Mountain Hiking Safety Tips

Safety & Quality Control

Hiking, that’s the best thing there is! But there are also risks involved. Every year people are killed on the mountain trails in the Alps and other mountain areas. What can you do to be prepared on the road as safely as possible and to limit the risks along the way? In this blog, I will give you twelve tips that can help you enjoy the mountains without worries.

Get fit
A safe walk naturally starts with a fit body. Prepare yourself in the Netherlands for hiking in the mountains by exercising regularly. A visit to the gym can also help. Pay special attention to exercising your knees and hips, as these will put a lot of pressure on you during a hike in the mountains. Moreover, it can also be useful to have some walking kilometers in the legs in the Netherlands, preferably of course over a bit of rough terrain.

Wear properly fitting shoes (and other clothing) appropriate for the terrain
Consider in advance what kind of walks you want to do and which shoes are appropriate. On asphalt, gravel, and sandy paths you can still handle normal low walking shoes. But if you go off the road on smaller mountain paths where there are also many stones, then you need a sturdy sole. And if you are going to climb or descend with a backpack, your ankles need more support. For reasonably normal mountain hikes you quickly need a B shoe. This has a fairly stiff sole and offers good support for your feet. For your other clothing, think of well-fitting outdoor clothing, in different layers so that you can easily put something on or take it off depending on the temperature.

Build up the walks
The first day after arriving at your holiday destination, do not immediately start with a heavy day trip. Build up the walks, the first day a few hours, the second day half a day, the third day a whole day. If you are going directly for a hut tour, try to find a short stage on the first day.

Remember you have to get back down as well
Sometimes it is nice to mainly focus on the destination (mountain top!). You think, once I get there, all I have to do is go down. But also keep in mind that descent has its own difficulties. This puts a lot of pressure on your knees and you tend to run faster than is smart for your body. Calculate in advance how long it will take you approximately to descend and maintain a steady, easy pace and bend your knees well.

Make sure you have a good hiking map with you, GPS can fail
A hiking map is indispensable when you go into the mountains. Nowadays, you may be tempted to download an app or bring a GPS device. But be aware that the battery can suddenly fail, or your range can be lost. It is wise to always bring a detailed hiking map. A good hiking map for mountain hikes has a scale of at least 1: 50,000. Even better and more detailed are 1: 25,000 maps.

Bring plenty of water
Even if you are going for a short walk, it is important to bring water. You can roughly say that for a day trip you have to bring about one and a half to two liters per person (and drink it of course). In warm weather, however, this can also increase, especially if you are thirsty quickly. don’t you have enough water? Then determine whether water from a stream is safe to drink or not.

Take frequent breaks
During a mountain hike, breaks at regular intervals are important. This way your body can recover and get used to the height differences. It also gives time to have something to eat or drink, and of course to fully enjoy the view and the fun with your fellow walkers.

Leave the mountains safe, clean, and beautiful for other mountain enthusiasts
You would say that everyone understands this tip, but there are still people who regularly leave waste in the mountains, behind bushes or stones. Nobody sees it, right? Wrong, because during a whole year the mountains are constantly in motion due to wind and erosion. And in addition, animals can come to the waste, and for example mistake plastic for a tasty snack. It is a small effort to put a waste bag in your backpack during every walk.

Stay on the marked trails
It is sometimes tempting when you know that the path is further ahead and you suspect that there is a faster shortcut. When it is not marked, you better choose to just follow the path. Sometimes it is difficult to read the landscape with all the differences in height, and so it can happen that you suddenly lose sight of the path when you walk in a valley. Before you know it, you will be walking in the wrong direction.

Be careful around snowfields
Especially in the spring and autumn, but even in high summer it can happen that you find a snowfield on the hiking route. Always be suspicious of this. You do not know whether the field at the bottom has completely melted away, or whether a river runs underneath, for example. If it is possible to walk around it, do this. Otherwise, use hiking poles to test the strength of the snow.

Watch the weather
In the mountains, the weather can sometimes change just like that. Always take rain gear with you, even if the weather forecast says it will be a sunny day. At the end of the afternoon, there are frequent thunderstorms in the high mountains.

Being Safe Online: What you have to do

Learning, Safety & Quality Control

Learn to live a safe life together, both real and virtual.

KEEP SECRETS

Personal data (name, surname, address, date of birth, document numbers) can only be entered on government websites or on ticket purchase websites. And only if the connection is established via the https protocol like Convert mp3 Youtube. A green padlock icon should appear to the left of the website address – this means that the connection is secure.

BE ANONYMOUS

When creating your profile on social networks, you need to avoid being tied to the “physical” world as much as possible. You cannot indicate your address, date of birth, school, class. It is better to use an obvious pseudonym: it should be clear from it that this is not a real name.

KEEP PHOTOS OUT OF REACH

The rules for publishing your own photos are very simple – if you do not want them to become public, you cannot post them on the Internet and send them to someone using it. Generally. Even messengers “know how” to copy correspondence to the “cloud”, so you can lose control over your pictures.

If something was sent somewhere or published somewhere, it went to the Net. It is important to remember that in no case should you upload photographs of documents – your own or someone else’s. And photos of other people should only be posted if they agree to it.

BE VIGILANT

The bad news is that you can’t delete anything. Anything that gets into the Web or even a smartphone will remain there forever. Typically, it is impossible to erase data from the Network. The only way to avoid information leakage is not to share it.

DON’T GIVE YOUR LOCATION

Geolocation data allows the whole world to find out where you live and study, spend your free time, in what actions you participate, what shows and performances you like, how you relax. Tracking the location of a person is now easy. To make geolocation as safe as possible, you need to make sure that the location is not displayed on “searchable” objects – especially in photographs. On phones, in the camera settings, as a rule, you can disable geotagging.

LEARN TO SPOT FAKE WEBSITES

Phishing is a way to steal data from a person: username, account name and password. It happens like this: the user is sent a link to the site, very similar to the real address of a postal service or social network. Typically, phishers specifically buy such domains. The attacker waits for a person to enter a username or password on a fake site. So he finds out the data, and then uses it to enter the real profile of his victim.

BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR PURCHASES

The main financial losses usually occur through the telephone. It is necessary to activate the services of blocking paid content, not to put a lot of money on the account of the children’s phone and control expenses. All other payments must be agreed with the parents and only take place under their supervision.

All services that accept money must have a green “https” icon next to their name. If there is no such icon, it is better not to use the page. However, even its presence does not give one hundred percent guarantee.

THE MAIN SECRET OF NETWORK SECURITY

You don’t need to do anything on the Internet that you would not do in the physical world. The difference between virtual and real reality is minimal. As far as parental behavior is concerned, it shouldn’t be different from offline behavior either. Obedience cannot be obtained from a child through prohibitions and strict control. However, there should be no feeling of permissiveness on the Internet either.

Important Safety Tips When Purchasing Toys

Health and Wellness, Safety & Quality Control,

Toys are not only a source of fun and relaxation. Shopping sites like Amazon offer fun toys that children will really love. Check out Medium for fun toy list for a tween boy. Toys allow children to discover the world around them, develop new skills, and make friends. However, one cannot stress enough the importance of allowing children to play safely. For children under the age of five, toys are in fourth place in the top ten causes of accidents.

Toys can contain substances or small parts that are dangerous to your child. The European Commission, together with toy manufacturers, traders, exporters, and consumer associations, has collected the most important safety tips for the smart purchase and proper use of toys.

Important Safety Tips When Purchasing Toys

  • Never buy toys without a CE label(on the packaging or on the toy itself). Although the CE mark is not intended as a consumer mark, the manufacturer does indicate that the toy complies with EU safety regulations. However, this does not provide a conclusive guarantee for health and safety.
  • Always read the warnings and safety instructions on the packaging in advance. These warnings must be accompanied by a brief indication of the specific hazard on which this precaution is based, which may be included in the instructions for use. For example, chemical toys (eg chemistry boxes, preserving sets, ceramic miniature sets) should be specified as being used under adult supervision.
  • Choose toys that are appropriate for the child’s age and abilities. Take age and safety recommendations seriously. Especially the 0-3 symbol or the statement “not suitable for children under 3 years” should not be ignored.
  • Buy well-finished and sturdy toys.
    • Preferably unbreakable toys for small children.
    • Sharp edges, corners, and points are taboo.
    • Check that the contents cannot be released easily (such as animals that can be easily picked or bitten open, causing plastic balls or pieces of foam rubber to come out).
    • Make sure that the fingers cannot be trapped.
  • Follow the installation and operating instructions carefully. Keep the instructions and information supplied with the toy in a safe place.
  • Supervise while your children play. Make sure all toys are used as intended and appropriate for the child’s age and abilities. Toys with projectiles (guns, catapults…) can cause injuries, for example. Make sure that younger children play with the toys intended for them and not the toys of an older sibling that could be dangerous to them.
  • Make sure that small children play separately from the older ones. For example, the big ones can play at the table, so that the little ones cannot reach it. If there are toys that the youngest should really not touch, let the oldest play with them after the youngest has gone to bed.
  • If young and old play together, then with the youngest’s toys or play along yourself.
    Do not allow young children to play alone with (uninflated) balloons because of the risk of suffocation.
    Do not let children hold toys with loud noises close to the ear.
  • Teach your child (ren) to store their toys to avoid accidents. Do not leave toys lying around on stairs or in busy areas of the house. A toy box must have air openings and must not be able to close automatically.

Parents hold the responsibility for the safety of their children. Therefore, it is important to be meticulous when choosing toys for your children.

When Online Games Take Control – Ensure The Safety Of Your Children

Safety & Quality Control,

Millions of people in this country spend their time playing computer games. Many children and young people in particular. For most, it’s just a hobby that is fun like diablo 2 runes that you can play on the YesGamers site. But some of them can not let go of the online world. Computer game addiction has recently even been recognized as a disease recognized by the WHO. But when can you speak of an addiction? Due to the corona crisis, our children have to spend more time at home. Under certain circumstances, online game consumption may also increase.

Securing Your Kids Online

Almost three in four teenagers play online games regularly

Almost three-quarters of all young people between the ages of 12 and 17 regularly play on the computer. Almost 90 percent of boys and a good 50 percent of girls. This was the result of a study published last year by the German Center for Addiction Issues, for which around 1,000 young people were interviewed. Games like Fortnite, FIFA or Minecraft are therefore very popular with the boys.

 

Most of them don’t need to be worried about. But at least 15.4 percent of minors are at least so-called risk gamers according to the study. Around 465,000 adolescents – almost 80 percent of them are male – display risky or pathological behavior in the sense of gaming addiction. They sit in front of the screen for many hours every day, are absent from school more often, have more emotional problems and spend significantly more money than peers who spend less time playing computer games. According to the study, 3.3 percent of young people even meet the criteria of real behavioral addiction.

No real data on the online behavior of children

The WHO has now also registered the problem and last year recognized computer game addiction under the English term Gaming Disorder as an independent disease and included it in its worldwide catalog of clinical pictures ICD (International Classification of Diseases). Experts hope that this will make it easier to diagnose and treat computer game addiction. According to the criteria of the WHO – according to preliminary data – around 3 percent of all computer gamers are considered dependent. The worldwide numbers seem to be similar to those in this country.

It can be assumed that around 560,000 people in the country are online dependent. It is still unclear how many children are already affected by the problem. In view of the increasing game consumption by many kindergarten and elementary school children, their parents are becoming more and more concerned.

In a real addiction, negative consequences are ignored

To speak of a real addiction, however, a number of factors have to come together. “Loss of control is a central symptom,” says Professor Christian Montag, who heads the Molecular Psychology Department at Ulm University and has been dealing with the topics of computer game addiction and smartphone addiction for many years. “Playing is becoming more and more important and other things are being neglected,” says Montag. “Even if there is a threat of negative consequences, the game will continue.”

In addition, gaming must be so excessive that it leads to significant impairments in professional or private life, for example losing an apprenticeship position or a relationship breaks down. For a reliable diagnosis, the behavior described should also persist for at least twelve months because there should be a line to distinguish healthy gaming behavior which is unnecessarily classified as pathological according to experts.

Parents should review their children’s online behavior critically

“Especially during inpatient therapy, when the addict stays in the clinic for a certain period of time, after initial difficulties it is usually not too difficult to do without the beloved game or smartphone,” says the Ulm scientist Montag. “The much greater challenge is to remain steadfast in the subsequent everyday life.” The goal is not to completely abstain from the computer or mobile phone, but simply to use the devices differently – especially when there is a real addiction, to renounce that However, it could contain a previous favorite game or a certain app. According to Wildt, filter software, as it is primarily intended for children, can be helpful.

Montag advises anyone who has barely been able to put their smartphone down in their hands before they no longer carry the device in their jacket pocket, but rather stowed it away in a backpack, for example. The automated reaching for the cell phone is made more difficult. “We all have to learn again to create more mobile phone-free zones,” says Montag. At the dining table, for example, the device should generally be taboo. Such measures should also and especially apply to concerned parents, the expert emphasizes. “Children learn on the model,” he says. “That’s why parents should also critically review their own behavior again and again.” In addition, no child should be given their own smartphone or computer before the age of 12, recommends Montag.

Quality control and the tasks of quality management

Safety & Quality Control,

When quality control and quality management is about the quality of a company – this affects all possible areas, such as manufacturing and its various processes, such as the materials or processes used or service. Before launchingsite, experts have to check its quality.

What are the tasks of quality management?

Quality management is an important interface in the company, where many of the individual areas in the company come together to accelerate processes, among other things.

Specialists and executives in quality management not only have to constantly control the production processes e.g. planning, material procurement, construction and production, but also the processes outside of production e.g. marketing, product management and logistics in order to work out options to harmonize individual areas. That is why quality management has different work areas and correspondingly different tasks.

Tasks in production

  • Develop quality systems that can be used anywhere in the company
  • Monitoring and control of the production processes in the company, with a focus on compliance with official standards such as ISO, VDA etc.
  • Creation and regular updates of a guideline to openly define the quality values ​​in the company for all employees
  • Recording of production errors, for example, in order to be able to correct and avoid them
  • Cost control in the company
  • Appropriate use of quality techniques in manufacturing processes
  • Defining a company’s goals for the future, as well as planning these goals in advance

Tasks in material testing

  • Check on the arrival of goods/supplies and their condition
  • Analysis of the material with a focus on function and possible loss of quality, e.g. caused by shipping
  • Evaluation and recording through test reports
  • Development of strategies in the field of material testing
  • Digitization in databases
  • Material technology advice

Advisory tasks

  • Determination of the quality requirements of the company as well as the national and international customers
  • Responsibility and support with customer complaints
  • Guarantee of cooperation between individual company areas
  • Training of new employees
  • Continuous advice center for questions regarding quality, sales processes and problems
  • Evaluate decisions in the company, such as the choice and evaluation of suppliers

The aim of quality management is to combine and improve areas in the company in order to be able to work more efficiently and to save costs in the long term.

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