Effect of Incorporation of Carrot Powder in Wheat Flour Essay

Effect of Incorporation of Carrot Powder in Wheat Flour for the Preparation of Stick Noodles Kripa Shakya1 and Anup Halwai2 1. College of Applied Food and Dairy Technology,Kathamndu, Nepal 2. Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, Kathamndu, Nepal krips16@hotmail. com Abstract Noodles were prepared by incorporating carrot powder in the percentage of 5, 10, 15 and 20 in wheat flour. The main objective of the work was to prepare the nutritious noodle enriched with Vitamin A. Sensory evaluation of the carrot powder incorporated stick noodles revealed that the product prepared with 5% carrot powder and 95% wheat flour was found to be most acceptable. The chemical analysis of the most acceptable product were found out to be 10. 8% moisture, 0. 6% fat, 10. 3 % crude protein, 0. 7% crude fiber,1. 7% total ash, 0. 1% acid insoluble ash, 75. 8% carbohydrate and 12166 I. U. Vitamin A content. Keywords: Noodle, wheat flour, carrot powder, Vitamin A 1. Introduction: Noodles are among the oldest forms of the processed foods consumed in Asia and other parts of the world (Hou, 2001). Noodles can be prepared from wheat flour alone and/or in combination with other ingredients such as rice flour, buckwheat and mung bean.. In the noodle preparation, a crumbly dough is formed which is then passed through a series of rolls to form a sheet. The sheet is then slit to produce noodles (Hou, 2001). Carrot (Daucus carota) is a root vegetable, usually orange or red- white blend in color with crisp texture when fresh. Carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange color from ? – carotene, which is metabolized into vitamin A in human when bile salts are present in the intestines. Carrots are also rich in dietary fiber, and antioxidants. Carrot can also promote colon health as it is rich in fiber. Vitamin A deficiency remains widespread in many countries in South Asia and contributes to a significant proportion of preventable blindness (Bloem, 1997). Vitamin A supplementation can reduce the risk of blindness in case of the children (Hennig et al. 1991). In Nepal, two types of noodles are consumed. They are stick (sinke) noodle and instant noodle. In case of instant noodle, different ingredients and nutrients has been added to improve the nutrient content and to increase the consumer appeal such as iron, calcium and vitamin A and different flavors like spinach, chicken and vegetables. But, to the best of my knowledge, in case of noodles, no such studies have been conducted. The main objective of this research is to prepare the noodle enriched with Vitamin A and to analyze its chemical composition of the product. 2. Materials and methods: The raw materials used for the noodle making for wheat flour, carrot powder and salt. Five samples of stick noodles were prepared and labeled A (0% carrot powder and 100% wheat flour), B (5% carrot powder and 95% wheat flour), C (10% carrot powder and 90% wheat flour), D (15% carrot powder and 85% wheat flour) and E (20% carrot powder and 80% wheat flour). Wheat flour was cleaned by passing through a fine sieve screen. Fresh carrots were washed with potable water, sliced, dried at 100Â ±2 ? C for 6 hours. The dried carrots were then powdered in the grinder. Salt was bought from the local market. The method involved cleaning of raw materials, sieving, mixing, of water, kneading, sheeting, cutting, drying and packaging. The raw materials were weighed and mixed manually. 1% of salt was added to the mixture. The required amount of water (33%) was added to the flour. The mixture was kneaded manually to form dough and then left for 30 minutes. The dough was passed through rollers to obtain a sheet. Then it was passed through the cutter to cut into strips. The noodles were dried at a low humidity room for 3 days and then sun drying was done for 1 hour. The products were packed in a plastic bag to protect from the moisture absorption and also to extend its shelf-life. Sensory evaluation of the five noodles samples were performed. Ten panelists were asked to score for the quality attributes viz. , color, flavor, texture and taste in order of their preference according the 9-point Hedonic rating test described by Ranganna (1994). Chemical analyses were performed for the best sample from the sensory evaluation The moisture content and ash content were determined as per AOAC method (1995)Fat rude fiber content and protein content were determined as per Ranganna, 1994. Vitamin content was determined by HPLC as prescribed by Pharmacopeia, 1985. The product was also tested for physical properties such as length, color, edge and thickness. The cooking quality of the product was also determined in terms of cooking time, water absorption capacity, volume expansion and cooking loss as per Poudyal, 1988. 3. Results and Discussions The moisture content of the wheat flour was determined as 12. 2% and its gluten content was determined as 10%. To make noodles, the wheat flour containing 10-12% gluten is suitable. The quality of the wheat flour to make noodles depend on the gluten. If the gluten content is low, there is chance of breakage of noodles. Similarly, the moisture content of the carrot powder was determined as 9. 5%. Sample A with 5% carrot powder had the highest score in terms of quality attributes although the quality attributes among other products except product D (with 20% carrot powder) were not significantly different. (p=0. 05) In case of stick noodle, according to Nepal Standard, the moisture content must not exceed 12. 5%. The moisture content of both type of noodle is less than 12. 5% and there is no big difference between the moisture content of the two products. The protein content of stick noodle must not be less than 8% on dry basis. The protein content of plain noodle was found to be 10. 2% and that of carrot noodle was found to be 10. 3%. There was not much difference in the protein content because the protein content in carrot is very low. Fat is an energy giving constituent. Fat content of the plain noodle was found to be 0. 6% and that of carrot noodle was found to be 0. 6%. The fiber content of the plain noodle was found to be 0. 35% and that of carrot noodle was found to be 0. 7%. The fiber content in high in carrot.

Assessment in Schools Essay

1. Reasons for Assessment Diagnosis: helping young people to establish a baseline and understand their progress, strength and develop needs. Recognition and motivation: recording and rewarding learners’ progress and achievement. Standard setting: confirming levels and thresholds of achievement Differentiation and selection: enabling employers and higher education providers to understand what young people have achieved, and how individuals compare with their peers. 2. Purpose of Assessment. Selection Standards Teachers feedback Motivation Assess readiness for future learning. Preparation for life- â€Å"life is like this† Evaluate curriculum effectiveness Information to others Statement of curriculum Attainment Record of progress- over time 3. Baseline and benchmarking Purpose of baseline scheme Characteristics of a baseline scheme Chapter 4. Target Setting 6. Assessment for learning. Assessment for learning is about supporting classroom learning and teaching. It connects assessment and learning/teaching. What is assessment for learning? Assessment for learning. is part of effective planning focuses on how students learn is recognized as central to classroom practice  is a key professional skill is sensitive and constructive fosters motivation promotes understanding of goals and helps learners know how to improve develop the capacity for assessment recognizes all educational achievements Key Issue: 1. Involvement, discussion and feedback Sharing criteria Discussion Feedback Involvement 2. Planning and evidence Gathering evidence Recording personal learning plans Planning for individuals 3. Partnership Partnership with parents and pupils 7. Assessment as learning Assessment as learning is about learning how to learn. It connects learning/teaching and curriculum. What is Assessment as learning? Key issues: 1. Pupils as learners Reflection Reporting Self/peer assessment Motivation 2. Teachers as learners Developing assessment policy Interpreting evidence Collaboration 3. Management of learning Management supports Manageability 8. Assessment of Learning Assessment of learning is about gathering and interpreting the evidence. It connects curriculum and assessment. Gathering and interpreting evidence Teacher assessment is first and foremost about helping pupils to learn. Fundamental principles Developing Assessment Instruments  Application of assessment instrument Assessment as an end-of-key-stage process Management and monitoring of assessment, recording and reporting Recording and evidence Planning Reporting to parents and guardians Assessment as an ongoing process. Transferring Marking and providing feedback to pupils Using assessment information to monitor progress towards meeting targets Internal/External Assessment Grading Systems Chapter One(1) 1. Reasons for Assessment Diagnosis: helping young people to establish a baseline and understand their progress, strength and develop needs. It is a more detailed type of evaluating the learner to find out their ability, skills, level of performance, knowledge, understanding, intelligence quotient etc. Diagnosis helps the teacher to be able to find out the areas of weakness of the students and their areas of strength. It is from these that the teacher will together with the student plan on a possible course of action to taken in order to assist the students to meet the educational they may have. The teacher may select the students who need further examination by the specialist to confirm if they are faced with a learning difficulty that the teacher may not be able to diagnose. All this is done in the interest of the student i. e. to assist him/her overcome the areas of weakness and try to catch up with the rest of the students. The assessment tasks should be varied in strength to be able to find out the different abilities of the students. Recognition and motivation: recording and rewarding learners’ progress and achievement. Assessment is also carried with an aim of rewarding student according to their performance. In some schools badges are designed and made to be worn by the top achievers in particular subject area and in the overall performance at each grade or stage. The prestige that goes with walking around the school wearing such a badge motivates students to compete for the badges and feel recognized by their peers as good performers in a particular area of study say science, mathematics, languages or even in humanities and applied subjects. If one manages to win two three or more badges they are held in honour by their fellow students and given a lot of recognition both within the school and out. This recognition serves as a motivating factor for the learners to work hard to achieve in their studies and other field like in sports. Similarly, such recognition encourages students to maintain their high standards always for fear of ruining the image they may have created for themselves hence it helps in shaping their character. Unfortunately, some of those low achievers may want to be recognized in a different way hence may resort to unwanted behaviour. Standard setting: confirming levels and thresholds of achievement. Assessment helps the teacher to set standards of performance in his/her class at particular stages or levels of learning. Thus the students will be made aware of the expectation by their teachers with regard to performance hence they will strive to meet the set standard. Unless the standard of performance is set many people tend to relax and very little effort will be made to achieve the goals and objectives. The setting of standards will help to drive away laziness from among the students and the teachers. If the learners and teachers know they have a standard of performance they need to measure to, it will definitely create a sense responsibility in them. It is important to have standard of performance set and made clear both to the learners and the teacher. Differentiation and selection: enabling employers and higher education providers to understand what young people have achieved, and how individuals compare with their peers. Assessment differentiates learners at all levels whether it is the prime purpose for the assessment or not. Somehow, there those who will emerge at the top of the whole group. It is this differentiation that will determine the intake of students into the next level of their education. Most selection is done based of the assessment that has already been carried out at the previous level of study. At the end their course most of the students are usually awarded with certificates of merit. It is based on these certificates that their prospective employers base their consideration of selecting possible employees and inviting them for interviews. Generally, the higher the qualification one has, the more skill or tasks he has gone through to achieve what he has achieved. Consequently, the more the knowledge one is deemed to have acquired and therefore more competent on the job market. Thus the rating of the individuals against the performance of their peers which implies how they are likely to fair at the job market. Chapter two(2) 2. Purpose of Assessment. Assessment is carried for various reasons some of which are discussed below. Selection Institutions base their selections and admission of students on national examinations done by the students at end of level examination. Usually assessment outcomes are used to rank students in terms of performance and ability regardless of the different conditions under which they took their examinations. The institutions proceed to choose those they feel qualify to meet their requirements for enrolment into specific courses. Thus a list of prerequisites is drawn to aid the selectors choose those who fall within the already set limits. Standards The standards of an assessment are determined by the educational system of a country and the stakeholder of the education system. The standards set in the country will determine allocations from the budgetary kit at national level. For instance, to improve and maintain a high level of performance in the education sector the teacher-student ratio should be small, resource made should be available to the students especially science oriented subjects. The standards are set at the national level, then at the school level and finally at the classroom level. The standards of performance will reflect the student ability to progress on with their academics to a higher level. Teachers’ feedback Teachers use assessment to get feedback from students to enable them in the planning for further instruction to the students. The feedback help the teachers to know whether the set objectives of learning are being met or not. This means that every teacher has to carry out assessment at one time or another in the course of instructing the students for learning. They will be able to know if they are making progress, and if not what could be the possible reasons for their failure to meet the set objectives. These may mean that their means of instruction be adjusted to suit the learner educational need within the class. Motivation Feedback from assessment can be used as a motivator to the students and the teacher especially when the results indicate that positive learning is being achieved. The teacher feels that his effort have not been wasted after all while the students will feel that their efforts have been rewarded by being able to measure to the standards of the teachers or examiners. As a result both groups will set out for their work and duty with a lot of enthusiasm hence positive assessment outcome are a motivation. The parents will on the same hand feels that their funds are being utilized by their sons and/or daughters and will be motivated to make more investment. Assess readiness for future learning. Assessment helps educational planners to determine the ability of students to progress in higher education or take more specialized courses such as accounting, engineering, medicine, teaching among others. The level of performance at a particular stage will display the learner ability, skills, level of performance and interests. The outcomes of an assessment will therefore form a basis for planning courses, selection and entry point into some designated courses. Most institutions admit students basing on their performance in the terminal examinations sat at end of the previous stage or level. Similarly, selection into the courses that students wish to pursue is usually based on the performance of the examination at the on national level. Preparation for life- life is like this Assessment can be used to find out the skills, knowledge and understanding the students are graduating with. This will prepare them to face life as people with ability to transform their environment so as to be able fit in the wider society. The learners are made aware of the skills they are carrying with them into the society to face life as it really is. Evaluate curriculum effectiveness When a new curriculum is designed, the aim of curriculum planners is to be able to meet the needs of the society and those of the individual learners. Thus the purpose of assessment in this context is to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum being implemented to the learners and to the larger society at large. The outcomes of learning are reflected in how students handle assessment tasks presented to them by the curriculum planners and the examiners. Where the curriculum has failed to meet the set objectives, adjustments be made to it so that the predetermined objectives are met or attained. Information to others Assessment is used to obtain information to be related to others interested in education. The ministry of education, for instance, needs to make educational decisions regarding curriculum, performance of teachers, attainment of educational goals both at national and international level, allocation of funds from the treasury, performance of graduates from the education system in relation to the needs at job market among others. The educationists need to take statistics of those who graduate from the systems e. g. basing on the gender, region etc. Statement of curriculum Attainment Assessment helps assessors to get a statement of current attainment as compared to performance in the previous years. The posted outcomes can be used to find out areas that continually been showing poor performance from students e. g. science and mathematics. This statement can be used to draft proposals for future plan of improvement in the course of uplifting performance of areas showing weakness or needs. Record of progress- over time Assessment is carried out for various reasons which ever time have been state differently by different authors of various textbooks. It is important to note that the choice of the method of assessment should be made on the basis of judgment about â€Å"fitness for purpose†. Before making a decision on what to assess, how to assess and who is best fit to carry out the assessment, it is necessary to be clear why assess and achievement expected. The purposes of assessment can be grouped by: Balancing internal and external purposes There are purposes of assessment that are useful within school setting. For example, feedback to students and teachers, students grouping, curriculum improvement and individual target setting. Similarly, there are other purposes that are useful to stakeholders outside the school setting e. g. certification and accountability. This helps to evaluate the balance of assessment activities carried out within the school. In the recent past a lot of external pressure has been mounted on schools in increasing measures with regard to accountability through the publication of performance tables etc. The result has been emphasis on assessment data collection for monitoring, evaluation, marketing and accountability purposes. This may cause internal purpose to be underrated or treated as secondary to external purposes. The schools should thus be watchful of this because their aims for education of their students are unlikely to be well served if they only pay regard to external demands. Another way of viewing assessment purposes is to cluster them according to whether they have a development/learning functions or a public/accountability function. (To some extend, this clustering aligns to internal/external distinction because internal tend to have developmental whereas external tend to focus on accountability. ) TGAT’s formulation of assessment purposes After the Government announced, in 1987, its intention to introduce a National Curriculum, it first set up a Task Group on Assessment and Testing (TGAT) to advice on an associated assessment framework. TGAT’s remit was to propose a system for serving formative, diagnostic, summative purpose. The TGAT report distinguished these purpose in the following way: †¢ Formative So that the positive achievements of a student may be recognized and discussed and the appropriate next steps planned; †¢ Diagnostic through which learning difficulties maybe scrutinized and classified so that appropriate remedial help and guidance can be provided; †¢ Summative for the recording of the overall achievement of a student in a systematic way; †¢ Evaluative by the  means of the aspect of the work of a school, an LEA or other discrete part of the education service can be assessed and/or reported upon. This established two new terms- formative and summative- in the lexicon of assessment purpose. The formative/summative distinction was first used by Micheal Scrivenin 1967 in an American Educational Research Association monograph on The Methodology of Evaluation, which was primarily concerned with the evaluation of educational programmes. It proved to be a helpful distinction and it was increasingly used in a variety of contexts. TGAT used the distinction in the context of assessment of students’ learning. In the context, the formative purpose is served if evidence and judgments about students’ present learning are used to decide what teachers and learners need to do so that further progress in learning may be made. 3. Baseline and Benchmarking Purpose of baseline scheme The problem with taking output alone as indicators of schools effectiveness, even when more than one measure is considered, is that comparisons made on this basis rarely compare like-with-like. However, this has been the practice for a long time in most the education system. This is the familiar argument against the publication of league tables of ‘raw results’ that take no account of the different contexts and intakes of schools. Whilst the actual grade a student achieves will be of vital importance to him or her, aggregated results which take no account of background factors may be crude and fair measure of the relative effectiveness of the school as a whole. This is the argument for value-added measures. It is important, therefore, to collect information about input as well as output so that the two sets of information can be considered together in any judgement of school effectiveness. The intake characteristics usually considered are: Prior attainment as measured in earlier tests and examinations; Ability as measured on standardized tests; ? Prior attitudes to school; ? Gender; ? Ethnicity; ? English as an additional language; ? Special educational needs; ? Socio-economic status and aspects of home background such as single parent families. It is known that some schools achieve great things in disadvantaged circumstances but, since they start from a lower base, the socio-economic status of their intake should be taken into account when measuring their effectiveness or setting targets. It is interesting therefore that in its proposal for target setting and benchmarking, the government has indicated that benchmarks for individual secondary schools will be constructed on the basis of data on free school meals. If output measures are analyzed in relation to input, we would still expect to find some variability in results. In other words, some schools will perform relatively better or relatively worse than others with similar intakes. In order to find out what makes the difference one has to open the black ‘black box’ between input and output to investigate school processes. These process variables are likely to provide some of the answers. Since carrying out this research on a national scale will not be practicable, schools have to take the initiative to find out for themselves data in order to explain their own results and to identify areas of improvement. This is intended to form a basis for further guidance to schools. Thus the responsibility of identifying the process variables that are likely to be most relevant, lies on the shoulders of the schools. Two kinds of processes need to be considered: ? Classroom processes; ? School management processes. Characteristics of a baseline scheme In order to set appropriate targets, government, through QCA, now publishes benchmarking information. This is intended to enable schools to evaluate their own standard of performance by measuring it against standards achieved by other schools with broadly similar characteristics. Benchmark data do not set targets but, by showing what the best schools with similar intake characteristic achieve, benchmarks are expected to set challenges for less successful schools. Although there are strong arguments for grouping schools according to a variety of background factors such as those used in multi-level modeling, which takes account of student-level, school-level and ward-level factors, the government has opted for benchmarking system based on existing national data sets such as the school census (Form 7). Although schools will be placed in a group for the purpose of drawing up the benchmarks, they will not be told which group they belong to. Thus, when they receive the benchmark information from QCA they have to decide themselves which group best represents their characteristics. 4. Target Setting Section 19 of the 1997 Education Act makes a Provision for legislation to require targets to be set and published by the governing bodies of maintained schools. Setting targets to raise standards: What works A five stage cycle for school improvement in target setting has been put to use. These involve: 1. How well are we doing? This requires the school to analyze student performance and audit its teaching and management. It also calls for the analysis of data about students outcomes. To achieve this objective, the school will need to relate outcomes to intake variables of a given student to give value-added measures. However, in order to explain the patterns in performance and identify areas for action, it is necessary to collect data about processes, such as teaching and management. The statistical analysis will then be supplemented by observational data to provide evidence in relation to input, output and process indicators (perhaps in the lines of the OFSTED Framework of Inspection). 2. How well should we be doing? This requires the school to compare its own results of similar schools n order to identify strengths and diagnose weaknesses as a basis for establishing priorities for improvement. The benchmarking information to be supplied by the DFEE and LEAs is intended to help with this task. 3. What more should we aim to achieve this year? This requires the school to set clear, specific and measurable targets which focus in particular on raising standards of attainment in national tests and examinations. 4. What must we do to make it happen? This requires the school to integrate improvement targets into the school development plan through focused action planning. 5. How successful have we been? This requires the school to take action to implement the action plan and to monitor and evaluate the impact of the action against the success criteria. TARGET SETTING REQUIREMENTS The initial proposals from government indicate that regulations are likely to require schools to set targets in the following terms; a) a single target to be set for each of the three are subjects at the end of each key stage; b) these targets should be measured by National curriculum tests in English, Mathematics and Science at age fourteen and GCSE examination results or equivalent at age sixteen; c) at the end of key stage 3, targets to be expressed, subject by subject, in terms of the proportions of students reaching Level 5 and above; d) At key Stage 4, targets to be expressed in terms of the proportion of students achieving a grade C or better in GCSE English, Mathematics and Science (either single or double award, or in an individual science subject). e) An additional indicator, at key Stage 4, is likely to be the proportion of students attaining a number of A*- C and A* – G grades in GCSE. The proposal also suggested that schools and LEAs should agree or targets covering three year period in which review of results of the previous autumn term and setting targets for the following academic year by January are carried out. PROCEDURES FOR SETTING TARGETS The governments 1997 White Paper Excellence in Schools made it clear that setting school targets was the responsibility of each school’s governing body, working with senior management team. The White Paper tests sets out how the government, LEAs and schools are expected to work together. Chapter 3 paragraph 13 of the paper provides that; 1. The government sets national targets and publishes national performance and benchmark data. 2. Each LEA provides benchmarking data and guidance to all its schools to help them set targets. 3. Each school sets draft targets, taking account of the comparative data and their own previous best performance, for discussion with its LEA. 4. Schools and LEAs agree targets, covering a three-year period and subject to annual review. 5. Where, exceptionally, an LEA cannot reach agreement with a school on its targets, the LEA may invoke the early warning system. 6. The individual school targets are included within each LEA’s Education Development Plan. 7. The DFEE and OFSTED monitor and contribute to the process to ensure targets are high and ambitious enough. Strategies Directly Involving Students and Classroom Process 1. Introducing new commendation and certificate systems to reward achievement and increase motivation and self-esteem; 2. Introducing academic mentoring for borderline C/D GCSE candidates; 3. Reducing the number of GCSE subjects taken per student to encourage quality instead of quantity in performance; 4. Introducing paired reading or literacy tutoring schemes (older with younger students) to improve reading and writing skills; 5. Adopting a ‘Pacific Rim’ approach by assuming that all can succeed if they are prepared to make great efforts; 6. Instituting a ‘cardinal rule’ that students should not interfere with the learning of others 7. Giving special attention to the least motivated groups (of boys especially) by introducing a ten-hour weekly homework contract in Year II; 8. Introducing one-to-one review on a regular basis; 9. Providing a two-day residential, run by teachers and employers, for potential Year II under-achievers with the aim of improving motivation through a series of challenges; 10. Providing students with templates to help them structure their written work; 11. Providing an enrichment programme of generic skills, especially study skills, group work and exam technique. 12. Target setting for effort and attainment with individual students followed up with one-to-one review with allocated tutors. School need to realize, however, that this does not preclude them from setting other goals and targets as well. This will be important if they regard education as having wider functions, such as promoting human flourishing and participatory citizenship. Internal review through data analysis: Progress indicators. Using indicators to monitor performance and set target in primary schools Using indicators to monitor performance Involving parents. The role of the national targets CHAPTER 5 5. a. Types of Assessment Assessment is one of the most potent forces influencing what teacher should concentrate on in their teaching and what students should concentrate in their learning. Assessment sends a message to students about what is important to learn. It is with this in mind that this section seeks to discuss the various types of assessments. In an effort to classify assessment therefore, the following are some of the types of assessment. i) Formative Formative assessment is taken to refer to the process of identifying what students have, or have not, achieved in order to plan the next steps in teaching. It will usually involve the diagnosis of learning difficulties, although this is not synonymous with the kind of standardized, psychometric, diagnostic assessments, within formative assessment, the term ‘diagnosis’ usually possess a more colloquial and less technical meaning. Formative assessment is also distinguished from other forms of assessments in that it is, by definition, carried out by teachers. This is important if it is to inform the decisions teachers make in the classroom. The aspiration is that assessment should become fully integrated with teaching and learning and therefore part of the educational process rather than a ‘bolt-on’ activity. It is important to note that in formative assessment feedback is a key element with two main audiences the student and the teacher. Feedback to the student, mediated by the teacher, is particularly important because no learning can take place without the active involvement of the student. ii) Summative Summative assessment refers to the examinations that are taken by the learners at the end-of-unit or end-of-term and their purpose is to fulfill the public expectation of the schools and form of accountability to parents who have a right to know what progress their children are making. However, this poses a danger in that they assume such importance that it undermines the formative assessments that have been made on a regular basis throughout the period. Just like the giving of grades on ordinary class work can affect self-esteem in such a way as to ‘blind’ students to the substantive advice given in comments, so also can the giving of grades and marks in end-of-unit tests have similar effects. The public usually places allot of emphasis on the assessment as they seem to project what the learners have gained in the course of their studies and skills they possess and are able top demonstrate. Thus entry into higher learning institutions and specifically into particular courses is pegged on the results of summative assessments. iii) Informal Informal assessment is an assessment in which the teacher neither follows a specified timetable drawn by the administration for purpose of assessment nor predetermined questions directed to the learner. It is some kind of impromptu. The teacher in the course of performing his duty may reach a concept that requires prior knowledge of particular concepts on the part of the learner; therefore he may decide to carry out an informal assessment to determine what the learners know. Similarly, a new teacher who wants to understand the ability and level of performance of learners may decide to carryout an informal assessment. There is no general standard set for performance or attainment i. e. the administrator determines the standard as deem fit for his purpose of assessment. Thus an informal assessment is at the discretion of the person administering it. iv) Formal Formal assessment refers to the mode of assessment that follows a specified timeframe and format. Usually most of the learning activities are suspended to allow teachers time to administer the assessment to the learners. Formal assessment therefore has a set standard, to which all assessment items must adhere to. Generally, there is time set aside for which both students and the teachers know well in advance that assessment is going to be carried out. The teachers will this case prepare assessment items inline with the set standards of the particular institution in question or adapt on that has already been set by an assessment agency. The students on their part will concentrate on preparing for the assessment tasks that they are going to encounter. In most institutions this time if known as examination time. The environment is controlled so as to allow students an ample time when tackling the assessment items. For example, in most schools during this time silence is observed at all costs, students are spaced so as to allow for individual work unlike during the normal learning days when corporate work can be tolerated, teachers police the students to check on cheating by cheeky students. v) Continuous Continuous assessments are assessments that are carried out by the teacher in progressive way. The test items are drawn from what has been done in the recent past by the learner which means their strength and complexity increases with the increasing complexity in the content being taught. The teacher designs a test to suit particular content that the learners have learned at a particular level. Generally it focuses on a given concept and they are more narrow and intense in their approach. Once a learner has passed the assessment at a given level they are given chance to progress to the next level of learning. vi) Terminal As the name suggests these are tests that administered at the end of a given course, they act as a point of end into the next level or the job market. They are designed in such a way as to include a cross-section of what the learners have attained by the time they are stepping out of the education programme they have been undertaking. They are in most cases designed by an independent body external to the institution of learning in which they are going to be administered. Similarly, their marking is centralized and carried by few selected people. Grading and ranking is the done from an external point, statistics are drawn to show attainment of schools and individual student in comparison to other schools and students from other places. They are usually standardized tests and the awarding of grades is done an already established scale by the administering body. vii) Coursework While going through the curriculum every teacher would want to ascertain that the course objectives are being met every now and then. Thus where possible assignments are given to students at the end of the lesson, marked and feed back given to the students to assist in the process of learning. Cour

Safety Health and Environmental Report

INDUSTRIAL ATTACHMENT REPORT By MAXWELL MASUNDA MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY BSC HONOURS GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES Registration Number R102163M Period Jan-Dec 2012 Department Health Safety and Environment Endorsed By Work Related Learning Supervisor __________________________ Signature Student’s Name Masunda Maxwell Registration Number R102163mStudent’s Signature ___________________________ Signature Company Stamp Period Jan – Dec 2012 Academic Supervisor Mr Mutekwa Table of contents Page Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Acknowledgements†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2 Abbreviations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 CHAPTER 1—INTRODUCTION 1. 1Information about the organisation. Vision, Mission statement, Values and objectives of the organisation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1. 2Company’s organisational structure and the place of the particular department in which the student’s work was undertaken†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1. Communication and information systems†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1. 4Principal Services and their characteristics†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1. 5Main markets served and their characteristics†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1. 6Sources of competition†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1. 7Types of technology involved and their characteristics†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1. 8Impact of Government measures and policies, the Economy and changing environment and social attitude†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ CHAPTER 2—MANAGEMENT ISSUES 2. 1 Management style, values, priorities, responsiveness to external change and management success†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. . 2 Logistics, Production, Marketing and Managem ent approaches to technological development†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ CHAPTER3 3. 1 Roles and responsibilities of the student during the work related learning period†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3. 2 Performance criteria and targets†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3. 3 Opportunities and problems encountered†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3. 4 Theory studied and operational practises†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3. 5 Means of monitoring performance during work placement period†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. CHAPTER 4—EVALUATION 4. 1 Overall evaluation of the WRL period CHAPTER 5—RECOMMENDATIONS 5. Recommendations to Midlands State University; Department of Geography and Environmental Studies and The Wattle Company 5. 2 Other issues learned CONLUSION REFERENCES ABSTRACT The author commenced Work Related Learning on the 23rd of January 2012 at The Wattle Company (Nyanga Pine Division) in Manicaland Province and is expected to complete in December 2012. This report saves to give an outline of the tasks and activities carried out by the student during the above mentioned period of WRL programme in pursuit of achieving the requirements of the Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography and Environmental Studies at Midlands State University.DEDICATION I give special dedication to my mother and brothers who made my education a success. Your stewardship and heroism are sufficient to me. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My gratitude goes to the Midlands State University academic staff that has imparted their vast knowledge and has so much assisted me with words of wisdom, hope and courage during my industrial attachment. My appreciation goes to the management and the rest of staff at The Wattle Company for accepting me to be part of the Wattle family (Nyanga Pine Division).I also give gratitude to the unwavering support and guidance that l constantly got from my supervisor Mr. S Ziyambe (S. H. E Officer Nyanga Pine Division), throughout my industrial attachment period. My thanks also goes to the Human Resources Department specifically, Mrs S. Nyangairi(human resources administrator) and Miss Tsitsi ( H. R Departmental secretary) . Great thanks to Mr Mazungunye (Forest Resources manager-Nyanga Pine Division), Mr Kwenda (Plant Engineer) Mr Velani (forester Nyanga North), Mr Sigauke (Forester –Nyanga Pine Nursery), Mr.P. Chipango (Forestry Department Clerk), and all SHE Reps in all departments not forgetting all other employees and the external society for their professional guidance and supervision w ithin their areas of specialisation together with all the support and ideas that were shared to me during the course of my industrial attachment. I give credit to the compilation of this report to all the above mentioned professionals for believing in me and their constant support during difficult times and period of my industrial attachment.I extend my gratitude to the department of Geography and environmental studies Mr Jerie and his colleagues for the knowledge acquired which made practical learning easier not forgetting my supervisor Mr Mutekwa who visited us during the course of the industrial attachment and boosted moral. My heartfelt appreciation to my family especially my mother Mrs B. Paradzai, my brothers ; Noah, Michael and Macdonald and my friend, Tinashe Munodawafa for their unmerited support (Economic, social, moral and otherwise) throughout my Industrial attachment.I give all the glory to the Lord Almighty for a year full of life and fun not forgetting how educating i t was in every dimension. May the Lord God edify and bring continual success to you all. Abbreviations/Acronyms BBSBehaviour Based Safety BLRABaseline Risk Assessment EDEnvironmental Database EIAEnvironmental Impact Assessment ESREstate Stores Requisition HIRAHazard Identification Risk Assessment OHSOccupational Health Safety SHESafety Health Environment SHPSafety Health Procedure WRL Work Related LearningFRM Forest Resources Manager OHSE Occupational Health, Safety and Environment IBRA Issue Based Risk Assessment SWP Safe Work Procedure MP Management Procedure CAR Corrective Action Request LTI Lost Time Injury WMP Waste Management Plan EMP Environmental/Emergency Management Plan HOSHead of Section HOD Head of department CHAPTER ONE(1) 1. 0 Background of the Organisation The Wattle Company Limited was founded in 1945 in a bid to develop a wattle extract Industry in Zimbabwe. Land was purchased in the eastern districts of the Country and a central office was established in Mutare.The rationale for the development of wattle extract in Zimbabwe was twofold: †¢There was a general prediction of growth in demand for leather products hence, by implication of growth in demand for tanning extract. †¢There existed the perception of a permanent decline in supply of Quebracho extracts which, at the time, was the principal vegetable tanning extract in the world leather business. Wattle extract offered a profitable Substitute with a shorter-term investment horizon.These predictions were not fulfilled for the following reasons which also motivated the subsequent diversification into pine and eucalyptus; †¢The rate of leather consumption was negatively affected by the subsequent development of synthetic non-leather shoe materials; †¢The development of synthetic tanning materials (such as chrome salts) further reduced the demand for vegetable extracts; and †¢Quebracho remained a strong competitor to wattle extract. At the peak of wattle development in approximately 1959, The Wattle Company Limited had a capacity from its plantations of approximately double its sales demand.Consequently, The Wattle Company Limited commenced a Programme of diversification into other plantation crops accompanied by a parallel disposal of surplus land holdings. The Memorandum and Articles of Association of The Wattle Company Limited permits it, generally, to own and operate forestry and agricultural estates, to produce, process and deal in forest and agricultural products. The Company now specifically manufactures wattle extract, pine sawn timber, treated gum poles, eucalyptus sawn board and a residual product, charcoal. The Registered office of The Wattle Company Limited is situated at No. Durban Road, Mutare. 1. 1 Vision Achieve World class excellence in forestry resources management. 1. 2 Mission We will sustainably manage forest plantations, manufacture and be the supplier of choice quality sawn timber, wattle extract, charcoal, poles and service s to our customers in all our markets. We will build long term mutually beneficial relationships with all our customers, suppliers, employees, communities and shareholders. 1. 3 Values ?Integrity ?Quality ?Innovation ?Professionalism ?Transparency ?Teamwork ?Respect ?Empathy ?Passion 1. Company’s Organisation and the place of the particular department/ section in which the student’s work programme was undertaken The Wattle Company Limited is the main company the student was attached as a Senior Trainee SHE Officer. He was also attached in the SHEQ department at The Wattle Company, Nyanga Pine Division which is located 60 km out of Mutare. The department services(In SHEQ issues) other sister Estates such as Dunsinane Estate in Penhalonga, Nyakupinga, Mtarazi and Reneen Estates together with a Bush milling plant called Pine Products (Located in Mtarazi Estates) for Pine sawn timber production. 1. Communication and Information Systems The company uses a top to bottom appr oach. Group managers are responsible for the overall performance of the company as a whole, hence they oversee issues within all the three divisions of wattle but there are location managers and officers who are involved in the day to day running of the activities within their areas of jurisdiction. The company uses memorandums and Internet services which facilitates Emailing system as a means of information relay not forgetting to mention direct or peer to peer communication. The IT (Information Technology) at the head office is responsible for all machine ault repairs and controls the emailing system together with denying access/sharing of controlled documents with external sources. There is also a LAN (local area network) From Netone, Company Contract lines from Econet together with provision of monthly airtime for communication purposes to management reps . More so there is the use of GPS receivers, that is, Radios for all Foresters’ communication in the estates. All loca tion managers and Officers report to a location/divisional General Manager which is the highest office at divisional level as illustarated in the organogram below.ORGANOGRAM Fig. 2. 1 1. 6 Principal Products / Services and characteristics Wattle Company’s business success is centres on sustainable management of its forestry resources and is dedicated towards sustainable environmental management. The Wattle Company has received a number of accolades for its outstanding performance in environmental and forestry management. The Company operates under three strategic Business Units, Namely, †¢Nyanga Pine Division †¢Wattle Mimosa Division †¢Vumba Timbers Division It has four core businesses for production and marketing of †¢Pine Sawn Timber and manure Wattle Extract †¢Eucalyptus Poles †¢Charcoal Fig 3. Wattle Company Divisions Fig. 4. Wattle Company Hectare all divisions inclusive. The student was based at the Nyanga Pine division. NYANGA PINE DIVISIO N Nyanga Pine Plantations are located at Nyanga and Dunsinane Estates, approximately 65 kilometers and 35 kilometers north of Mutare, respectively. Available Resource Nyanga has a sustainable resource of 150,000m3 saw logs per annum for the pine plantations. An additional resource base from Art Corporation plantation which has been secured by the company is 76,000m3.Acquisition of the rest of the Art Corporation plantations is also expected to yield an additional 31,600m3 per annum. Figure. 3. Part of the resources available in the Nyanga Pine Division. Land holding in this Division is 18 973 hectares. Logs from these plantations are managed on a 20 to 25 year rotation and 450 hectares are harvested annually producing 150 000m? of saw slogs. The timber is harvested and transported to the sawmill using specialized equipment. As illustrated in fig 4 below. Fig. 5. A forwarder transporting logs PINE SAWN TIMBERThe Sawmill has a capacity of producing 72000cm3 of sawn timber per year and has 2 production lines. The frame saw line for big diameter logs and the multi-saw line which replaced the chipper canter line for small diameter and larger diameter logs. Fig 6 illustrates the frame saw line. Fig 6. 1 A log entering the frame saw line Fig 6. 2 A log out of the frame saw line The Wattle Company produces high quality sawn timber that has high demand both locally and internationally . Pine sawn timber is a soft wood. The pine sawn timber is kiln dried to standard moisture content of between 12 – 15%.This is achieved by adhering to stringent quality control measures starting from the source of our timber and in addition, our processes conform to the local Standards Association of Zimbabwe Board (SAZ) and South Africa Bureau of Standards ( SABS) yet also currently seeking ISO 9001 certification. The structural timber comes in solid form, finger jointed, planed all round and kiln dried. The lengths range from 0. 9 m to 6. 6 m. Fig. 7. Pine sawn timber stacked in the warehouse Structural timber is mainly used for construction, whilst Industrial grade timber is used for furniture and industrial purposes.These products are marketed and sold throughout the SADC region to different customers in their specific requirements. Bi- products – Crating, Pulpwood, and Pillar logs, Pine bark, Wood shavings and Saw dust are produced. The company also produces the industrial grade timber for the furniture manufacturers. Moreover the company also produces Manure from decomposing mixtures of sawdust and bark which is demanded locally, mainly by maize and cotton producers. Also the company offers other used products such as used tyres, used oil, scrap metal and old vehicles.Wood is another product produced for sale to outsiders with some provided to the general workers and the local communities who stay in electricity free houses. Principal services Wattle Company provides expertise to other fellow timber producing organisations, students in local high schools through conducting fire and tree planting campaigns together with students on industrial attachment in various departments found in the organisation. More so it offers health services such medical health care, HIV and AIDS counselling and testing and maternal care to employed/ non employees yet local people.It also offers employment to the local community and the country at large. The company is involved in the preservation of Natural resources such Fauna and flora, Historical cultural sites, such as Nyangani terraces and recreational areas such as Mtarazi Falls with help from its security. The Wattle Company, through its Nyanga Pine Division is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which is an international organization that provides accreditation of forest management practices. FSC establishes standards as well as monitor the chain of custody and labelling of wood products. . 7 Main markets served and their environmental characteristics The Wattle Company is currently supplying the following markets, ? Botswana 33%, ?South Africa 35% ?Zimbabwe 20% ?Namibia 6% ?Zambia 3% ?Mozambique 3% Fig. 8. Timber market sizes in % Timber products produced at Wattle Company have created demand through spiral, repeat and referral marketing. The Product is produced from a well managed resource that adheres to specifications of international standards. The timber is mature and is suitable for major construction jobs which most construction companies prefer.The Wattle Company has created a competitive edge against its industry peers by upgrading its product through mouldering, as a differentiation strategy to its competitors who prefer to sell their timber as general grade. Wattle Company uses benchmarking as an analytical process through which the organization’s performance in the market is compared to the best in the country and the region. Positioned in a niche market it supplies 80% of its timber as structural which automatically means only tho se that are in the construction industry prefer the product. The company’s minimum order quantity is 48 cubes.The prices are factory that is they exclude freight cost since customer own transport is used. The Company’s Pine Sawn Timber is grouped and sold in two broad categories – Structural sawn timber for builders’ merchants and roof truss manufacturers. There is also the Industrial sawn timber for furniture and door manufacturers and pallet makers. Approximately 70% of the Pine Sawn Timber is exported while 30% is sold locally. All dispatches are made directly from Nyanga Pine Sawmill spearheaded by Wattle Company headquarters in Mutare where all payments are made.The Company is the third largest producer of Pine Sawn Timber in Zimbabwe and sells its product under the brand â€Å"NYANGA PINE†. Zimbabwean timber is proven by international test standard to be competitive in strength, workability and appearance with South African and European pine. 1. 8 Sources of Competition Competition in the region is not just coming from regional suppliers but also timber coming from as far as Chile, Brazil and Australia amidst softening demand in the market backyards.A case in point is the Namibian customer called the Mega build who is importing timber from as far as Australia; as a result, it creates pressure and price distortions and reduces the regional suppliers’ market share. The Zimbabwean primary wood processing industry is an oligopoly dominated by five players namely: Wattle Company, Border Timbers International, Allied Timbers, Mutare Board and Paper Mills, and Hunyani. Each of these companies has its own timber processing facilities and grows timber for own use.Three are major timber suppliers namely, The Wattle Company, Boarder Timbers and Allied Timbers, with the other two suppliers operating more than two sawmills each. The difference between The Wattle Company and its competitors has been the ability to stick to wor ld class standards and pro efficiency. Border Timbers is now the second biggest player in the industry but of late experiencing problems of diminishing resources. Wattle Company, Forest Company of Zimbabwe, and Border Timbers produce about 89% of timber in Zimbabwe and 1% is from Bush Millers. Threat posed by forest fires locally affects output in terms of quality.Recent fires in South Africa had weakened output prices. Only Wattle Company and Boarder Timbers are Forest Standard Commission (FCZ) certified giving Forest Company of Zimbabwe a disadvantage on the international market. Wattle Company is currently the smallest player in the industry but the most efficient. The competition in Zimbabwe Timber Industry hinges more on volume capacity than other factors such as quality, lead time and turn around. The wattle Company has edged its competitors by sticking to high quality structural timber creating a name in the regional construction industry.Environmental Management The Wattle C ompany Limited is a recipient of Timber Producers Federation of Zimbabwe’s Environmental Awards and has a documented Environmental Management System in place. Special Management is applied to the conservation of water catchment areas, high altitude grasslands, main forest communities and archaeological heritage such as the remains of Nyanga Terrace Culture, pollution prevention of estate soils by machinery oils and proper disposal of waste (paper, wood, glue, metal and clinic wastes). 1. 9 Types of technology involved and their characteristicsThere is a lot of modern machinery used for Pine sawn timber production from planting to marketing of the finished product. The information above is the general information of the whole Wattle Co divisions. However the growing of pine trees at Nyanga Pine division is for sawn timber. Nyanga Pine plantings are largely restricted to Pinus patula, but include P. taeda; P. elliottii, P. kesiya; P. tecunumannii and P. maximinoii and some of t hese species are being carefully considered now (Wattle Co Management Plan of the Pine Estates 2012).There is the use of Diesel powered chain saws an earth moving machinery for cutting or bringing down the trees respectively, followed by choking –which involves bringing the logs close to the road (for sorting according to diameters and loading using the telelogger) using tractors; cattle; the skidder and cable yarders (from inaccessible areas like in valley bottoms). More so haulage trucks are then used to transport logs from the harvesting sites to the Sawmill for processing. At the Sawmill, teleloggers are used to offload trucks and sorting is done as well.Cane hooks are then used to roll logs onto electric powered hauling chains (the process is highly mechanised)which feed the de-barker—for bark removal before proceeding to the frame Saw and Multi-saw lines for cutting to size. Conveyer belts carry the timber to the green chain section where manual loading of the Bo ogies is done followed by Kiln drying using The Ballman and Tekma Kilns which are Electric and Fire powered respectively. Traverses then carry the dried timber to the Dry mill section for cutting to size and packaging.Side loaders then load the timber as per orders before loading to trucks for departure to their respective destinations. Fig. 9. Process flow diagram of timber from harvesting to warehouse 1. 10 Impact of government Measures and policies, the economy and changing environment and social attitudes Government legislative bodies such as NSSA, EMA and SAZ have positively impacted on the organisation to be a workable environment through its NSSA compensation scheme in case of injuries. Subscribing to EMA and SAZ has coerced the organisation to improve its environmental management climate, market improvement and improved OHSE standards respectively.On the other hand through the Recruitment and Selection Policy, which requires locals to be considered first when employing peopl e, inexperienced people have been assimilated which greatly affect the quality of workforce available. The economic climate currently has improved performance of the organisation where a monthly profit of US$23000—US$30000 is obtained hence it has resulted in improvement in the salary scales. The favourable climate has also increased the market size by attracting more foreign customers aided by SAZ certification.Cash flow problems/Global liquidity shortages have negatively impacted the organisation forcing it to sell on credit thereby resulting in late payments of salaries and wages. Increasing mechanisation levels have also resulted in high job losses Changing educational environment has resulted in most locals shunning the lowly paid jobs in the forestry industry. More so qualified personnel is also leaving the organisation for greener pastures with even students are now shunning being attached there because of absence of any allowance.CHAPTER TWO(2) 2. 1. 0 Management styl e –Values and priorities, responsiveness to external change and management 2. 1. 1 Management style It is a top to bottom approach. The divisional activities are run from the headquarters by group managers. On site there is the GM, FRM, TLM, Accountant, HR assistant and SHE Officer. These HODs are the policy makers assisted by HOS who do the day to day running of the various departments reporting to the GM. The organisation has 6 departments namely: Clinic, HR, Forestry, Harvesting, Administration and SHE.HODs report also to group managers who directly report to the COO, who is the overall head of the company who delegates tasks to top management. A weekly progress meeting is conducted by top management and chaired by the COO. 2. 1. 2 Values and priorities Values and priorities of the organisation are set by the management team since there is a top to bottom approach to management of issues at the organisation. The organisational Policy is followed but it is mainly if not onl y effective upon the general hand wage earner and few lower grade staff workers. 2. 1. 3Management successionWorkers rotate departments depending on performance and not specialisation, for instance from HR to Production. Succession is handled by HR but that of management is handled at group level by group managers. There is also rotation of employees around the three divisions especially management/staff workers. 2. 1. 4 Responsiveness to external change Marketing surveys are done every month to determine market prices. Prices are then either lowered or increased depending on periodic reviews. Weekly performance meetings are conducted on site chaired by the COO, where supplies are usually stopped wherever late payments are observed.Also the increased competition on the market has forced the organisation to seek ISO9001 certification and implementation of BBS in a bid to lure the market by showing their concern to Quality and OHS issues respectively. Production of products as per cus tomer requirements and specifications in terms of width and thickness has also come as a response to external market changes in the timber industry. Also selling more and preferably to cash buyers has been effected to reduce the impact of cash flow shortages in the economy.The organisation also subscribes to the government gazette for updates on any changes in terms of legislations and other legal requirements. 2. 2. 0Logistics, production, marketing and management approaches to staffing and technological development. There is a silviculture department and a Forestry Resources Manager who is in charge of all the estates/ in charge of all the forest resources. This is the department which ensures sustainability and to ensure sustainability this department is responsible for all the plantings which include the harvested land or compartments as well as the burnt land.For example last year during the fire season about 900 ha were lost to forest fires but there is reestablishment of thes e compartments as well as the harvested compartments. Since the rainy season began about 800 ha were planted so far and if rain falls the company intends to finish planting all the palatable land. Planting back is a serious issue which is monitored at top management level as well as the Timber Producers Federation (TPF) which the company is part of. So the issue of sustainability is unquestionable at Nyanga pine division as illustrated above.As for harvesting there is a harvesting department headed by the Harvesting and Transport logistics Manager. When the compartment is ready for harvesting which is usually after 25 years the silviculture department hands over the compartment to the harvesting department with the forest planning department being involved as well. Usually every year the silviculture department hands over all compartments ready for harvesting then the harvesting department do APOs (Annual Plan of Operations) using the information provided. This is the first step don e by the harvesting forester and authorised by the Harvesting and Planning managers.Harvesting then commences following a harvesting procedure. When the compartment is finished it is handed over to planning for fibre waste assessment then back to silviculture for plantings. This is the cycle in short. The planning cycle is there for the sustainable management of the forest resources. Management is striving to cut costs through the acquisition of highly mechanised equipment like the Multi saw line which only requires 12 workers along the whole line as opposed to more than 30 workers on previous lines (chipper canter line).More so some departments are operating with one person with the aid of students on industrial attachment whom are not a cost since they are not paid, for instance, one SHE officer for Reneen, Nyakupinga, Nyanga Pine, Mtarazi and Dunsinane Estates and the Sawmill. Seasonal employees are temporarily employed especially during the planting and fire seasons for preparat ion of fireguards and ring weeding respectively. Marketing is done throughout the marketing manager who is based at the head office in Mutare. Sales are also facilitated through that same location.No marketing rep on site since it is only a production site since collections are done using receipts and with the aid of phone calls. A larger percentage of the product is sold internationally. 2. 1. 3 Management Issues and their relationship to environmental issues and performance of the organisation. Management is more concerned with production hence environmental issues are not of much concern or they are not given much attention since they are not funded for instance all industrial hygiene surveys were last done in 2009 and 2010 respectively.More over foresters also claim to be masters in SHE issues hence it brings friction between the different departments. The SHE department is only involved in voluntary compliance to standards such as ISO14001and ISO9001 among others since it is on ly SAZ certified. There is generally lack of management commitment to SHE issues hence little is being done in terms of environmental management though there is vast knowledge inhibited within the site SHE Officer which remains an untapped resource though beneficial to tudents on work related learning to whom it is relayed. CHAPTER THREE(3) 3. 0 Activities carried out and Initiatives made by the student After a month in the industry the most tasks were delegated to the student for learning process, development of a world class/competent SHE practitioner and for monitoring progress during the course of the industrial attachment period. Only decision making opportunities in sensitive issues were not tasked to the student. 3. 1. Safety health and environment (S. H.E) induction of newly recruited employees This process involves safety induction of new employees and visitors so that they practise safety every time and everywhere. It also shows the level of commitment of the organisation to SHE issues. After a month the student was given the role of conducting all inductions in the absence/presence of the supervisor. This further boosted confidence to speak amongst a group of people since it was going to be a routine task to train groups of workers. 3. 2. Land farming projectThis is a project for treatment of oil contaminated soils to normal or near normal state which emanates from unsurfaced parking bays like the telelogger bay in the Sawmill, garage and management parking bays. The project was to remain an ever running project since soil is continuously being polluted. The student developed the land farming project together with preparing the project budget, documentation and description, assigning responsibilities, training of the people involved, monitoring, and preparation of continuous improvement documents together with monitoring of progress. 3. 3.Environmental Inspections, audits and on job observations This facilitated compliance to SHE standards, complian ce levels to management procedures and task procedures, noting of at risk behaviour and conditions, Fire extinguishers, first Aid boxes and areas in dire need for improvement or meriting immediate attention. These aspects allowed us to police compliance to SHE standards and punishing of those who breach the laws using the code of conduct. The student was also part of the panel conducting all internal audits in other divisions of Wattle Company like the second quarter audit at Silver Streams in Chimanimani.More so the student conducted routine morning on job observations and inspections in the Sawmill and conducted monthly inspections by way of a checklist before surrendering the audit results to the supervisor for analysis and drawing of CARs. 3. 4. Conducting safety health and environment educational and legislative training programmes for 1200 employees (high and middle level management and shop floor workers) The student with the help from fellow student developed and prepared th e inspections and audit checklists for use internally and for use by all Wattle divisions.Since most trainings at the organisation are handled by the SHE department hence the student through the knowledge disseminated to him by the work supervisor, spearheaded trainings on BBS, MPs, chemical handling and other safety environmental and health related issues brought to his attention by external professionals, for instance, trainings on circumcision, diseases control, general hygiene and Training SHE Reps on how they were to conduct Observations. More so the student conducted Fire and environmental awareness to students in local schools.Also the student trained management and the shop floor workers on how to conduct safety talks together with highlighting their relevance. The student also had passion to disseminate knowledge acquired at college through training the fellow workmates on Safety, Health and Environmental Legislative requirements the organisation had to subscribe to. In add ition the student conducted refresher trainings on the SHE Policy, harvesting procedures and accident reporting. These were assisted by mock drills to monitor for instance mock drills.The student was part of the panel which spearheaded these together with assessing the level of preparedness the Company assumed in case an emergency occurred. The student also assisted in developing innovative procedures in the improvement of available sanitation practices to meet targets set by the SHE department in its SHE manual. 3. 5. Compile monthly SHE reports and Weekly progress reports These reports showed progress and company performance on SHE issues together with activities and challenges being faced in handling SHE issues.It was the duty of the student to prepare monthly reports using available statistics and information gathered. This is also a way of communication with top management on Departmental performance. More so weekly and monthly reports were prepared by the student to show the l evel of progress and material covered during the course of the work related learning process. 3. 6. Compliance promotion and enforcement of occupational health and safety (OHS) and environmental laws.Besides conducting trainings on legislations, the student also made follow ups on progress in issues discussed or trained on as part of policing compliance to CARs, set targets and expectations. Those found not complying with these were warned and the CARs were not closed until progress was noticed, with others being warned or called for hearings since at Wattle Company, it is a dismissible offence to disobey any safety regulation or set standard. 3. 7. Accident/Incident investigations, identifying route causes and providing recommendations to prevent recurrence of incidents.Accident investigations are a requirement by law and are also of importance so as to know the causes of accidents together with identification of problem areas. The student conducted incident investigations so as to determine the latent failures and conditions contributing to the occurrence of the accident so as to learn and avoid the occurrence of the same kind of incident through the provision of suitable recommendations and action plans. This further enhanced the level of scrutiny by the student in any issue. . 8 Preparation of the BLR Assessment Database/Register and the Environmental Database The student together with another fellow student prepared the BLRA for evaluating risks and exposure of workers to these risks per department. These were to be used as a basis for training during trainings on accident prevention, refresher training courses, and drawing of action plans together with noting down any new types of incidents developing together with taking note of their inherent causes or accelerators.The student also was part of the team that prepared the environmental database which was to be useful in Natural Resources management since it allowed the student to quantify the amount of w ater, fuel, electricity and Wood fuel consumed per month together with calculating the amount atmospheric pollutants the company was contributing through its use of oils, burning of waste in the incinerators and the use of diesel fuelled vehicles and machines. More so knowledge about the amount of water, electricity and wood allowed future planning for sustainable resource use to be done. 3. Training of SHE Representatives SHE Reps are the eye of any SHE department hence much of the trainings done were to equip them with the necessary skills to foster safe working in their fellow workmates. The student hence trained SHE reps on accident reporting procedure, conducting and completion of BBS observation checklists, conducting of safety talks just to mention a few. This was done since they were the ones constantly on the ground and also it was discovered to be easier to spread knowledge on SHE using people at the same level since they understand each other better. 3. 0 Conducting the H IRA process and taking down all potential hazardous tasks and related risks The student also conducted the HIRAs for all departments which was also useful in the preparation of the BLRA database. HIRA involves identification of hazards and estimating the risks thereby allowing the development of action plans to manage those risks before they occur 3. 11 Conducting of internal EIAs for small internal projects. The student conducted an internal EIA for Pine Products which is a sister company of Wattle (Nyanga Pine Division) specialising in the production of pine sawn timber as well.Here the student used acquired knowledge at college together with additional guidelines from an internal EIA checklist to assess the environmental, social, health and pollution (from waste generation and disposal) related impacts of the already running bush mill/Plant. This was also a form of compliance to national legislative requirements from EMA Act chapter 20:27. 3. 12 Conduct occupational and health ca mpaigns The student conducted campaigns on male circumcision together with liaising with the clinic on the behalf of PSI so as to provide a venue and set actual dates for the surgeries.More so the student conducted further training on Cancer, HIV and AIDS respectively since they were also part of the reasons why circumcision was being promoted to be done. 3. 13 Accident Register Updating The student also prepared the Accident Register for the years 2011 and 2012. Also weekly updating of the register was done by the student together with Trend analysis of accidents between current and previous years. This register assisted in noting any major changes in accident rates together with the reasons why that was happening.It allowed review of Policies and performance wherever there was need. 3. 14 Taking tours with new employees during inductions and or visitors around the plant or estates to view operations. The student also after inducting new employees took them for a tour around the pl ant and estates to familiarise them with SHE issues involved within those areas. Besides SHE issues the student was also knowledgeable about the product process flow since it was part of the reasons for the tour hence he had to share it with the visitor or new employee. 3. 5 Reviewing EMPs, WMPs, EMPs etc Besides preparing new documents the student was also involved in reviewing and updating of all obsolete documents. This was done according to the set review periods and was also auditable both externally and internally. 3. 16 Conducting Pre-shift talks. Also the student conducted Pre-shift talks to management and the shop floor workers as a way of enhancing safe working together with notifying on previous week’s incidents to all workers and training workers on prevention of the same incidents from repeating themselves.The student therefore developed and prepared the SHE Talk Calendar for the year 2012 as a guideline on weekly discussions in every department and section. More so the student policed whether these pre-shift talks were being conducted since some people had a tendency of ignoring or not attending hence the provision of Pre-shift talk registers. 3. 17 Completion and submission of NSSA WCIF 14 forms The student also completed the above mentioned forms for any LTI or accidents meriting a claim from NSSA, since every worker was insured to NSSA in case an accident would occur.The student and travelled weekly to Mutare for submission and collection of claims cards for use in treatment or receiving a claim from the bank. 3. 18 Development and Implementation of BBS Social Soccer League The student developed the BBS League as part of entertainment to the workers. In addition the student went to purchase the balls and acted as management team’s coach cum player in preparation of the league games. The student also included safety statistics as part of points awarding system together with updating of the log standings every week. . 19 Filing of SHE documents After preparation of any document the student had a filing day every week for filing of each internally or externally prepared that was useful in future. The student prepared a SHE filing system in soft copy and saved the documents on the machine. Further still the student prepared hard copies of the same documents and filed them separately using a filing index and number. These documents were useful during Audits since they were a requirement especially during external audits by NSSA, EMA and SAZ.Filing thus made it easier for document access whenever requested for. 3. 20 Acting as Secretary during SHE meetings The student also acted as a departmental secretary during SHE Monthly meetings and during management BBS training meetings. More so the student recorded the minutes and typed them together with circulating them back to all departmental HODs. PERFOMANCE CRITERIA AND TARGETS SET FOR WORK PLACEMENT PROGRAMME Performance Criteria There are basically two types of ap proaches being used by Wattle namely; a. Logical framework approachUnder this framework objectives are set on different programmes and strategies for implementation plans in place where objectives stated, compilation of data, SHE Policy commitment is key and is stated as well. The framework is implied in all significant issues, for instance, significant Safety or Health hazards and impacts are given set objectives and targets in a bid to reduce or eliminate their impact. The specialists in the field done the ground work and the affected groups only adopt prescribed approaches either pertaining to their safety or health. . Participatory approach This is used in managing key Environmental issues and System implementation and is mainly executed through a suggestion scheme, for instance, Zvandaona Nhasi Scheme in BBS implementation. It is open to everyone, that is, local heads and the community at large and is not selective in terms of gender of social class. The method involves listing down all suggestions of all participants. Management Objectively verifiable Suggestion indicators are enlisted using this approach.Community appreciation of projects like tree planting and wetlands management are used as a performance criteria tool. Usually the community or affected group are allowed to develop practical home grown solutions for verification and adoption by the organisation in spearheading issues to do with environmental pollution and its related impacts to their livelihood, animals and health. Targets Departmental SHE targets and management programmes are derived from significant hazards in that department. All significant hazards are then given key SHE commitment areas.Each department has its own hazard register rated differently as per frequency and exposure rates. Significant hazards are given objectives and targets, management programmes together with target completion dates. These hazards registers are reviewed every year. The SHE department inspects each dep artment to verify the effectiveness and coverage these departmental hazards registers. EXPERIETIAL LEARNING GAINED FROM WRL PLACEMENT-OPPORTUNITIES AND PROBLEMS FACED AND MEANS ADOPTED TO EXPLORE AND OVERCOME THEM Experiential Leaning gainsExposure to real work environment and assuming the role of a full time employee allowed the student to swallow pride from the respect he got from fellow workers some of whom were elderly people, at the same time allowing him to know about work ethics and expected workplace manners. An Assessment of the working environment was done at arrival at Wattle to see how people conducted each other. Adopting to the way of life at the same place came second since it was a rural setup in which the student was not acquainted to.Adaptation to the internal environment followed where the environment in which the student was working proved so complex and ever dynamic such that being flexible was one quality that had to be borrowed so as to be able to adapt to occ upational dynamics. Familiarising with the system allowed full and competent performance to be achieved. Required Adjustments to personal character were made to suit the colleagues around and the working environments together with challenges faced from time to time. Setting of chievable and realistic goals and the development of action plans in managing of problems and non conformities was a priority. Extreme pressure was experienced whenever there were recurrent incidents and during month ends when monthly reports had to be prepared. During such a period the student had to stay at work till late or attend a double shift of day and night. Collectively, experiential learning Boosted confidence of execution of duty as a competent SHE practitioner, a good communicator, a good listener and fast writer as required in capturing minutes in management meetings.Good communication skills were highlighted through the ability to handle conflicts among and between fellow workers and friends. The student also learned to be Punctual where there was an anomaly in which work started at 6:30 yet the student had to walk on foot for about 7km to work. The student never disappointed though at times he had to attend double shifts and leave work as late as 20:00 hrs in the evening. The student improved his personal skill and also acquired management skills especially in handling different tasks and attended to hearing panels.It also allowed the student to exercise power, delegated authority and to employ knowledge and skills gained at college. To this end, practical learning allowed the student to have practical exploration of work experience. It was also learnt that to succeed in any field, not only personal motivation but also the zeal to learn keeps you moving towards your aims and goals in life. Opportunities ?Prospects of employment since most of the SHE managers are nearing retiring ages, hence having been there gives me a comparative advantage. Business opportunities since th ere is vast arable land lying idle and the shops lack variety in terms of goods provided together with waste timber which can fetch a good market in the nearby town of Mutare. ?Linkages to various external stakeholders like EMA, NSSA and SAZ on a more personal note ? Freedom to pursue educational opportunities since the job of being a SHE officer gives you ample time to do other things since your duty is only to train and enforce. Problems faced and how the student adapted ?Work organisational politics was one major challenge which made other epartments hate SHE not knowing that there was no budget for the department and all its financial issues were handled by HR. The student never became part of the Trade unions in order to avoid being a victim. ?Other departments were unwilling to share information; hence the student went through his superiors in order to achieve his targets for the week. ?Working for nothing or without any motivation was also a challenge in which the student res ponded by developing the BBS Social Soccer League to forget about it.More so the student supplied some fruits from Honde and Mutare in order to make ends meet. ?There was no departmental transport for going on SHE inspections and trainings especially in far areas like the estates. Borrowing vehicles from other departments came as a solution. ?Fuel shortages for ambulance with reserves for production hence emergencies were attended to late. As the HODs of the clinic the students made a plan of keeping the tank full to its brim whenever the fuel was available. ?No SHE budget was available; hence the department was forced to rely on decisions by HR.The department relied on non cash strategies so as to perform his duties effectively. ?Distance from home to work was too long, that is about 7 km. The student resorted to walking as early as was possible to be at work in time since he was required to be there at 06:30hrs. ?Departmental integrity was also a challenge in cases where the fores ters claimed to be masters in SHE issues but denying responsibility whenever an incident occurred. They also lacked knowledge as what a SHE department was for including their roles and responsibility.The student resorted to being calm and forced them to make arrangements so that SHE trainings and inspections were done even when they did not value them. IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEORY STUDIED AND OPERATIONAL PRACTISES Theory learned at college tends to follow clearly outlined syllabuses, procedures and steps and are simple to understand whereas operational practises bridge the gap between theory and reality being complex and achievable after continual repetition together with having no defined steps followed except in task procedures only.Shortcuts are very common in the operational practise where sometimes they are observed to be safer than the prescribed steps. Theory only gives a theoretical description of tasks with operational practises giving the ex act execution of the task. Too shallow information is disseminated in specific areas/ there tends to be more generalisations in theories studied whereas operational practises bring about so much specific information and documentation. Theory deals with prediction of cases whilst in operational practises results are condition oriented though they differ with organisations.Not much or all of the material learned was usable during WRL since there is some specialisation in operational practises where one only works in one department doing the same specific tasks repeatedly. The operational practises proved to be more complex hence require rapid dynamism so as to adapt to the working environment which is politically, economically and socially demanding in nature. There were some slight similarities where issues learned like computing techniques in GES were usable in documents preparation, such as, Databases and PPE Matrices and trainings using Microsoft word, excel and slide show present ations.Communication skills (CS101) at college made proper communication affordable in the practical environment where training and interaction of diverse social groups was done from management to the shop floor worker. Basic theory however was vital since it made understanding and practical execution easier and faster. PERFORMAN MONITORING CRITERIA AND ASSSESSMENT OF DIRECTION AND SUPERVISION PROVIDED PLACE SUPERVISOR/MANAGEMENT TOGETHER WITH THE VISITING LECTURER’S ASSISSTANCE.The student was viewed as a full time employee by the WRL Organisation and was governed by the code of conduct which therefore forced him to perform to the required standards and expectations. Weekly and Monthly progress reports on issues covered were a mandatory from the student since they, together with tasks delegated were used to monitor progress of the student during attachment period. Weekly targets were also used which was based on a weekly plan. The student was also tasked to provide a persona l file for assessment by Group HSE manger every month.The student was expected to complete all tasks planned for during that week with those unmet tasks forwarded to the following week. The supervisor’s mentorship approach was to make the student to accomplish certain tasks without his assistance and this was used as a means to monitor progress of the student in terms of speed of grasping and understanding of concepts together with skills development. More so the student also prepared a Log book as part of the progress monitoring aid. This was assessed and signed by the workplace supervisor assisted by the visiting lecturer who assessed the book during the period of visit .The visiting lecturer assisted in explaining what exactly the student was to learn about during the WRL period together with assessing the relevance of what had been covered. He also gave light on the position of the college in other related issues such as accommodation and salary issues . Also an assessmen t of issues learnt and their relationship to the modules covered was done. Also the student was expected to produce a WRL Report at the end of the WRL period as part of progress monitoring as well. CHAPTER FOUR (4) 4. 1 Evaluation of the Work Related LearningThe full year of industrial attachment was a highly productive learning process that exposed the student to the real working environment where real safety, health and environmental situations that are often presented as theory at college were made real through this process. The working environment is never a student oriented environment so as to provide a growing environment for young, new and inexperienced personnel but it remains real with clear operational procedures and structures which gave the student the necessary practical experience required in developing future managers since the student was viewed as a full time employee.This was more than a just an academic fulfilment as the student was natured in his moral, social, observation and analytical skill together with improving his interpersonal communication skills. A greater percentage of the aims of the WRL were achieved as the student mastered most of the duties and roles to operate as a full time SHE Practitioner, though the student never had a chance to do some of the roles/activities due to cash flow problems which hindered activities such as industrial hygiene surveys (for air quality testing, Noise and Lung functioning tests) to be conducted in his presence.Some tasks took longer to be fully understood and readily practised than others. This was a result of other tasks being daily routines/generic issues for instance daily inspections and accident investigation with others being a once-off thing, for example, documents preparation like Databases preparation and preparation of other major documents like Waste Management Plan. Progress was mostly seen where the student initiated interest thus constantly researching and questioning the WRL ment or through his eagerness o learn, whereas in areas where the student showed little to interest no information was relayed since he always had work to do. The student’s expectations were to act as a student but realised that there are no students in the working environment where everyone is given equal opportunity and viewed at the same level, that is, all as adults and full time employees governed by a single company code of conduct. Most of the knowledge acquired at college was not usable in the working environment but rather new things which only took aboard a few of the theory learned at college were in operation.As a student I thought that my views were not considered in the decision making process but realised that some of my ideas and acquired knowledge saved a purpose especially where the student was consulted by top management on SHE issues in the absence of the supervisor. The Code of conduct makes the working environment Peaceful, workable and eliminates hostility a nd unsocial behaviour due to fear of dismissal. Colleagues in the SHE Department were so assisting and helpful in case of any problem be it social, economic or otherwise and made the student welcome by illustrating his importance to the organisation.On the other hand the student was not involved in decision making process of the whole organisation as some of the aspects remained a myth since the student was viewed partly as an outsider, hence confidential information remained inaccessible. 4. 2 Advantages and disadvantages to the Organisation brought by the student’s WRL experience Advantages ?The department could now function as a full department through increased manpower hence this made work easier through delegation of duties. ?Through the knowledge acquired and in the absence of the full time SHE Practitioner, the department could still run under the student’s influence.This also allowed the SHE Practitioner to go on leave since previously he could not be allowed for fear of lack of departmental functionality in his absence. ?It was also cost effective for the company to use the student since he was not paid anything though he was fully exploitable and competent. ?Also it was an advantage to the organisation having such a competent student on board since it would be easier to refer to/appoint him as SHE Practitioner in the near future since the field is a migratory field hence they faced a risk of losing current ones. ?The introduction of the BBS Social Soccer League by he student brought life and entertainment to the local community and workers at large. ?Most documents in us e were prepared by the student hence it was an advantage to the company. The student’s experience made enforcement of SHE standards and MPs easier hence assisting in lowering and elimination occupational injuries, diseases and negative environmental impacts. Disadvantages ?Though the student’s competency proved to be an advantage is also became a disadvan tage to the organisation since there was a reduction in manpower when the student was returning back to college.Most work that used to be handled smoothly was now loaded to one competent person. ?Development of Land farming and balls, kits and trophy for BBS Social Soccer League was an expense to the organisation since they were supposed to fund these for them to be a success. ?Nevertheless having experience is another thing but it remains the student’s choice to work for a company of his own choice hence the company can also be said to produce what does not benefit out of thereby making it a disadvantage as well. The time lost in training the student was a disadvantage to the organisation considering that they were not going to keep the student with them. Lunch out especially after management meetings was a cost to the organisation as well. CHAPTER FIVE (5) CONLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5. 1 Conclusions The student’s period of attachment at The Wattle Company Limited was a valuable experience which has natured him into gaining skills technically, professional and socially. The student has been exposed to different aspects of the SAFETY HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT and has learnt a lot.The student’s Work Related Learning (WRL) period at The Wattle Company really transformed him into a responsible student who is capable of working competently in the industry. It really gave him hands on the real job experience and was able to familiarize himself with new ideas and aspects in the industry. He is now capable of carrying out his duties without constant supervision together with taking his responsibilities with caution and to his ability; hence has become self initiative in nature. 5. Recommendations to Midlands State University ?The university should develop cordial relations with companies so that there is general mutual understanding between the college and companies. This will assist both the students from the same institution having a comparative advantage on WRL Placement acquisition. ?The university must also reconsider on other external challenges away from work and increase the number of assessment visits to monitor conditions being lived under and challenges students are facing. The university must continue with the attachment program, as it is vital for skills development and gives advantage to the student when seeking full time employment as it acts as experience and leverage. 5. 3 Recommendations to GES Department ?It is very critical for the university to complement theory with more practice. It will be advantageous to the student if the university introduces courses, which are on demand in the industry for example BBS. Field visits to Organisations should be increased before going for work related learning so that students will get to know and prepare for what they are going to be facing when they are out there. ?The university should seek attachment places for students to make it easier because stude nts are ending up going for an attachment lat