Verbal

This fascinating book provides a vital repertoire of non-verbal images - to help activate the right side of any manager s brain. 

We have already mentioned that real-world data have drawbacks which must be detected and removed. We have also mentioned outliers and redundancy. So far, only intuitive definitions have been given. Now, aimed with information theory, we are going firom the verbal model to an algebraic one. 

John von Neuman, one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century, believed that the sciences, in essence, do not try to explain, they hardly even try to interpret they mainly make models. By a model he meant a mathematical construct that, with the addition of certain verbal interpretations, describes observed phenomena. The justification of such a mathematical construct is solely and precisely that it is expected to work. Stephen Hawking also believes that physical theories are just mathematical models we construct and that it is meaningless to ask whether they correspond to reality, just as it is to ask whether they predict observations. 

Most observations in chemistry come from ex periments If we do enough experiments we may see a pattern running through our observations A /aw is a mathematical (the law of gravity) or verbal (the law of diminishing returns) description of that pattern Establishing a law can lead to the framing of a rule that lets us predict the results of future experiments This IS what the 1870 version of Markovnikov s rule is a statement based on experimental observations that has predictive value... 

Environmental exposures to PCBs are significantly lower than those reported in the workplace and are therefore unlikely to cause adverse human health effects in adults. However, it is apparent from the results of several recent studies on children that there was a correlation between in utero exposure to PCBs, eg, cord blood levels, and developmental deficits (65—68) including reduced bkth weight, neonatal behavior anomaUes, and poorer recognition memories. At four years of age, there was stiU a correlation between prenatal PCB exposure levels and short-term memory function (verbal and quantitative). In these studies the children were all exposed to relatively low environmental levels of PCBs. Although these effects may be related to other contaminants, it is clear that this is an area of concern regarding the potential adverse human health impacts of PCBs. 

Pass on verbal memos when written correspondence isn t required... 

The operators have been given instructions on unit operation. Most of these are written and should have been studied prior to the meeting. Others may be verbal or implied. While this is not optimal, verbal instruc tions and operating experience are still part of every unit. It is not unusual that different shifts will have different operation methods. While none of the shift operations may be incorrect, they do lead to variability in operation and different performance. What-if ques-... 

At shift change the operator verbally told the relief operator what process steps remained. The relief operator tested for, and detected unreacted monomer in the copolmerization process. In an attempt to complete the reaction, the relief operator added additional initiator to the reactor a runaway reaction promptly occurred. 

Ensure that communications (verbal and writen) are sufficent to ensure safe transition of operating responsibility at shift change... 

Example 1 the English pronunciation of benzene sounds like benzyne in Dutch, consequently a verbal instruction to add benzene to a process in distress could have dire consequences. 

The confidential nature of individual records should be respected and therefore the assessor may have to rely on the verbal assurance of the personnel manager. 

Once the sizes of the major equipment items are known, there are several ways to get the cost of each. By far the most accurate is to get quotations from vendors. This is difficult to do in the early stages of a project because many equipment details are not known. Also, the time between making the preliminary study and purchasing the equipment is so long that the quotation ages, and vendors cannot afford to prepare quotations on every preliminary study. However, many vendors are very cooperative in providing verbal prices or " estimating quotations. Often, the vendor is the only source for accurate cost information. 

Commercially, polyethylene is produced from ethylene, the polymer being produced by this route in March 1933 and repotted verbally by Fawcett in 1935. The basic patent relating to the polymerisation of ethylene was applied for by ICI on 4th February 1936 and accepted on 6th September 1937. 

Cover means of communicating health and safety information m all workplaces. Include illuminated signs, alarms, verbal communication, fire safety signs, marking of pipework, etc. 

To conclude, this sampling of the literature of risk perception, the comments of Covello, 1981 may be summarized. Surveys have been of small specialized groups - generally not representative of the population as a whole. There has been little attempt to analyze the effects of ethnicity, religion, sex, region age, occupation and other variables that may affect risk perception. People respond to surveys with the first thing that comes to mind and tend to stick to this answer. They provide an answer to any question asked even when they have no opinion, do not understand the question or have inconsistent beliefs. Surveys are influenced by the order of questions, speed of response, whether a verbal or numerical respon.se is required and by how the answer is posed. Few Studies have examined the relationships between perceptions of technological hazards and behavior which seems to be influenced by several factors such as positive identification with a leader, efficacy of social and action, physical proximity to arenas of social conflict. 

The standard allows for undocumented verbal orders but requires that the order requirements are agreed before their acceptance. The third party auditor cannot confirm conformity with this requirement as there will be no objective evidence to substantiate the transaction other than the payment invoice. If the supplier confirms the agreement in writing a written statement of requirement exists. The standard does not stipulate that the agreement has to be documented only that the requirements need to be documented regardless of who produced them. The only evidence that the requirements were adequately defined is therefore the payment from the customer against the supplier s invoice. 

Whether or not you have submitted a formal tender, any offer you make in response to a requirement is a kind of tender. Where a customer s needs are stated and you offer your product, you are implying that it responds to your customer s stated needs. You need to ensure that your tender is compatible with your customer s needs otherwise the customer may claim you have sold a product that is not fit for purpose . If the product or service you offer is in any way different than the requirement, you need to point this out to your customer in your tender or in negotiations and reach agreement. Always record the differences in the contract. Don t rely on verbal agreements as they can be conveniently forgotten when it suits one party or the other. 

Evidence (verbal or written) that gives confidence that something will or will not happen or has or has not happened. 

Any adverse report (verbal or written) received by a supplier from a customer. 

The report says that when communicating by radio, no action should be taken until the message has been acknowledged, but this is nowhere near sufficient. Power should not have been restored until the crews working on both units had signed off written per-mits-to-work. Verbal communication alone is never adequate. 

Another incident occuned when contractors were employed to clean several black oil tanks, 4,500-m capacity, so they could be used for the storage of kerosene. The details of the contract were agreed verbally. After removing solid residues and the heater coils, the tanks would be sprayed w ith hot water and a detergent. Floodlights were suspended through roof manholes and were to be removed before the tanks were sprayed. 

As described earlier, in the first stage of perception, information is acquired via the senses from a number of sources. These may include gauges and chart recorders, VDU screens in a control room, verbal communication with individuals on the plant, or direct observation of process variables. In the short term, this information provides feedback with regard to specific control actions. 

Useful protocols can only be produced for information that is coded in a verbal form in memory. Tasks that rely on visual imagery for their execution, or have become "automated" due to over-practice wiU be very difficult to verbalize. Hence the technique may provide little useful information and may even produce misleading reports for these tasks. To encourage task verbalization some coaching should be given to the task experts and the goals of the study should be explained so that they can make greater efforts to report on aspects of the task which are of particular importance. 

Observations are appropriate for recording physical task sequences, or verbal interactions among several people. They are not suitable for collecting precision performance data, or studying cognitive tasks which involve covert mental processing. 

A range of other data collection techniques are used in conjunction with process simulation such as interviews, the verbal protocols described earlier, walk-throughs and questionnaires. An appropriate analysis of the task is necessary in order to determine the nature of the simulation to be used. An... 

To elicit the knowledge of experienced workers that cannot be verbalized easily... 

Write down the sources of information that the worker might use in the real situation including information provided verbally by his colleagues. 

One day, the lead operator gave verbal and written instructions, via a second worker, to the top floor man to pump solvent to 12A blender. The top floor man actually pumped the solvent to 21A blender, as a result of connecting the hose to the 21A blender pipe and not the 12A blender pipe. Consequently the solvent pumped to 21A blender was charged on top of another batch already in 21A blender. The contaririnated batch had to be pumped back into a reactor where the mischarged solvent was removed by the application of vacuum. 

Ainsworth, L. K., Whitfield, D. (1984). "The Use of Verbal Protocols for Analyzing Power Station Control Skills." Report No. 114, Applied Psychology Dept., Aston University, Birmingham, U.K. 

Bainbridge, L. (1974). Analysis of Verbal Protocols from a Process Control Task. In E. Edwards F. P. Lees (Eds.), The Human Operator in Process Control. Washington, DC Taylor Francis. 

Verbal Protocol Analysis Technique in which the person is asked to give a "self-commentary" as he or she imdertakes a task. 

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