MEANING OF ACCIDENT

MEANING OF ACCIDENT:

Accident is an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury. An accident can also be defined as an unplanned event that sometimes has convenient or undesirable consequences, other times being inconsequential. 

CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS AT SCHOOL

·         Bullying and assaults. Both bullying and fighting are common at school, and a school cannot be held responsible for every conflict. However, a school can be found negligent if it failed to properly supervise students at the time of the incident, knew that the aggressor was a trouble maker and took no action or knew that a fight or other dangerous situation was likely.

·         Slip and fall accidents. Water and debris in bathrooms, slippery floors from cleaning, book bags and other items strewn on classroom floors and food and drink spills in the cafeteria are a few of the causes of slip and fall accidents at schools. Children can suffer broken bones, spinal injuries, traumatic brain injury, and other serious injuries if they injure themselves in a fall.

·         School bus accidents. Negligent bus drivers can cause a tragic bus accident that can result in injuries to students in the bus or when they are pedestrians. Driver negligence, lack of training by the school district or bus maintenance issues are some of the causes of school bus accidents. Many school buses do not have seat belts, which can make the injuries that children suffer even worse. In addition, accidents can happen when children are horsing around on the bus without proper supervision from bus driver staff.

·         Playground accidents. Playground equipment gets a lot of wear and tear due to daily use and the weather. When it is not maintained and replaced when necessary or has a design or manufacturing defect, children can suffer devastating injuries in a fall or other accident while playing. In addition, many accidents are caused by the failure to properly supervise children who do not have the capacity to understand the dangers of the playground or the risks of certain behaviors.

·         Food poisoning. When cafeteria workers do not properly prepare and store food or an outside vendor provides tainted food, children can become seriously ill from food poisoning when they eat breakfast, lunch or other food provided by the school.

·         Sports activities. Some sports, particularly football, include inherent risks of injury, and students who voluntarily engage in the activity may not be able to sue the school for their injuries. However, when equipment is defective, basic safety measures are not followed or the school staff doesn’t provide proper supervision, an injured student may have a claim for compensation against the school.

CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS AT HOME

·         Falls

Ladders, step stools, stairs, shower stalls and chairs are just some of ways people fall in their home. Irregularities like uneven flooring, poorly installed doors and door jams, and loose hardwood or tile can also contribute to unintentional fall-related accidents.

·         Burns

Household fires claim more than 3,000 lives annually. Home fires can be the product of cooking, electrical outlet burn-out, short-circuiting, washer and dryer overheating, poorly maintained water heaters or furnaces or through other household mishaps.

·         Water

Drowning is the fifth-most leading cause of household deaths each year, accounting for nearly 800 fatalities annually. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to water-related household accidents and should be closely monitored around any standing water.

·         Falling objects 

When children start to move around on their own, there is an increased danger of them pulling objects down on top of themselves. 

·         Bruises

     Even a fall that isn't serious can lead to nasty bruising which can be quite painful. 

·         Sprains 

A sprain is when a ligament, which connects parts of a joint, is stretched, twisted or torn. Knees, ankles and wrists are the most common parts of the body affected.

PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS AT SCHOOL

(i) The school campus should be fenced properly to avoid various types of incidents which occur by playing in the nearby roads.

(ii) The children should be advised not to climb the compound wall of tree nearby as they may fall and their limbs or other parts of the body may be fractured or injured.

(iv) Children are very fond of pins, chalks and pencils. Sometimes they put them in their ears, mouths and nostrils and cause severe injury to them. They also swallow the pin unconsciously and put to great trouble. The small pencils or sticks may remain in their nostrils and ears such type of incidents can be avoided by the proper care of the teachers at the time of play most of the students are injured by fowl playing. So the P.E.T. should impress upon the students to follow the rules and regulations of different games correctly. It is seen that sometimes the children quarrel with each other for petty things and throw stones and bricks to each other which leads to major injury to the different parts of the body. So the students- should be taught not to quarrel with each other and the bad affects of it.

PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS AT HOME

FALL

Prevention:

• Keep floors free of toys and obstructions.
• Exercise close supervision when toddler learns to walk.
• Never leave babies unattended on raised surfaces.
• Check constantly floor surface for wear and tear.
• Keep floor dry.

CHOKING

Prevention:

• Choose toys appropriate to the age of children. Avoid toys with detachable small parts.
• Ensure small objects are kept out of reach of children.
• Pull cords on curtains and blinds should be kept short and out of reach of children.
• Strings and plastic bags should be kept out of reach of children.

BURN/SCALD

Prevention:

• For adults, never hold a hot drink/food and a child at the same time.
• Ensure milk, congee or other foodstuff is at a reasonable temperature before feeding.
• Ensure proper fence or door is installed at the entrance of kitchen. Such must be closed at all times. Instruct children not to go into kitchen.
• While cooking, pay extra attention to the stove fire and the cooking utensil. Turn the pan handle away from the front, and close to the wall.

POISONING

Prevention:

• Keep medicines and chemicals out of sight and reach of children, preferably in an isolated, locked cabinet.
• Always store chemicals in their original containers with appropriate labels.
• Never tell children drugs are “sweets” as this may give a wrong idea to children.

WHAT TO DO WHEN ACCIDENTS OCCUR

1. Don’t panic. Call for help if necessary.
2. Check the level of consciousness of the infant/child.
3. Examine the child if airway is clear (e.g. can talk, cry or not); if breathing is adequate and circulation is normal (observe colour of the face, depth and rate of breathing).
4. If breathing and circulation are normal, check for any other injuries on the body.
5. If bleeding occurs, ensure there is no foreign body in the wound. Apply direct pressure to stop bleeding by covering clean gauze on it and add pressure on the gauze by your hand. Elevate the injured limb.

6.    If deformity is seen on the injured part, do not move it and call for help immediately.

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF AN ACCIDENT VICTIM

1.    Check for danger

2.    Ask the victim about assistance

3.    Avoid moving the victim

4.    Check the airway

5.    Administer aid - as necessary

6.    Treat shock

7.    Comfort the victim

8.    Turn over care to emergency personnel

DISCUSS THE RELEVANCE OF BANK RECONCILIATION IN AN ICT ENVIRONMENT

DISCUSS THE RELEVANCE OF BANK RECONCILIATION IN AN ICT ENVIRONMENT

The meaning of Relevance

According to dictionary, it is defined as the quality or state of being closely connected or appropriate. Seen as the form of the adjective relevant which means important at hand.

It can however be also defined as the concept of one topic being connected to another topic in a way that makes it.

The meaning of Bank

A bank is a financial institution licensed to receive deposits and make loans. It may also provide financial services such as wealth management, currency exchange and safe deposit boxes and mostly regulated by the national government or central bank.

It can also be defined as an organization where people and businesses can invest or borrow money, change it to foreign money, etc.

The meaning of Reconciliation

This is defined in the dictionary to be the restoration of friendly relations. However, it can also be defined as an accounting process that compares two sets of records to check that figures are correct and in agreement and also confirms that accounts in the general ledger are consistent, accurate, and complete.

The meaning of ICT

This is an acronym that stands for Information and Communication Technologies. However, it refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications and similar to Information Technology IT, but only concerned or focuses primarily on communication technologies and enables users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.

The meaning of Environment

This is simply defined as the circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded.

Bank Reconciliation

When you reconcile your bank account, you compare your internal financial records against the records provided to you by your bank. A monthly reconciliation helps you identify any unusual transactions that might be caused by fraud or accounting errors, and the practice can help you spot inefficiencies.

How Bank Reconciliation Works

To reconcile your accounts, compare your internal record of transactions and balances to your monthly bank statement. Verify each transaction individually, making sure the amounts match perfectly, and note any differences that need more investigation.

Make sure that your bank statements show an ending account balance that agrees with your internal records. If the amounts don’t match, you need an explanation for the difference.

The process can be as formal or informal as you'd like, and some businesses create a bank reconciliation statement to document that they regularly reconcile accounts. If you don't complete the process monthly, you can perform it daily, quarterly, or for any other period you choose.

Where to gather information: Your accounting system should contain all of the internal transaction data you need, or you might keep your records in a check register (whether electronic or on paper). Your bank can provide online access to your account, allowing you to view and download transactions regularly for comparison. Some online accounting programs partially automate the process, although you still need to oversee the process.

If you’re familiar with balancing your checkbook, then you’re already familiar with bank reconciliation. You’re essentially doing the same thing for the same reason.

What if something doesn’t match? It’s normal to see minor differences due to timing, including items that haven't yet cleared the bank, but you should be able to easily explain those differences. For example: You might write a check to a vendor and reduce your account balance on internal systems accordingly, but your bank shows a higher balance until the check hits your account. Those checks are known as outstanding checks.

An automatic electronic payment might clear your account a day before or after the end of the month, and you might have expected to see it in a different month. When you can easily account for discrepancies, there’s probably no need to worry.

The Importance of Reconciling

A regular review of your accounts can help you identify problems before they get out of hand.

Business bank accounts receive less protection than consumer accounts under federal law, so it’s especially important for businesses to stop problems quickly. You can’t necessarily count on the bank to cover fraud or errors in your account.

Catch Fraud before its Too Late

Signs of fraud should be your priority when reconciling transactions in your bank account.

Were legitimate checks that you issued duplicated or changed, resulting in more money leaving your checking account? Were checks issued without authorization? Are there unauthorized transfers out of the account, or did anybody make unauthorized cash withdrawals? Does the account have any missing deposits?

Prevent Administrative Problems

Reconciling your account also helps you identify internal administrative issues that need attention. For example, you might need to reevaluate how you handle cash flow and accounts receivable, or perhaps change your recordkeeping system and the accounting processes you use.

Proper processes for managing your banking transactions result in outcomes such as the following:

1. Knowing how much cash you really have available in your accounts
2. Avoiding bounced checks (or making failed electronic payments) to partners and suppliers
3. Avoiding bank fees for insufficient funds or using lines of credit when you don’t really need to
4. Knowing if customer payments have bounced or failed, and determining if any action is needed
5. Keeping track of your outstanding checks and following up with payees
6. Making sure every transaction gets entered into your accounting system properly
7. Catching any bank errors

Advantages and Disadvantages of Bank Reconciliation

In bank reconciliation, the bank statement balance is reconciled, with the book bank account balance in the client’s books of accounts, resulting to the tallying of the two balances, where the calculated adjusted bank balance should be equal to the figure of the adjusted book bank balance. It involves a structured process of preparation, where forms, which contain pre-printed items, should leave out omission errors and are found on the back side of the hard copies of your monthly bank statement, making the entire process easier. However, this process also has its own set of drawbacks that should be looked into. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of bank reconciliation:

Advantages of Bank Reconciliation

1. It makes accounts to be in good standing.

Keeping your account in good standing through bank reconciliation means that, when you are aware about the amount that you can spend in your account, you are less likely to overdraw the account, which means withdrawing or attempting to withdraw more money than what your account have. Keep in mind that overdrawing will negatively affect your credit score and can prompt the bank to charge you fees. While some financial institutions offer overdraft protection, most often they would charge you or your company a fee for using such a service. And if you do not have such type of protection on your account, you will suffer worse consequences.

2. It prevents theft.

As you are going to compare your bank book’s transactions with the bank’s financial transactions, you will be able to spot transactions that are recorded by the institution, but are not in your records. As you can see, recording bank fees is a standard practice as you process your reconciliation, though it might a transaction that you have overlooked to record. By examining further the available original documents, these discrepancies will be revealed. Most importantly, this will reveal bank transactions that were initiated by unauthorized individuals who try to steal money from your account.

3. It will keep mistakes at bay.

You will know that a bank is reliable when it implements procedures to avoid making mistakes in your account, but unfortunately, mistakes do happen sometimes, with the most common being a simple entry error. Nevertheless, banks will be able to correct these mistakes when you point them out after you complete your reconciliation.

4. It helps you detect accounting errors.

By reconciliation, you will be able to detect accounting errors that commonly occurs in business, such as double payments, addition and subtraction errors, missed payments and lost checks. For example, if you have mistakenly recorded an invoice as “paid” on your ledger, bank reconciliation can reveal that you have forgotten to write the check. There are also cases where your bank committed an error in your favor, so you will be liable to return that money, even if you have already spent it.

5. It achieves accurate balance.

A bank reconciliation will reveal which cash transactions have been cleared with the bank and which of those are still outstanding. While a check is the most common form of transaction that would remain open at the end of the statement period, the bank may not clear it as of the ending date of the statement if you made a deposit at the end of the month.

Disadvantages of Bank Reconciliation

1. It can create checks that clear the bank after being voided.

As you may have noticed when making check transactions with your bank, if a check has remained “un-cleared” for a long period of time, you might have to void it and issue one for a replacement. Now, if a payee has cashed the original check that you have voided with the bank, the institution should reject it when the payee presents it. However, if you failed to void it, then it must be recorded with a credit to your cash account and a debit that indicates the reason for the payment, such as a decrease in a liability account, an increase in a cash account or an expense account. In a general sense, you should void such an un-cleared check with the bank at ounce if the payee has not yet cashed the replacement check, or you will be making a double payment that will require you to pursue repayment with the payee for the second check.

2. It can issue un-cleared checks that continue not to be presented.

As stated above, bank reconciliation creates un-cleared checks, which are residual checks that are not presented for payment for a long period of time or are never presented for payment at all. That is why you should treat them similarly as other un-cleared checks even if it is just in a short term, with you keeping them in the listing of un-cleared checks in your accounting to make them as ongoing reconciling items. In the long term, you should ask the payee if he/she ever received the checks to decide whether you need to void them and issue new ones.

3. It risks changes in the dates covered by the bank statement.

Another drawback with bank reconciliation that can cause problems is that bank statement dates can be altered in order to include or exclude some items. This situation can arise when someone at your company requests the bank to change the closing date for your bank account, which can lead to fraud.

4. It makes possible that deposited checks will be returned.

In some cases, your bank would refuse to deposit your check for reasons like you have drawn it on a foreign bank account. This means that you need to reverse the original entry on that deposit, which will become a credit to your cash account to reduce cash balance. Remember that this comes with a corresponding increase in your accounts receivable account.

5. It risks having missing transactions.

Bank reconciliations can have missing transactions. This can be caused by transactions that have been modified while reconciliation is still on process or transactions that have been reconciled in another method of reconciliation.

In conclusion, bank reconciliation is carried out in an ICT environment to introduce effective transparency and efficiency into a business’s accounting system, but it does have some drawbacks that you should be aware of. By doing so, you will be able to avoid problems along the way.