Human Error Definition Glossary of Ergonomics Terms

Human error can simply be described as an error made by a human. But it gets a little more complicated than that. People make mistakes. But why they make mistakes is important. With that in mind, human error is when a person makes a mistake because that person made a mistake. As opposed to being confused or influenced by other factors of the design. It is also known as Operator Error. Human error is an important concept in ergonomics but it is mainly referred to in context. It is a possible answer to the questions: What caused the accident? or How did it break? That doesnt mean that the vase broke because of human error. But when you are evaluating a mishap from a piece of equipment or a system then the cause may be human error. It may also be incorrect installation or a manufacturing defect or a slew of other possibilities. Theres an old episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy gets a job working on an assembly line boxing candies. The line is moving too fast for her to keep up and madcap comic romps ensure. The breakdown in the system was not mechanical but human error. Human error is typically called into being during an accident or mishap investigation such as a car crash, house fire or a problem with a consumer product leading to a recall. Usually, it is associated with a negative happening. In industrial operations, something called an unintended consequence may occur. This may not necessarily be bad, just unexplained. And investigation may conclude that the equipment or system design is fine but the human component messed up. The legend of Ivory soap is an example of positive unintended consequences due to human error. Back in the late 1800s Proctor and Gamble were manufacturing their new White Soap with hope to compete in the fine soap market. One day a line worker left the soap mixing machine on while he went to lunch. When he got back from lunch the soap was extra frothy having incorporated more air than normal into it. They sent the mixture down the line and turned it into bars of soap. Soon Proctor and Gamble were inundated with requests for the soap that floats. They investigated, found the human error, and incorporated it into their product Ivory soap which is still selling well over a century later. (Note-recent research by Proctor and Gamble suggests that the soap was actually invented by one of their chemists but the legendary example still illustrates the human error point)​ From a design perspective, the engineer or designer produces a piece of equipment or a system with intentions to function in a certain way. When it doesnt function that way (it breaks, catches on fire, messes up its output or is befallen of some other mishap) they try to find the root cause. Typically the cause can be identified as a: design deficiency - when the mechanical, electrical or other components of the design have a problem that caused the mishapequipment malfunction - when the machine operated incorrectlymanufacturing defect - when the material or assembly has an issue that causes it to failenvironmental hazard - when an outside factor such as the weather causes the hazardous conditionhuman error - when a person did something wrong If we look at watching TV as a system we can give examples for all of these types of errors that would lead to the TV not working. If there is not a power button on the set itself it is a design deficiency. If the channel scanner cant pick up the channels because of a software glitch it is a malfunction. If the screen wont light up because of a short it is a manufacturing defect. If the set gets struck by lightning it is an environmental hazard. If you lose the remote in the couch cushions it is human error. Thats all well and good, you say, But what constitutes human error? I am glad you asked. To better analyze the mishap and better understand the human error we have to quantify it. Human error is more specific than just making a mistake. Human Error Includes Failing to perform or omitting a taskPerforming the task incorrectlyPerforming an extra or non-required taskPerforming tasks out of sequenceFailing to perform the task within the time limit associated with itFailing to respond adequately to a contingency To continue with our TV example if you omit pressing the power button the TV wont come on and its human error. If you press power on the remote with it facing backward youve performed the task incorrectly. Pressing the power button twice is an extra task and no TV. If you try to turn it on before you plug it in youre going out of sequence. If you have an old plasma TV and you move it laying down if you turn it on without letting it sit upright for a while to redistribute the gasses you can actually blow it up by going out of sequence. If you dont pay your cable bill on time youve failed to act within the allotted time and, again, no TV. Furthermore, if you dont tackle the cable guy when he comes to disconnect it youve failed to react adequately to a contingency. Human error may be identified as the cause when the root cause is actually something else on the list. If a switch malfunctions when the operator uses it that is not human error it is a malfunction. While there are some things that contribute to human error, design deficiencies are often misdiagnosed as human errors as well. There is an ongoing debate between ergonomically centered designers and engineering-minded designers about human error and design deficiency. On one side is the belief that almost all human error is related to design deficiency because a good design should take into account human behavior and design out those possibilities while on the other side they believe people make mistakes and no matter what you give them they will find a way to break them.

Unemployment Rate Statistical Summary and Analysis

Unemployment Rate Statistical Summary Analysis Month Rate Jan. (2009) 7.6 Feb. 8.1 Mar. 8.5 Summary Analysis Apr. 8.9 Mean: 9.1 May 9.4   Jun. 9.5 Std. Deviation: 0.645943128 Jul. 9.4   Aug. 9.7 Sep. 9.8 Oct. 10.2 Nov. 10.0 Dec. 10.0 Jan. (2010) 9.7 Feb. 9.7 Mar. 9.7 Apr. 9.9 May 9.7 Jun. 9.5 Jul. 9.5 Aug. 9.6 Sep. 9.6 Oct. 9.6 Nov. 9.8 Dec. 9.4 Jan. (2011) 9.0 Feb. 8.9 Mar. 8.8 Apr. 9.0 May 9.1 Jun. 9.2 Jul. 9.1 Aug. 9.1 Sep. 9.1 Oct. 9.0 Nov. 8.6 Dec. 8.5 Jan. (2012) 8.3 Feb. 8.3 Mar. 8.2 Apr. 8.1 May 8.2 Jun. 8.2 Jul. 8.3 Unemployment and the Expansion Decision A business faced with a perceived demand for its product but the continuing uncertainty of the current economic situation would want to examine a variety of current statistics and determine the probability of such indicators improving or worsening the prospects for their business (Weiers, 2010; Johnson Bhattacharyya, 2010). The unemployment rate is one key statistic for many businesses to consider, as it affects both the companys employment figures and costs and its ability to sell products to consumers (Weiers, 2010). In order to determine if expansion is advisable to meet perceived demand at a time of economic uncertainty, a cursory analysis of unemployment rates and an application of some basic principles of statistics and probability might form the beginnings of a larger and more detailedShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The American Community Survey1580 Words   |  7 Pagesvariable of personal income is influenced by seven explanatory variabl es; college education, population, unemployment rate, poverty rate and race (share_white, share_black and share_hispanic). In this study, the data analysis has showed a statistical significance on personal income affected by poverty rate and college education of the police victims. The analysis shows population, unemployment rate and race as inconclusive. Introduction Police killings, now more than ever, is an extremely controversialRead MoreEconomic Analysis Of Unemployment And Its Impact On Gdp1420 Words   |  6 Pages Economic Analysis of Unemployment and its Impact on GDP in Developed Countries Paul Kuechenmeister Econ 4331W August 3rd, 2014 â€Æ' Introduction This study examines the impact of unemployment rates to a developed economies growth rate. This paper will be built off of the most distinguished idea addressing the relation of economic growth and unemployment, Okun’s Law . Okun’s Law that assesses the relation between unemployment and economic growth is one of linearity . Okun’s Law is theRead MoreA Brief Note On The State Of Virginia Department Of The Labor Bureau Of Labor Statistics Website1066 Words   |  5 PagesLabor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics website. The data contains the unemployment rate in scope of individuals years from 1995 to 2000. Information on reported crime rates was obtained from FBI website as well as from the Geospatial and Statistical Data Center of the state of Virginia. Measures of age distributions was retrieved from the county-level census files of State of Virginia. Descriptive Statistics Figure 1: Summary Statistics †¢NEWFIPS: Identifier for county/city †¢PopulationRead MorePredictive Sales Report1420 Words   |  6 Pagespaper is to use the unemployment rate data in the following excel files to estimate the total inventory that the company will keep at the store. The Excel files are: Local_Area_Unemployment_Statistics_for_Texas.xls BUS_308_Unemployement_Data_Final_Project2.xlsx The data in the Excel files contain the US unemployment rate starting from 1948 to 2013. By calculating the Mean of the yearly data from 1948 to 2013, the report has been able to determine yearly US unemployment rates between 1948 andRead MoreThe Effects Of Minimum Wages On Employment, By Benjamin Sosnaud, And The Effects Of Minimum Wage Essay1507 Words   |  7 Pagesstudies are biased to support one viewpoint over the other. The articles â€Å"Living Wage Ordinances and Wages, Poverty, and Unemployment in US Cities,† by Benjamin Sosnaud, and â€Å"The Effects of Minimum Wages on Employment,† by David Neumark, analyze different studies about the effects of increasing the minimum wage to a living wage on a national scale. Neumark focuses his analysis mainly on different reasons why certain researchers are more biased than others. Sosnaud, on the other hand, takes studiesRead MoreUK Economic Policies1090 Words   |  4 Pages An analysis of the latest figures for key economic indicators and the factors which have affected these indicators. This should include the figures for unemployment, inflation and economic growth. Unemployment The unemployment rate is a good indicator of the overall economic health of a country. When unemployment is high this generally indicates a weakened economy with many people out of work. Unemployment is also related to the inflation rate. When inflation is high then unemployment is typicallyRead MoreUnemployment And Its Impact On Hospitality Industry Essay1079 Words   |  5 Pages1.1. Introduction Over the last few years, unemployment rates in hospitality industry in south east Spain has continued to grow despite the industry registering increase in the number of tourists arriving in that region. This has resulted in socioeconomic problems that cause stress to the economy and the country at large. It is obvious that there is an urgent need to reverse this trend in order to stem this problem and avoid escalation of the socioeconomic problems to unmanageable levels. The motivationRead MoreThe Great Ghost of the River Valley Essay examples1027 Words   |  5 PagesProfessor Vedder points to the unemployment rate among those with bachelor’s degrees as the primary evidence for decreasing worth of said degree. Sarah Kaufman summarized this point, â€Å"In 1970, when the overall unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, unemployment among college graduates was negligible, at 1.2 percent† and in 2010, â€Å"with the national rate of unemployment at 9.6 percent, unemployment for college graduates has risen to 4.9 percent†¦Ã¢â‚¬  These unemployment rates are accurate, but they do not tellRead MoreComparing The Economic Profiles Of Brazil And France1677 Words   |  7 Pagesthe Economic Profiles of Brazil and France Daniel Williams K1355702 Table of Contents Page 1 Summary Page 2 Introduction Page 3 Macroeconomic Comparisons: GDP Page 4 Macroeconomic Comparisons: Activities in Trade Page 5 Macroeconomic Comparisons: Living Standards Page 6 Macroeconomic Comparisons: Labour Productivity Page 7 Conclusion Page 8 References Summary France and Brazil have shown to have different economies, but are both significant contributors in theRead MoreStatistical Analysis for Property Crimes1120 Words   |  5 Pagesin the spreadsheet. This is a multiple regression analysis. I have attached a PDF file that explains the case and the spreadsheet version with all the data recorded from the PDF file. Pleas emae sure you include all the graphs, plots and please use megastat software. Topic: We want to determine the primary factors that affect property crime rates in the United States. The statistical analysis of the data involves multiple-regression analysis. Questions to answer are: 1. What are the

Leadership and SHRM In Action

Question: Describe about the Leadership and SHRM In Action? Answer: Evolution Of Theories Of Leadership The evolutions of theories of leadership actually took place from the last decades with a view to bring in soft SHRM in action in place of hard SHRM policies. The earlier theories considered human resource as one of the resource of production and would stick to making full use of it. However in the present day light, human resources are considered as human beings and they are actually nurtured through the present day policies. These way efforts are made to input democracy, human rights and humanity in business operations (Gill, 2002). Past Leadership Methods The past leadership supported the idea of directing human resource towards accomplishment of corporate objectives by making full use of their efficiency. However the stakeholders needs were not taken care of. The stakeholders actually include internal people like management and employees, connecting people as supplier, shareholders, retailers, customer etc. While the external stakeholders include government, pressure groups, society, press etc. The new leadership actually intends to fulfill the needs of all these stakeholders by applying the Strategic Human Resource Management into action. The SHRM involves the fulfilling the external and internal stakeholders needs within the business environment using strategies. Theory Of Goleman The theory of Daniel Goleman 2000 emotional intelligence model is completely active. This is because it has all the past ingredients of leadership style with an addition of soft theories for human resource. This is the reason why his theory states types of leadership as Authoritative, Coercive, Democratic, Coach, Pacesetter and Affiliator (Merkert, 2010). The various kinds of leadership as per Goleman theory can be depicted as below. Limitations Of All Theories The limitations that all the theories have are that they are not universally applicable. These can be stated as follow. Employer attitude can be directed as it is affect the business condition and stage. Recruitment is made for the best person and still if not successful than the leadership policies can work only to add skills and abilities. Workplace culture is different in various organizations. Therefore there is no hard and fast rule to follow and achieve success at the workplace. Career progression is the ultimate desire of every employee which could tempt them towards bringing in employee turnover. Job security is a must for application of best human resource management policy but may protect the underperformer. Therefore the SHRM cannot support the idea of bringing in employment security fairly for all. Extensive training is required to achieve higher skills and abilities from employees but its really hard to figure out the kind of training and the time applied for training that could actually bring in desired outcomes. Strategic Management Process Strategic Management Process helps in achieving good leadership as it concentrate not only in bringing participation of employees through job expertise and mentoring them for higher job ability but to achieve both job expertize and job ability through collaboration. Applying Shrm A successful company is that applies the SHRM to select best leadership style in the organization with a motive to achieve collaboration. Collaboration therefore brings in formal and informal groups and teams in action which work hard towards achievement of organization goals and objectives. Difference Between Successful And Unsuccessful Companies The leadership capabilities differentiate successful from unsuccessful companies as the successful follows the theory of pacesetting leadership which follows soft HRM while the unsuccessful follows commanding leadership that follows hard HRM. Leadership styles Golemans Leadership Styles Daniel Goleman described various leadership styles which acts as social influence to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Among them the best suitable model in the present day world is pacesetting leadership. In Pacesetting leadership the leader characteristics includes strong urge is brought within employees to achieve higher standards and collaboration. Efforts are made to achieve challenges and exciting goals for the company. The impact on the business environment is mostly seen in positive shape wherein employees take work personally and shows commitment towards accomplishment of organizational goals. This way high quality results are achieved through employees motivation and competent team support (Walumbwa et al., 2005). Pacesetting Leadership Pacesetting leadership helps the organization to support the employees towards achievement of organization goals and objectives. Thus drivers of job performance are brought into action that includes attitude, motivation and job design. Good Leadership Good leadership capabilities include the followings. Creating job security to the employees. Adding skills to employees through extensive training. Bringing in better communication to achieve employee involvement. Achieving team work and decentralization of power. Selective hiring process is followed in which the best peson is selected for the job. Difference In Leadership Widening Gap Between Leadership The two widening gap of leadership style includes pacesetting leadership and commanding leadership. The pacesetting leadership actually supports the employees and bring in soft SHRM in action so that the commitment and high results can be achieved from employees. However the commanding leadership directs the employee toward a desired goal. This direction is followed by process of communication, monitoring, threatening and controlling the business operation. Personal Thought On Leadership Style I think that pacesetting leadership is better than commanding leadership. This is because we are all humans and we cannot be directed all the times. The problem or issue will rise at one point of time wherein tight directions are followed in the business process. However the motivation can bring in full time commitment from the employees. Therefore to get higher result direction wont work as motivation will. This motivation can be achieved by pacesetting leadership which offers soft SHRM so that the stakeholders objectives can be met. Drivers Of Job Performance The drivers of job performance include attitude, motivation and job design. These drivers of motivation can be best achieved by applying pacesetting leadership which takes away the employees from the tight control and restriction of the higher level management as in the case of commanding leadership (council, 2006). Bibliography Bartram, T. Casimir, G., 2007. The relationship between leadership and follower in role performance and satisfaction with the leader: the mediating effects of empowerment and trust in the leader. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, pp.4-19. council, C.l., 2006. Driving performance and retention through employee engagement. Corporate Leadership Council. Gadot, E.V., 2007. Leadership style, organizational politics and employees performance: An empirical examination of two competing models. Personnel Review, pp.661-83. Ghemawat, P., 2005. Regional Strategies for Global Leadership. Harvard Business Review, 83(12), pp.98-108. Gill, R., 2002. Change management or change leadership? Journal of Change Management, pp.3 (4), 307-318. Hamiliton, F. Cynthia, J.B., 2005. The importance of context, beliefs and values in leadership development. Business ethics: A European Review, p.4. Jago, A., 1982. Leadership: Perspectives in theory and research. Management science. Kaiser, R.B., Hogan, R. Craig, S.B., 2008. Leadership and the fate of organizations. American Psychologist, 96-110, pp.96-110. Klagge, J., 2007. Leadership development needs of today's organizational managers. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, pp.331-48. Laura, C. et al., 2010. The role of leadership style in employee engagement. Florida: Florida International University. Lynne, S., Leskiw Singh, P., 2007. Leadership development: learning from best practices. Leadership and Organization Development Journal., p.No.5. Merkert, R., 2010. ITLS Leadership and Policy Seminar Series. Sydney: Cranfield University. Northouse, P.G., 2004. Leadership theory and practice (3rd edition). Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage. Waldman, D., 2006. Cultural and Leadership predictors of corporate social responsibility values of top managment: A Globe study of 15 countries. Journal of International business studies., 37(6), pp.823-97. Walumbwa, F.O., Orwa, B., Wang, P. Lawler, J.J., 2005. Transformational leadership organizational commitment, and job satisfaction: A comparative study of Kenyan and U.S. financial firms. Human Resource Development Quarterly, pp.235-56. Zhang, T., 2010. The relationship between perceived leadership styles and employee engagemetn: The moderating role of employee characteristics. Sydney: Macquerie University.

Capital Punishment and the Media Essay Example

Capital Punishment and the Media Essay Capital Punishment and the Media Xavier Mendez Professor Collica JUS110 September 12, 2011 Capital Punishment and the Media In today’s society, the capital punishment known as the death penalty has played a major role in the criminal justice system. It has brought important debates to the national attention in every aspect to whether end the lives of criminals. With the intense media coverage, it raised high standards on disputes on high profile cases such as serial killers. The attention given by the media towards capital punishment attracts the public own opinions. As a result, they’re views of the media and society allows them to form important issues of impact on the debate of the capital punishment The majority of executions draw a great deal of media interest. The medias approach towards the capital punishment has varied widely upon the criminal depending on the type of crime and method of execution. During the 1980s and 1990s, the cases were on top of the news headlines were serial killers such as Ted Bundy, John Gacy, Richard Ramirez, and Aileen Wuornos, (Goldman, 2002, p. 15). Those cases usually impacted the feelings and perspectives of the public opinion during the cases of the capital punishment. They have attracted pros and cons of capital punishment protesters on both sides of the issue in large numbers. However, these seem to have decreased down to just a few in most cases. History of Capital Punishment and the Media More than about three centuries ago, there was no media. Newspapers normally began to start in England around 1725 and were quite luxurious (Goldman 4). During that time period, only a few people could actually read. We will write a custom essay sample on Capital Punishment and the Media specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Capital Punishment and the Media specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Capital Punishment and the Media specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The public executions were very important to show that justice had been done and provide prevention to others. In most circumstances, executions used to take place in the large crowds in the community to arouse the public interest (Kudlac, 2007, p. 4). The purpose of executing the criminal was to remind people of the punishment. By the 1800s newspapers began to be popular and public execution was abolished in England, Scotland and Wales in 1868 (Goldman, 2002, p. 2). Most of the reporters were still allowed to witness a number of executions for some years afterwards which allowed them to publish their stories. Meanwhile, radio and later television news would be used to attract the public The role of capital punishment has played a significant role throughout the past. Most of the other times, the capital punishment wasn’t primarily evitable to the media and public, which was taken controlled by prisons only. Nearly all the executions taken place in early twentieth century were unnoticed. As of now in today’s society, the capital punishment has been a controversial topic in the criminal justice system. There have been more than 1,000 executions in 33 states since 1977 across the United States (Kudlac, 2007, p. ). This is what caused the raise of public view to start as the types of media covered of executions were attracting news headlines. Somewhat it came about the cases which questioned about the fairness of the capital punishment. Many of the death sentences had media attentions towards them in every aspect questioning equality. One of the reasons the media is so effective is mainly because of technology. The technology has made our society a part of the current worldwide revelation about problems not only of criminal justice but of social justice (Goldman, 2002, p. 64). Technology has placed us there with events around the world. It was technology that makes the media so consistent with their broadcasts which drives the information to the public. The Public View on Capital Punishment and the Media The transformation of the public view is important to understanding the capital punishment policy and its representation in the media. There was a forming relationship with the politicians, public, and penal experts who have emerged in which the politicians are more directives and penal experts are less dominant (Kudlac, 2007, p. 9). As you can see the political influences on public, it also sets the role on media. However, the criminal justice system is now more defenseless than ever to change the public frame of mind and political reaction as well. To be aware of the existing political and social circumstances of punishment, in regards to the capital punishment, it is necessary to look at both in relation to the media. With the attractions of the media, there are public opinion polls which provided the society’s attitudes about the death penalty. The resulting surveys show that the public support for the capital punishment had risen and fall greatly over the past years. During the 1970s, when the capital punishment began to make its executions, an increased fear of violence in crime, the public supported 60 percent favoring executions (Von Drehle, 2006, p. 83). However, the public support of capital punishment continued to rise in the next decade. According to the General Social Survey, the favor of capital punishment was nearly 80 percent in 1994 (Von Drehle, 2006, p. 83). The public opinion regarding the death penalty would follow a decrease support over the time. In 2006, the polls dropped to 55 percent, usually because of the questioning of fairness and equality in the cases indicating if the criminal is innocent or not (Von Drehle, 2006, p. 84). While seeing the result from above, the media has been the primary source for determining the public opinion to whether or not to support the capital punishment. The media coverage of serial killers anticipated many attentions in the American society. Serial killing grew from the 1977 onward, with intense reporting on several cases that attracted a huge public interest (Kudlac, 2007, p. 12). This helped shape the view of the rising dilemma. The serial killers fit into a harsh disciplinary ideal, as society demands their execution in which many cases have possibly supports the punishment. These cases also were touched to the increase of disciplinary attitudes toward crime that occurred between 1977 and 1994 as public opinion toward capital punishment became increasing favorable (Kudlac, 2007, p. 13). Certainly, serial killers were the only death row cases that became highly profiled by the media. In conclusion, the capital punishment and the media have played an important role in particular cases of the criminal justice system. With the intense media coverage, the public opinions and politician created debates which influenced the legislations of the capital punishment. In general, the mainstreaming of the media attracts the public’s perception to whether consider the news estimations. The majority of executions represented an immense deal of media attention. The medias success of the capital punishment developed which sensational cases which impacted the American society. It impacted the mood and view on the public opinion which attracted capital punishment protesters. It is well known that the media have the ability to attract a social issue in specific ways. As a result, the media had considerable impact on the publics thoughts and perceptions regarding the capital punishment issues. References Goldman, Raphael. (2002). Capital Punishment. Chih Lin, Ann editor. Washington, D. C: CQ Press. Kudlac, Christopher S. (2007). Public Executions: The Death Penalty and the Media. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Von Drehle, Dave. (2006). Among the Lowest of the Dead: The Culture of Capital Punishment. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.