity Green Revolution agriculture), consumption, transportation and distribution, peak oil means the end of growth, since every element of the society becomes perpetually more expensive. The connection with transportation is obvious: Transportation must be sustainable if it is to be relevant. Hank Dittmar's Transport and Neighbourhoods (2008), and his earlier collaboration with Ditland (2004), emphasizes sustainability in its approach. Dittmar argues that sustainability will have to be part of a ground-up approach to design. It's meaningless, for example, to make it easier to navigate an inner city without a car if the people who work at the inner city commute from a suburb that is designed for urban sprawl. Dittmar argues for sustainable cities. These cities are characterized by a number of factors: 1. Sustainable transportation and sustainable city design being interlinked 2. ... calls â€Å"the five minute pint†, or the five minute trip to a local pub; this means that it's not just walkability for access to essential institutions like groceries and schools, but also walkability to reasonable centers of entertainment and social interaction 5. Accessible public transportation: A subway is meaningless if it takes a car to get there 6. Market-based strategies 7. Scale of problem demands immediate and technological solutions Dittmar's position as a Prince Foundation urban design analyst does provide his claims with authority and plausibility, but I fear as I look at his analysis that perhaps there is the classic problem of an expert analyzing his own issue. First: Experts tend to reduce everything to their core issue. Second: Experts often can only see things within the theoretical blinders of their own profession. Urban planning and transportation are obviously connected, but it seems naive to think that it's just urban planning and its inaccessibility to non-commuting approaches causes driving issues. There are obviously numerous other factors. Gas and oil subsidies in the West, particularly in America, make it artificially easy to drive cars (Geiger and Hamburger, 2010). In general, public investment into research provides corporations with the means to produce antisocial institutions: Research in general should focus on other factors. There's also a culture of car ownership. Cars are signs of independence, prosperity and masculinity: The purr of a Lamborghini still has great pull even in this increasingly green age. It's possible to design a city where no one needs to drive a car, and people will still prefer to. And the problem is that mass transportation not being sexy means that less people ride, which reduces the number of stops the system

EMR Conclusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

EMR Conclusion - Essay Example At the pre-implementation stage, a plan of action was set with specific dates by which time specific goals must be achieved. To a very large extent, this was a good step in setting the scope of the system to know what the limits of it are and finding ways to making up for the limitations (Thompson and Thompson, 2008). The fact that a recap session was also developed at the post-implementation stage to ensure that end users and practice leadership discussed key aspects of the go-live system were also a step in the right direction. This is because Davis and Wallbridge (2008) stressed the need for there to be periodic and constant evaluation and monitoring of health information systems (HIS) in ensuring that they are functioning according to levels that have been set for them from the onset. As West Palm has fulfilled all of these processes and steps effectively, it can be concluded that the facility is not in a position to gain competitive advantage of the system, especially if it woul d continue to train its human resource to be on top of the use of the system to improve efficiency and

The movie John Q Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The movie John Q - Case Study Example He decides to take the emergency room hostage in order to compel the Hope Memorial Hospital undertake the operation on his son. The movie is, however, full of ethical and moral dilemmas all through its course. The analysis is based on the decisions made by the characters in the film, for example, considering the dilemma John finds himself in with his son in dire need of heart surgery while he cannot afford the procedure since he did not have a proper health cover policy. The hospital chooses not to play the Good Samaritan and declines to carry on with the operation. This situation confronts John and places him in a dilemma to either accept the fate of his son as suggested by Rebecca Payne, The administrator of the Hope Memorial Hospital or raise funds for the cardiac operation. On the other hand, Rebecca, Payne acted in a utilitarian manner by thinking that assisting John Q and undertaking the operation of free will, not do the society any good since there are many other patients facing the same challenge. The actions of John Q will ultimately resonate well with the jury that focuses on the good intentions of the action. The other action by John Q of freeing the most defenseless patients during the hostage situation, reveal the decent side of John. Question 2, It is the responsibility of the companies to provide information to their employees regarding changes in health coverage. If the staff is remains unaware of the health coverage status and other issues regarding the services of the company, it will render the staff in given situations to make hurried decisions since there is no code to operate within thus may lead to loss. Regardless of the ordeal, John Q remains with the moral responsibility of keeping a promise he made of ensuring that his son gets the cardiac surgery. In another account, the companies should take into considerations the interests of the employees as much as firm interests are relatively vital. Health cover and other

The Different Methods Of Flood Prevention

The Different Methods Of Flood Prevention In the sixth week of the first semester of the current academic year I was informed that I would have to write a technical report on a topic of my choice as well give a presentation on the same topic. After reading around for interesting and relevant topics as well as correspondence with my personal tutor I chose the topic of Methods of Flood Prevention for the report. Starting my research I made use of the library and internet to increase my knowledge of the subject as well as find research and discussions by experts in the subject. On the tenth week I gave short presentation on the subject that I presented to my peers this was successful. Furthermore the purpose of this report is to investigate and outline methods of both preventing and dealing with floods, primarily by restricting the places where the water is allowed to flow. This report will span though the causes of flooding, the dangers finally looking at different methods mankind have used to limit the effects of flooding wo rldwide though a range of solutions, some starting simple and overtime becoming more complex. An initial examination of flooding Cause Flooding is caused by large surges of water over a short period of time this causes existing draining systems, wither natural or manmade to become overwhelmed. This occurs because the ground becomes saturated and is no longer able to absorb more water, in addition other drainage such as rivers, drain pipes and reservoirs may be filled faster than they are able to drain, this causes the excess water to accumulate. The rapid surge of water can come from a variety of different sources as well as a combination of sources. According to J.A.A. Jones heavy rainfall is usually a prime initiator of flooding worldwide. The key characteristics may include any combination of rainfall intensity, duration, area and location relative to the drainage network. {{J.A.A Jones 2000}} Other sources include tidal surges, hurricanes, tsunamis, rapid melting of ice or snow. Blockages of drainage systems such as rivers streams and sewers can also cause flooding if water isnt able to be drained away normally. Risks Flooding causes a variety of problems ranging from the short term and more immediately evident risks to long term risks. Immediate risks are often the greatest danger in terms of risk to human life. Immediate risks pose great danger to human life. According to the world health organization {{World Health Organisation 2010}} floods greatly increase the risk of the spread of communicable diseases. Water-borne diseases, such as typhoid fever, and cholera are likely to spread during flooding due to possible contamination of water supplies especially if the floodwater becomes contaminated by sewerage. Vector -borne diseases are those spread by carriers, floods can lead to a large increase in the habitat of for example mosquitoes which are spreaders of malaria. The sheer mass of water causes risks to anyone trapped in the affected, area, bursting gas pipes, collapsing structures, and drowning. Long term risks, flooding causes millions of pounds of damage to buildings. After a major flood economic instability is likely to follow, Loss of business, damage to stock and even loss of tourism income. Some countries that have been devastated by floods may suffer the consequences long after the water has subsided, food supplies being destroyed and other economic losses may lead of widespread poverty and famine. Hence the limitation of floods is essential to the well being of any community. Flood Defences Over the last few centuries many countries have developed and put in place different measures to control the position of water a limit the effects of heavy freak or seasonal rain, tides as well as tropical storm weather. There are two main branches both closely connected to one another. One is concerned with protecting from floods by preventing or limiting their effects from occurring, the other is concerned with predicting when, how often and how severely floods will strike. Reservoirs According to Collins a reservoir can be described as A natural or artificial lake for storing water for community use {{ Collins Language 2009}} Reservoirs can be considered a useful form of flood control especially in areas of irregular rain patterns, such as high rainfall in some seasons followed by periods of drought. This way water can be stored during periods of rainfall and then released or used in the community over a longer period of time. Dams Dams are often part of a reservoir system; the advantage of dams is they are able to act as more than just a flood defence, they are good sources to be used for hydroelectric power stations. Dams however pose a flood risk caused by dam failure, if improperly built. Dams are also sometimes spanned across rivers or lakes, one example of such damn being the Wilson Damn is dam spanning the Tennessee River. The gates are used to slow or increase the rate of flow through the damn, for the purpose of controlling the water as well as generating large amounts of electricity. Sea Barriers Sea barriers are a very effective form of flood protection protecting from sea water. They are useful in places where a costal which are at great risk of flooding from high tides. These can be permanent walls or erecting barriers, examples of such would be the Thames Barrier in London and the Maeslantkering in The Nederlands. The Maeslantkering with its extremely impressive dimensions consists of two 210 meter wide gates that are 22meters high and is hence one of the biggest moving structures on the planet. The purpose of these gates to protect The Nederlands from storm surges. The construction of this barrier took over 6 years to build and was completed in 1997. This is advantageous versus other types of barriers as the fact that it is able to move to allow ships access into The Nederlands. It operates automatically using weather data and closes when there are surges higher than 3 meters over normal are predicted. The automatic computer systems of the Maeslantkering automatically alerts all traffic in advance to halt their course until further notice if the barrier is intended to close. The Nederlands having large portions of its land below sea level such that two-thirds of its population lives there, is at high risk of increasing sea levels and have over the last few hundred years taken many steps to re claim more and more land from the sea have some of the best flood defences in the Europe. It is hence important that barriers such as the Maeslantkering exist especially in this day and age with the uncertainty concerning rise levels and the continued treat of global climate change. The barrier and other flood defences in The Nederlands are designed to protect the country from floods of estimated frequency of 1 in 10,000 years. The Thames Barrier in London was completed in 1984 and is designed to protect the city of London from being flooded by large surges of water from the Atlantic Ocean. I consist of 4 main gates as well as several smaller gates; the barriers themselves fill with water and lay submerged when they are not in use, the water in these gates drain out when the barriers are raised. The raising of the barrier is controlled and decided upon using several checks, including predictions not only from its own forecasting systems but also those from the Met Office. Like the Maeslantkering the computer system at the Thames Barrier automatically alerts all traffic coming towards and inside London to cease course and stand by up to 9 hours before it needs to close. Levees Levees are slopes of land or walls that are to control water levels next to rivers or the coast. According to {{R. A. Guisepi 2008}} they where first built in the Indus Valley Civilisation over 4.6 thousand years ago. Around the world they are quite popular and very effective as a form of large scale flood control present in rivers both across Europe and in the United States, for example the Mississippi River as while as the Rhine which stretches across seven European counties. Although so widely used and trusted levees are not in fact that reliable when improperly secured especially when it comes to the most extreme weather, most notably during Hurricane Katrina there was wide scale failure in New Orleans. They work by controlling the size and shape of the river, as a result may even change the speed at which the river flows. Storm drains Storm drains are systems that are designed to drain rainwater from roofs, paved areas and roads. They generally consist of a series of underground pipes that lead into a reservoir. The areas to be drained are usually tilted at a small angle so that any water that fell on these areas would not remain stagnant, instead would run off into these drainage systems. This process is essential as rainwater is not able to easily penetrate paved areas, this would otherwise cause regular flooding of urbanised areas. The water that runs the tilted pavement runs along little valleys into storm drain entrances. These are usually grids to prevent too objects from falling down, although quite large holes to prevent them becoming blocked. These drains are fitted with traps much like those in a house-hold sink, in this case called a gulley-pot, like traps in sinks they are prevent rising foul gasses to be escape the sewers. As a result of accumulating sediment in these traps require regular maintenance especially during the autumn season where leaves and loose soil are likely to be washed into them, this is easily done using specially designed trucks with their own pumps to simply suck out any blockage, I minor inconvenience to road users however, necessary none the less. Storm drains date back over 4000 years ago according to {{C Michael Hogan 2007}} where evidence of them has been found in Crete. There are several building regulations connected to the storm drains. Flood plains Are pieces of land that are usually nearby rivers and are usually very prone to being flooded, this land may because of the proximity to fresh water be very fertile and good for transportation, but control and awareness of developments and usage of these pieces of land are essential for the safety of those living on these areas. Steps such as flood insurance, and evacuation procedures must be put into place to prevent great loss of life or possession. Temporary structures Temporary flood barriers are available from a large range of sources online. There are businesses which specialise in fast erecting cheap but incredibly effective flood barriers which can provide protection on a small scale for specific buildings. These types of barriers can consist of a number of things, for example inflatable barriers or strong polymer barriers that lock into alleyways or doors. Packing bags of sand may also be done as a way of protecting areas that are sensitive to flood waters such as power stations. An example of one such company which I discussed in my talk was Revetment Limited claiming to be able to erect barriers 20 meters can be erected in less than 15 minutes {{Revetment Limited 2003}} Environment Agency In the United Kingdom the Environment Agency issues flood maps which consists of area based risks assessments for the whole of England and Whales; anyone can request copies of theses maps or simply view them online. They outline which parts of the country are at risk of flooding, to what degree, and from what source. If for example I was to look at a flood map and zoom onto the area that is Loughborough I could see that there is very low risk of flooding and only river flooding, at the canals especially near the leisure centre. In addition whenever any landscaping or building work is to be done there is a requirement that a risk assessment of the area is to be carried out; not only on the area being developed but on the affect that this development would have on the surrounding area and wither it would increase the flood risk of this area. The development would have to not interfere with the drainage of the area surrounding, all this is outlines within Planning Policy Statement 25: D evelopment and Flood Risk {{The Environment Agency 2009}} Meteorological There are scientists out there who devote their entire careers to understanding and predicting the way that the weather will sway. They make use of measurements of air pressure, air temperature, weather balloons and in more recent years weather satellites. These organisations are essential and one of the frontier lines as far as flood defence goes. They provide data for the engineers to build upon, they also provide the data for certain emergency system to run for example, evacuation of high risk areas the raising for flood barriers such as the Thames and the Maeslantkering. One of the most essential qualities of such an organisation, for example the UK Met Office is making predictions clear and ahead of time then communicating with the necessary authorities and making sure the what needs to be done is carrier out. Frequency Based Risk Assessment Frequency analysis can be based either on annual maximum (AM) data or peak-over-threshold (POT) data. The AM series comprises the largest rainfall observed in each year whereas POT data consists of the time and magnitude of rainfalls exceeding a threshold. {{Duncan. F 1999}} Frequency based risk assessment is process used by meteorologists to provide estimations for governments, engineers, and insurance companies alike. Currently frequency based estimations are being used in the Netherlands to set the heights of the river dikes. Hoekstra explains so in an article for the journal Natural Hazards In the Netherlands the current dike design policy is to design flood defence structures corresponding to an agreed flooding probability with an extra safety board of at least 0.5 m. {{Hoekstra, Arjen Y. 2008}} He later goes on to explain that A problem with this strategy is that it builds on assumptions with regard to the intrinsically uncertain probably distributions for the peak discharges. {{Hoekstra, Arjen Y. 2008}}. As explained by the above quote these analyses and risk assessments are rather vital as it provides engineers and designers for a template to design other flood defences to. Without this data we would simply be building walls and would have no idea how high they would need to be and how likely it would be to be a sufficient or effective flood defence. It also sometimes hints on patterns of likely hood on when a flood is likely to occur. In years to come however these estimations become more and more unreliable as sea levels increase and climate patterns that have been observed for hundreds of years slowly change. Conclusions Floods are an unavoidable natural process caused by large surges of water in short periods of time, leaving the drainage system that is in place, wither man made or natural unable to cope regardless if it simply controls where the water is kept or even controls how to dissipate the water. Therefore we have to do everything in our powers to limit the damage caused by these floods as to ensure the livelihood of the people of the community. Wither we believe that the oncoming climate change is due to human negligence or if it simply part of longer cycle of changes we must consider the steps to prepare for the worse. Even if we do build defences and there turns out to be no massive rise in sea levels it may still be useful to prepare because when the proof arrives it may already be too late. Furthermore such a large building project could be beneficial to many communities providing not only security but employment and economic stability. In this report outlined the different measures tha t can be taken both as emergencies and on the long term, including but not limited the storing of water in reservoirs, the use of sea barriers, levees, storm drains, temporary emergency structures, and proper planning and predictions. In the light this, I would suggest that other countries follow the example of the Nederlands and attempt to provide its most sensitive areas with flood defence that is capable of protecting from one in 10,000 year storms, as it is a lifetime investment that will provide long term piece of mind regardless of wither it will be used against freak floods or used to protect people on the advent of global sea levels continuing to rise.

Genetically Modified Foods Essay -- GMOs, Genetically Modified Crops

Introduction Let’s face it, the term genetically modified (GM) foods is not the most appetizing word in the English language and neither is the term genetically engineered foods for that matter. Whether or not you realize it, you have consumed at least one product that contains genetically modified foods. These â€Å"modified foods† are hiding all over your supermarkets and in some instances, there is no way to tell just by looking at it. But, they have been around for more than two decades and it has helped to keep our food supply alive. The technological innovation that is genetically modified foods was first introduced during the early 1980s. It took nearly two decades of expensive research and development to move agricultural and food products from the lab and into your supermarkets (Weick & Walchi, 2002). The basic process of creating GM foods is to isolate the gene of a living organism and transfer them into a different living organism. This process is known as â€Å"recombinant DNA or gene technology† (Windley, 2008). This is done by cutting DNA from different organisms and joining them together. The loops of DNA that are naturally found in bacteria are cut with a restriction enzyme and then combined with a gene of interest. The technology allows plant breeders to produce crops with characteristics that can withstand diseases and insects. This paper will focus on the effects of genetically modified foods on producers, consumers, and the environment. I decided to choose this topic because it has always been a subject mentioned throughout many of my science courses. I have heard the term, but never fully understood what it meant or its impact on the world. By choosing this as my research paper topic, I know it will better my und... ...ture. MEDSURG Nursing, 11(5), 242-246. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text. McCullum, C., Benbrook, C., Knowles, L., Roberts, S., & Schryver, T. (2003). Application of modern biotechnology to food and agriculture: Food systems perspective. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior, 35(6), 319-332. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Weick,C.W., Walchli,S.B. (2002). Genetically engineered crops and foods: Back to the basics of technology diffusion. Technology in Society, 21(3), 265-283. Retrieved from Science Direct. Whitman, D. B. (2000, April). Genetically modified foods: Harmful or helpful? ProQuest. Retrieved April 2, 2012, from http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php Windley,S. (2008). Genetically Modified Foods. Pure Health MD.Retrieved April 3, 2012, from http://arch.ttu.edu/w/images/d/d8/Genetically_Modified_Foods.pdf