Safety Of Road Workers On Maintenance Of Highways Construction Essay

Safety Of Road Workers On Maintenance Of Highways Construction Essay Highways maintenance and road workers ensure that roads and pavements are safe and well maintained in towns, cities and rural areas throughout the country of operation. They might also build new roads and look after the repair, building and resurfacing of the countrys motorway networks. Highway maintenance safety involves safety of workers working on highway or road network services including road markings, pothole patching, road signs, road and footpath resurfacing, gully or drain cleaning, flooding, safety barriers, school crossing patrols, winter maintenance (snow removal), vegetation control, emergency services installing cats eyes, digging access trenches for cable and pipe laying, applying specialist surface treatments (such as high friction surfacing) traffic lights, fencing and street lamps and many more. All these maintenance activities need proper road safety awareness and control when they are executed, so working safely is aimed at staff from any road sector with no super visory or managerial responsibility to be made aware of the risks involved. It is of utmost importance to provide the essentials of health and safety for everyone at work to have an understanding of why they must work safely and this can be achieved by training road workers through the use of seminars and workshops. In Britain, roads are some of the busiest and dangerous in the world, but in today`s traffic conditions, it shows that live in carriageway of any highway is a very-very dangerous place to work and injuries to road workers have been increasing against the national trend. Road workers or operators will often be responsible for setting up warning signs, cones and temporary traffic lights and redirecting pedestrians. They may also manage traffic flow while colleagues are working, communicating with another operator via radio or hand signals further down the road are commonly used devices. As a road supervisor before conducting roadwork jobs, review the required tasks, location, and time of day to determine the necessary equipment, personnel, and materials required.   Plan how you will control traffic along the road and within the construction zone.   Have enough trained flaggers to complete your work.   Gather the signs, cones, flags, drums, and/or message boards that you will need for the job.   Inspect your signage to make sure it is in good repair and highly visible.   Clean or discard dirty equipment with limited visibility. Get training on traffic control and safe work practices.   Set up and maintain your roadside work zone properly.   Get training on the equipment that you will use and drive, from the smallest tool to the largest moving vehicle.   The operation of tools and equipment must be according to the manufacturers recommendations.   Know the hazards of the chemicals and materials that you use and get training on the personal protective equipment that you are required to wear, including its uses and limitations.   Wear high visibility garments on your legs and chest.   Wear your assigned persona protective equipments, including a hardhat, safety shoes, and work gloves.   Consider earplugs or muffs, safety glasses, and fall protection depending on the job task. In the work zone, workers must watch for fast-moving motorists and large construction equipment.   Set up parking zones for your working vehicles such that they have safe entrances and exits from the highway that is maintained and group your vehicles on the same side of the road for visibility.   As a supervisor you can set-up the job site and tasks to minimize the need to cross the active road time and again and also  set up traffic lanes within the jobsite for clear access and visibility. When working on road, work facing traffic and stay alert, or station a lookout to watch oncoming traffic.  The workers should have an escape route or a plan of action in place for any emergencies.   Watch for backing vehicles because the driver often has a limited view.   Practice good communication and make sure all vehicles have backup alarms.   If you are flagging, acting as a lookout or traffic director you must remain alert,  do not drink, smoke, or have a conversation while performing these duties. Road work is a physical job requiring strength and endurance, worker must  stay fit so that their bodies can do the work.  Road work occurs in all types of weather and throughout the year.  They should wear appropriate clothing for the climate.   Light coloured layers and sunscreen protect them during the hot months while layers of moisture-wicking clothing protect you in the cold.   The road workers must get plenty of rest, eat right, and drink no-alcoholic drink s enough to stay healthy and alert on the job. From the Road Workers Perspective, there are few jobs more important than highway maintenance. It may go largely unappreciated by the end customer the motorist, but road workers are looking after some of the busiest roads in the world in the face of continued growth in Britains vehicle fleet, and the inevitable consequences of that growth for wear-and-tear on the network. And by helping to tackle congestion, road workers are directly supporting the British economy. And they do this despite working in some of the most difficult conditions that anyone has to tolerate. The risk of death or injury at work, faced daily by the workers who maintain Englands motorways and trunk roads, is highlighted by the results of a recent industry survey. Almost one in five workers suffers some injury caused by passing vehicles in the course of their careers while working on our road network. More than three-quarters suffer verbal abuse from drivers, and many have reported having objects thrown at them by motorists. Road Workers even change the light bulbs in the central reservation. Surveys have been previously contacted and road workers were asked if they had experienced near miss, verbal abuse, slight personal injury, major personal injury caused by road users vehicle and the responses were: 13% of road workers surveyed had sustained slight injuries; 3% had sustained major injuries; 77% had suffered verbal abuse from passing drivers 54% had a near miss with a vehicle 40% had experienced missiles deliberately thrown at them From these studies road workers felt most at risk during the morning and evening peak travel periods and in the early hours of the morning. There are believes that there is a vital need to educate drivers to start taking the problem of speeding and the outcomes of speeding more seriously. The habitual speeders know that other people dont necessarily disapprove of their actions in the same way as they disapprove of drink-driving syndrome. It took a long time to change attitudes to drink-driving, but by communicating the message at every opportunity, with intelligent advertising and marketing, the Government can and has eventually succeeded in most countries, likewise today, drink-driving is socially unacceptable in the community. Therefore a similar change is required with speeding and peoples attitude to road works. In UK, Highway Traffic Management Agency was launched in 2005 and since it was launched issues that dominated are the road maintenance safeties. Its goal is to have zero road injuries and zero fatalities by getting a reasonable balance between the needs of the road user and the safety of road workers using a risk based approach as a short term. The long-term aim was to plan future improvements that make the working environment safer, including: design for maintenance/operation, which has the added benefits of whole-life cost savings, less interventions and less congestion; reduce road workers exposure to live traffic and lessen the risks to road workers when on the network; highlight the importance of road workers and their safety to the public by raising awareness and the industry consistently maintaining the highest standards. Finally it was to improve road user awareness and responses by improving driver education. At a general level, the government has taken the Road Safety Bill through Parliament, including new drink-driving legislation, driver training schemes, and a revised penalty system and is looking at improvements to the speed camera network and working with the police to fight back against anti-social use of roads. The Highways Agency Road Worker Safety Action Plan was unveiled at the conference held in 2006, with some of potential solutions listed in the including a review of procedures to reduce the exposure of road workers to live traffic and cut the risks of working on the highway. A review of maintenance priorities so workers dont have to be on the network so often more targeted speed limits at road works which can be altered to match safety requirements. Improving of the accuracy and content of variable message signs to give road users more warning of works and the presence of road workers also improving the training of workers on high-speed roads, the promotion of better driver awareness and improved driver education, also finally the development of an incident and near-miss reporting centre. The Importance of Traffic Management When considering the traffic management plan for any major scheme the safety and security of both the travelling public and the workforce is the primary aim. By the very nature of road works operations, the element of risk is introduced when managing traffic on high speed roads. The first essential element is to reduce the risk by reducing the speed. This can be achieved to a certain extent through the use of traffic management measures but experience has proven that the only reliable way of achieving consistently reduced speeds is through the use of safety cameras. The introduction of a temporary speed limit and safety cameras is done in conjunction with the respective Safety Camera Partnership, who follow a risk assessment process which considers the level of exposure to risk of the public and the workforce. This is the reason that a variety of different traffic management measures can often be found at road works sites. However, the biggest single risk to road workers occurs not i n major schemes but during routine maintenance operations and emergency lane closures. During these operations it is often only a line of cones that separates the workforce from high speed traffic. During these operations there is a clear need for motorists to act responsibly and respect the rights of road workers. Planning Road works Traditionally, if there is one thing that causes motorists more frustration than any other, it is the overnight appearance of a forest of cones with little or no warning or information as to the reason. Hopefully, this aspect is largely becoming a thing of the past as a significant amount of planning is now undertaken prior to any major road works scheme. Such projects are now often planned several years ahead taking cognisance of issues such as the optimum time and the likelihood of reliable weather where this is a requirement. The substantial rise in traffic volumes over the past decade has significantly impacted on road works planning, through not just the increased maintenance requirements brought about by the additional volume, but through the challenges to keep congestion at a minimum as any reduction in available road space can have significant consequences for journey times. While safety and security are the primary drivers when planning road works, contractors also incorpora te extensive consultation with affected local communities and a targeted media campaign designed to advise drivers who use the affected route of the proposed works and levels of disruption. This forward planning and awareness through the media allows for drivers to plan their journey accordingly. Engineering technology on road worker`s risk. This can be achieved both through measures at the construction stage and through the use of new and improved technology for maintenance operations. New construction processes and standards mean a much longer design life can be achieved at the outset, significantly reducing the amount of routine maintenance operations required. In addition, where a maintenance requirement is identified during construction, the facility to achieve this without significantly impacting on traffic flow is considered carefully and where appropriate, additional engineering measures are introduced. In respect to maintenance operations on existing structures and highways the Highway Traffic Management Agency has been actively involved in developing technology in association with the Highways Agency, and over the past few years a number of innovative solutions which have had a positive impact on safety have been introduced. New techniques to improve safety and reduce congestion at road works on high-speed road s, for example, are now undergoing trials. Automated cone laying machines, fixed to the rear of a traffic management vehicles, can place and collect standard road cones without the need for road workers to stand in a live carriageway next to fast moving traffic. The machines accurately positions cones on the road surface at 15mph laying up to 40 cones per minute and reducing the time taken to establish and remove temporary traffic management. Road users will benefit from the shorter period of time taken to change from normal carriageway to a coned-off area. Using the new machines, traffic cones will be laid and taken up more quickly, removing manual handling and enabling more routine maintenance work to be undertaken during each closure so reducing the frequency of road works and congestion. A new barrier transfer machine, which can lift 12 tons of concrete safety barriers for motorway road works into place at a speed of 7 mph, is also now in operation, offering a higher level of b arrier protection to motorway road workers. The mechanical broom which are now mostly used have improved the road worker`s safety and compared to manual sweeping. In June 2006, a new revised Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual was launched that gives guidance on best practice for temporary signing and management of traffic on the highway. Also it was designed to make traffic management for road works safer and less stressful for both workers and drivers. It talks about new measures like flashing cones on the approach to works; mobile carriageway closures; and improved incident management. It also encourages more effective use of speed limits at road works. Drivers should expect consistent limits to be set depending on the work being carried out, without confusing variations. That should be combined with speed detection equipment and other methods of persuading people to reduce speed. RECOMMENDATIONS Changing the behaviour of risk-taking drivers tends to require hard interventions, which require the involvement of police or other law enforcement organisations. For complying drivers, soft interventions such as the Respect campaign can be used; other interventions that could be applied to the issue of road worker safety and driver behaviour can include: Training road workers By training road workers through the use of seminars and workshops can make them aware of their risks and conscientious those involved on how best they can be aware of the job related risks. Improving driver skills There is a need for further training of professional drivers and specific training of all drivers to raise their awareness of the issues of driving through road works. Better self knowledge The public are an important partner in improving safety through road works. There is a need for greater awareness of personal skill levels and abilities to encourage better self pacing and improved behaviour when driving. This can be achieved through a high profile advertising campaign to raise the public profile of road worker safety. Such an approach aims to demonstrate the risk to drivers and road workers from speeding through road works. Improving the task It is important to ensure that the driving task when approaching and driving through road works is made as simple as possible to prevent overloading drivers with information. All those involved in applying the principles contained in the Traffic Signs Manual: Chapter 8 need to review their road works layouts in order to make the driving task as easy possible for an uninformed driver CONCLUSION It can be concluded that the behaviour of drivers towards road workers indicates that there is little respect for road works and road workers. At best the works and workers are tolerated, at worst the works are ignored and workers are abused either verbally or physically. Changing the attitude of drivers to road works is essential to improve the safety of both road workers and the drivers passing through road work sites. The behaviour of road drivers is directly or indirectly the cause of most road accidents, including those at road works. Influencing driver`s behaviour to prevent accidents at road works will improve road worker safety as well as that of the road user.

Friends Essay -- essays papers

Friends Friends are a necessity in every child’s life. They are there to comfort, to laugh with, and to create wonderful memories. All of a sudden a child grows up and gets thrown into college. His or her friends go to other colleges, and they both realize that they aren’t going to have those close friendships anymore. It has happened many times before, and it will happen many times again. What one needs to know is that college isn’t a place to mope around; it is a place to rejoice and meet new people. College is a place where one develops skills in meeting new people and creating new friendships. This skill is not just learned and then lost. It is a skill that can be used anywhere and any time thought life. The hardest part is to get the ball rolling and start meeting new people. College is not a difficult place to meet people. They are everywhere; in dorms, in classrooms, and simply walking around outside. Although this is a perfect atmosphere for meeting people, some may still have difficulty. The greatest challenge about meeting people is not only the hoping that...

Brazil’s Political Factor in Business

Political factor by ashraful islam Trade Policies in political factor Brazil's economic history has been influenced remarkably by foreign trade trends and policies. Successive cycles of export booms in such commodities as sugar, gold and diamonds, rubber, and coffee played major roles in Brazilian development before World War II. In the 1930s, the collapse of coffee prices signaled a turn inward, resulting in a nascent industrialization. In succeeding decades, industrial development was fostered deliberately through restrictive trade policies, making Brazil a relatively closed economy by the mid-1960s.Only in the early 1990s did Brazil begin significant liberalization of its trade policies, and even these reforms were modest by comparison with those in a number of other Latin American nations. Government intervention in foreign trade has a long history in Brazil, reaching back to the colonial period when Portugal forbade Brazilian trade with other nations. Following independence in 1 822, Brazil opened its ports and expanded its trade with other nations, particularly Britain. Extensive government regulation of trade continued, however, with tariffs providing over half of the government's revenue before World War I.Other forms of intervention in trade included the 1906 coffee price support plan, which was a sophisticated attempt to exploit Brazil's monopolistic position in the world coffee market. Before World War II, trade policies were used mostly as a source of revenue or as a response to specific groups such as the coffee producers, rather than as a means of achieving national economic goals. In the early 1950s, Brazil began to use trade policy in a more deliberate way to promote industrialization. The forced reduction in Brazilian imports after 1929 had resulted in the first major industrial growth in Brazil, centered in Sao Paulo.Heeding this apparent lesson, policy makers in the 1950s argued that measures that deliberately reduced imports would stimulate d omestic production, thereby encouraging technological development and increasing employment in activities that were regarded as more â€Å"modern† than Brazil's traditional agricultural and extractive activities. The steep rise in world oil prices that began in late 1973 soon ended Brazil's move toward greater trade openness. The approximate balance between imports and exports in the early 1970s became an unprecedented US$4. billion deficit in 1974. Although record levels of external capital flows financed this deficit, Brazilian policy makers responded by restricting imports. In June 1974, import financing for many products was suspended, while tariff rates on more than 900 items were doubled. Over the year, restrictions were increased further, and in 1975 the government required that imports be paid for in advance with deposits that did not earn interest or any correction for inflation. On the export side, further measures were taken to promote exports, especially for manuf actures.Despite these measures, Brazil's trade balance remained in deficit for most of the 1970s. The combination of tightened import controls, real depreciation, and the fall in domestic demand induced by the restrictive macroeconomic policies of the early 1980s resulted in a sharp adjustment in Brazil's external accounts. The magnitude of the adjustment appears to have surprised even many of its proponents, both in the Brazilian government and among creditors. After 1983 the massive trade surpluses averaged more than 3 percent of GDP, compared with negative or negligible levels through most of the 1968-82 period.In 1984, as the full effects of the adjustment program were felt, exports were about double imports, and Brazil's trade surplus reached an unprecedented 6. 1 percent of GDP, far exceeding the comparable shares in other important economies such as Japan (3. 5 percent of GDP) and West Germany (3. 8 percent). By 1984 it was clear that the successful external adjustment had a domestic price, as inflation accelerated to more than 200 percent at annual rates. Trade policy consequently began to be viewed as a potential instrument for internal stabilization, with some import liberalization viewed as a potential contributor to reduced inflation.In late 1984, a number of the direct controls on imports were cut back, and the number of products on the negative list was reduced substantially. Import financing requirements were also relaxed through exemptions, and tariff surcharges were replaced by smaller additions to the legal tariff. On the administrative side, the Cacex policy of import restrictions for balance of payments purposes was reduced. Although import licenses were not abolished, their approval became a relatively routine operation, and by 1991 most licenses were being issued within five working days.The CTIC became primarily a reporting and registration agency, which had little of the discretionary power formerly exercised by Cacex. The former CPA, w hich had been far overshadowed by Cacex, was replaced by an agency coequal with the CTIC, the Technical Coordinating Office for Tariffs (Coordenadoria Tecnica de Tarifas–CTT). With the shift in emphasis in trade policy from discretionary administrative control to the automaticity of published tariffs, many of them limited by Brazil's treaty commitments, the CTT's role in formulating import policy became significantly greater than the CPA's had been.Early in 1991, the Collor de Mello government announced a series of tariff reductions to be phased in over the 1991-94 period. These were among the most far-reaching and significant reductions in Brazilian trade protection in several decades. Earlier tariff reductions often had been largely cosmetic, only reducing rates that were prohibitive to high levels that still barred many imports. The 1991 reforms went much further, and in many sectors reduced rates to about a third of their level in the early 1980s.Equally important, the re forms reduced the wide variability or dispersion of tariff rates that were once characteristic of Brazilian trade policy. The overall trend in Brazilian trade policy is clear. By the mid-1990s, Brazil had become a much more open economy than it had been a decade earlier. priorities in terms of business support Market Overview The Federative Republic of Brazil is Latin America's biggest economy and is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of land mass and population with about 192 million people.Brazil’s economy, the 6th largest in the world, grew 2. 7% in 2011. Growth slowed due to reduced demand for Brazilian exports in Europe and Asia, despite solid domestic demand and a growing middle class. During the past decade, the country has maintained macroeconomic policies that controlled inflation and promoted economic growth. Inflation was at 6. 5% in 2011, and urban unemployment reached a historic low of 6. 0%. Interest rates, though high compared to the rest of the wo rld, remained historically low at the Central Bank benchmark rate of 8. 0% as of July 2012. In 2011, the U. S. as Brazil’s largest source of imports followed by China, Argentina, Germany, and South Korea. U. S. merchandise exports to Brazil in 2011 were US$42. 9 billion, and U. S. imports from Brazil were US$31. 3 billion. Market Challenges Brazil has a large and diversified economy that offers U. S. companies many opportunities to export their goods and services, and U. S. exports are increasing rapidly. Doing business in Brazil requires intimate knowledge of the local environment, including both the explicit as well as implicit costs of doing business (referred to as the â€Å"Custo Brasil†).Such costs are often related to distribution, government procedures, employee benefits, environmental laws, and a complex tax structure. Logistics pose a particular challenge, given infrastructure limitations posed by nearly a decade of economic expansion. In addition to tariffs, U. S. companies will find a complex customs and legal system. Market Opportunities There are few, if any, sectors in Brazil that do not have excellent short term opportunities. Certain sectors of the Brazilian market have experienced higher than average growth, such as air transportation, telecoms, oil and gas, and mining.Under the second phase of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC II), the Government of Brazil will spend R$955 billion (the equivalent of around US$470 billion) in development of the country’s energy generation and distribution system, roads, railroads, ports, and airports as well as stadiums as it prepares for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. Other promising areas for U. S. exports and investment include agriculture, agricultural equipment, building and construction, aerospace and aviation, electrical power, safety and security devices, environmental technologies, retail, and transportation.The Brazilian national oil company Petrobras' expans ion may represent the largest global business opportunity in the oil & gas sector until 2020. The offshore pre-salt oil deposits discovered in 2006 and 2007 are estimated to exceed 60 billion barrels in probable or recoverable reserves, and could place Brazil among the world’s top ten oil-producing countries. Petrobras anticipates that it will invest $224 billion in exploration and development through 2015. Brazil is one of the largest IT markets within the emerging economies. IT end-user spending in Brazil is expected to grow to $134 billion in 2014.The largest share of spending will be on telecom equipment, representing 72% of the market, followed by IT services at 13. 3% and computing hardware at 11. 9%. In the years leading up to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will host several international mega-events. In 2011, Brazil hosted the World Military Games and the Pan-American Maccabi Games and in 2012, Rio de Janeiro hosted the Rio+20 global environmental su stainability conference. In 2013, Brazil will host a papal visit and the World Youth Day event as well as the soccer Confederations Cup.In 2014, twelve Brazilian cities will host the soccer World Cup. The Government of Brazil expects to invest $106 billion in the preparations for these events. These investments, which will include outlays for infrastructure, construction, transportation systems, port improvements, public security, and airport infrastructure upgrades, will present significant commercial opportunities for U. S. companies. Most of the major infrastructure upgrades will be carried out through Public-Private Partnerships under Brazil’s Growth Acceleration Program. Market Entry StrategyBrazil’s business culture relies heavily on the development of strong personal relationships. Companies need a local presence and must invest time in developing relationships in Brazil. The U. S. Commercial Service encourages U. S. companies visiting Brazil to meet one-on-one with potential partners. One of the best ways for U. S. companies to enter the Brazilian market is by participating in local trade shows or using the U. S. Commercial Service’s Gold Key Service (GKS), through which they can meet with pre-screened potential clients or partners.It is essential to work through a qualified representative or distributor when developing the Brazilian market. Some firms establish an office or joint venture in Brazil. Further discussion of these alternatives can be found in the â€Å"Marketing Products & Services† chapter. It is very difficult for U. S. companies to get involved in public sector procurement without a local Brazilian partner. Education of the workforce Despite being one of the world's most populous countries, Brazil does not have a single university ranked in the top 100 internationally.Of its college graduates, 5 percent are engineers, far below the rates of countries such as China and South Korea, according to Brazilian busin esses. Since Brazil's education system is falling short, Vale, like several other Brazilian companies, has decided to build its own. â€Å"For years, technical education was not the main focus of the government,† said Marco Dalpozzo, Vale's global human resources director. â€Å"Mining was not seen for the last 20 years as a great opportunity or a vocational business opportunity for the country. So you have professions for which Vale had to create their own entire system of education. Over the past few years, several Latin American countries have enjoyed soaring growth rates as they exported oil, minerals and agricultural products around the world. In Brazil, gross domestic product more than doubled, to $1. 3 trillion, in the five years ending in 2007, while inflation dropped to 3. 6 percent, a quarter of the 2003 level. Yet recent studies have shown that workers in Latin America have less education than those in East Asia and Eastern Europe and that the percentage of studen ts enrolled in high school is far lower than in developed countries.In Colombia, one out of every 700,000 people receive PhDs, compared with one in 5,000 in developed countries, wrote Jeffrey M. Puryear and Tamara Ortega Goodspeed in a contribution to a book published this year titled â€Å"Can Latin America Compete? † â€Å"The region's limited number of scientists and advanced degree recipients weakens the region's competitiveness by limiting countries' ability to use and generate knowledge, and to carry out research,† they wrote.For younger students, Latin American countries have focused in recent years on building schools and expanding access to public education, rather than improving the quality of that education, said Emiliana Vegas, a senior education economist at the World Bank. Teachers' pay raises are based on longevity rather than performance, and few parents are used to demanding more rigorous standards. â€Å"Most Latin American parents have less educatio n than their kids. They feel their kids are already receiving an advantage they didn't get,† said Vegas, who co-authored the book â€Å"Raising Student Learning in Latin America. In the most recent results of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's triennial tests of 15-year-olds from 57 countries, the Latin American countries that participated, including Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, consistently scored near the bottom. â€Å"It's not just that kids need to go to school, they need to learn in school,† Vegas said. Brazil – quality of port infrastructure Quality of port infrastructure, WEF (1=extremely underdeveloped to 7=well developed and efficient by international standards)Definition: Quality of Port Infrastructure measures business executives' perceptions of their country's port facilities. The rating ranges from 1 to 7, with a higher score indicating better development of port infrastructure. Source: World Economic Forum, Global Compet iveness Report |Year |Value | |2007 |2. 63 | |2008 |2. 52 | |2009 |2. 65 | |2010 |2. 94 | |2011 |2. 70 | Airports The Brazilian airport network has long been lamented as underdeveloped and poorly maintained. The network is run almost exclusively by Infraero, an authority that reports to the country? s defense ministry.In operation for 37 years, Infraero has more than 28,000 employees and contractors assisting in the management of 67 airports throughout the country. These airports handle 97 percent of all air traffic in the country, with more than 2 million takeoffs and landings and over 113 million passengers annually. 11 The company? s charge is quite difficult, considering that the airports are spread across a country the size of the contiguous United States Roadways Like the United States, Brazil is heavily dependent on its road system for transportation. However, there is great disparity in the quality of these road networks.Despite constituting 68 percent of Brazil? s transport needs, only 12 percent of the country? s 1. 6 million kilometers of roads are paved. 20 The consequence of these infrastructure deficiencies is slower and more expensive transport – costs can be up to 35 percent greater on unpaved roads. 21 This affects the booming agricultural sector greatly, as many of the goods are produced in remote locations with poor road conditions. Rail Brazil? s national rail network consists of approximately 28,000 kilometers of track, and most of it is operated by private concessionaires.These concessions have been utilized for 12 years, and the government is reviewing its concession model to make better use of the rail network. â€Å"One of the main objectives of the changes is to put abandoned or low-capacity stretches back into operation. †29 As part of the Ministry of Transport? s National Plan, Brazil will consolidate a new rail network, developing almost 12,000 additional kilometers of track. 30 These rail lines will serve areas of ag ricultural and mineral productivity and enable the increased transfer of cargo between transportation modes.Additionally, the rail lines will be implemented in planned corridors that are specifically designed to link production and consumption regions, as well as production and shipment areas (like ports). The MOT is also studying the feasibility of a corridor that will link railways from Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. Economic factors by ashraful islam Economy – overview: Characterized by large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other South American countries, and Brazil is expanding its presence in world markets.Since 2003, Brazil has steadily improved its macroeconomic stability, building up foreign reserves, and reducing its debt profile by shifting its debt burden toward real denominated and domestically held instruments. In 2008, Brazil became a net external creditor and tw o ratings agencies awarded investment grade status to its debt. After strong growth in 2007 and 2008, the onset of the global financial crisis hit Brazil in 2008. Brazil experienced two quarters of recession, as global demand for Brazil's commodity-based exports dwindled and external credit dried up.However, Brazil was one of the first emerging markets to begin a recovery. In 2010, consumer and investor confidence revived and GDP growth reached 7. 5%, the highest growth rate in the past 25 years. Rising inflation led the authorities to take measures to cool the economy; these actions and the deteriorating international economic situation slowed growth to 2. 7% for 2011 as a whole, though forecasts for 2012 growth are somewhat higher. Despite slower growth in 2011, Brazil overtook the United Kingdom as the world's seventh largest economy in terms of GDP.Urban unemployment is at the historic low of 4. 7% (December 2011), and Brazil's traditionally high level of income equality has dec lined for each of the last 12 years. Brazil's high interest rates make it an attractive destination for foreign investors. Large capital inflows over the past several years have contributed to the appreciation of the currency, hurting the competitiveness of Brazilian manufacturing and leading the government to intervene in foreign exchanges markets and raise taxes on some foreign capital inflows.President Dilma ROUSSEFF has retained the previous administration's commitment to inflation targeting by the central bank, a floating exchange rate, and fiscal restraint. | | | | |Brazil Interest Rate | | |The benchmark interest rate in Brazil was last reported at 7. 25 percent. Historically, from 1999 until 2012, Brazil Interest | | |Rate averaged 16. 6 Percent reaching an all time high of 45. 00 Percent in March of 1999 and a record low of 7. 25 Percent in | | |October of 2012. In Brazil, interest rate decisions are taken by The Central Bank of Brazil's Monetary Policy Committee | | |(CO POM). The official interest rate is the Special System of Clearance and Custody rate (SELIC) which is the overnight lending | | |rate. This page includes a chart with historical data for Brazil Interest Rate. | [pic] Brazil Income Taxes 2012 Last partial update, May 2012Individual Income Tax: Brazil's individual income tax rates for 2012 are progressive, from 7. 5% to 27. 5%. Personal annual tax rates 2012 (BRL) |Income (BRL) |% | |1-18,799 |- | |18,799-28,174 |7. 5 | |28,174-37,566 |15 | |37,566-46,939 |22. 5 | |over 46,939 |27. 5 |Note: Nonresidents pay a flat 27. 5% tax on income earned in Brazil Corporate Tax: Brazil's combined corporate tax rate for 2012 is 34%. The tax consists of a basic tax of 15%. There is also a surtax of 10% for annual income of over BRL 240,000, about $ 110,000. Additonal 9% are added for social contribution on net profits. Capital Gains: Capital gains of companies are added to the regular income. Individuals: Pay 15% tax on capital gains, dividend incom e from local companies is tax exempt. Residence A foreign company is resident if incorporated in Brazil.An individual is resident when holding a permanent visa, or a temporary visa with an employment agreement, or even without an employment agreement, when staying in Brazil for more than 183 days within 12 months. Brazil Tax Deductions †¢ Losses are carried forward indefinitely. In future years only 30% of the current year taxable income can be set off against the loss. †¢ Depreciation is deducted using the straight line method. Companies working in 2 shifts can claim 150% of the standard rates, while companies working in 3 shifts are entitled to 200% of the standard rates. Companies involved in development of technical research can use accelerated depreciation for tax purpose. †¢ There is no company consolidation for tax purpose. †¢ Thin capitalisation rules relating to interest expenses are in effect in Brazil from 1. 1. 2010. Brazil Personal Credits and Deduct ions For Brazilian residents, the first annual income of BRL 18,799 is tax exempt. There is a standard monthly deduction for each dependant. Education expenses are deductible, up to a limit. Deductions are also permitted for social security payments by an employee, payments to private Brazilian pension plans, up tp a limit, and for alimony payments.Deduction of Tax at Source In Brazil tax is deducted at source from the following payments to non residents: Dividend- 0%. Interest- 15%/25%. Royalties- 15%. Services -15%/25%. Social Security The contributions by the employer and the employee are subject to to ceiling defined by law. Employer: 37. 3% of the gross salary, 28. 8% social security and 8. 5% for severance fund. Employee: 7. 65%-11% of the gross salary. The employee's payment, which is capped, is based on a â€Å"contribution salary table†, provided by the government.

The Sentencing Policy And The Criminal Justice System

There are many current criminal justice policies and laws that demonstrate how the policy has been informed by the theories that have been covered this semester. Many connections are not explicit but offer great detail in offering information based on the given topics. The current criminal justice policy that I’ve chosen was the sentencing policy. The sentencing policy was put together to reach every type of case that could possibly be seen in the criminal justice system. Here we will further discuss the sentencing policy, a case that I found to be a great example to understand the sentencing policy and how it can be overused, then we will move into how this policy have been informed by the rational choice theory, next we will cover its underlying assumptions and some of the ways it deviate, lastly we will discuss our alternative course of action which is the deterrence theory. In 1984 there was a Sentencing Reform Act and it was developed to enhance the ability of the criminal justice system to handle and effective and fair sentencing system (United States Sentencing Commission, 2015). To successfully reach the goal and purpose of the sentencing policy there must first be honesty in the verdicts of all sentencing (United States Sentencing Commission, 2015). Secondly, there must be reasonable uniformity when sentencing similar offenders who committed the same sort of crime (United States Sentencing Commission, 2015). Third, there must be proportionality when sentencing withShow MoreRelatedThe Law Of A Uniform Sentencing Guidelines1126 Words   |  5 Pagesoffenders. In India, a uniform sentencing policy does not exist, as neither the legislature nor the judiciary has supplied any formal guidelines. However, the need for the same has been repeatedly recognized by both. 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However, studies show that drug deterrent policies on possession and use have been inadequate and unsuccessful (Cole Gertz, 2013). Studies also show that the War on Drugs has not attained its objectives because the policy exhibits racial discrepancy as it has led to the disproportionateRead MoreMandatory Minimum Sentencing On Violent Crimes Essay1492 Words   |  6 PagesJ’son West Nov. 12. 2016 CJ 202 Canon Mandatory Minimum Sentencing on Violent Crimes Crime in America is growing at a substantial rate and repeat offenders are playing a huge roll in this growth. Mandatory minimum sentences, first established in Connecticut in 1969 and expanded throughout the 1980s and 1990s, exemplify a shift in public policy to impose a specific amount of imprisonment based on the crime committed and the defendant’s criminal history, and away from other individual offender characteristicsRead MoreCriminal Justice Systems And Its Effect On Parole Board1711 Words   |  7 PagesVictoria criminal justice systems , are designed to regulate members’ attitudes in the society, implement law and order, and to bring those offenders who commit crimes before the court of justice. In the assessment paper, observation was conducted through a range of scholarly research/ newspaper reports, articles, The age, Herald Sun, Victorian General news wires. Critical analysis , was also conducted to different issues, thus; Victorian government tougher sentencing on crimes to implementRead MoreThe Sentencing Reform Act Of 19841526 Words   |  7 PagesThe Sentencing Reform Act is associated with the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, were the U.S. federal statute increased the consistency in the United States federal sentencing. The Sentencing Reform Act created the United States Sentencing Commission. This act allowed the independent commission into the judicial branch of the United States Sentencing Commission. It consists of seven voting members and one nonvoting member. For the sake of the United States Sentencing Commission, thereRead MoreJuvenile Justice And Criminal Justice1368 Words   |  6 Pages The border between juvenile justice and criminal justice did not endure the juvenile court’s first century. By the 1980s, there was general disappointment with both the means and the ends of normal juvenile justice. As with every other social repair efforts, it is difficult to say whether frustration with juvenile justice was born of erroneous concept or of wretched execution. The administering accepted by justice policy, however, was unmistakable. Juvenile courts began to adopt the sentiment and