How to Prepare Your Content Before Migrating to a Digital Asset Management System Part Two - The Writers For Hire

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR CONTENT BEFORE MIGRATING TO A DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: PART TWO Your files are inventoried and you know exactly which ones you’ll migrate to your DAM solution, but there is one more thing you need to do: optimize that all-important metadata so your system will function as you need it to. Let’s start by defining what metadata is and talk about why it’s so important to the functionality of DAM. What is Metadata? Metadata is what allows users to find, retrieve, edit, and share content.Kevin Gavin, CMO at Canto.com sums it up nicely. â€Å"Metadata is information about the digital asset that makes it easy to search and filter in order to organize and manage large collections of digital assets,† he says. â€Å"Standard metadata for images, for example, include things like the date, time, and location that a photo is taken as well as the camera and resolution.† Amy Chan, SR Product Marketing Manager at Extensis says â€Å"Metadata is the underpinning of an effective digital asset management system. Without a good process in place,† she says. â€Å"a DAM can fall short of its effectiveness.† Most metadata fall into these 3 categories: Administrative Metadata This type of data helps manage your content and includes things like the date it was created, who created it, and who should have access to it. Descriptive Metadata Having the right descriptiv e metadata helps users find the content they’re looking for. Some of the descriptive data to include in this are the title of the content, the author, and keywords. A keyword is what an end user types into the system to find content. For example, by typing â€Å"DAM† into the system, the user would see content related to that subject. Gavin says a keyword list can include as few as a dozen or up to hundreds of keywords, depending on what the DAM administrator determines. Additional keywords can also be added as the system grows. Rights Management Metadata When you include metadata that shows the copyright status and licensing provisions of your content, it will identify how and where it can be used. Gavin says that digital rights management is built into DAMs and â€Å"can be tracked at the individual asset level. What is a Metadata Schema? A metadata schema, according to Chan, â€Å"is the framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information. It is your structure and the list of fields (such as: date, author, name, subject, etc.) that you would like your catalogs to contain. This helps define how people add, categorize, search, and understand assets.† In other words, a metadata schema is the structure you use to organize your metadata. Chan recommends organizing information into 3 buckets: Crucial information Information you need to have about your assets. Make this a mandatory field for anyone cataloging your digital files. In an example workflow of a sports photographer for a university, crucial metadata could include:  » Event  » Subject  » Photographer  » EXIF metadata Nice to have information Data that you would prefer to have, but it’s not essential in your workflow. Following our previous example, this could include:  » Full description of photo  » Opposing team Negligible information Information that you could live without, but it does not hurt to capture. Examples:  » Final score of g ame  » Relevant keywords When and How to Add Metadata to Your Files You will have the choice of uploading your metadata as is, or editing it before you migrate to your new DAM solution. â€Å"Some metadata is added when an image is created such as the time, location, camera, and settings of photographs and they are tied to the file,† says Gavin. â€Å"Other metadata is custom and gets added along the way.† He believes the more metadata that is added and the earlier it’s done, the better. But he says that metadata should always be retrieved and migrated. â€Å"It is a judgement call if it is worth the work to go back and add metadata to old files,† he says. â€Å"The more the files are used and needed, the more important it is to have metadata so that they are more easily found when conducting a search of the metadata.† If you’re confidant that the existing metadata is good, your DAM solution probably has the capability to automatically imp ort it when ingesting the files. On the other hand, if you want to change or expand the metadata, you can choose to do that before migrating or afterwards. If you’re not sure what metadata already exists for your assets, check out this easy-to-follow guide from Bynder.com: Once you get a clear picture of the metadata that exists on your assets, you can determine whether or not you will need to edit or add to it.Tweet thisThere are some widely used open source tools that help edit and manage metadata such as EXIFTool and Python. Both of these tools can be used on Windows and Mac computers. If you would rather add the metadata using the tools on your Windows PC before uploading to a DAM, you’ll have to create an Excel spreadsheet. In this case, you would create a spreadsheet listing all of the files, and then create columns for each metadata field you want to create. You can create as many fields as you want. Next, you can embed some of the metadata directly into the d ocument, or use the spreadsheet as a guide while you’re migrating the content to the new DAM. To embed the keyword metadata directly into the Word document, follow these steps: Use the â€Å"Save As† function. After you’ve typed in the file name, click on â€Å"Add a tag† underneath it. Add tags or keywords related to the file. These tags will become part of the metadata associated with the file. If you’re adding metadata to images on a PC, use Adobe’s Bridge to help embed the data directly into the photo. If you decide that your metadata needs editing, once it’s complete you should export all of the newly revised metadata to a .CSV file so you’ll be able to ingest the entire batch to your DAM. Keep in mind that if you add metadata to your files on a Windows Machine, you will need to update the files one by one. On the other hand, it’s possible to embed metadata to your files in batches if you do it while migrating to a DAM. Once you get a clear picture of the metadata that exists on your assets, you can determine whether or not you will need to edit or add to it.Tweet this Bringing it All Together: How Preliminary Work Will help you Choose the Right DAM Solution Doing the preliminary work will give you a better idea of what you need from a DAM solution, and that will help in the selection process. Chan stresses that â€Å"The long-term success and adoption of a DAM starts with the foundation you put in place in the early stages.† In other words when you take the time to define your workflow, structure, and metadata practices, you’ll ensure your DAM is set up for success. But she says success also requires best practices be put into place after the migration as well. â€Å"Ensuring the guidelines are clear to all users is imperative for maintaining the effectiveness of the system,† she says. â€Å"Some companies will hire a digital asset librarian to manage this foundation. At a minimum, having a person to champion this infrastructure is key.†

Essential Beethoven essays

Essential Beethoven essays Beethoven was born in Bonn Germany on December 17, 1770. He became a professional musician at the age of eleven. His father hoped that Beethovens musical ability would earn him a fortune, just as Mozarts ability had for his father. However, Beethoven was very independent and he broke away from his alchoholic father at a young age. In 1792 Beethoven moved to Vienna, Austria where he studied with Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven was first recognized there for his emotional piano playing, but people soon learned that he was an excellent composer as well. Because of his great talent, Beethoven was supported by many private patrons. He is said to be the first important composer to make a living without receiving money from the court or the church. Beethovens music received special recognition, because it was both technically excellent and emotionally charged. Beethoven combined strong, loud notes with gentle, quiet notes to create the sense of changing emotions in his symphonic works. A very good example of this style is the widely celebrated ninth symphony. The intense feelings expressed in this and other works by Beethoven give his music a universal appeal. Beethovens status as one of the worlds greatest composers is especially remarkable, because he wrote many of his symphonies after he became deaf. By the 1820s, he was completely deaf and could only communicate with people through hand-written phrases and sentences. However, the music he composed at this time is considered to be his best work. During the last part of his life, Beethoven suffered from many emotional problems. The death of his younger brother Caspar Carl in 1815 was especially difficult for him. Beethoven took custody of his brothers son Karl. However, his desperate efforts to make Karl a great musician drove the young man to attempt suicide in 1826. Beethovens health began to fail shortly after, and he died on March 26, ...

Business law help needed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business law help needed - Essay Example In a brief filed in Gene's suit against Hoyt in a federal court, Ilsa, Gene's attorney, cites, Jon v. Klint, an unpublished opinion. According to a ruling of the United States Supreme Court, the judge in Gene's suit Nevada enacts a law to regulate Internet prescription transactions. New York enacts a ban on the Internet sale of tobacco products to New York residents. Texas prohibits automakers from selling vehicles on their Web sites. State regulation of Internet activities The Federal Trade Commission is a government agency that issues rules, orders, and decisions. The Georgia state legislature enacts statutes. The Jackson County Board and the Peach City Council enacts ordinances. Administrative law includes The Montana Supreme Court decides the case of National Co. v. Overseas Corp. Of nine justices, six believe the judgment should be in National's favor. Justice Peel, one of the six, writes a separate opinion. The four justices who believe the judgment should be in Overseas's favor join in a third separate opinion. Hua, a resident of Illinois, owns a warehouse in Indiana. A dispute arises over the ownership of the warehouse with Jac, a resident of Kentucky. Jac files a suit against Hua in Indiana. Regarding this suit, Indiana has Alpha Company files a suit against Beta, Inc.

What Happened During the Negotiation Process of Coast News Case Study

What Happened During the Negotiation Process of Coast News - Case Study Example The paper throws light on negotiation as a method of performing group decisions among the parties who are engaged possessing different choices or likings. Basically, negotiation is a procedure of getting the things done from others that are expected from them particularly in the method of executing various vital decisions. Moreover, negotiation is regarded as a deal in which the engaged parties possess a direct influence upon the final outcome of the negotiation. It requires voluntary approval on behalf of the parties those who are involved in a particular negotiation. It is also considered as a give and take process in which the actual and definite conditions of a transaction are equally agreed. It is the act or technique of bargaining in order to accomplish a commonly satisfactory agreement or objective. The other significant conception of negotiation lies in the peaceful method in which the involved parties find ultimate solutions by themselves and ultimately gain maximum control of their desired result. The negotiation process is also considered as the legal and orderly management procedure by which the governments conduct their relations with other establishments and discuss, adjust as well as manage their disagreements or any differences. In this global financial market, the most significant and crucial matter lies in policymaking. It has been identified that the policy formations are related to various deeds among the parties regarding diverse issues towards communal interests and other related factors along with avoiding increase regarding the internal conflicts among the parties. In this connection, it can be observed that negotiation is a central component of policy-making procedures which determine the different issues that are addressed by the policy makers, finds solutions and required support from the involved parties to confirm that the planned policy-making decisions are sustainable. The conception of negotiation mainly takes place for various r easons. The reasons include such as the initiative taken by the involved parties in order to generate any new aspect and to resolve a problem or a dispute between the involved parties among others. A wide range of perspectives can be used in order to understand different aspects of negotiation such as economic theories and practices, psychology, political science, communication, labor relations and law among others. The same negotiation outcome can also be understood from several different perspectives because the people or the engaged parties in the procedure of negotiation can negotiate many different aspects along with considering the necessity of the fundamental process of negotiation for them who work with other people. However, the several characteristics that are common to all negotiable situations include the presence of the involved parties which may be individuals, groups or organizations among others and conflict of interest between them that is based on the dissimilariti es regarding their different views, opinions and ideas among others along with the methods in order to manage the conflict. Moreover, the characteristics of negotiable situations also include acting as a voluntary process.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Tutor Signature: Date: Table of Contents Introduction 4 Theoretical Background 5 Advantages and Disadvantages of E-commerce 6 E-business strategies 8 Implementation Challenges 12 Conclusion 13 References 15 Introduction With the evolution of technology and introduction of the Internet, there is great change in the business environment. Every organization whether it is large or small scale, is trying to adopt and incorporate in business models based on technology into their system. This adoption of web based technology in the business lead to the emergence of E-commerce. In the current business scenario, e-commerce playing a crucial role and changed the way business is conducted around the globe. E-commerce is forcing the companies to find the new ways of expanding their market in which they compete (Plant 2000). To compete and sustain in the new markets, it become more crucial for the organization to not only attract the customers, but also to retain by tailoring the products and ser vices according to their needs and demand. Apart from redefining the products and services, organizations are also forced to restructure their business processes in order to deliver the products and services more effectively and efficiently (Reynolds 2004). ... In this report two business models has been used- McCarthy’s four marketing mix model and Porter’s five forces model to identify the strategies for organizations which want to enter in the field of e-commerce. The overall goal of this study is provide significant insights onto the challenges and advantages of e-commerce and business strategies. Theoretical Background (a) McCarthy’s Four Marketing Mix Model As per the McCarthy, a firm defines its marketing strategies after identifying the target market for its products or services. On the basis of the target market, organization then develops a marketing mix is a combination of product, price, promotion, and place designed according to the target market with the aim of enhancing the sales (Blythe 2009). The unique marketing mix allows the organization to sustain and compete more effectively, thus ensures the profitability and sustainability. For example, by offering different products with an attractive sales prom otion and effective logistics, a firm can increase its sales and revenues. This concept is also applicable on the e-commerce, and organizations working in this field are required to develop strategies for their target market by taking the unique nature of online marketing into the consideration (Napier et al 2006). (b) Porter’s Five Competitive Forces Model This five competitive forces model of Porter’s says that every organization develop its business strategies with the aim of gaining competitive advantage over its competitors. Organization can develop its strategies by focusing on five primary forces: (a) threat of new entrants, (b) rivalry among existing firms within an industry, (c) the Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3 Strategic management - Essay Example (p. 96) They are pivotal in generating competitive advantage because they reinforce an organization’s functions such as marketing, production or research and development. For instance, in the marketing department, the strategy would work by featuring real-life customers in direct-response print and television advertisements that would steer them towards the company website. In the application of a functional management strategy, the functions as well as the roles assigned will be able to manage corporate level strategies and their activities in such a way that they optimize their functional performance resulting to positive results that contribute to the overall company performance. Ray maintained that there are two kinds of competitive management strategies: the offensive and defensive strategies. The first is concerned with the strategy that usually takes place in an established competitor’s market location, while the latter takes place in the organization’s own current market position as a defense against possible attacks by a rival. (p. 13) However, the case is, the goal is the same: to secure market share, acquire new customers, maintain current ones and cultivate customer loyalty. In the case of this company, a combination of these two strategies would be used, although with more emphasis on the offensive strategy, considering the fact that most of its products claim less than 3 percent of the market, with only one product dominating 40 percent in its own market location. In terms of offensive strategy, the competitive advantage that drives the attraction of new customers is fuelled by innovation and customer value. Currently, the focus of t he organization on innovation has been reaping rewards already. According to Pieper, corporate strategy is the setting of a company’s long-term goals, major policies and plans, and the

Health Safety And The Environment Engineering Essay

Health Safety And The Environment Engineering Essay Health, Safety and Environment is considered as the top priority among the activities carried out in an oil gas industry. The oil industry has commitments to develop and maintain the technologies, standards, best practices and programs which are essential to enhance the workplace safety. The ultimate goal of the HSE is to increase safety by preventing accidents and injuries. Also, a good HSE system in an oil industry leads to reduced material losses, direct and indirect costs for accidents and improves productivity . Especially for a small to medium size oil company, the record of consistency in safe operations can be used to attract new business and investment. This makes the case that safety is good for business. Therefore, Economy of the oil industry largely depends upon HSE. The management and rest of organization in an oil and gas company have more responsibilities in doing the operations in safe way. The improvements in an oil business could be achieved by reviewing the rules, policies and procedures of HSE. The emphasis should be followed by both peers and management that violations of HSE rules will not be tolerated. This report deals with the necessity of HSE for a small to medium size oil company to achieve safe and profitable business. [Shigeo 2012] 2) INTRODUCTION: HSE plays a vital role in an oil companys development. HSE plans, policies, strategies, objectives, procedure, safety management system, Implementation and monitoring, Audit and management reviews and benefits of effective HSE system for a small to medium size oil company are discussed in this report. Policy and Strategic Objectives Organisation, Resources and Documentation Reviews Leadership and Commitment Leadership and commitment Implementation and Monitoring Risk Evaluation and management Planning AUDIT Fig:1 shows the process involved in a typical HSE system. [SAFETY HEALTH AND PERSONNEL COMPETENCE and ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEES 1994.] 3) DISCUSSION: The duties, responsibilities and process carried out in an small to medium size oil company to make development in all levels of HSE are discussed here. 3.1) LEADERSHIP AND COMMITMENT: The senior leaders of the company should involve and observe the activities carried out in the industry and should make changes if needed. Some of the roles of leaders to maintain a good HSE system are listed below, 1) Top to bottom level commitment in all aspects of operations carried out in an oil industry. 2) They are responsible to improve their companys HSE performance. 3) Keen observation of critical operations and maintaining perfect records for analysing and improving HSE performance. 4) They should ensure the workplace safety and profitability of the company. 5) Participation in every level of HSE development. 6) Making Cost-Benefit analysis of HSE. 7) Continuous studying and learning from accidents happened to other oil industries and implementing good methods to prevent such accidents in their company. The expected achievement from a leader in HSE is GOAL ZERO No harm to people and the environment. [ Petroleum Development Oman 2011 p.2 ] 3.1) HSE POLICIES AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES: The HSE policy and strategy of an oil company should be framed to avoid injuries and ill-health of employees, contractors, neighbours and public at all times and to minimise the adverse effect of operations on environment. Some of the HSE policies of an oil company are stated below, 1) Ensuring HSE considerations are given primary preference than the other business considerations. 2) Maintaining a systematic approach to HSE Management to achieve consistency in HSE improvement. 3) Performing regular audits and reviews. 4) Ensuring compliance with international standards, relevant legislations and client requirements. 5) Making availability of Health, Safety manuals and safe working procedures to all employees. 6) Designing the workplace and developing the work practices to reduce risks to the personnel as low as reasonably practicable. 7) Implementing the use of best technologies to reduce the impact of our operations to the environment. 8) Ensuring ability of our employees to compete their task and providing regular training and awareness program to manage the HSE risks. 9) Developing communication channel to ensure the HSE policies and procedures are understood by all our personnel. 10) Making repeated record of inputs, feedback and requirements of employees in all sections of operation. 11) Plan for react to and recover from the emergency situations. 12) Reporting accidents, near misses and investigating in the way to prevent similar incidents in future. 13) Ensuring legal Airport certification. [Shigeo 2012] 3.2) ORGANIZATION, RESOURCES AND DOCUMENTATION: The oil industry should make sure the workforce required to do HSE policies and procedures. Tasks of each and every employee are documented and accurately maintained. The daily work of employees are recorded and strictly supervised to prevent the violations of rules and regulations. Senior supervisors should undertake responsibility of maintaining safe working conditions. Some of the organisational resource issues related to HSE are as follows, 1) Regular worksite inspection by senior managers, 2) Daily workplace inspection by safety engineers, 3) Making availability of well trained supervisors and safety engineers for an emergency situation and for control room operations. 4) Providing guideline, HSE policies and procedures in understandable way to every worker. 5) Make sure that all employees are adults and they are physically and mentally fit for their respective operations. 6) Providing regular HSE awareness training to all employees of all disciplines to make them familiar to handle the risk situations and to prevent the similar faults. The small and medium size oil industry should maintain the contract details with the large size oil industry by proper documentation. They should compare their level and standard of HSE practices with the activities carried out in a large size oil company through benchmarking. The supervisors and managers should adopt continuous learning to enhance the quality and performance of HSE. Employees should be provided with safety and protection equipments like heavy impact safety helmets, safety eye goggles, boots, gloves, coveralls and other safety tools to minimise injuries. Safety boards, signals, alarms, traffic and pedestrian signs should be installed in the workplace. These instruments are inspected frequently and documented to enhance the safe working environment. 3.3) RISK EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT: It is impossible to completely eliminate all the risk in an oil industry. But, it could be reduced or prevented before occurring through an effective safety risk management system. Safety management system (SMS) is the crucial part in an oil and gas industry. Safety risk management techniques consists of Hazard identification, Risk assessment, Risk mitigation and tracking. i) HAZARD IDENTIFICATION: Hazard Identification is the initial step carried out in Safety Management System (SMS). This method is used to identify the hazards that the organization faces in its working environment. Hazard could be a fire explosion, blow out, chemical hazard, ill-health, transportation, environmental hazard, etc. The safety management system should undergo a detailed analysis of all operations. Then documents should be prepared based on what could go wrong in an operation. The hazard is a potential or existing dangerous condition that could result in an accident or incident. In a safety management system, all hazards in operations are identified and documented to analyse and implement the necessary techniques required to eliminate or reduce the risk associated with the hazard. ii) RISK ASSESSMENT: Risk assessment is the technique of analysing the identified hazards to know the consequence of each hazard. The risk assessment considers both the severity of each hazards and the probability of its occurrence. The risk assessment may show that certain hazards have acceptable level of consequence, while other risks need definite mitigation. Proper risk assessment in an oil industry can reduce the number of accidents and can almost prevent them before occurrence. iii) RISK MITIGATION AND TRACKING : If the root cause of hazard is identified, then the proper mitigation process can be made. The risk mitigation can reduce or eliminate the hazards likelihood of occurrence or it can manage the risk by reducing the severity of its effects. The systematic and logical approach should be in place to counteract any risk for maintaining safe operation. The whole mitigation process should be monitored and tracked to conform that all control objectives are working properly. [ Bayuk ] Cause Consequence shallow gas well kick Loss Circulation Gas cut mud Influx of Hydro- carbon Blow out Injury to personnel Damage to safety critical system Environmental damage H2S release Hydrocarbon flow from pressurised formation Prevention/ Control Barriers Mitigation Barriers Event / Hazard Fig:2 Risk diagram shows the causes and consequences of influx of hydrocarbon during drilling. [ Brian 2012 ] To mitigate the hazards during drilling and to control the well, the operator should identify the exact causes and should respond appropriately if influx occurs. 3.4) PLANNING: HSE plans of a small to medium size oil company are prepared in the way to enhance and guarantee the safe working conditions and healthy working environment. Some effective HSE plans includes, 1) HSE policies, procedures, strategies and objectives, target and responsibilities. 2) Cost Estimation for implementing HSE practices. 3) Leadership and commitment, regular inspection, supervision and risk management. 4) Hazard identification, risk assessment, risk mitigation and tracking. 5) HSE policies, plans implementation, monitoring and documentation. 6) Reporting and recording accidents and near misses. 7) Availability of safety equipments like Fire prevention and fighting devices, first aid medical facilities. 8) Environment pollution control, sanitation, waste management and reducing the usage of natural resources. 9) Employees selection, proper communication and training, work inspection, monitoring. 10) special training for emergency response for both employees and control room operators. 11) Identifying employees fitness both physically and mentally for their tasks and making regular health check up and collecting feedback. Priority in HSE Practices: Most Effective ELIMINATE Eliminate the hazard Use process or method with low risk impact SUBSTITUTE Segregate the hazardous products ISOLATE / SEPARATE Engineered Safeguards: Prevention: Design to prevent an unwanted event Recovery: Design to mitigate harmful consequences ENGINEER ORGANISATION PROCEDURE Operating Procedures, Work instruction, Permits, Maintenance, Emergency Response Training, competency, communication PPE Personal Productive Equipment to wear in working environment. Least Effective Fig:3 shows the priority in HSE operations which are carried out in oil industry. [ Petroleum Development Oman 2011 ] 3.5) IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING: Effective implementation of HSE plans will lead to the safe and successful business and give high secure conditions to the employees. The effective and dedicated team of supervisors, safety manager should be active every time to ensure that all HSE policies are followed without violations. The PDSA, PDCA cycle and gap analysis are necessary to compare the existing HSE standards with the large scale oil industrys standards. This will achieve quality in HSE performance (QHSE). Proper monitoring should be carried out to avoid the ignorance and violations of the HSE rules to made the job done. PDSA cycle: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Img/209291/0061564.gif Fig:4 Shows the PDSA cycle. [THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT HEALTH DELIVERY DIRECTORATE 2008] PDCA cycle: ISO PDCA Cycle Fig:5 Shows the PDCA cycle. [OSAKA CITY WATERWORKS BUREAU] The workers should give correct statement about the accidents and near-misses to implement necessary practices to prevent such incidents in future. Implementation of regular survey of the following aspects are very necessary, 1) Health and Safety Protection equipments, Shift phase, to workers Physical and Mental health, work hours and Sleep patterns, Alertness, Emergency response, work adaptation and satisfaction. 2) Safety in Operations Drilling, Well completion, Installation, Production, Processing, Aircraft operation and control, Transportation. 3) Environmental Hygiene Pollution due to accidents, Oil spill, Corrosion in pipelines, Offshore marine health issues, reduced natural resource usage, waste management, sanitation, Promotion of renewable energy, hazardous product management, reduction of toxic gas emission. [Mearns et al. 1997] 3.6) AUDIT AND MANAGEMENT REVIEW: i) Auditing is the major process carried out in the business to determine whether or not the HSE management processes are implemented and functioning effectively. ii) Auditing determines the compliance of companys HSE policies with relevant legislative requirements iii) It identifies the areas which need improvements to develop a powerful HSE management. iv) The specific areas that should be audited regularly are, a) Organisation, resources and documentation, b) Safety management system, c) Plans, policies and procedures, d) Implementation and monitoring. v) Audits may involve following methods, a) use of questionnaires, b) direct measurement and observations, c) Interviews and d) checklists. vi) Auditing process should compare the results of previous audits and are recorded properly. vii) The senior level management should review their HSE policies and management approach to maintain the continuity of suitability and effectiveness of the safety management system. [SAFETY HEALTH AND PERSONNEL COMPETENCE and ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEES 1994.] 4) BENEFITS OF HSE: Undoubtedly, HSE is the primary goal of an oil company. Some of the benefits of HSE in a small to medium size oil company are stated below, 1) It will develop the business by new business tie-ups and new investments. 2) Logical priority to safety lead to the mitigation and prevention of risks before it occurs. 3) Hazard reporting ensures the effective scheduling and maintenance of the resources for the safety actions. 4) Effective safety management system avoids the cost for accident investigation and it leads to an uninterrupted operation. 5) It enhances the productivity through continuous operation. 6) Effective HSE management system and proper communication between management and rest of the organisation will lead to the prevention of accident from ever occurring. 7) In terms of cost: Effective HSE practices will reduce the cost of accidents like repair costs, fines, damage claims, insurance claims by injured workers, Potential economic effects due to aviation mishap. This will lead to the business enlargement and enhances productivity and turn over. Therefore, the ultimate aim of a business is to achieve targeted profit. In oil business, the profit can be achieved only due to an efficient HSE system. [Bayuk] 5) ILLUSTRATION: The piper alpha accident in 1988 and Texas city refinery accident in 2005 are the catastrophic accidents which ruined many lives and polluted the environment. These accidents caused the loss of oil production and insurance payout and fine of several billions of USD. The small to medium sized oil companies should study these types of accidents and remedial actions. The large sized could survive the severe loss of money due to accident. But, the small to medium sized oil company couldnt overcome such losses due to catastrophe. 6) CONCLUSION: A small to medium size oil industry has key business plans towards the future. Their aim is to give the best safe performance in every department like drilling, completion, production, refining, transportation. Every small or medium size oil company is very enthusiastic and eager to become as a large scale oil industry by enlarging their business. They want to participate in national and international business by increasing their annual productivity and turn over. In order to achieve these, their HSE practices should be in high standard. Because, a single catastrophic accident may reduce credibility of the company and it will reflect as a severe loss in business. So, in a medium or small sized oil company, workplace safety should be at the forefront of its activities. 7) REFERENCE: 1) KATHARINE, R.P., 1993. Human Factors, Shift Work, And Alertness In The Offshore Oil Industry. Oxford, OX: Health and Safety Executive. 2) MEARNS, K. et al., 1997. Human And Organisational Factors In Offshore Safety. Norwich, NR: Health and Safety Executive. 3) SAFETY HEALTH AND PERSONNEL COMPETENCE. and ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEES., 1994. Guidelines For The Development And Application Of Health, Safety And Environmental Management Systems. Oxford. [online]. Report No. 6.36/210, pp 2-26. Available from: http://www.ogp.org.uk/pubs/210.pdf [ Accessed 31 October 2012 ]. 4) BAYUK, A.J., System Safety And The Benefits Of Safety Management Systems. Unpublished. [online]. pp 3-6. Available from: http://www.asse.org/education/businessofsafety/docs/AJBayukPaper.pdf [ Accessed 17 November 2012 ]. 5) BRIAN, G., 2012. Closed-loop Circulating System Enhances Well Control. Offshore Magazine, 2012. [online]. Available from: http://www.offshore-mag.com/articles/print/volume-72/issue-4/drilling-and-completion/closed-loop-circulating-system-enhances-well-control.html [ Accessed 8 November 2012 ]. 6) PAAL, K., 2011. Schlumberger HSE Policy Statement. [online]. Schlumberger. Available from: http://www.slb.com/hse/hse_policy.aspx [ Accessed 8 November 2012 ]. 7) SHIGEO, H., 2012. Health, Safety and Environmental Policy Of JX Nippon Oil Gas Exploration Corporation. JX Nippon Oil Gas Exploration Corporation. [online]. Available from: http://www.nex.jx-group.co.jp/english/environment/hse.html [ Accessed 8 November 2012 ]. 8) PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT OMAN, 2011. HSE Management System- Making Goal Zero Happen. Petroleum Development Oman. [online]. pp 2,13. Available from: http://www.pdo.co.om/hseforcontractors/blocks/documentation/docs/HSE_Management_Pocket%20Book_Final.pdf [ Accessed 22 November 2012 ]. 9) OSAKA CITY WATERWORKS BUREAU, About ISO Management Systems. Osaka City Waterworks Bureau. [online]. Available from: http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu030/english/quality/check/iso2.html [ Accessed 27 November 2012 ] 10) THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT HEALTH DELIVERY DIRECTORATE, 2008. The Model For Improvement. The Scottish Government Health Delivery Directorate. [online]. Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/01/14161901/3 [ Accessed 27 November 2012 ]. 8) BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1) API, 2011. Environment, Health Safety. American Petroleum Institute. [online]. Available from: http://www.api.org/environment-health-and-safety/health-safety.aspx [ Accessed 8 November 2012 ] 2) HSE, 2012. Current Priorities. Health and Safety Executive. [online]. Available from: http://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/priorities.htm [ Accessed 28 November 2012 ] 3) PETER, W., ed., 2005. Health and safety: risk management. revised ed. Leicestershire: IOSH.

All Drugs Should be Legal for Personal Use Essay -- Legalization Drugs

All Drugs Should be Legal for Personal Use The war on drugs is costing us over 100 billion dollars to fight each year, and we’re only fighting a monster which we are making bigger with each punch. It’s not drugs, but drug laws themselves that have created this monster. Drug use is part of human nature, but the unimaginable wealth involved leads to the corruption of the police, judges, and elected officials. There is no reason to have the government regulating what goes into an individual’s body. An extreme case of what we’re letting the government do is letting them take away our own self, an individual’s ownership over his own body. I think it’s in everyone’s interest to legalize all drugs, since this war is going nowhere, letting the government get more powerful than it was ever meant to have been, and it’s putting numbers over our names. There is no way that the drug flow into the United States is ever going to be stopped. It’s a general economic rule, that as long as there is a demand for drugs there will always be a supply, unless scarcity occurs, but it doesn’t appear as if Colombia is running out of cocaine anytime soon. Cocaine brings Bolivia’s economy $600 million per year, a figure equal to the country’s total legal export income. Our country’s current annual import of cocaine would fit comfortably into a single C-5A cargo plane. The United States is just too large, there is no way to stop an import of a drug completely. By keeping a drug off the street...