Showing 1 - 10 of 13
Early Childhood Learning: It’s never too soon to start
Christopher Bruton, Published on 19/11/2019
» Christopher F. Bruton interviews Rose Marie Wanchupela and Wanchai Chaiyasit of Rose Marie Academy.
Safety and Security: a survival checklist
Christopher Bruton, Published on 14/08/2018
» Whether we are assailed by drought, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, land-slides or violent assaults, never a day passes without some kind of traumatic crisis somewhere in the world, often uncomfortably nearby. In many cases, the crises were unpredictable or unpreventable, such as the 2004 Tsunami, the recent 2018 Lombok earthquakes or Japanese floods. In other cases, these crises could have been avoided, such as the stranded Wild Boar football team in a Chiang Rai cave, or the drowning of 47 tourists venturing out to sea in Phuket during a gale-force storm.
The World Cup Season Approaches: testing times for work/life balance
Christopher Bruton, Published on 11/06/2018
» Between 14 June and 15 July, the 2018 World Cup Season will take place at 12 stadium locations in Russia, with a total of 64 matches between 32 national teams. The series of matches will be watched by between 50,000 and 80,000 stadium attendees per match, depending on location capacity. But judging by past experience, total world-wide viewing could exceed 3 billion people, with over one billion viewers for the World Cup final match on 15 July in Moscow.
Thailand's challenge: Rich in ambitions, poor in people skills?
Christopher Bruton, Published on 22/05/2017
» Announcement of visionary and ambitious plans has become almost routine. The year 2017 will apparently not be an election year (nothing new about that) but has begun with boom times in the planning sector. In January 2017, we were treated to announcements about "Thailand 4.0". These were soon followed by further revelations about the "Eastern Economic Corridor". These schemes are all part of government strategies to move Thailand into "Thriving in the 21st century: security, prosperity and sustainability". The 21st century has been going for quite a while now, but "better late than never", and "never" had become quite a routine in recent years.
Workplace Cooperatives: a sound way to save
Christopher Bruton, Published on 13/12/2016
» Recently, we featured the pioneering work of iCare Benefits, a zero interest cost employee benefits program. This scheme now serves over 3.1 million workers in more than 1,300 factories in an increasing number of countries, including Thailand. However, even before iCare Benefits reached Thailand, there were already worker cooperatives undertaking savings schemes. These worker cooperatives now have the opportunity to work together with iCare Benefits, joining alongside factory managements and trade union local branches to provide cost-effective benefits for workers.
Maintaining Office Security
Christopher Bruton, Published on 07/11/2016
» Continuing our series on various aspects of preventive security for staff and visitors, we are pleased to present the following interview with Matthias Hoffrichter, Business Development Director, PCS Security and Facility (Thailand) Ltd. This explains some of the issues involved in maintaining security of office and factory premises to assure the safety of both staffers and visitors. Security can come alongside some inconvenience, but this is surely better than suffering potential damage and injury from terrorism or violence.
Forewarned is forearmed: staff safety training
Christopher Bruton, Published on 31/10/2016
» In our series on security, safety and risk mitigation, we have highlighted various risk situations along with preventive measures. But despite every precaution, risks can always arise. We need, therefore, to be prepared to protect ourselves, our colleagues and our families. To obtain guidance on how we can train ourselves and others to confront risk situations when they arise, we invited Stefan Spiess, a martial arts expert and operator of Advance Conflict Training (ACT) to explain how he trains security professionals, business groups, families and children in security awareness and response. Stefan can be reached at stefan@global-safety.net Web site: www.actinthailand.com Stefan offers the following advice:
Mobilising senior citizen manpower
Christopher Bruton, Published on 25/10/2016
» We have previously discussed Thailand's ageing population and the need to extend the working life of the active population. Older workers can be successful, effective workers. But they need special management skills, motivation and guidance for both employers and workers in order to gain maximum benefit. Research by Britain's University of Leicester (Vanessa Beck and Glynne Williams: Managing Older Workers) provides valuable insights into strategies for success.
Creating a safe office environment
Christopher Bruton, Published on 17/10/2016
» There is no such thing as a completely safe office environment. Unless an organisation has the need, and the resource allocation necessary, to make its offices into a secure fortress, as does the US Embassy in Bangkok, then one always runs the risk of penetration by unfriendly forces. But let’s assume that you are not at risk from rocket attacks from a distance, or a bomb dropped off from an unmanned drone. Under normal circumstances, an organisation can at least take reasonable steps to assure security for staffers and welcome visitors, as well as protecting staffers from visitors who turn out to be unwelcome guests. We asked Chuck Krueger of Ackerman Group for his suggestions, and the following are some of the salient points from his experienced advice.
Assuring airport and airline safety for staffers
Christopher Bruton, Published on 03/10/2016
» In last week's article, we considered the important topic of residential safety for corporate staff. This week a second, equally vital topic of assuring, as far as practically possible, the safety of staff when travelling overseas on business or vacations is discussed.