Thursday, December 26, 2019

The Worlds Most Popular Languages

There are 6,909 languages actively  being spoken in the world today, although only about six percent of them have more than a million speakers each. As globalization becomes more common so does the learning of languages. People in many different countries see the value of learning a foreign language to improve their international business relations. Because of this, the number of people who speak certain languages will continue to rise. There are 10 languages that currently dominate the globe. Heres a list of the 10 most popular languages spoken worldwide, along with the number of countries where the language is established, and the approximate number of primary or first language speakers for that language: Chinese/Mandarin—37 countries, 13 dialects, 1,284 million speakersSpanish—31 countries, 437 millionEnglish—106 countries, 372 millionArabic—57 countries, 19 dialects, 295 millionHindi—5 countries, 260 millionBengali—4 countries, 242 millionPortuguese—13 countries, 219 millionRussian—19 countries, 154 millionJapanese—2 countries, 128 millionLahnda—6 countries, 119 million The Languages of China With more than 1.3 billion people living in China today, it is no surprise that Chinese is the most commonly spoken language. Due to the size of Chinas area and population, the country is able to sustain many unique and interesting languages. When speaking of languages, the term Chinese encompasses at least 15 dialects spoken in the country and elsewhere. Because Mandarin is the most commonly spoken dialect, many people use the word Chinese to refer to it. While roughly 70 percent of the country speaks Mandarin, many other dialects are spoken as well. The languages are mutually intelligible to a varying degree, depending on how close the languages are to one another. The four most popular Chinese dialects are Mandarin (898 million speakers), Wu (also known as Shanghainese dialect, 80 million speakers), Yue (Cantonese, 73 million), and Min Nan (Taiwanese, 48 million). Why Are There So Many Spanish Speakers? While Spanish is not a commonly heard language in most parts of Africa, Asia, and the majority of Europe, that hasnt stopped it from becoming the second most commonly spoken language. The spread of the Spanish  language is rooted in colonization. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, Spain colonized much of South, Central, and large parts of North America as well. Before being incorporated into the United States, places like Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona were all part of Mexico, a former Spanish colony. While Spanish is not a common language to hear in most of Asia, it is very common in the Philippines because it too was once a colony of Spain. Like Chinese, there are many dialects of Spanish. The vocabulary between these dialects varies greatly depending on what country one is in. Accents and pronunciation also change between regions. While these dialectical differences can sometimes cause confusion, they do not block cross-communication between speakers. English, a Global Language English too, was a colonial language: British colonial efforts began in the 15th century and lasted until the early 20th century, including places as far flung as North America, India and Pakistan, Africa, and Australia. As with Spains colonial efforts, each country colonized by Great Britain retains some English speakers. After World War II, the United States led the world in both technological and medical innovation. Because of this, it was considered beneficial for students pursuing work in these fields to learn English. As globalization occurred, English became a shared common language. This caused many parents to push their children to study English as a second language in the hopes of better preparing them for the business world. English is also a useful language for travelers to learn because it is spoken in so many parts of the globe. A Global Language Network Since the popularity of social media, the development of a Global Language Network can be mapped using book translations, Twitter, and Wikipedia. These social networks are only available to elites, people with access to both traditional and new media. Statistics of use from these social networks indicate that while English is definitely the central hub in the Global Language Network, other intermediate hubs used by elites to communicate business and science information include German, French, and Spanish. Currently, languages such as Chinese, Arabic, and Hindi are vastly more popular than German or French, and it is likely that those languages will grow in use of traditional and new media. Sources Simons, Gary F., and Charles D. Fennig. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. SIL International 2017. Web. Accessed January 30, 2018Population, Total. World Bank 2017. Web. Accessed January 30, 2018.Ronen, Shahar, et al. Links That Speak: The Global Language Network and Its Association with Global Fame. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111.52 (2014): E5616-22. Print.Tang, Chaoju, and Vincent J. van Heuven. Mutual Intelligibility of Chinese Dialects Experimentally Tested. Lingua 119.5 (2009): 709-32. Print.Ushioda, E. M. A. The Impact of Global English on Motivation to Learn Other Languages: Toward an Ideal Multilingual Self. The Modern Language Journal 101.3 (2017): 469-82. Print.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

The Rhino And Elephant Ivory Market - 1792 Words

Abstract As the economic growth in the world continues, Africa continues to lose its self-proclaimed title as the cradle of biodiverse ecosystems which house the mighty African elephant and rhinoceros (otherwise known as the continental herd). Wildlands have been fragmented and forests cleared continuously and at very rapid rates. Rising rates of affluence around the world, especially in Asia has led to the intensity of the black market of the rhino and elephant ivory market which has seen the deterioration of this vast and much needed component of the ecosystem. Many governments within the continent, in conjunction with countless non-profit private institutions have proposed regulated hunting and laws against wildlife poaching. This legislation has seen taxes and fees being generated into these states which have been set as capital for conservation programs which have been both positive and negative. Where positivity has come, the restoration of species has been remarkably recorded, for example the white rhino in Southern Africa In places where these conservation programs are poorly managed, the benefits are much harder to prove, especially in ecosystems where the populations have already been depleted. This paper will ensue a descriptive knowledge of numbers and distribution of the elephant and rhinoceros examining the changes in population. It will also site the methods, including framework for improved forest governance, in which innovative, successful and lastingShow MoreRelatedPoaching Problem1738 Words   |  7 Pagescome up with. Poaching has caused many problems that could lead to catastrophic and irreversible events. Innocent animals are the victims of the ruthless poachers. For animals such as rhinos or elephants, poachers hack off the animals’ horns or tusks with axes. The horns of rhinos are so sought after because â€Å"rhino horns are extremely valuable, commanding prices up to $100,000 per kg† (â€Å"Big Game, Big Money: Inside the Illegal Wildlife Trade† 3:37). The work for an animal’s horn or tusk does not endRead MoreInternational Union For Conservation Of Nature1488 Words   |  6 PagesImagine you are this beautiful elephant peacefully drinking water from the waterhole among other African animals and then you hear gun shots firing everywhere. You are running for your life when suddenly everything becomes pitch black, then you open your eyes and see a man with a gun pointing at your head laughing as you lay dying. The general point is that almost all animals are getti ng to the brink of extinction or are either being tagged as an endangered species by the IUCN Red List. The IUCNRead MorePersuasive Essay On Animal Poaching934 Words   |  4 PagesThink of the last time you saw a tiger rug or an ivory figurine, even on television. This is a cause of illegal behavior that is called poaching. The United States is among the largest consumers of ivory, according to Jani Actman. Even though ivory is at an almost total ban in the United States people are still purchasing these accessories. In the advertisement the creator used transfer method to make the person seeing this advertisement more aware of what is happening, most people dont understandRead MoreWildlife Management in Africa Essay1683 Words   |  7 Pageswell as an international ban on ivory trade. Anti-poaching regulations have in turn stemmed the formation of programs and policies for the management of Africas wildlife. Poaching: Background Poaching, the illegal killing of protected animals, occurs in Africa for a variety of reasons. The most profitable reason is the ivory trade. Hundreds of elephants and Rhinos are slaughtered every year for their ivory tusks, which claim a sizeable profit on the black market. Many hunters also poach forRead MoreNegative Effects Of Poaching1806 Words   |  8 Pagesactivity. At 19 billion dollars per year, some may think of poaching as good business, but there of course is a downside although those who profit will not care so long as they receive their money. Poaching crimes range from the butchering of elephants for their ivory, to the sale of great apes and exotic birds as pets, to caviar, decorative tiger pelts, and rhinoceros horns used for carvings and traditional medicines. Wildlife poaching has negative side-effects that affect local communities, wildlifeRead MoreRhino Poaching And The Exotic Animal Trade1493 Words   |  6 Pagesmake their living by hunting elephants, lions , rhinos, and other exotic animals. Countries in Asia, like Vietnam and China, have been using rhino horn medicinally for generations. Would they be willing to change their entire lifestyle to save the existence of a species? I analyzed an image created by the World Wildlife Fund that addresses rhino poaching and the exotic animal trade. There are two subjects in this image, the rhino and those within the rhino. The rhino is being captured by peopleRead MoreHuman Trafficking And Its Effects On The World1105 Words   |  5 Pagesillegal markets at the expense of other in order to achieve profits. Some have small environmental impact while others affect the world significantly. Some markets that are well documented in media, and are more well known throughout society are drugs, human trafficking, and slavery. These are serious markets that need to be abolished, but have a small impact on the environment. Poachers are people who illegally kill endangered species in order to sell them to the ultra wealthy. This market is complicatedRead MoreHuman Trafficking And Its Effects On The World1103 Words   |  5 Pagesillegal markets at the expense of other in order to achieve profits. Some have small environm ental impact while others affect the world significantly. Some markets that are well documented in media, and are more well known throughout society are drugs, human trafficking, and slavery. These are serious markets that need to be abolished, but have a small impact on the environment. Poachers are people who illegally kill endangered species in order to sell them to the ultra wealthy. This market is complicatedRead MorePoaching of Endangered Species2264 Words   |  10 Pagessuffocates it. Since using these methods they have a success rate on killing the animals, for example elephants in past history the number for them have been rapidly lowering because of poaching. In the 1960’s there were about 30,000 elephants alive and roaming, but in 1982-83 the numbers of elephants went down to about 2,000. The poachers use pitfalls mainly for the larger animals like elephants. People who poach knows the definition of poaching and the history behind it, it’s the people w ho supportRead MoreTaking a Look at Poaching796 Words   |  3 Pagesutilized to make shark blade soup, a delicacy in Asia. Tigers are butchered for their striped hide, elephants are executed for their ivory tusks and rhinos their substantial horn. The groups of the creatures are left to decay. This is an occurrence that happens all over the world, but few governments can deal with the problem in an orderly and efficient manner. Poaching has become a worldwide market and individuals make millions off of hunting these endangered animals. Driven to the boarder of extinction

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Current Policies of WHS-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the Current Policies of WHS. Answer: WHSMS in brief A work health and safety management (WHSMS) can said to be an organized system in relation to the work health and safety management system in workplaces. Therefore, it is a framework that permits the management to put a complete system of protection in place. The size of an organization will determine how complex the system will be, along with the manner in which it is organized and the nature of the business. A WHSMS requires various things, which includes strategies of communication and consultation, review and control of documents, control of purchasing, a review of work based health and safety systems and also an account of internal and external auditing (Straker et al., 2016). In order to implement a WHSMS effectively, there must be full commitment on the managements part along with the training of the employees in the new policies and procedures. Duty holders in Australian WHS In Australian WHS, a duty holder can be said to be a person, who is like a sports manager, who ensures that the all matters in sports are managed according to the constitution of the club and who becomes answerable to the governing body of the club. Therefore, a duty holder is a person who ensures that health and safety is maintained in a workplace (Fewster, 2015). According to the Work Health and Safety Act, 2001 and the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011, duty holders are those who have a duty to eliminate all health and safety related risks or to minimize such risks in order to ensure health and safety in workplaces (Claxton, 2017). Under the Australian WHSMS, there are three types of duty holders. They are: PCBUS (Person undertaking a business or undertaking) - A PCBU may be defined as an organization or an individual person, conducting an undertaking or business (Martinov-Bennie et al., 2014). For example, public companies, private companies, government departments and authorities, schools, partners in partnership, sole traders and self-employed, individual trustee of trusts, etc Officers- Officers include senior executives who make or participate in decision making, which affects the business or undertaking either partly or solely. AN officer can be a person defined under section- 9 of the Corporations Act (excluding a partner in partnership), an officer of the Crown and a public authority officer. Workers and other persons at the workplace- Includes all other people in the workplace and also those who are present at the workplace. It is to be mentioned that the WHS Act clearly states that an individual is not a PCBU in cases where they are in an undertaking or a business only as an officer or worker. Individuals include directors belonging to managerial positions and having specific and separate duties as officers. WHS Resources There are certain resources, which are required to be allocated for ensuring that the WHS obligations are met. These resources include financial, human and management support (Grasso, 2016). In cases of additional resources for managing WHS, the senior manager or the executive manager must take necessary steps accordingly. Some of the resources that are required are: WHS toolbox talks- This includes a number of power point presentation, which is used in the staff meetings, etc and acts as the basis of the toolbox talks in order to provide opportunity for refresher training or reinforcement of key areas. Human resources for managing WHS- It must be ensured by the workers that the workers have adequate training and resources for keeping themselves safe and for understanding potential risks and ability to act in accordance with such risks, when identified. Safe posters- These posters usually provide a safety guide in workplace for the workers and include guidelines for safe work. Use of this is also helps in implanting work health and safety in workplaces. Other resources of providing healthy workplace- The various other measures relating to health of the workers are also a source of WHS, which is highly required. Communication/Consultation plan Consultation or communication on health and safety is a process that goes in two ways and it is regarded as the opportunity to add value while making decisions. This process involves talking about issues, listening and raising concerns, role understanding, seeking of information and sharing of views, discussion on such issues, attending meetings and considering everything before decision making. Such communication/ consultation plans are made by the WHS experts (Gunningham Sinclair, 2014). Consultation and communication along with collaboration is a fundamental part of the WHSMS and also a part of each strategic objective with the health and safety strategy. It is not possible to achieve communication, consultation and collaboration effectively with a single strategic objective or project, which is carried out with in that particular objective. It must be done in a way daily business is conducted. For proper implementation of a WHSMS, it is important to communicate information effec tively so that all the potential stakeholders can understand it, which is imperative for the purpose. WHS experts are the duty holders under the WHSMS. They play an important role in communication and consultation. The health and safety measures in a workplace is comm8nicated by these duty holders and similarly all problems must be communicated to them so that they can take necessary measures and implement the WHS legislations and regulations in order to use maintain the work health and safety standards in workplaces (Zhang et al., 2015). The OHS Act, 2004 makes it a legal requirement that effective consultation must be done in regular intervals with the employees in a workplace as engaging the employees will help in improving the health and safety in workplaces. The Workplace Manager, Management OHS Nominee and the HSR are the WHS experts and are responsible for maintaining WHS standards. The Workplace Manager or the OHS Nominee must make consultative arrangements with the Health a nd Safety Representative (HSR) and employees while making or taking any decision regarding The OHS/WHS in workplace. In case of information that is confidential, the management OHS Nominee or and the Workplace manager must take legal help before making any decisions. The HSR, management OHS nominee, workplace manager, all should, in accordance with the WHS/OHS Act, disclose all such information to the employees and consult with them, which is required. They are also required to implement OHS issue resolution process. For such resolution process, the OHS resolution Flowchart is used, which is to be communicated to the employees and prominently displayed in the workplaces (De Cieri et al., 2015). Thus, it is important and a mandate under the WHS standards, to create a communication/consultation plan and use it accordingly, to implement the WHS standards in the workplaces, with the help of the WHS experts. Requirements of WHS in case of participation agreements In order to provide issue resolution to the Naja Group of Colleges, the requirements can be emphasized. It is noteworthy to mention here that in order to resolve issue arising out of various sections, it is necessary that the parties to the issue must be present while resolving the issue (Forsyth, 2014). The issue must be resolved in consultation with the workers who has been affected and the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU). In order to resolve issues, the management of the Naja Group of Colleges has taken various steps in order to ensure health and safety in workplace. The PCBUs has been encouraged by the Work Health and Safety Act 2012(SA) (WHS Act) to involve procedures of issue resolution in order to solve disputes with the workers (Ghahramani, 2016). However, in the absence of agreed procedures, the procedure of issue resolution which is depicted under the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA) (WHS Regulations) needs to be followed (?nan, Gl Y?lmaz, 2017). In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that, the actual procedure for resolving issues is depicted in Regulation 22. In order to resolve issues, the Naja Group of Colleges acted according to the regulations of WHS and followed the default procedure for the purpose of issue resolution in Regulation 22. In this context, the Naja Group of Colleges in an attempt to resolve the issue arising out of health and safety has undertaken the following matters- The degree of risk involved to the workers and other persons working for the organization. The location and number of such workers including other persons who has been affected by the issue. The permanent and temporary measures that needs to be implemented for the purpose of resolving the issue. The person who will take the responsibility in implementing various measures of resolution. It is important that any individual conducting a business should interact with the workers in order to keep track of the issues faced by them (Johnstone, 2014). Therefore, in the present case the Naja Group of Colleges has acted according to the measures set up by the WHS Act in order to identify various risks and hazards associated with the work carried out by the workers. In this regard, the Naja Group of Colleges has been successful in making decisions for the purpose of eliminating the risks involved in workplace. The management of the Naja Group of Colleges should consult with the present workers and propose various changes so that it benefits the working environment and improves the health and safety conditions of the organization. It is important to provide feedbacks on various outcomes. However, it is important that such feedback must be positive and should be related to workers health and safety. Identifying the inadequacies The legislation of WHS in Australia emphasized on the part that PCBUs must consult with the workers in order to identify the hazardous risks or situations arising out of workplace (Lingard, 2015). Therefore, in case of the Naja Group of Colleges, it is important that the management of the organization should undertake various situations in which risks are likely to be found. The management should identify the working environment of the organization including the past accidents and make sure that such accidents do not occur again. The management should focus on the risks involved while using age old equipments and materials which can be hazardous at times. In this regard, the management should take into consideration the Material Safety Data Sheets in order to determine various safety precautions. In order to identify the inadequacies it is important to take into account the various risk factors that are involved in a workplace (McDermott, Henne Hayes, 2017). In an organization, various risks factors are involved which needs to be identified. Therefore, in the present case study, it is necessary that the management of the Naja Group of Colleges should review the information related to health and safety and such information should be obtained from any authoritative source so that it can be relied upon. However, it is necessary that such information should be relevant to the identified inadequacy. After the identification process, it is important for the management to evaluate the nature of the hazard regarding its seriousness (Mohammadfam et al., 2016). In this regard, the management of Naja Group of Colleges should take into account the various kinds of injuries, damages and illness that could arise as a result of the hazardous incident. It is necessary the that management sh ould also evaluate the number of workers exposed to such incident as well as the possible outcome that could result due to exposure to this kind of hazard. The management is at the duty to evaluate the factors that could actually cause harm and affect the betterment of the workers to a large extent (O'Neill Wolfe, 2014). In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that the management should consider the related chain of events which are consistent to the nature of the risk. However, the level of risk may increase the likelihood of harm in the future. The concept of likelihood of harm is involved when there is a situation that is concerned with consequential harm (Schofield, Reeve McCallum, 2014). In this regard, the management is at the authority to determine that in what way and in what conditions the maximum number of workers will be exposed to a hazardous situation keeping in track the duration. Requirements, use and maintenance of records For the purpose of record keeping, the requirements, use and the maintenance of records should be considered. In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that the management of Naja Group of Colleges should act in accordance with the details provided by the record keeping requirements as depicted in the Model Work Health and Safety Regulation. The following areas have been covered by the Model Work Health and Safety Regulation- The contaminated levels of Air-borne. Work related to high risk. Confined spaces. Electrical installations and equipment. Presence of hazardous chemicals. Lead and Asbestos. Facilities involving major hazards. According to the provisions of Section 50(2) of the WHS Act, it is important that the management of an organization must record the results associated with air monitoring and such records should be kept for thirty years from the date on which such record has been made (Sutherland, 2015). The management should also keep records of risk management associated with confined spaces according to Section 66(3). However, such record should be in writing. For the purpose of electrical equipments and installations, the record shall be carried out b a competent person with the help of electrical equipment which has been supplied with electricity involving an electrical socket. However, it is important that such testing procedure must be carried out in an environment where the risk of damage is low and the persons carrying on the record is not affected in any way. The management of the Naja Group of Colleges should hire an individual who shall be concerned with the control of plant in order to keep records of inspections, maintenance and other safety measures. The person concerned with the supply of prohibited and hazardous chemical must keep the records which includes the name of the substance as well as the quantity supplied. In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention here that the management of Naja Group of Colleges must hire a person who will be concerned with the task of maintain a asbestos register. The asbestos registered must be prepared by the person of the concerned management and should be kept at a safe place. It is important that the management of every organization should maintain health monitoring reports. Similarly, in case of Naja Group of Colleges, the management should undertake health monitoring reports which are related to a worker carrying out the activities of the business. However, such records should be kept confidential. Importance of monitoring, measuring and assessing the WHSMS For the purpose of monitoring, measuring and evaluating various risks and hazards associated with the workplace, it is important that the management should work according to the principles of OHSMS (Teague et al., 2014). However, two important purposes are associated with the process of monitoring and measuring (Roberts, 2014). Firstly, it is important for the part of the management to assess that whether the OHSMS is working accordingly or not. Secondly, in order to make sure that the safety and health problems have been identified properly, the identification is sent back to the OHSMS planning process with an aim of elimination. The process of identifying and tracking leading indicators are also associated with the process of monitoring, measuring and evaluating. In addition to this other important factors that are associated with the process of monitoring and measuring are inspecting workplace, testing of workplace, exposing assessments, obtaining suggestions regarding safety from employees and evaluating health assessments related to occupation. References: De Cieri, H., Shea, T., Cooper, B., Sheehan, C., Donohue, R. (2015). Early indicators of workplace injuries and accidents: An analysis of leading indicators as predictors of workplace OHS outcomes in Australian workplaces: Institute for Safety.Compensation, and Recovery Research. Fewster, A. (2015). Human Interaction within OHS Management Systems.his Editio,23(1), 12. Forsyth, A. (2014). A Thin Wall of Privacy Protection, with Gaps and Cracks: Regulation of Employees Personal Information and Workplace Privacy in Australia. Ghahramani, A. (2016). Factors that influence the maintenance and improvement of OHSAS 18001 in adopting companies: A qualitative study.Journal of Cleaner Production,137, 283-290. Gopang, M. A., Nebhwani, M., Khatri, A., Marri, H. B. (2017). An assessment of occupational health and safety measures and performance of SMEs: An empirical investigation.Safety science,93, 127-133. Grasso, M. (2016). Work health and safety resources and advice. Gunningham, N., Sinclair, D. (2014). The Impact of Safety Culture on Systemic Risk Management.European Journal of Risk Regulation,5(4), 505-516. ?nan, U. H., Gl, S., Y?lmaz, H. (2017). A multiple attribute decision model to compare the firms occupational health and safety management perspectives.Safety science,91, 221-231. Johnstone, R. (2014). Engaging expert contractors: The work health and safety obligations of the business or undertaking.Australian Journal of Labour Law,27(1), 57-85. Lingard, H., Saunders, L., Pirzadeh, P., Blismas, N., Kleiner, B., Wakefield, R. (2015). The relationship between pre-construction decision-making and the effectiveness of risk control: Testing the time-safety influence curve.Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management,22(1), 108-124. Martinov-Bennie, N., ONeill, S., Cheung, M. A., Wolfe, M. K. (2014). Issues in the assurance and verification of work health and safety information. McDermott, V., Henne, K., Hayes, J. (2017). Shifting risk to the frontline: case studies in different contract working environments.Journal of Risk Research, 1-15. Mitsuzuka, K., Ling, F., Ohwada, H. (2017, February). Analysis of CSR activities Affecting Corporate Value Using Machine Learning. InProceedings of the 9th International Conference on Machine Learning and Computing(pp. 11-14). ACM. Mohammadfam, I., Kamalinia, M., Momeni, M., Golmohammadi, R., Hamidi, Y., Soltanian, A. (2016). Developing an integrated decision making approach to assess and promote the effectiveness of occupational health and safety management systems.Journal of Cleaner Production,127, 119-133. O'Neill, S., Wolfe, K. (2014). Officers' Due Diligence: Is Work Health and Safety an Accounting Problem.Journal of Health Safety Research Practice,6(1), 15-21. Roberts, D. (2014, February). Integrating OHSMS, risk management electrical safety. InElectrical Safety Workshop (ESW), 2014 IEEE IAS(pp. 1-8). IEEE. Schofield, T., Reeve, B., McCallum, R. (2014). Australian workplace health and safety regulatory approaches to prosecution: Hegemonising compliance.Journal of Industrial Relations,56(5), 709-729. Straker, L., Dunstan, D., Gilson, N., Healy, G. (2016). Sedentary work. Evidence on an emergent work health and safety issue. Sutherland, C. (2015). Industrial legislation in Australia in 2014.Journal of Industrial Relations,57(3), 333-347. Teague, P., Conomos, J., Alexandrou, V., Jennings, M. (2014, October). Development of an occupational noise exposure reduction project for defence in Australia. InINTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Congress and Conference Proceedings(Vol. 249, No. 6, pp. 1604-1613). Institute of Noise Control Engineering. Winter, B., Moffitt, M. (2017). Corporate law: Absence of adequate risk assessments result in $1 million fine.Governance Directions,69(3), 174. Young, R., Brawn, E. (2017). Employment law: Work health and safety duties and dealing with bullying in the workplace by non-workers.Governance Directions,69(7), 435. Zhang, P. R., Lingard, H., Blismas, N., Wakefield, R., Kleiner, B. (2015). An image-based tool for work health and safety (WHS) risk perception communication. InCIB W099: Safety and Health in Construction(pp. 133-141). CIB.

Monday, December 2, 2019

The Tet Offensive, Which Occurred On January 31, 1968, Proved To Be A

The Tet Offensive, which occurred on January 31, 1968, proved to be a political and a psychological victory for the Vietnamese communists. And, although it only lasted for about one month, it was one of America's most notable battles that taught the Americans and the Vietnamese valuable lessons about life and war. The background of the Tet-Offensive is very interesting, one hidden within the conflict of the Vietnam War. While the offensive was being planned, there were anti-war demonstrations taking place in the U.S. against the Vietnam War. Lyndon B. Johnson, in a close election, won the primary over McCarthy who happened to be against the war, and then went on to running the country with few problems. In Vietnam, General Vo Nguyen Giap of North Vietnam told his political members that the opportunity for a general offensive or uprising was within reach. The offensive began in August of 1967, when following Hanoi's decision to proceed with Giap's"uprising," Giap began a massive buildup of troops, equipment, and supplies in South Vietnam. First, thousands of guns and munitions were bought southward along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the vital Vietcong (also known as the South Vietnamese) supply line that twisted through the jungles of North Vietnam in a southward direction ("Vietnam"). This trail also served as a transportation route for food and medical supplies being brought to the south part of Vietnam. Tens of thousands of troops poured down from the North, infiltrated the countryside, and wearing civilian clothes, easily blended with the local people. By mid-January, 1968, about 84,000 of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), and the Vietcong troops were in South Vietnam ("Massacre"). And, two weeks before the actual attack would even take place, Giap's troops were positioned and ready for an attack (Coteau 2). The U.S. began to have suspicions about some sort of uprising taking place. So the offensive did, in fact, not take Americans by surprise. American intelligence sources had started uncovering evidence that indicated a shift in enemy strategy in the late summer/early fall of 1967. The 101st Airborne Division, on November 19, seized an attack order telling that the offensive was near, and some slightly detailed plans of what was going to happen and how it was going to happen ("Vietnam"). The U.S. intelligence officers took this evidence as propaganda and disregarded it completely. The found attack order was then published on January 5th, but still attracted very little attention. As 1968 approached, the U.S. appeared to be winning the war, but in Washington, on December 18th, General Earle G. Wheeler, joint Chief of Staff, cautioned that "it is entirely possible that there may be a Communist thrust similar to the desperate effort of the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II" (Young 27-28). The U.S.'s suspicions about a possible uprising became stronger as the Tet-Offensive grew closer. In Saigon, on December 20th, General William C. Westmoreland of the U.S. Army cabled Washington that he expected the North Vietnamese Army and the Vietcong to "undertake an intensified countrywide effort, perhaps a maximum effort over a relatively short period" (73-74). On the same day, December 20th, the President warned the world that "we face dark days ahead" (Mueller 3). These events began to foreshadow the Vietnamese's coming psychological victory. In January of 1968, American forces captured a pair of NVA operation orders calling for an attack on Pleiku before the Tet, and targeting Ban Me Thuot for assault. Two days prior to the Tet, agents of the South Vietnamese Military Service arrested eleven Vietcong leaders that were caught holding a secret meeting ("More"). The eleven had two tapes that had messages about the liberation of Saigon, Hue, and other cities. Too many warnings of the offensive were ignored. One U.S. intelligence official stated "If we'd gotten the whole battle plan, it wouldn't have been believed. It wouldn't have been credible to us" (Omicinski 18-19). Intelligence analysts refused to believe that the Vietcong and the NVA were capable of executing such a large scale, coordinated attack, but they were not sure if the Vietcong and NVA were, or if they were not. The U.S.'s suspicions on the upcoming offensive were starting to be confirmed. By mid-January, Westmoreland was almost sure that the offensive would be starting just before or just after the Tet. The U.S. and its officials had strongly doubted that the Vietcong and the NVA would strike during the holiday. The Tet is a very important and religious holiday in