Why Should Marijuana Be Legalized Many People, Old And Young, Everywh

Why should marijuana be legalized? Many people, old and young, everywhere in the world, partake in the activity of smoking this plant and buying paraphernalia. There are many substantial reasons to use this plant, besides for extra-curricular purposes. Marijuana should be legalized because it's the holder of many beneficial uses including suppressing pain, raising the United States out of debt, saving millions of acres of forests, and creating jobs for many people. Through the legalization of marijuana, the U.S. could benefit immensely. Marijuana is the most widely used controlled substance in the United States. Since it is used so often, why not take the money it could create by selling it and help the economy. For every 1/8 ounce sold, the U.S. government could take 40% of the $40 or $45 with the other 60% going to the seller. The seller would have to be monitored by the government and would have to have licenses and have their crops tested for harmful fertilizers. Crime would also be affected in a positive way. Illegal drug crimes would drop, allowing the police to turn their attention to more serious problems. There is a marijuana smoker arrested every 45 seconds in the United States. Normally, they receive large fines and small jail time but repeat offenders can get up to five years. Sadly, rapists and murderers are able to get only one year. Do you really think smoking a joint is worse that raping and killing someone If marijuana were to be legalized, the jail would have room for criminals that deserve jail time for their crimes. Tax dollars that go to prosecuting and jailing these so called ?criminals' could go towards programs in helping inform smokers of how to do it responsibility. Drug dealers that dealt illegally would soon go out of business and drug smuggling would drop to a low. They would still sell cocaine and PCP and the other illegal drugs but they wouldn't have the same profit that they got prior because marijuana brings in su ch a large profit. Not only would legalization benefit the jails but also the world. Thousands of acres of forest that are destroyed daily would be saved. One acre of hemp can produce up to 4 times more paper than one acre of trees. Before trees can be harvested for use, they must grow anywhere between 20-50 years; while hemp only needs 4 months before it can be harvested. With hemp growing faster than trees, forests would stay erected; in turn, many endangered animals would be taken off the endangered species list. Many things can be made out of hemp and hemp oil. Some items include; clothing, soaps, butter, and rope. By using hemp, we could save the environment while creating everyday items. Why are alcohol and nicotine legal while marijuana is not? Alcohol and nicotine, like marijuana, are considered drugs. Alcohol brings out violence and abuse in many people, while users of marijuana are generally easygoing and relaxed while on it. Nicotine, if consumed in large enough quantities, causes immense harm to the users' body. And both nicotine and alcohol are addicting, while few users of marijuana develop dependencies. A substance shouldn't be illegal because it is addictive. Sex and food can be addictive for people and they are not banned. Many people think that the only people that smoke weed are unemployed lazy potheads, but that is not the case. About 10 million people smoked marijuana habitually last year. Most of these people were law-abiding citizens. If marijuana were to become legalized, there would have to laws to follow such as smokers could receive a fine for smoking in public. Or the United States could follow in the Netherlands footsteps. In the Netherlands, they legally sell marijuana on the street corners in little shops. Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, is the marijuana capital of the world and because of that, many people refer to it as the most peaceful places in the world. Consumption of marijuana would also be much safer if the government regulated it. The government could easily control the amount sold and purchased, which would lower the percentage of drug abuse in the country. Also, if the government monitored marijuana crops, people smoking the plant

Gallium Facts (Atomic Number 31 or Ga)

Gallium Facts (Atomic Number 31 or Ga) Gallium is a bright blue-silver metal with a melting point low enough you can melt a chunk in your hand. Here are interesting facts about this element. Gallium  Basic Facts Atomic Number: 31 Symbol: Ga Atomic Weight: 69.732 Discovery: Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran 1875 (France) Electron Configuration: [Ar] 4s2 3d10 4p1 Word Origin: Latin Gallia, France and gallus, a Latin translation of Lecoq, a cock (name of its discoverer was Lecoq de Boisbaudran) Properties: Gallium has a melting point of 29.78 °C, boiling point of 2403 °C, specific gravity of 5.904 (29.6 °C), specific gravity of 6.095 (29.8 °C, liguid), with a valence of 2 or 3. Gallium has one of the longest liquid temperature ranges of any metal, with a low vapor pressure even at high temperatures. The element has a strong tendency to supercool below its freezing point. Seeding is sometimes necessary to initiate solidification. Pure gallium metal has a silvery appearance. It exhibits a conchoidal fracture that it similar to a glass fracture in appearance. Gallium expands 3.1% on solidifying, so it should not be stored in a metal or glass container that can break upon its solidification. Gallium wets glass and porcelain, forming a brilliant mirror finish on glass. Highly pure gallium is only slowly attacked by mineral acids. Gallium is associated with a relatively low toxicity, but should be handled with care until more health data has been accumulated. Uses: Since it is a liquid near room temperature, gallium is used for high-temperature thermometers. Gallium is used to dope semiconductors and for producing solid-state devices. Gallium arsenide is used to convert electricity into coherent light. Magnesium gallate with divalent impurities (e.g., Mn2) is used to make commercial ultraviolet-activated powder phosphors. Sources: Gallium may be found as a trace element in sphalerite, diaspore, bauxite, coal, and germanite. Flue dusts from burning coal may contain as much as 1.5% gallium. The free metal may be obtained by electrolysis of its hydroxide in a KOH solution. Element Classification:Basic Metal Gallium Physical Data Density (g/cc): 5.91 Melting Point (K): 302.93 Boiling Point (K): 2676 Appearance: soft, blue-white metal Isotopes: There are 27 known isotopes of gallium ranging from Ga-60 to Ga-86. There are two stable isotopes: Ga-69 (60.108% abundance) and Ga-71 (39.892% abundance). Atomic Radius (pm): 141 Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 11.8 Covalent Radius (pm): 126 Ionic Radius: 62 (3e) 81 (1e) Specific Heat (20 °C J/g mol): 0.372 Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): 5.59 Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 270.3 Debye Temperature (K): 240.00 Pauling Negativity Number: 1.81 First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 578.7 Oxidation States: 3 Lattice Structure: Orthorhombic Lattice Constant (Ã…): 4.510 CAS Registry Number: 7440-55-3 Gallium Trivia: Galliums discover, Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran named the element after his home country France. The Latin word gallus means both Gaul which is an older name for France. It was believed he also named the element after himself because gallus also means rooster (or Le Coq in French). Lecoq later denied he named gallium after himself.The discovery of gallium filled a spot predicted by Mendeleevs periodic table. Gallium took the place of the placeholder element eka-aluminum.Gallium was first identified using spectroscopy by its distinct pair of violet spectral lines.Galliums melting point (302.93 K) is low enough to melt the metal in the palm of your hand.Gallium is the element with the highest range of temperatures for its liquid phase. The difference between galliums melting and boiling point is 2373  °C.Gallium is one of five elements with a melting point near room temperature. The other four are mercury, cesium, rubidium and francium.Gallium expands as it freezes like water. Gallium does not exist free in nature.Gallium is obtained as a byproduct in the production of zinc and aluminum.Most gallium produced today is used in electronics.Gallium nitride semiconductors are used the blue diode lasers of Blu-rayâ„ ¢ players.Gallium arsenide is used to produce ultra-brite blue LEDs.Liquid gallium is known for its ability to wet glass, porcelain and skin. Gallium forms a very reflective surface on glass making an excellent mirror.An amalgam of gallium, indium, tin is used in medical thermometers in place of the more traditional and toxic mercury thermometers.Gallium Beating Heart is one of the fun and easy chemistry demonstrations for chemistry students. Gallium Fast Facts Element Name: GalliumElement Symbol: GaAtomic Number: 31Group: Group 13 (Boron Group)Period: Period 4Appearance: Silver-blue metalDiscovery:  Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1875) Sources de Boisbaudran, Lecoq (1835–1965). Caractà ¨res chimiques et spectroscopiques dun nouveau mà ©tal, le gallium, dà ©couvert dans une blende de la mine de Pierrefitte, vallà ©e dArgelà ¨s (Pyrà ©nà ©es). Comptes rendus. 81: 493.Weast, Robert (1984). CRC, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Boca Raton, Florida: Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. pp. E110. ISBN 0-8493-0464-4.

Design for manufacturer Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Design for manufacturer - Coursework Example Stereomicroscopes are used to examinespecimens under bothreflectedandtransmittedlight. Stereomicroscopes are used for imaging three-dimensional objects1. A Stereomicroscope providesgoodgroundsfor three-dimensional visualization of thesamplebeingtested, in thiscase, theprototype Acrylic displayhence an excellentqualitycontrolinspectiontool. Reducing complexity of the Acrylic displayunit is a costeffectiveproductionmethod. Unnecessary complexity is a majorcause of hiking costs of production. Production of standardunits would seetherealization of mass production at a lowcost. Reducingprototypedevelopmenttime is also a costeffectiveproductionmethod. Thedevelopmenttime can be reduced by putting 3-D digital prototyping technology at work that will speed up the prototyping process and foster more innovation. More technology can also be offered to reducethecost of production. Technology allowsdesignersandotherproductionpersonnel to work as teams, interactingquickly. Cooperation and working as a team give room to the achievement of the best possible solution. According to Evans & Lindsay (2013), surface hardness is the measure of how a material is resistant to changepermanently in shapewhenapplied a compressive force. Classification of surface hardness measurement can be into three methods, includingscratch, indentation, and rebound. Scratch is themeasure of howresistant a material is to permanent deformation due to friction from a sharpobject. Themostcommontestforscratch is Mohs scale. Mohs scalecharacterizesthescratchresistance of variousmaterialsusingthe sclerometer. Indentation hardness measurestheresistance of a material to deformation due to a compressioneffect of a sharpobject. Rebound hardness is themeasurestheheight of the rebound of a materialwhen an objectis released from thehigherground onto thematerial. A stereoscope is the device used to take measurements for the rebound2. Elasticity is thetendency of a material to return

Socioautobiography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Socioautobiography - Essay Example I had to know how to protect myself, but part of that protection meant keeping interest off of me when it came to possible threats. In Queens, in the middle of New York City and surrounded by millions of people, there was never enough space for me to go off and have any time to myself. I had to learn to make my own privacy even when surrounded by other people. I believe this quality has benefited me well in improving my ability to focus in distracting situations. I always lived in a two-parent household. I always knew that my parents loved me, my two brothers, and each other very much. These positive memories from my childhood have given me a stable foundation on which to build the rest of my life. My parents' example of a healthy marriage gave me the guidance I needed in my life to understand how stable relationships and happy families are built. I plan to take this knowledge and pass this on to my own children someday, whenever I decide it is time to take that next step forward wit h my life. My mother worked as a social worker and my father was a police officer. They raised me and my siblings in an extremely value-oriented household. I was taught from an early age to respect others and also to respect authority. My parents also raised me with a deeply-held belief in social responsibility. It was not enough for my family and for me to live in the world without actively causing harm to anyone. I also needed to do something that bettered my community and improved the world around me. As a result of these teachings from my parents, my two brothers followed in my father’s footsteps and became police officers for the city of New York. However, I wanted to do something different with my life and my career than the rest of my family. I had just enough of a rebellious streak in me that I felt it was necessary to leave home and try something new. However, this rebellious tendency was not enough for me to let go of the values my parents had taught me. As a result , my career choice was to join the military, which is a value-oriented career but one that was very different from anything my parents or siblings had ever done. I thought the military was a perfect choice for me, since I could expand on my existing skills and beliefs while seeing new places and experiencing all kinds of new things. For my first year after basic training, however, I felt that joining the military had been a huge mistake, possibly the biggest mistake I had ever made in my life. I was a child of the urban environment where I had grown up. Being sent to places like the farming community out in rural Texas, the location to which I was originally deployed after training, was a major shock. I missed being surrounded by all the activity and the bustle of the city. I felt like there was nothing for me out there, surrounded by nothing but mountains and empty desert all the way to the horizon. I also missed my family members and the closeness I had shared with them during my childhood. My parents and siblings all still lived in New York City. In fact, most of them still live in the neighborhood where I was born. I rarely had a chance to see them. At that time, joining up with the military seemed like the worst thing that had ever happened to me. Unsurprisingly, during my time in the military I was sent overseas to serve in Iraq. I completed two tours of duty there. It was an experience that I will never be able

Plan for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Prevention

Plan for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Prevention Healthy People 2020 identified intimate partner violence (IPV) as an increasing public health issue. Previously thought of as a private matter, IVP has received little attention by the health care sector. IPV affects millions, both men and women; it crosses racial, ethnic, religious, economic, and educational groups. The financial effects of IPV are estimated at $ 5.8 billion annually in the U.S. alone. The incidence of IPV is a growing public health issue and to raise awareness and education is a goal of the Healthy People 2020 initiatives (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). This objective may be attainable by the increased number of physician offices, medical clinics, emergency room waiting areas, and health department clinics distributing the printed educational information (pamphlets, brochures, and posters), as well as the information distributed by in-office educational television. The goal is increasing collaboration with distribution and posting of printed mate rials in the waiting areas and strategic places in medical facilities. Evaluation of the increased awareness of the medical community will be based on the number of agreements, of the offices, to distribute educational material and information. Short term goals will be to raise awareness and dissemination of information and knowledge pertaining to IPV. Long term goals will be to continue the increase of information to inter-office television information and broadcasting for intimate partner violence, and future classes through the health department and schools for IPV prevention and interventions. Articles reviewed from the CDC, American Association of College of Nurses, Crisis Prevention Centers, ENA, and American Family Physician agree that to inform and educate medical staff and patients about intimate partner violence, will help increase the community awareness of intimate partner violence. Key concepts include: healthcare professionals, domestic violence, interventions, education, and awareness. The Information-Motivation-Behavior-Skills Model (IMB) will be utilized to develop the plan for intimate partner violence prevention. The IMB model provides a platform to design interventions, to help instigate change in the pattern of behavior, and to develop prevention measures. This includes three concepts: 1) Information: targeting the concepts that are used make behavioral changes and ways to achieve changes. Information generates knowledge, which shapes attitudes, which leads to behaviors (Mehta, 2010). 2) Motivation: deals with personal attitudes toward positive health behavior and uses existing social support systems to enhance motivation. Motivation is of two types: personal motivation, which is based on personal attitudes toward behaviors, and social motivation are to engage in prevention based on social responsibilities (Mehta, 2010) 3) Behavior: actions that allow the learning of skills required to make a change. Behavioral skills are the individual’s ability and self-efficiency to performing the action required to make the behavioral change (Mehta, 2010). This framework is appropriate for the intended project as it includes the three elements needed to achieve practice and policy changes in most healthcare settings. Information targeting intimate partner violence, being displayed in medical facilities, will assist in making the employees of the facility, as well as the patients more aware. Motivation, even for well-informed individuals, is to undertake health promotion action and support the efforts toward awareness. Behavioral is based on if the individuals that have the knowledge and motivation, and have the required self-efficacy in carrying out a health promotion behavior plan (Mehta, 2010). Interventions are designed and implemented based on the health behavior. Presenting the information to make changes is the first step to any behavior change. The evaluation or outcome is conducted to assess the impact of the intervention to produce the desired effect. This model focuses on the individual by providing information and intervention on how to change the personal attitudes and behaviors, and the environmental by showing how health promotion may be affected by individual and social support systems (Gielen, 2003). Placing awareness information or education in medical facilities, in strategic spots, such as bathrooms, examine rooms, and waiting areas, will allow the patients the opportunity to read and take the pamphlets, brochures, or resource cards with them when leaving the premises (McClure, 1996). It also lets the patients know that the staff is supportive and understand the importance of interventions and support for those that need assistance, or just want to discuss the issue (B.J.Walton-Moss J.C.Campbell, 2002). Knowledgeable and supportive medical personnel may be able to refer the patient to the appropriate community resource or program. By displaying information openly, or discreetly, improves the chance of prevention and behavioral changes (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). The plan for increasing the awareness of medical facilities and clinics will include discussions with physicians, nurses, advanced nurse practitioners, and all other medical care providers that provide care and assist in decisions related to patient education and information displayed in the offices, clinics, or clinical settings. The planned direction of the discussions will be on the increased awareness, and agree to place educational material related to intimate partner violence, available community resources, resource cards, and hotline numbers for help. The addition of inter-office television information related to IPV will be discussed, and information on obtaining this programming will be furnished (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2013). Information pertaining to patient screening and staff training related to continued education credits for the medical staff will be furnished (CEU.Fast.com, 2014). There are many governmental agencies that have the instructional materials, screening programs, and programs for staff development available at nominal costs, as well as programs that are free for many medical facilities that agree to participate in clinical prevention (VAWnet). When increasing the awareness of medical providers and their staff, on the public health issue of intimate partner violence, the added benefits of education and awareness of the public obtained through the medical office, may increase the community awareness and practice and attitudes toward IPV (Future Without Violence). The increased awareness may help in decreasing the incidence of IPV and the significant health issues related to IPV (Power). As it is the responsibility of all medical professionals to improve the health of their communities and the people of the community, it is the responsibility of the APN to be involved in community education and awareness of fellow medical professionals, on the complications and long term medical issues resulting from IPV, measures to prevent IPV, and educational measures that may be implemented for the prevention and assessment of this public health issue (Rhodes Levinson, 2003). References: B.J.Walton-Moss, D., J.C.Campbell, P. R. (2002, January). Intimate Partner Violence: Implication for Nurses. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 7(1). Retrieved February 2014, from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategory/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodical/OJIN Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013, July). National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Retrieved from Center for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/nisvs/index Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Healthy People 2020. Retrieved from Center for Disease Control and Prevention: http://cdc.gov/nchs/healthy_people.htm CEU.Fast.com. (2014). Domestic Violence (Intimate Partner Violence). Retrieved from CEU.Fast.com: http://www.ceu.fast.com/course/domesticviolence Cronholm, P., Fogarty, C. M., Ambul, P. M., Harrison, S. M. (2011, May 5). Intimate Partner Violence. American Family Physician, 83(10), 1165-1172. Retrieved February 2014, from http://www.aafp.org/afp/2011/0515/p1165 Emergency Nurses Association. (2013, September). Intimate Partner Violence. Retrieved from Emergency Nurses Association: http://www.ena.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/PositionStatements Future Without Violence. (2013). Resource Material. Retrieved from Future Without Violence: http://www.secure3.convio.net/fopf/site/Ecommerce/1272334033? FOLDER Future Without Violence. (n.d.). The Call To Action: The Nurses Role in Routine Assessment for Intimate Partner Violence. Retrieved from Future Without Violence: http://www.futurewithoutviolence.org/userfiles/files/healthcare/nursing Healthy People 2020. (n.d.). Leading Health Indicators. Retrieved from Healthy People: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/LHI/default McClure, B. R. (1996). Domestic Violence: The Role of the Health Care Professional. Michigan Family Review, 2(1), 63-75. Retrieved February 15, 2014, from http://www.hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.4919087.0002.15 Mehta, K. (2010). Information-Motivation-Behavior Skill Model. Retrieved from P500-FALL2010: http://www.p500fall2010-wiki-wikispace.com/information-motivation-behavior+skill+model National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. (2013). Setup Collaborative Models of Care: HealthCare About Intimate Partner Violence. Retrieved from National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: http://www.healthcareaboutipv.org/gettingstarted/set-up-multidisciplinary-collaborative-models Power, C. R. (n.d.). Domestic Violence: What Can Nurses Do? Retrieved from Crisis Prevention Interventions. Rhodes, K. M., Levinson, W. M. (2003, February 5). Intervention for Intimate Partner Violence Against Women. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 289(5). Retrieved from http://www.jamanetwork.com/article,aspx?articleid=195899 VAWnet. (n.d.). Publications on Domestic Violence. Retrieved from National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women: http://www.nrcdv.org/dvam/catalog

Causes and Effects of Homelessness Essay -- homeless poverty

Homelessness is a problem virtually every society suffers from. There are many things that cause people to become homeless, such as unemployment, relationship problems, and being evicted from ones domicile either by a landlord, friend or even a family member. However, with every cause there must be an effect. Some of the effects of one becoming homeless, besides the obvious change of lifestyle, are various health problems which often times may lead to death. Many people find themselves in a predicament when they are living with a partner and the two decide to go their separate ways. Some people may not be able afford the cost of living on just their income alone, so when two people terminate a relationship where one depends on the other, both are often left homeless for a period of time. Unemployment is another major cause of people becoming homeless. When people lose their jobs and fail to find another within a reasonable amount of time, they will not be able to pay their rent or mortgage on time or even at all, causing them to look else where for shelter. Many people are not fortunate enough to have a family member that is willing, or capable, of taking them in and supporting them. The main cause of homelessness comes from people being evicted from their place of residence either by their parents, friends, or land lord. Parents will often kick their kids out of the house because they can not financially support them anymore, or t hey are just simply tired of their kids bumming off of them when they are perfectly capable of supporting themselves or at least contributing to the cost of living expenses. So many people are forced to live on the streets because of something as little as a relationship problem. All homeles... ...on someone, which is death. Homeless people die every day for various reasons. Some may die from malnutrition due to lack of food, some may die from being abused, beaten or murdered, and some may die from drug overdose. In one out of every four deaths in homeless people the cause of death is murder. One out of every six homeless people will attempt to take their own lives. In addition a homeless person’ life expectancy is approximately twenty years less than that of a person who is not homeless. There are many causes and effects of homelessness and it continues to be a problem in virtually all societies known to man. Regardless of what the causes of someone becoming homeless are, all homeless people will eventually suffer from some or all of the effects of being homeless, rather it be malnutrition, mental illnesses, abuse, drug addictions, or even death.

Is There Such a Phenomena as ‘Pilot Error’ in Aviation Accidents

The term ‘Pilot error’ has been attributed to 78%[1] of Army aviation accidents. Despite the technological advances in Rotary Wing (RW) aircraft i. e. , helicopters accidents attributed to technology failure are decreasing, whilst pilot error is increasing. Currently, RW accidents are investigated and recorded using a taxonomy shown to suffer difficulties when coding human error and quantifying the sequence of events prior to an air accident. As Human Factors (HF) attributed accidents are increasing, lessons aren’t being identified nor the root cause is known. Therefore, I propose to introduce Human Factors Analysis and Classification system (HFACS) an untried taxonomy to the UK military developed as an analytical framework to investigate the role of HF in United States of America (USA) aviation accidents. HFACS, supports organizational structure, pre-cursors of psychological error and actual error; but little research exists to explain the intra-relations between the levels and components, or the application in the military RW domain. Therefore, I intend to conduct post-hoc analysis using HFACS of 30+ air accidents between 1993 to present. Implications of this research are to develop a greater understanding of how Occupational Psychology (OP) can help pilots understand HF, raise flight awareness and reduce HF attributed fatalities. Introduction â€Å"On 2 June 1994 an RAF Chinook Mk2 helicopter, ZD 576, crashed on the Mull of Kintyre on a flight from RAF Aldergrove to Fort George, near Inverness. All on board were killed: the two pilots, the two crewmembers and the 25 passengers. This was to have been a routine, non-operational flight, to take senior personnel of the security services to a conference. The sortie was planned in advance; it was entirely appropriate for these pilots, Flt Lts Jonathan Tapper and Richard Cook, and for the aircraft, ZD576, to have been assigned this mission. An RAF Board of Inquiry (BOI) was convened following the accident and carried out a detailed investigation. BOIs are established to investigate the cause of serious accidents, primarily, to make safety recommendations but, at the time of this crash, to also determine if human failings were involved. Their conclusion, after an exhaustive investigation was there was not one single piece of known fact that does not fit the conclusion that this tragic accident was a controlled flight into terrain. † The BOI found no evidence of mechanical failure and multiple witnesses stated that the aircraft appeared to be flying at 100ft at 150 knots there was no engine note change, the aircraft didn’t appear to be in distress and at the crash scene the throttle controls were still in the cruise position (not at emergency power if collision with the ground was imminent). 2] So the causation moved to Human Factors (HF). But some questions remain unanswered, on that fateful day why did these seasoned and experienced pilots fly their aircraft and passengers into a hillside at 150 knots. If this accident was attributed to HF it now appears to some that the aircrew themselves are more deadly than the aircraft they fly (Mason, 1993: cited in Murray, 1997). The crucial issue therefore is to understand why pilots Flt Lts Jonathan Tapper and Richard Cooks’ actions made sense to them at the time the fatal accident happened. Relevance of Research So why is this topic relevant to OP research? The British Army branch of aviation is an organization called the Army Air Corps (AAC) and in keeping with the trends of the other two services the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, it has seen a steep decline in accidents in recent years. However, accidents attributed to Human Factors (HF) have steadily risen and are responsible for 90% of all aviation accidents. [3]. This research will depart from the traditional perspective of the label â€Å"pilot error† as the underlying causation of Aviation accidents, whereby current theory and research purport a ‘systemic’ approach to human factors investigation of Aviation accidents. This approach is derived from Reasons Model of Accident Causation, which examines the causal factors of organizational accidents across a spectrum of sectors from; nuclear power industry (e. g. , Chernobyl), off-shore oil and gas production (e. g. Piper Alpha) to transportation (e. g. Charring Cross) (Reason 1990). This approach recognizes that humans, as components of socio-technical systems, are involved in designing, manufacturing, maintaining, managing and operating aviation systems including the methods of selecting and assessing potential employees to the aviation industry from Pilots, Cabin crew, Engineers and Baggage handlers. Therefore, our ability to identify, understand and manage these potential issues enables us to develop systems that are more error-tolerant, thus reducing risk and the potential for accidents. I intend to be able to provide a more consistent, reliable and detailed analysis of HF causal factors that attribute to aviation accidents within the AAC. On average, the AAC experiences around 6 major accidents per year, although a record year was recorded with only two accidents in 1993. However, in 1992 aviation accidents cost over ?10M[4] in taxpayer’s money. Usually the causation of accidents are classified (human error, technical failure or operational hazard). Whilst there was a reduced figure of ?1M for 1993, the satisfaction of this financial success was marred by the fact that one of the two accidents resulted in a fatality. However, it is the concept of human error or pilot error that dominates the outcome of most BOIs particularly when there are fatalities. Current taxonomies used to classify accident causal groups do not extend beyond this distinction although more recently organizational factors have been included to reflect a more systemic view of accident causation. However, the HF domain is extensive and current taxonomies employed by the AAC do not encapsulate this. By using HFACS (currently adopted by the US Navy, Army, Airforce, and Coast Guard), a human error orientated accident investigation and analysis process; I will conduct post-hoc analysis of 30+ category four and five accidents from 1993 to present day. Literature review Before we start to look at any reduction in Air Accidents we need to grasp an understanding of category of accident. How many times when we hear about air accidents, â€Å"it was pilot error†, merely noting HF was responsible doesn’t prevent repetition nor identify any critical lessons, plus the description is far too generic. The term pilot error doesn’t assist us in understanding the processes underlying what leads to a crash, nor does it give us a means to apply remediation or even identify lessons to prevent re-occurrence. The other issue is that it is very seldom one single factor caused the helicopter to crash. Professor RG Green (1996) uses a categorization method: Modes of failure, Aircrew Factors and System failures. Within each of these exist sub-categories. E. g. , in Modes of Failure category lists a number of common errors made by the individual or individuals from; selective attention, automatic behaviour, forming inappropriate mental models, affects of fatigue and perceptual challenges leading to spatial disorientation, particularly common to RW flight. Aircrew factors, refers to background factors relevant to individuals: decision-making, personality, problem solving, Crew composition, Cockpit Authority Gradient (CAG) and Life stress. Finally, the systems factors applicable to the organization that we serve under, termed enabling conditions such as: Ergonomics, Job pressures and Organizational Culture. Bodies of Research Now, human error doesn’t just happen, usually a sequence of events will unfold prior to the accident. Human error is often a product of deeper problems; they are systematically connected to features of the individual’s tools, tasks and the surrounding media (Dekker, 2001). Therefore, in order to provide remediation through the development of strategies it is vital that we understand the various perspectives experienced through flight and how these could effect a pilot; these range from: cognitive, ergonomic, behavioural, psychosocial, aeromedical, and the Organizational Perspectives (Weigmann and Shappell 2003). Within the environment of human performance error is a unique state of a pilot’s operational environment that could be affected by anyone of, or all of the perspectives. Rasmussen (1982) utilized a cognitive methodology to understanding aircraft accidents. O’Hare et al. (1994) described the system as consisting of six stages: ‘detection of stimulus; diagnosis of the system; setting the goal; selection of strategy; adoption of procedure; and the action stage'. The model was found to be helpful in identifying the human errors involved in aviation accidents and incidents (O’Hare et al. 1994). One draw back being that these models using cognition are operator centric and do not consider other factors such as; the working environment, task properties, or the upervisory and work organization (Wiegmann and Sappell, 2001c). Edwards (1972) developed the ‘HELS system' model, which was subsequently called the ‘SHEL' model. Citing that Humans do not perform tasks on their own but within the context of a system; initially SHEL was a system focusing on the ergonomics and considered the man-machine interface. A tool that can be appli ed to investigate air accidents through the evaluation of human-machine systems failure. The ‘SHEL' model categorizes failure into: software, hardware, liveware and environment conditions. However the SHEL model fails to address the functions of management and the cultural aspects of society. Empirical findings Bird’s Domino Theory (1974) views accidents as a linear sequence of related factors or series of events that lead to an actual mishap. The theory covers the five-step sequence First domain Safety/Loss of control, the second domain, basic causes, identifies the origin of causes, such as human, environment or task related. The immediate causes include substandard practices and circumstances. The fourth domain involves contact with hazards. The last domain could be related to personal injury and damage to assets (Bird, 1974; and Heinreich, et al. , 1980). It is much like falling dominos each step causes the next to occur. Removing the factors from any of the first three dominos could prevent an accident. This view has been expanded upon by Reason (1990). Reason’s ‘Swiss cheese' model fig 1, includes four levels of human failure: organizational factors, unsafe supervision, preconditions for unsafe acts and unsafe acts. The HFACS was developed from this model in order to address some of limitations. The starting point for the chain of event is the organization ‘Fallible decisions' take place at higher levels, resulting in latent defects waiting for enabling factors (Reason, 1990). Management and safe supervision underpins any air operation through flight operations, planning, maintenance and training. However, it is the corporate executives, the decision makers who make available the resources, finances and set budgets. These are then cascaded down through the tiers of management and to the operator. Now this sounds like an efficient and effective organization and according to Reason failures in the organization come about by the breakdown in interactions and holes begin to form in the cheese. Within an organization unsafe acts may be manifested by lack of supervision attributed to organizational cultures operating within a: high-pressure environment, insufficient training or poor communication. The latent conditions at the unsafe supervision level promote hazard formation and increase the operational risks. Working towards the accident, the third level of the model is preconditions for unsafe acts. Performance of the aircrew can be affected by fatigue, complacency, inadequate design and their psychological and physical state (USNSC, 2001; Shappell and Wiegmann, 2001a; Wiegmann and Shappell, 2003). Finally, the unsafe acts of the operator are the direct causal factor of the accident. These actions committed by the aircrew could be either intentional or unintentional (Reason, 1990). The ‘Swiss cheese' model sees the aviation environment as a multifaceted system that does not work well when an incorrect decision been taken at higher levels (Wiegmann and Shappell, 2003). The model depicts a thin veneer of cheese the veneer symbolizing the defence against Aviation accidents and the dotted holes portray a latent condition or active failure. It is a chain of events that usually lead to an accident however as errors are made the holes begin to appear in the cheese, a datum line penetrates the cheese and if all the holes pass through the line, then a catastrophic failure occurs and a crash ensues. These causal attributions of poor management and supervision (organizational perspective) may only be unearthed if equipment is found in poor maintenance (ergonomic). If the organizational culture is one of a pressured environment then this could place unnecessary demands on the aircrew producing fatigue (Aeromedical). Or management could ignore pilots’ concerns if the CAG was at imbalance (psychosocial perspective). All of these factors could hinder and prevent aircrew from processing and performing efficiently in the cockpit, which could result in pilot error followed later by an Air Accident. However, with Reasons model it doesn’t identify what the holes in the cheese depict. For any intervention strategy to function and prevent reoccurrence the organization must be able to identify the causal factors involved. The important issue in a HF investigation is to understand why pilots’ actions made sense to them at the time the accident happened (Dekker, 2002). HFACS was specifically developed to define latent and active failures implicated in Reasons Swiss Cheese model so it could be used an accident investigation and analysis tool (Shappel and Weigmann, 1997; 1998; 1999; 2000; 2001). The framework was developed and refined by analyzing hundreds of accident reports containing thousands of human causal factors. Although designed originally for use within the context of the military aviation HFACS has shown to be effective within the civil aviation arena as well (Wiegmann and Shappel, 2001b). Specifically HFACS describes four levels of failure; each one corresponds to one of the cheese slices of Reasons model. These are a) Unsafe acts b) Pre-conditions for Unsafe acts c) Unsafe supervision and d) Organizational influences (Weigmann and Shappel, 2001c) Methodology By using a combination of qualitative (i. e. the process of recoding causal factors based on individual and group discussions) and quantitative (causal factor analysis of recoded narratives against HFACS taxonomy) research methodologies to identify further causal groups to be used in classifying accidents and to assess the validity of the HFACS framework as a tool to classify and analyze accidents. Data to be used in this study will be derived from the narrative findings of AAC BOIs conducted between 1990 and 2006[5]. This should equate to approximately 30-35 narratives to be used in the analysis. Authority to access the Board of Inquiry library has been granted by the Army's Flight Safety and Standards Inspectorate, which is the AAC organization responsible for conducting Aviation accident investigations and analysis. Data will only be used that comprises of category 4 accidents (single fatalities and severe damage to aircraft) and category 5 (multiple fatalities and loss of aircraft). In addition to the narrative description in the report, the following information will also be collected: the type of mission in which the accident happened (e. . low-level flying, exercise, HELEARM[6]); the flight phase (e. g. take-off, in the hover, flight in the operational area, approach, and landing); the rank of the pilot(s) (to measure CAG and see if this is a contributory factor) involved and the type and category of aircraft. This study will concentrate on all Army helicopters; including all variants of the Lynx, Gazelle and Squirrel trainer. Coding frames will be developed and tested for use in the final recoding exercise. An Occupational Psychologist from the Human Factors epartment of the MOD will supervise the training and the coders will be a number of RW pilots with a minimum of 1000hours flying time at the time of the research. Each pilot will be provided with a workshop in the use of HFACS framework. This is to ensure parity and that all coders understand the HFACS categories. After the period of training the raters will be randomly assigned air accidents so that two independent raters can independently code each accident. It is intended to code the inter-rater reliability on a category-by-category basis. The degree of agreement (the inter-rater reliability) initially between the two coders will be achieved by Cohens Kappa (Cohen, 1960;Landis and Koch, 1977). SPSS v. 15. 0 will be used to quantify the frequency of causal factors of the 30+ narratives. It is also hoped to compare the inter-rater reliability between all the coders using Fleiss Kappa. Fleiss’s Kappa assessment method is used to measure the similarity agreement of observers and treats them symmetrically (Fleiss, 1981). The level of agreement between the raters is statistically measured against what could be achieved through chance. The Kappa level range would be classed as achieving moderate inter reliability if it were between 0. 41-0. 60. Cohen’s Kappa is based on the statistical measurement analysis of the level of agreement between raters in excess of (Landis and Koch, 1977). Discussion The research intends to apply an untried methodology not as yet sanctioned by the UKs Ministry of Defence in order to analyze a number of Air Accidents within the AAC between 1993 and present day. Thirty plus serious Category 4 and 5 accidents will be re-classified using the taxonomy of HFACS. It is intended where pilot error was the cause, to identify the HF associated and attribute to each accident. It is also hoped that the HFACS taxonomy can accommodate the HF identified during re-coding and therefore provide tangible evidence that HFACS could be used by the AAC as a reliable tool. It is hoped a number of comparison analysis can be achieved and are accidents more prevalent when flying in visual meteorological conditions (VMC) or poor visibility instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) therefore two sets of visual conditions; VMC and daylight or impoverished visual conditions IMC or twilight/nighttime. Wiegmann, D. A. and Shappell, S. A. (2003). What would also be interesting was the causation and aircrew behaviours of fatal and non-fatal accidents and are these more prevalent on operations or during training. The author was in Afghanistan 2006 and over 6-month period there wasn’t a single crash let alone fatality. But the AAC records 6 crashes a year so again this is worthy of investigation. The ranks of the pilot is also worthy of interest with regards to achieving a good CAG there may be causal evidence to indicate that an imbalance between ranks could have lead to an aircrash. The Organizational hierarchy will; also be researched is it one specific organization that keeps having crashes is there an issue with the pressures placed on the pilots by the organization. The inter-rater reliability will also be calculated by using Fleiss Kappa which will work for more than two raters, it is intended that an acceptable level of inter rater reliability will be recorded. In addition, the intra-rater reliability as a holistic measurement is hoped to be high in order to support the credibility of the results. An Organization could benefit from gaining a standardized, consistent coding methodology and that data can be used for identifying trends and intervention strategies can then target these trends in accident causation. It is hoped that granularity can be achieved beyond the label â€Å"pilot error† and identify the underlying causation of the accident. If successful and if HFACS is adopted UK military wide, perhaps the real cause of why ZD576 flew into the Mull of Kyntre could be unearthed. If other Military organizations can reap success then HFACS could be a reliable tool to identify causation and could be used in accident investigation. Ethics I will comply fully with the BPS[7] ethical principles when conducting research with human participants. All identifiable information relating to individuals discussed in the narrative findings will be removed in accordance with the data protection act, for the purposes of analysis and reporting. All participates will be fully appraised of my research, recognize that all the coders are volunteers and give informed consent before the research and to understand how the information will be used. The coders will be reviewing material depicting instances of fatalities therefore it is important that the coders do not come to any psychological harm, over and above the risk of harm in ordinary life (participants will be invited to contact me if participation causes concern at any time or to ask questions). Maintaining a good rapport particularly with the coders is also a desirable. Being an Aeronautical Engineer should also bridge any cultural gaps and maintain a good working relationship.