Quality Management System In Construction

This paper describes the Quality Management System (QMS) concept and its application in the construction industry. A misunderstanding among the construction players on the QMS concept has become the stumbling block for its successful implementation

A POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF MICROALGAE IN PRODUCED WATER TREATMENT

Produced water, deriving from petroleum industry as a result of oil production, constitutes of high concentration of pollutants, such as dissolved nitrogen, phosphorus, dissolved organic carbon, heavy metals and monocyclic aromatic compound like BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene). Thus, removal of these pollutants from produced water is essential. Many conventional treatments are currently present, which often used for the produced water treatment. Most of the time, these treatments processes are costly and these processes increase the overall cost of oil production. As an alternative solution, microscopic microalgae can be used to remove these pollutants from the produced water effluents. These microalgae can bio-remediate produced water effluents while utilizing some of these pollutants as sources of nutrients. The current study examines pollutant removal efficiency of different microalgae species from produced water effluents. After initial screening, five species of microalgae strains Monoraphidium, Chlorella, Neochloris, Scenedesmus, Dictyosphaerium were chosen for the study. Chlorella and Dictyosphaerium species show a significant amount of biomass generation within all different concentration of produced water. Although the biomass yield of Neochloris strain was low, it was able to remove a higher amount of organic carbon than other microalgae strains. Although biomass generation was significantly varied within the microalgae strains, nitrogen removal efficiency by all the strains were similar. Also, similar results were also found for most of the BTEX component. Only in the case of phosphorus and various metals, removal efficiency was better by Dictyosphaerium microalgae species. However, the variation of produced water concentration has no significant effect on the pollutants removal efficiency of microalgae strains. Thus, the results indicate that microalgae strains can grow in produced water effluents-deriving from petroleum industries and remove pollutants

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) management systems: towards development of safety and health culture

The unsatisfactory OSH record of the construction industry has always been highlighted. It is because the OSH management system is a neglected area and a function that has not been pursued systematically in the construction industry. Safety is an important issue, but many employers do not feel it is vital to the success of companies. For a long time, the construction industry has been labeled as with poor OSH culture and performance. But a mature construction company is still able to perform well in safety area. This type of company usually set their OSH goals for the continuous improvement in overall. Understanding the concept of the OSH management system will help us to understand the application of OSH management system in Malaysia and legislation needs to follow by industry. The rules and legislation are always protecting the worker safety and ensuring healthy workplaces. The main purpose of the rules and legislation is to prevent accidents, ill health and injury at workplaces. This paper will discuss theoritical review on OSH management in construction industry towards development of safety culture

TASK-BASED LEARNING IN THE TEXTBOOK OF ENGLISH FOR PALESTINE

The aim of the study is to examine the ninth grade teachers' perceptions towards task-based learning (TBL) method and analyze the tasks and activities in the textbook of English for Palestine Ninth Grade. In addition, this study aims at evaluating the appropriateness and the effectiveness of TBL in the classroom. The researcher used four methods to collect data, namely questionnaire, classroom observation, interview, and content-analysis checklist. The sample of the study consisted of 185 teachers (males females) from the government and UNRWA schools in Hebron District. The overall findings of the study revealed that the teachers perceptions towards TBL were positive and highly acceptable; they supported the effectiveness of communicative language teaching (CLT) and TBL in EFL classrooms. Then, the results of observational data showed that some teachers use new communicative methods for teaching language skills while others use the traditional ones. Meanwhile, the results of interviews indicated that the challenges of task-based learning were big-sized classes, length of material, lack of time, and lack of technological tools. The study ended with recommendations for syllabus designers, teachers, and students. It is recommended that the teaching and learning of English language skills at the Palestinian schools should be enhanced by the use of new flexible methods, such as TBL and communicative language teaching

An investigation into firms' strategies and their financial performance n the UK construction industry

This study has two main objectives. The first objective is to identify the relationship between the construction firms' competitive strategies and their financial performance. The second objective is to observe the behaviour of the construction firms' strategies in three different economic periods, i.e., boom (1986-89), recession (1990-93) and recovery (1994-onward). In order to achieve these objectives, the study was divided into two main phases. Firstly, the relationship between firms' competitive strategies and their financial performance was investigated. Four strategic variables were chosen to represent competitive strategies: type of activity; extent of diversification; extent of internationalisation; and level of gearing. Firms' financial performance was represented by five variables: return on capital employed; return on shareholders' funds; current ratio; quick ratio; and turnover. Secondly, the behaviour of the construction firms' strategies in the three different economic periods was investigated. The following main variables were chosen to represent the firms' strategies: direction; method; generic; diversification; internationalisation; functional; resources; financial performance measurements; and financial performance determinants. The findings of the first phase indicated that, there were significant relationships between firms' competitive strategies and their financial performance. Type of activity had relationships with firms' profitability and liquidity. Profitability was also influenced by the level of gearing. However, extent of diversification and extent of internationalisation had strong relationships with turnover, in the second phase, it was found that the construction firms considered that expansion by way of internal expansion and joint-venturing as their most important developmental strategies. Housing was regarded as the most important strategy for diversification purposes. Europe was considered as their most important market outside the UK. R&D and advanced technology were not considered as the important functional strategies. Management, skilled workers and cash capital were their three most critical resources. Cash flow was regarded as the most important financial performance indicator whilst market condition was perceived as the most important financial performance determinant

Measurement Model Assessment of Intervention Strategies for Littering Behavior Changes using Partial Least Square: in Context of Malaysian Flat Residents

This research was conducted for assessment of the measurement model by using Structural Equation Modeling Partial Least Square. In implementing the measurement model testing in this study, the variable exogenous and endogenous variables that intervention strategies are represented by the variables x and behavioral changes that are represented as variable y. Test validity and reliability is implemented through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis using Smart PLS 2.0. A total of 1200 questionnaires were distributed and only 849 forms returned and used for this analysis. In this paper, findings and discussion will only describe the results of an analysis of the measurement model linking indicators (manifest variables) to construct. Assessment of the validity and reliability of the measurement model is assessed through four following analysis of internal consistency reliability, indicator reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity. The end result of over four analysis found that the measurement model in this study is valid and can be used for further analysis of the formation of structural models

Facilities management relevant competencies for Malaysian public school

The question of whether one is actually practicing Facilities Management (FM) or an FM practitioner in the Malaysian industry is very common as the definition of FM continues to be under debate. Nevertheless, FM competencies have been defined by international FM professional associations with the main purposes of professional recognition and training in this area. Two pioneer associations in the field that are of distinguished reference internationally were the first in the effort of establishing the list of competencies for FM professionals. The process of defining the competencies however was very challenging given the fact that FM itself has not been able to be unanimously defined in its practice. The fine line between FM and other disciplines in the built environment also affects FM associations and their potential members, especially on whether or not they belong to each other. Despite this uncertainty, FM as a profession and an area of management is increasingly accepted and acknowledged all over the world, including Malaysia. This study aims at identifying the position of the practice of managing Malaysian public school within the context of FM, through relevancy of the defined competencies for FM by the international FM associations to the required competencies in the management of Malaysian school building and facilities. A survey was carried out amongst the school administrators from all parts of Malaysia and the data was analysed with factor analysis. The findings indicate that although by definition the management practice carried out by the school administrators does fall under the FM, less than half of the competency list proposed by FM organizations was found to be significant as far as Malaysian school facilities management is concerne

Regional inequality of educational attainment in Nigeria

Aims: This article measures educational inequalities between Northern and Southern regions of Nigeria and compare it with the educational distribution within regions.Study Design: A cross sectional study.Place and Duration of Study: Nigeria, 2012.Methodology: Theil Index and Decomposition Analysis.Results: Educational inequality is higher in the North than in the South as 17 out of 19 states of northern Nigeria have higher Theil index than the national Theil index. However, educational attainment and inequality are found to have a negative relationship.Conclusion: Within regions inequality rather than between regions is the main source of education inequality in Nigeria. There is a negative relationship between educational attainment and inequality. It implies that states with higher educational attainment are more likely to achieve more equitable distributions of education

Exploring critical success factors of energy management for sustainable building in Malaysian university

Universities are increasingly consuming energy due to its population with various activities. Thus, Malaysian Higher Education Ministry insisted all parties involved to take the initiatives in reducing the energy consumption. Focusing on the importance of practicing energy management (EM) effectively, this paper discusses the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) towards sustainable university. Structured interviews, pilot study and a questionnaire survey were conducted. The findings disclose the relative importance of the 23 number of identified CSFs. In order to explore the underlying relationship among the identified CSFs, factor analysis method was adopted, which leads to grouping the 23 identified CSFs into four group