Store and retrive information Essay Example for Free

Store and retrive information Essay Understand processes and procedures for storing and retrieving information Explain the purpose of storing and retrieving required information: The reason you store information is so you when you need it in the future you can easily find it. Most companies have to either store documents in fire proof cabinet’s or on hard disks or any other electronic storage devices. Most companies have confidential files about the company, employees or customers that have to follow the data protection act. Describe different information systems and their main features: Server on the server at our company we use the server to store all are files for example financial data, HR files, sage and accounts, maintenance, training, HSBC, customers, employees, etc. these are all in relevant files so you can locate them easily. GX – our bespoke system saves all of the work that we have processed so you can locate them by going on to contracts and finding the relevant customer’s and looking what they have had from when they joined with our company and we can also look back in the past to see how much we have made and how many pieces we have sent out. Explain the purpose of legal and organizational requirements for the security and confidentiality of information: Information that is stored in an organisation has to follow the security and confidentiality procedures. For example finances, customer’s and employee’s details should be secured and only certain members of staff should be able to access physical and electronic data unless you have been given authorisation. If information gets into the wrong hands it could have serious consequences and might lead to legal action. Explain the purpose of confirming information to be stored and retrieved: All companies store a lot of information, but if you store the wrong information that isn’t up to date or is not correct there is no use of it. So when storing information you should be cautious that it is proof read. You keep information for a reason so you should keep everything updated. The wrong information can be really serious if it falls in to wrong hands. Read more:  Store and Retrieve Information Essay Describe ways of checking information for accuracy: When you are saving important information it is essential that you proof read it, or if you are not sure get someone to double check it, as you only want accurate data. By using decent software to store database will help ensure  that the information is accurate. Explain the purpose of checking information for accuracy: All organisations have to check to make sure that there information is correct because if one thing is wrong for example in the financial department if the money that is coming in and going out is inaccurate, this might lead to staff might not get paid correctly or you haven’t got enough money to pay either staff or employers. Explain the purpose of providing information to agreed format and timescales: By having an agreed format in an organisation is called a house style by using a house style it will let other companies or customers identify who you are, for example by the font, logo, font size, emphasis and spacing. By not having this you don’t look very professional and will make things take longer if you have to use extra time making it right. By having a timescale will let staff and customers know when work will be completed by over running the timescale will make the company look unorganised and not very professional. Describe the types of information that may be deleted: As a company goes on your will get more and more customers and might have some customers leave your company so you should always check the data and making sure it is accurate, so you don’t have any unwanted data. Most companies will have a policy on how long you should store data for and after that time it should be deleted or shredded following security and confidentiality procedures. Describe problems that may occur with information systems and how to deal with them, when necessary: When storing important information there is always going to be a risk whether it is saved onto a computer or it is physical because computers get viruses from attackers so you should always make sure that you have got proper security like antivirus software and firewalls need to be used as well as passwords. When you have physical information there is always a risk that there could be a fire or flood, or information can be seen by the wrong person who do not have authority to access information. You should always have locks and maybe even a fire proof cabinet for important documents.

Family Involvement In Early Education

Family Involvement In Early Education The purpose of this research paper is to examine the effects family involvement has on the success of children and the ways families can get involved in their childs education. My literature reviews defines family involvement is when families get personally involved in education, their children do better in schools, get better grades, and grow up to be successful in life. Family involvement is one of the most overlooked aspects of American education. Today, many programs are designed without recognition of the role of families, and consequently many families remain unaware of the significance that their role can have on their childs education (NASA, 2009). Family involvement means that families work together with care givers and teachers to create an atmosphere that strengthens learning both at the program and in the home. Family involvement is an important component of the United Sates of America educational programs. The purpose of the family involvement component is to engage families as partners in the educational process. Family involvement programs was developed to give families, regardless of their own educational experience, the tools needed to become more actively involved in their childs day-to-day education (Knopf Swick 2008). Significant research over at least 25 years has demonstrated that family involvement is critical to the educational success of children (Bricker Casuso). To give more detail on the findings: When schools acknowledge the relevance of childrens homes and cultures and promote family involvement, they can develop a supportive environment for learning through meaningful activities that engage and empower families (Bricker Casuso, 1979). As our schools and programs become more diverse, that relevance of home and culture takes on greater importance and expands teachers responsibilities for collaboration with families. Families can get more involved with their childs education by, talking with their children, enhancing their childs self esteem, modeling social and educational aspirations and values and monitoring out of school activities (supervising homework etc.)(Battle, 2004). Activities parents can be more involved at school consists of: attending events, such as open house and school fairs, working in the school in support teachers such as helping with activities in the classroom, on trips and with sport activities, assisting with the governance of the school and meeting with teachers to discuss their childrens progress are all ways parents can get more involved with their child education while in school (Battle, 2004). I have seen a lack of parental involvement in Head Start due to lack of communication. I have volunteered for Head Start every since my son went there in 2006. I am a former parent and I have done four internships there. I have done two for Social Work and two for Early Childhood. Most families I have talked to use work, or they do not get grades or I am too tired to sit with those bad kids as an excuse but I try to let them know that if they dont get involved in their child education now they will regret it in the long run. When I lived in Chicago I went to a Head Start program called the Child Parent Center (CPC). My mom worked nights and had three other children to take care of. She made it her job to volunteer at my school at least three days a week. She assisted the teachers, she was even the President of the PTA. My mom got involved in what I was learning because she was a concerned parent. Parents today are not concerned about their childs education. Parents who are involved in their childs education develop more confidence in the school, and about helping their children learn at home and often enroll in continuing education to advance their own schooling (Measuring Up, 1999). Parents tend to be less involved in their childs education as their child get older. The United States Department of Education found that nationwide, as children grow older contacts between families and schools decline both in number and in the positive nature of such contacts. Although 52 percent of interactions are positive and 20 percent are negative in the first grade, by seventh grade positive contacts drop to 36 percent and negative increase to 33 percent (Measuring Up, 1999). The importance of family involvement is the environmental, social, and economic factors have the most powerful effect on student performance. The greatest factor of a child underachieving in school is growing up in poverty, inadequate learning opportunities, and exposure to drugs, lack of after school care, dysfunctional families, and inadequate health care, run down schools, neighborhood distress, few role models, poor nutrition and teen pregnancy (Measuring Up, 1999). Parents cannot always change these factors; they can always have great influence over many of these challenges. Epstein defines a school, family and community partnership as an approach that gives families and community members greater opportunities to determine options for school involvement, to participate in the wide range of involvement activities, and to assume key role and responsibilities in school-improvement efforts, including participation in the schools decision-making processes. If a partnership is to succeed, it must be based on mutual trust and respect, an ongoing exchange of information, agreement on goals and strategies, and sharing of rights and responsibilities. Schools must be willing to involve parents, families, and communities at deeper levels and to support their participation (Epstein 2002). Epstein six types of involvement consist of: Type1: Parenting: Assist families establish home environments to support children as students. Type 2: Communicating: Implement effective home to school and school to home communication practices. Type 3: Volunteering: Encourage families as volunteers in a variety of ways. Type 4: Learning At Home: Involve families in supporting learning activities at home. Type 5: Decision making: Include parents in school; decisions, developing parent leaders and representatives. Type 6: Collaborating With the Community: Coordinate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family practices and student learning development. The problem with families not being involved in their childs education is laziness. A lot of younger generation parents have too many excuses on why they can and cannot get involved. The most common one is transportation problems. If you can get a ride to go clubbing on Friday and Saturday you can get a ride to visit your child Monday thru Thursday for a couple of hours. Majority of the younger generation families just dont care. Their children are being raised by a grandmother, aunt or a caregiver. They do not understand how critical parental involvement is and the effects it has on a child. From my own personal observations parents just do not understand why they need to get involved. It is my job as a professional student to address these concerns to all parents young or old. Teachers are very frustrated trying to involve parents and getting little to no response. Teachers complain that parents do not come to conferences or school open houses, check homework, or answer take home notes. This leads teachers to feel that parents just do not care about their childs education (Brown, 1989). There are many reasons to consider why parents do not get involved. For many parents, a major obstacle to getting involved is lack of time. Working parents are often unable to attend school events during the day (Brown, 1989). Evenings are more convenient and the only time they can be involved. Parents rather spend that time with family than be at an open house, which is understandable. Parental involvement during prekindergarten can promote childrens school readiness and is associated with higher academic achievement and fewer behavior problems through adolescents, at least in low income families (Basile Henry, 1996). It can also lead to greater parental involvement in elementary school, which is associated with higher achievement for children of all socioeconomic backgrounds (Basile Henry 1996). When families do not get involved in their childrens education they are more at risk of being exposed to drugs and alcohol, teen pregnancy and inadequate learning opportunities. The benefits of families who get involved in their childs education their child will get better grades, better attendance, and higher graduation rates, less or no drug or alcohol use, better self-esteem, and less violent. Parental involvement is important because it improves cognitive and social development in early years of education. Evidence indicates that parental involvement continues to have a significant effect on achievement into adolescence even adulthood. A survey in 2007 has found a variation in levels of parental involvement among different ethnic groups. African American parents are more than twice as likely as White parents to say they felt very involved in their childs education. Parents from non-White ethnic backgrounds are more involved in their childs school activities (including homework). Parents from non-White backgrounds are also less likely to say that a childs education is the school responsibility rather than the parents (17% of African American and Asian parents compared to 27% of White parents said that it was the school responsibility) (Harris Goodall, 2007). Parental involvement is easy as pie says McReynolds she came up with the pie program based on research and many years in the classroom. McReynolds states family involvement is a critical part of high quality education, a safe and disciplined learning environment, and student achievement. McReynolds PIE program actively pursues and involves parents as true and equal partners. She offers them five ways in which they can become involved. Decision making. McReynolds encourages parents to set goals for their children and for the teacher goals that reach beyond those goals she has already set. The goals are stated at the start of the school year in a contract between parents, teachers, and students. That contract lists everyones responsibilities and is signed by each of the participants. A parent is free to add to the contract specific goals for their child. The goal of the contract is a very simple one: Helping children to learn, says McReynolds. The contract is a tool to meet that end. It can change from year to year and even sometimes from child to child. If parents feel a need, we do whatever we have to do to meet that need as long as it helps the child learn. Supporting. Parents support their children in many ways, McReynolds says. They provide shelter, food, clothing, protection, and love. They also need to support the work that goes on in the classroom. McReynolds shares with parents the research that supports the need for their involvement in their childrens education at home and at school. Showing children that school is important can be done in many ways, and McReynolds offers parents many options and tools for doing that. Her next goal is to establish a parent library, a place in the school where parents can find and check out materials that will help them to help their children learn. Teaching. Parents are teachers too, says McReynolds, adding, Lets face it, children learned a huge amount from their parents before they even entered school. And a parents role as teacher doesnt end when the child enters school. McReynolds points to a number of ways in which teaching continues to be a parents responsibility and part of a parents daily routine. Providing time and a place for doing homework, reading with a child, making sure homework is understood and finished, talking about what is being done at school, and continuing to learn how to help are just a few of the ways in which parents teach. In addition, parents can get actively involved in the classroom as volunteer tutors, as lecturers sharing their own expertise, and in many other ways. Last year, McReynolds says, a small group of parents got kids interested in participating in the Valentines for Veterans program. That was just one example of a wonderful learning experience that came directly from parental involvement and it was proof that If its important, parents will help to get it done,' says McReynolds. Kids got to see their parents in action and, more importantly, they got to see themselves as contributors to the larger community. Learning. The more parents learn, the more they are able to help a child learn, McReynolds says. That means getting actively involved in finding out what is being taught, how it is taught, and how children learn and develop. Parents can take classes (offered through adult education programs, community colleges, etc.) on their own to demonstrate to their children how important learning is. Or they can take classes with their children; computer classes or hobby classes are two possibilities. McReynolds offers additional help and suggestions. She provides ideas for field trips that parents and children can take together to support classroom learning. And she holds a monthly in-service session for parents. In one recent session she focused on the childrens math curriculum. The sessions goal was to familiarize parents with the curriculum and to relieve the parents anxiety about it. Other sessions have included a science fair preparation night (where McReynolds familiarizes parents with th e scientific method through a fun airplane-making family activity); a session that explains the school grading system; and a field trip to a dinosaur exhibit at a nearby museum. Communicating. An open-door policy allows parents to come into the classroom at any time. In addition, McReynolds offers regular communication through two newsletters. Those newsletters include information about the concepts that are being taught, how those concepts can be reinforced and practiced at home, a schedule of after-school help sessions, and news about a special citizenship program in which kids earn points for positive behaviors. The newsletters also include news of upcoming in-service sessions and special projects parents might want to get involved in. Parental involvement programs, if they are to be effective, must include parents in all aspects of a childs education, Parents must be involved as teachers, learners, supporters, and advocates for their children (Hopkins, 2004). Families can get involved in their childs education by just overseeing their childs homework (time), Limiting time spent watching T.V., Providing support for educators and taking advantage of opportunities to become more involved with school administrations and policy development. Suggestion for teachers to get parents involved is to help parents understand why it is so important to their children school success. Give parents specific thing they can do to be involved. Take time to assess current practices in your school before embarking on a program for parental involvement. Develop a long term plan for a parent that includes evaluations of their childs success. Teachers need to communicate with parents and encourage parents to provide inputs on policies that affect the education of their children. 1) Teachers need parents help! Teachers are over worked and overwhelmed and in need of our help. Even if it is the smallest amount of help. 2) All parents should volunteer at least five times in a school year. 3) Parents also need to know school is a learning environment and not a day care. Parents need to remember even when their children are at school they are still your children, take responsibility in their education. 4) The more parents volunteer, the more educated you are about what is going on in the school. Parents should be an example to their children, show them the importance of education through your actions, not just your words. 5) Kids copy what they see you do, show your children how important it is to be involved parent by being one yourself. 6) All parents should know the old saying It is better to give than to receive. Giving always feel good. 7) Majority of the schools budgets are being cut, as parents we can help schools save money by donating our time, talent and treasures. 8) Parental involvement also gives you the opportunity to voice your opinions on school matters. Who said it is better to be seen and not heard? 9) With all the violence in school today being an involved parent will allow you to keep up with the issues and problems. Parents need to keep their ears and eyes open while at school and you will be surprised at what you will find out. 10) Lastly, parent need to know that their children are only young once. Do not miss out on the opportunity to create memories that will last a forever. Children will not remember that toy you gave them but they will remember all those times you became involved in their education. In conclusion, the most important person in parental involvement is the child. Anything that the parent can do to assist their child is worth it all. Special importance should be on producing ways of helping children, families, and schools work together to supply students with the advantages to put their best efforts forward. It is very clear that parental involvement is very profitable to a child learning environment.

Same Sex Parenting and Adoption Essay -- adoption, homosexuality, fami

Adoption for same sex couples is a very controversial topic in Family Law, and often same sex couples face many unique issues if they wish to adopt. Many states have different laws that apply for gay and lesbian adoption, as opposed to heterosexual couples. Several states also have special rules that apply when a child is born into a gay or lesbian partnership. Gay and lesbian couples may sometimes opt to bring a child into their lives through conception and birth as well. For a lesbian couple, this is usually done through a male donor or a sperm bank and having one of the couple become pregnant. Similarly, gay men may use a surrogate mother and then become a legal parent through adoption. The other parent then can become a legal second parent through stepparent or second parent adoption. However, many states including Virginia don’t allow second parent adoption. The definition of a legal ‘parent’ is (n.) the lawful and natural father or mother of a person. The word does not mean grandparent or ancestor, but can include an adoptive parent as a replacement for a natural parent. Adoption laws vary from state to state, and there are some states that do allow lesbian and gay couples to adopt children as legal, joint parents. Gay and lesbian couples in these states can go through adoption agencies in order to adopt, personally arrange their adoption, or even adopt internationally. In many states, however, stepparent, second parent or even joint adoption is not an option for gay and lesbian couples. Although the Commonwealth of Virginia does not have a law in place that prohibits same sex couples from adopting a child, it is usually a very hostile situation and it may be very difficult in many occasions for gays and lesbians to ... ...he way society will treat the child, the psychological effects on the child and the child’s well being and safety above all are the main factors that the courts should look at when dealing with this issue. As previously stated the issue of same sex adoption is one of the most controversial topics in today’s Family Law across the country and with good reason. Given that this involves the upbringing of human beings who are the future of our society, it is extremely important to make sure that they are given the best care and best influences in their lives in order to make good moral and educated decisions in their future lives. Same sex parenting may not be as bad as society has made it seem but it absolutely has to be socially and scientifically proven before any more steps are taken in this matter because, after all, it is in the â€Å"best interest of the child.†

Energy Deregulation :: essays research papers

As we have witnessed the rolling blackouts and emergency alerts throughout many parts of our state of California within the past 12 months, there is a question waiting to be answered. Why do we have an energy crisis when there are other states that are doing just fine? Before we come to any hasty conclusion, let us ask ourselves what happened to the energy policy during the mid 90s? During that period the electric utilities went from being highly regulated to being deregulated following the trend in successful deregulation of many industries such as airline and telecommunication industries. The concept that deregulation will bring more competitive prices and better services to the public, undermined the negative potentials of the free market system. Deregulation bill must be abolished because it brings higher electricity prices, lower reliabilities of electricity, and also it threatens to drag down our economy along with it. First, we have seen a nation-wide increase in both wholesale and retail electricity prices. In California as an example, the wholesale prices increased seven times last year compared to 1999 (Kahn and Lynch 13). The average residential electric bill almost doubled from $40 to $80 in San Diego when the SDG & E’s retail price freeze ended in June 2000.1 According to Washington Governor Gray Locke, â€Å"the whole energy prices have gone up from ten to twenty times the prices of a year ago (1). In New York, more specifically in New York City and parts of Westchester County which are one of the first areas in the country to deregulate retail prices entirely, the retail rates have increased almost 30% (Eisenberg 47). This is bad when you consider that ones that are going to be most hurt from these unreasonably high electricity prices will be the individuals and families that are in the low-income bracket. Second, the reliability of electricity was compromised throughout many parts of our state, affecting both residential and business sectors. On June 14, 2000, about 100,000 customers were blacked out in San Francisco Bay Area (Kahn and Lynch 9-10). According to Lorenco Goncalves, the CEO of California steel industries, â€Å"We were interrupted 14 times this month [January] compared to not once from 1987 to 1998. So many other industries depend on what we send them†¦If they can’t depend on my products, they will [buy them] elsewhere† (Wood and Sherer). These uncertain interruptions are causing a lot of damage in our economy.

Reading Between the Lines of Life :: Personal Narrative Essay Example

Reading Between the Lines of Life    Two years ago I was selected from a group of over fifty applicants to become an exchange student. It was not until later that I learned that Germany was where I was to be sent. Although at first I was apprehensive to go to Germany because I didn't yet know the language or much about the country itself, I soon discovered by living there that it was one of the best things that could possibly have happened to me. There were large changes that occurred in my life, but probably the most important and dramatic of these changes was the one that occurred most slowly.    Over the course of my time in Germany I learned to see that people think differently and have ideas that differ from my own. I learned not to be selfish and think that the only right is what I think -- but rather that others may also have ideas that are just as good and deserve to be more carefully looked at.    When I arrived in Germany I was overcome with a sense of awe mixed with anticipation for what was to happen. I saw all about me different scenes and one acts of the daily life which was constantly playing around me. Everything, which the Germans did, was so different, especially when it came to driving. I feared that I would not even survive the trip from the airport.    I did survive the trip to my host family's house. That is where I began to learn that people solve problems in a way that best suits their predicament. Due to the limited space at my first house they had a shared communal garden. They ate different foods than we Americans, they spoke in a different manner, and they even dressed slightly differently. All these differences, I later learned, stem from a difference in the way they thought. While at first these differences seemed uncomfortable I later learned to accept them for what they were.    I feel that my acceptance of the fact that we all have differences, was a major turning point in the way that I think. I saw that although opinions may differ that one person isn't necessarily right and the other wrong. Sometimes it is important to realize that people differ as do their ideas, but the most important fact is that we be able to work out our differences and realize that we are truly all working together.

Observational Learning Essay

During this course we studied that behaviors can be learned through our own experiences or observing others. Learning is the knowledge obtained in life through education, interacting with people, experiences and practice. There are three types of learning: Classical Conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. There are many topics that grabbed my interest during this course, but observational learning made me think about my personal life and reminded me of many experiences that I went through in life. Observational learning means that we learn through watching others and then imitating them, this can happen through observing our family, neighbors, friends or TV. I remember when I was a child, I used to watch my mother cooking and then I go back to my room and pretend that am cooking as well. Even though, I grew up and became a very bad cooker. Albert Bandura suggested in his theory â€Å"The social learning theory† that children tend to imitated adults by observing them. He supported his theory in his famous experiment â€Å"Bobo doll†, which shows an adult acting aggressively toward a Bobo doll, and after that when they allowed the children to play with the doll they acted in the same aggressive way. I remember last year I was with my aunt and her 7 years old son in the car going to a restaurant. My aunt is a smoker, so she took out a cigarette and started smoking. After sometimes, her son told her: † When I grow up I will smoke cigarettes†, she told him: â€Å"No, you are not allowed to smoke it’s bad for health†, he replayed: â€Å"But you smoke, I want to be cool like you† and when we reached to the restaurant, her son took a straw and started acting as if he is smoking. In addition, Banduara’s study showed that people also learn through imitating others who receive punishments and rewards. It means that when a child sees his older siblings getting punished for doing something wrong, the child is more likely to avoid doing it so he/she won’t get punished. On the other hand, if a child noticed that one of his siblings are rewarded for behaving in a certain way or doing something good, the child will do the same to get a reward. When I was 9 years old, my parents bought a new toy for my older brother because he got a full mark on one of his subjects at school, I was very jealous that day and decided to study hard to get a full mark so my parents can get me a gift. Learning can be either positive or negative. Positive observational learning is when a person learn a good behavior from someone. When I was young, every time we go to a mall there were these small charity cabinets were you can donate money. I used to see my mother donating money like every time we go to a mall, and now I do the same thing. In contrast, negative observational learning is when a person learn a bad behavior from someone else. It is true that people can learn negative behavior from their siblings, family, friends or neighbors, however; I believe that TV and media content is more dangerous and have more powerful impact on people. For example, my small cousin began to act violently since he started watching WWE (a wrestling show) and he even memorized all the wrestle moves. Everyone in the family and school is complaining that he beats other children so hard. For him, he finds it cool and believe that in this way more people will like him as they like these wrestlers. Finally, I believe that observational learning is an effective way. Children have the right to explore their own world and determine the wrong action from the right one. Of course, parents should act in a proper way in front of their children and be careful of what they are watching, and advice them to do the right thing when the make a mistake.

The Man-Made Disaster: Chernobyl

Gulin Langbroek 11. 1 THE MAN-MADE DISASTER: CHERNOBYL â€Å"It is one of histories ironies that the worst nuclear accident began as a test to improve safety. †, states Snell (1988). The Soviets wanted to find out how the Chernobyl power plant would cope with a sudden power loss, therefore the experiment tested how long a spinning turbine could provide electric power to certain systems in the plant. Like many accidents, the Chernobyl accident resulted from a combination of human error and weaknesses in the design of the plant.The man-made disaster occured at Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the former Ukranian Republic belonging to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and near the borders of Belarus and the Russian Federation. Following a short explanation of the health and social impacts of the accident, this essay will discuss the errors in judgment and biases that went on while running the Chernobyl power plant. As a result of the accident, tons of radioact ive material was released to the air, still posing a threat to living beings in that region.The radioactive doses caused long term health effects ranging from thyroid cancer to leukemia. The Chernobyl area was also connected directly with the river systems of the Ukranian Republic, causing destruction of biological life in rivers and also deaths of people who had consumed river water. It is also a fact that cleaning the area was just as dangerous to those people who had to do it as they were exposed to higher doses of radiation. Agricultural regions near Chernobyl had caused the production of foods such as milk and vegetables with radioactive material contamination.Lots of people were forced to migrate from contaminated areas to uncontaminated areas, creating social problems such as loss of staff, no job availability and many more difficulties which made everyday life miserable. Overall, the Chernobyl accident has caused great distress and casualties in the USSR and European countri es. 1 There were some errors which should be mentioned before going into details on the errors in judgment. One error which might have caused the accident was that it was a rushed experiment.The test was scheduled to be carried out just before a reactor shutdown which only occurred once a year, so the operators felt under pressure to complete it promptly so that another year wouldn't have to be waited. This probably didn't trigger the accident directly but perhaps was one of the factors causing the necessary measures and precautions to not be taken. The test was thought to be an electrical test only, so instead of the reactor specialists, turbine manufacturers were the ones who were observing it. Thus, the effects on the reactor was not weighed fully.Finally, the Chernobyl plant was one of the most developed and highly technologic power plants ever constructed, therefore the operators running it felt as if they were an exclusive and elite crew and had built too much overconfidence, not realising possible disasters. To be specific, some biases could be named and analyzed further. Perhaps the most crucial bias which should be looked at in all man-made disasters is the neglect of probability which is the tendency to omit the probability of failure when making a decision.This also ties in with the overconfidence bias since if the managers had doubted the reactor in the first place, more precautions would have been taken. In this case, such a massive disaster had never happened before among Russia, and since the power plant as stated before was assumed to be very reputable and exceptional, the managers of the plant had neglected any probability of the experiment going wrong. According to Kletz (2001)â€Å"The managers do not seem to have asked themselves what would occur if the experiment was unsuccessful.Before every experiment we should list all possible outcomes and their effects and decide how they will be handled. † 2 The second biggest bias of the owne rs and constructors of the plant which caused the accident was the functional fixedness bias. As it is stated in Wikipedia (â€Å"List of Cognitive Biases 2012) â€Å"This bias limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used†. The reactor was operated in a rule-based behaviour, meaning that the operators were informed on what tasks they should complete but not told why it was so important to complete them.This had caused them to operate the plant in a way which Kletz (2001) states as â€Å"process feel rather than theoretical knowledge†. Before the Chernobyl accident, all reactors were designed and relied on the fact that rules would be obeyed and instructions would be followed so there was no need to set up extra protective facilities. This of course could have been the worst approach to building a nuclear plant, considering the fact that the workers were not trained to their best abilities.Instead of relying on the traditional method of a ssuming operators would follow the rules, the reactor should have been built in a way that the rules could not be ignored. That way the workers would not have been limited to using their insufficient information on how to run a power plant and technology would have done this job instead of them. In short, the traditional way of relying on man-made decisions should have been abandoned and relying on automatic equipment should have been adapted. Assuming operators would obey rules brings another issue to light, the projection bias.The projection bias is defined as unconsciously assuming that one's personal emotions, thoughts and values are shared by others. The lack of communication between the managers of the power plant and the operators in how seriously safety measures should have been taken is among the biggest causes of the disaster. According to Kletz (2012), the managers of Chernobyl had â€Å"talked about getting things done without any mention of safety, leaving the operator s with the impression that safety is less important.Managers should remember, when giving instructions, that what you don't say is as important as what you do say. † 3 Last but not least, the biggest error in judgment the operators could have had was caused by the ostrich effect. This bias is the act of ignoring an obvious negative sitution. The big question is, why should any operator ignore situations which could cause the death of many people including their own? The answer lies in how the management system was established.Because the reactor relied on decisions of the higher authorities and not on protective safety equipments, every little detail of the power plant had to be consulted with the managers. As Kletz states (2012), â€Å"Everything had to be referred to the top so it was necessary to break the rules in order to get anything done†. Running a power plant should have not relied on this kind of system since operators were more likely to take shortcuts, not i nform the managers or simply ignore problems so that they could get things done quickly. Had these biases and errors in judgment not occured, the accident would perhaps never have happened.In operating such intricate systems such as a power plant, one must keep in mind two crucial things: Always having protective equipment installed and never letting workers neglect safety rules. Unfortunately as humans, only after this disaster have we began to take these precautions, making us victims of the normalcy bias. In any case, we must always look out for human errors that might lead to irreversible damage. 4 RESOURCES Marples, D. R. , & Snell, V. G. (1988). The social impact of the chernobyl disaster. London: The Macmillan Press Kletz, T. (2001). Learning from accidents.Retrieved from ftp://193. 218. 136. 74/pub/anon/ELSEVIER-Referex/1-Chemical%20Petrochemical%20and%20Process%20Collection/CD1/KLETZ,%20T. %20A. %20(2001). %20Learning%20from%20Accidents%20(3rd%20ed. )/Learning_from_Accident s_3E. pdf European Commision, International Atomic Energy Agency & World Health Organization. (1996). One decade after chernobyl: Summing up the consequences of the accident. Austria: IAEA List of Cognitive Biases. (2012). In Wikipedia. Retrieved November 16, 2012, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_biases_in_judgment_and_decision_making 5