Working In the Public Sector
Working in the public sector remains increasingly appealing to many young adults who are leaving full time education and joining the work force. Public sector jobs include teaching assistant jobs and other roles that can be held where you are offering the public a service such as police, council workers, bin men and many others. Working in a public sector role can provide good job security, attractive rates of remuneration and a range of other benefits including generous holiday allowances. In recent years jobs in the public sector have become more vulnerable due to the weakening economic strength of the UK in recent years. Many people who work for councils for example have been made redundant due to the need to make significant savings in light of the recent heavy budget cuts.
A job for life
The advantage that positions such as teaching assistant jobs offer is potential to have what is considered a job for life. It can generally be agreed that we will always need to have people working in the education sector to properly educate new generations of children and so by gaining qualifications in an area like this you are making good steps toward securing your employability for the future. Nurses and hospital staff are also considered to be a part of the public sector as the NHS is government run and does not form part of the private sector. People who are looking to become trained nurses will need to make contact with their local college or university to see what options and courses they have available for you. Part of your course will normally involve a residency at a hospital where you will be able to practice and develop your skills and become used to working in a hospital environment.
Job security in the future
As previously mentioned there have been fears amongst public sector workers due to the recent economic downturn and the subsequent spate of redundancies that were made throughout the public sector. This should not be too much of a cause for concern if you are still set on working in a field that forms part of the public sector. Many of the cutbacks were made through people naturally leaving their jobs and a replacement not being sought; rather than mass redundancies. Many public sector officials and government leaders have said recently that they will strive to ensure that the budget cuts are met by finding more efficient ways of running the different departments in order to save money rather than through people losing their jobs. There are many cost-cutting schemes that have been employed by the various departments in a bid to successfully save money.
Boutique Hotels
One of the biggest trends in holiday accommodation is the advent of boutique hotels – small hotels with an upmarket feel, where every room is decorated in a distinctive style. Boutique hotels are springing up across the country, but what is their appeal?
Although the big corporate branded hotels have their place in the market, a common criticism is that the interiors do not vary much from city to city, and once you’re in the room with the curtains closed you could be pretty much anywhere in the world. Not so with the boutique hotel. Most boutique hotels are small, with around 20 rooms. Often each room is decorated in a different style, or furnished around a particular theme. The feel is generally more luxurious than in the larger chains of hotel with quirky ornaments or paintings adding to the look. Many boutique hotels provide little extras like games consoles or DVD players and the bathrooms are filled with top quality spa and toiletry products. Boutique hotels pride themselves on an excellent standard of food in their restaurants, and most use local produce wherever possible. As the kitchens are smaller than in many of the big chain hotels, the chefs are more responsive to individual needs and will be able to cater for special diets and requests.
Boutique hotels have also managed to attract visitors back to some of the more traditional seaside resorts which have seen a reversal in the decline of numbers of visitors. Norfolk is one of the areas which have embraced the boutique hotel concept and a quick browse through any Norfolk business directory will throw up a whole host of hotels to choose from. Some are in traditional seaside resorts such as Great Yarmouth or Cromer; others are inland in Norwich or Swaffham. Each hotel offers something a little bit different so it is important to do your research to decide which would be most appropriate for your needs. Most hotels have websites where you can see exactly what they have to offer in terms of accommodation, food and location, or after looking through the Norfolk business directory you could simply phone them up and ask for a brochure or leaflet.
One of the nicest ways to spend a holiday is by travelling around the area, seeing all the different attractions that Norfolk has to offer, staying in a different location every night. A bit of forward planning and booking ahead will allow you to enjoy your holiday stress free, knowing that your night’s accommodation will be in a lovely room, with fluffy towels and bathrobes, and your favourite DVD or CD to entertain you after a hard day’s sightseeing.
Discrimination in the Workplace
In the UK there is extensive legal protection to ensure that companies can’t discriminate against job applicants and employees on grounds of sex, race or age. However, many high profile cases have shown that employers are still discriminating on all of these grounds, either through ignorance of the law or because they think they can get away with it.
When recruiting new employees careful attention must be paid to both the job advert and the interview process. HR resourcing experts should be consulted on the process and can sit in on interviews to offer advice if an interviewer is unsure. Job adverts can no longer the gender of the person being sought, unless the job falls into very specific criteria. Statements can be made about looking for someone with a certain number of years of experience, but an employer can no longer say they are looking for someone aged over 35 or under fifty. During the interview process it is wise to steer well clear of any questions regarding children or childcare so as not to discriminate against women who are the main carers for young children. The easiest way to ensure your process is fair to everyone is to have competency based interviewing. Write a standard set of questions before seeing any candidates, and base the questions around previous experience, or ask them to tell you about a time when they were in a specific situation. Ensuring that you ask everyone the same thing will mean you are not being discriminatory in your interviewing process.
For existing employees the rules are broadly similar. Opportunities for promotion and training must be given to all employees on an equal basis. Many of the recent high profile cases in the press have centred on women who have been on maternity leave when their position has been made redundant, or who have been sacked for spurious reasons shortly after announcing their news to their employer. Although such overt discrimination is rare, there are many other ways that employers may discriminate against employees without even realising that they are doing it. If your company does not employ an HR resourcing team, it is wise to retain the services of an HR advisory company who can advise and consult on best practice and assist with writing of documents and drafting of internal adverts or letters to staff.
It is also wise for all small employers to book themselves on a short course run by one of the many private training providers which will take you through the basics of the legislation and outline your responsibilities as an employer. It could mean a day out of your working week, but in the long run it could mean you’re seen as a much fairer employer.
Managing the Dangers of High Pressure High Temperature Wells
In our search for fossil fuels we have needed to go deeper and deeper into the earth’s surface. While this has made it possible to increase our fuel reserves it has also brought us into danger. One of the most challenging factors of this type of work has been dealing with high pressure high temperature wells. In the past our failure to manage this type of well properly has led to disastrous consequences.
The Piper Alpha Disaster
The Piper Alpha disaster occurred in the North Sea in 1988. It was the worst disaster of its kind and the cause of event was high pressure high temperature wells. The loss of life from this event was 167 people and the financial impact is believed to have been £1.7 billion. The build of pressure in the pipe led to a huge explosion and this along with human error led to a disaster that shocked the world. There was a huge outcry after this event, and a lot of pressure was put on those involved in drilling to improve their safety standards; particularly where it comes to these wells that are notoriously unsafe.
There has been a lot of time and effort put into reducing the risks of drilling and things are probably a lot safer than they were in the past. This focus on improving the technology for drilling and researching the problem is paying off, but it will probably be many years before we can feel safe from any disasters associated with drilling high pressure high temperature wells.
Drilling has always been a risky business and we have needed to adapt our drilling methods to suit different well types. It can be a costly learning experience and a lot of the advancements in technology have come in the wake of disasters. Hopefully in the future we can improve our understanding without the need for any more lost lives. The good news is that those companies responsible for drilling do seem to be taking the issue very seriously.
Some Final Thoughts on High Pressure High Temperature Wells
At the moment we are very dependent on fossil fuels, and we need to work harder to find and excavate these resources. It does seem that the deeper into the earth’s crust we go the more risks are involved. The good news is that we do seem to be doing well at producing technology that can help us manage these risks safely. Perhaps in the future with the rise of alternative fuel sources we won’t need to keep on pushing down further and further; or perhaps we will just find newer technology that will almost completely eliminate the risks – if this is possible.
The Internet Shopping Phenomenon, Lush Cosmetics and ISO 27001
Lush has grown from small beginnings in Poole in the early 1990s into a presence on nearly every high street in the UK. The stores are colourful and packed floor to ceiling with lots of sweetly scented products like shampoos and shower gels. The ethos of the company is that all products are made with natural ingredients and packaging is recycled wherever possible. Many products such as the handmade soaps and bath bombs have no packaging at all. The company is also very ethical in its business approach when it comes to issues such as fair trade sourcing and testing on animals.
Alongside the success of their High Street stores, Lush has built a hugely successful internet business. Many products which are not available in the shops or that have been discontinued are available exclusively for purchase on the website, and the company runs popular marketing campaigns through sites like FaceBook. As Lush is a brand which appeals to young consumers, their internet based business has grown exponentially in the past few years as this section of the market has turned away in increasing numbers from traditional shopping on the high street to online ordering, especially in the run up to the Festive period.
At the end of January in 2011, Lush announced that its website had been the victim of hacking attempts, and that customers who had ordered goods between October and January may have had their card details stolen. Lush immediately took down their website and said it would be building a new internet portal from scratch rather than using any of the old software. The hackers affected not only the UK site, but also international sites affecting customers as far afield as Australia and New Zealand. The exact number of customers who had their card details taken is not known. Lush later admitted that it should not have been storing customer payment details after the transaction had been completed. Although all affected customers had money returned to their accounts, the episode has brought the issue of internet shopping security to the forefront of shoppers' minds once again.
As Lush engineers begin to develop their new, better website they will be looking to the ISO 27001 standard for guidance. ISO guidelines are internationally recognised and are the byword for best practice in any given industry. Any company wishing to improve security and management of data can approach ISO for advice, guidance and auditing. Advisors will help the IT department put in safeguards and system checks to ensure that data is held and managed securely, and in a manner appropriate to the business objectives. Holding the ISO 27001 certification should mean that Lush’s systems are far less vulnerable to cyber attack than they have been in the recent past.