Sunday, April 14, 2013

Thailand Amulets

Amazing Thailand Amulets, Thai Buddhism, Good luck buddhist Amulets, Famous Thai Guru Monks, Charms, Thai Amulets collector and collection. Buddha and unbelievable miracle Stories, Siam Pendant Photo, latest information online.

















Luang Phor Thuad was born in B.E 2125 (1582) in Suan Chan Village, Chumphol Dustrict, Sathing Phra in Songkla (Southern Thailand). His parent was Khun Hu and Mae Chan, a poor couple living in the place of Shrentthi Pan, the wealthy landlord. His parents name their child as “Pu” (meaning crab).

When Pu (Luang Phor Thuad) was less than 6 months old, he was placed in a towel under a shady tree near the padi field while his mother was working.At noon she ceased work for a time in order to breast-feed him. As she walked towards the baby, she saw a huge python twine round him.She alarmed for help. The neighbours quickly gathered knives, axes and clubs and came round. The python was stern and motionless. The people around did not know what to do. No one dared to start the attack and suddenly,his mother gets an idea. With the old belief that this snake might be the god created vision. She quickly plucked seven wild flowers of different colours, put then on a leaf which served as a plate, knelt down, closed her eyes, and prayed earnestly.The python spit out a crystal ball on the baby’s chest and left out soon. It was a brilliant crystal ball.Many people gathered round to have a look at it. His mother then kept the gem and brought him home.

A rich man offered a very good price for the crystal ball, but his mother did not wish to sell it. The rich man forced her.At last she presented it to him. The rich man was happy but for only a while. Within three days, all members in his family fell ill. He consulted a medium and was told that he had kept something which did not belong to him by right. Only the baby boy could own it.The rich man was frightened and returned the crystal ball to the baby’s mother. Within 3 months, money poured in like water. His parents became very rich. The neighbours were jealous. They stole the crystal ball. They were chased by the python till they threw it into a pit.Later a deity revealed the whereabouts of the crystal ball to his parents in their dreams, thus the precious crystal ball was recovered. His parents became more devoted to the Buddha.They generously helped the poor, made offerings to the Sangha (Monk) and built temples.


One of the famous monk that is very efficious in making Luang Phor Thuad amulets is Archan Tim of Wat Changhai. Other than Archan Tim, Archan Nong of Wat SaiKow amulets can be use like Archan Tim amulets.


Luang Phor Thuad began to learn about the Buddhist teaching in a temple nearby at the age of 5 years old. Rather talented as he was, he mastered all subjects his teacher could guide him within a year. He went to other temples over the hill and across the jungle to acquire further teaching every day. He became a monk at the age of 12 years old and devoted a full time study in the Dharma. His father passed away at the age of 72 years old when he was 30 years old. In order to further the studies in Buddhism, he left his mother and went to other province.

From the present location, Wat Pakok, Singora, Thailand, Luang Phor Thuad took a boat sailing northward to Ayuthaya province (former capital of Thailand). After sailing for half a day, the boat met with great storms. The boat was jolted and the passengers were frightened. The boat did not arrive at its destination after drifting for several days. The store of drinking water ran short. The boatmen gathered that their previous voyages had all been very smooth.The catastrophe might have been caused by the presence of the monks.They planned to push him into the sea. He could sense their intention. He consoled them that they needed not worry about drinking water as there was plentiful around. He stretched his leg out of the boat, the storm was pacified. With his leg, he drew a circle on the sea and told the boatmen to draw water within the circle for drinking.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

What Is Environmental Management System?

What Is ISO 14001 Environmental Management System?

ISO 14000 is primarily concerned with Environmental Management. In plain language, this means what the organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities.

Improving the environmental performance of corporations is one way of limiting environmental damage. Environmental management systems (EMS’s), such as ISO 14001, provide a framework for organizations that wish to effectively manage their environmental affairs. Implementing an EMS that conforms to the ISO 14001 standard may help businesses integrate environmental values into their operations.

An EMS can be described as a program of continuous environmental improvement that follows a defined sequence of steps drawn from established project management practice and routinely applied in business management. In simple terms these steps are as follows:
• Review the environmental consequences of the operations.
• Define a set of policies and objectives for environmental performance.
• Establish an action plan to achieve the objectives.
• Monitor performance against these objectives.
• Report the results appropriately.
• Review the system and the outcomes and strive for continuous improvement.
Not every system will present these steps in exactly the same way, but the basic principles are clear and easily understandable.

The ISO 14000 series is a series of standards for different aspects of environmental management. A number of these standards relating to environmental management systems have been adopted formally by the members of the ISO, while others are in different stages of preparation.

ISO 14000 is a group of standards covering the following areas:
Environmental Management Systems (14001,14002, 14004)
•Environmental Auditing (14010, 14011, 14012)
•Evaluation of Environmental Performance (14031)
•Environmental Labeling (14020, 14021, 14022, 14023, 14024, 14025)
•Life-Cycle Assessment (14040, 14041,14042, 14043)

Friday, October 9, 2009

The Development of EMS Standards

The world’s first standard for environmental management systems (EMS) – BS 7750 – wasdeveloped and published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) in 1992. This standard was the model for the ISO 14000 Series developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO 14001, which establishes the requirements for an EMS, was finalized in 1996. BS 7750 was also the basis for the European Union’s Eco-Management and Audit scheme, known as EMAS.
ISO is an international standard and therefore must incorporate the different interests ofmany countries. This standard clearly has the weakest requirements. By contrast, EMAS is the most stringent and detailed standard reflecting the high environmental standards of German interests and companies which played a key role developing it.
Because ISO 14001 and EMAS are both based on BS 7750, all three standards arequite similar in their approach. If your organization complies with BS 7750 today, little effort will be needed to fullfill the requirements of ISO 14001 or EMAS. Be aware however, that EMAS emphasizes public environmental reporting.
Today there are two major areas in the evaluation of environmental management practice.One area focuses on organizational issues, and the other on products, services and processes.

1. Organization Evaluation
a. Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001, 14004)
b. Environmental Performance Evaluation (ISO 14014, 14015, 14031)
c. Environmental Auditing (ISO 14010, 14011, 14012, 14013, 14014)

2. Products, Services and Processes

a. Life Cycle Assessment (ISO 14040, 14041, 14042, 14043)

b. Environmental Labeling (ISO 14020, 14021, 14022, 14023, 1402X)

c. Environmental Aspects in Product Standards (ISO 14060)

Conducting An Initial Environmental Review For EMS

Conducting An Initial Environmental Review in ISO 14001 EMSAn initial environmental review covers all the aspects of an EMS. As a result of this review the organization knows its strengths and weaknesses, risks and opportunities regarding the current status of its EMS. The gap between the requirements of the EMS standard and the actual status of the organization shows which aspects the organization should focus its efforts on to improve the system. This leads directly to the development of an environmental management program that should fill the gaps.The Environmental review should focus on three key areas:- Examination of existing environmental management practices and procedures- Identification of significant environmental impacts and their priority- Identification of legal and regulatory requirements1. Examination of Existing Environmental Management Practices andProceduresThe methodology for assessing existing environmental management practices and procedures is proposed here using a questionnaire. The review team fills out this questionnaire by interviewing appropriate people, by analyzing existing documents and procedures dealing with environmental issues and by collecting information about environmental aspects of the organization’s operations, products and services.By conducting the initial environmental review, an organization-specific profile of strengths and weaknesses can be drawn up. Because the score in each EMS area shows the effort needed in terms of financial and human resources,the organization knows where to focus its efforts when building up an EMS and where the largest effort is needed.
2. Identification of Significant Environmental Aspects and their PriorityAn environmental policy requires top management to set priorities regarding environmental aspects. An initial review clearly shows where to set priorities regarding the EMS itself. But, it does not help to set priorities among different environmental problems. Many top managers feel pressure to do something for the environment and thus embark on some form of ?Eenvironmental activism?E often containing many isolated activities, but no clear direction. One way to solve this problem is to develop a so called ?Environmental exposure portfolio?EThe first step of this portfolio analysis is to assess the exposure and therefore the importance of different environmental aspects for an organization’s overall performance.The appropriate perspective and priorities of the environmental policy will differ depending on this preliminary analysis. The analysis should be conducted from the perspective of the stakeholders of the organization, their needs and their importance for the success of the organization. The degree of exposure to different environmental aspects should guide the involvement and perspective of an organization when implementing an EMS. Evaluating exposure to environmental aspects is important, because this exposure is likely to influence the organization’s success sooner or later, either through new legislation, public or consumer perception and behavior or otherwise.The analysis of the expected exposure of an organization to different environmental problems and the weight given to these aspects by various stakeholders enables management to focus on environmental issues that are a high priority to the organization. This is represented in the quadrant in the upper right corner of the environmental exposure portfolio. However, the two quadrants on the left must also be observed, although less vigorously. Issues with low public priority, to which the firm contributes heavily become a problem as soon as the perception of the stakeholders and the public environmental policy changes (the quadrant in the upper left corner of the portfolio). That this can happen very rapidly is obvious, for example from Shell`s ?Brent Spar?Edumping case (detailed information about this case is available from Shell or Greenpeace at their respective WWW-sites). Investments in new production technology, products and services can increase the environmental impact of the organization when not anticipated early enough. In this case, a problem ranked in the lower right corner of the portfolio would shift to the field with the highest priority. Problems ranked in the lower left corner are of no priority. No measures should be taken here.
3. Identification of Legal and Regulatory RequirementsThe identification of legal and regulatory requirements assesses two levels of an organization:- production-related environmental regulations- product- and service-related environmental regulationsThe former addresses the production department while the latter addresses the marketingand R&D departments. Basically, three questions must be answered:- Which are the relevant environmental regulations? (= target)- Is the current situation in the organization known? (= actual)- Does the organization comply with relevant regulations? (=gap)The methodology used here is a questionnaire. To obtain information about environmental regulations the following information sources can be used:- governmental authorities- industry associations- daily newspaper- university publications (law departments)

Emergency Preparedness and Response In ISO 14001

Emergency Preparedness and Response In ISO 14001
Under the Emergency Preparedness and Response requirement of ISO 14001:2004 (§4.4.7), the organization is required to establish procedures for identifying the potential for and responding to emergency situations and accidents that can have an impact on the environment.
Identification of Potential Emergency and Accident Situations – Experience indicates that organizations infrequently have a preexisting procedure for identifying potential emergency and accident situations.The norm is to establish emergency and accident responses for a variety of emergency and accident situations irrespective of the potential for their occurrence. But ISO 14001 is specific about requiring a procedure to identify the potential for emergency situations and accidents. Adhering to the requirement of the procedure is a valuable exercise that helps organizations identify weaknesses in their own emergency planning and to plan for that which is most likely to occur.Because many environmental impacts of an emergency or accident situation are secondary in nature, it appears that all potential emergency or accident situations need to be identified before a determination of environmental impacts can be made. An organization that attempts to identify potential emergency or accident situations based on a review of its environmental aspects would likely miss the environmental impact potential of, say, an automobile accident.
There are five steps implied by the emergency preparedness and response requirement:
1) Identify the potential for emergency situations and accidents of all kinds;2) Paying particular attention to the potential environmental impacts of accidents and emergency situations, identify how the organization can prevent and mitigate associated adverse environmental impacts;3) Determine how the organization and its employees should respond to emergency situations and accidents;4) Periodically simulate emergency situations to test response capabilities; and,5) Review and revise procedures based on experience derived from actual and simulated emergency situations and accidents.
Accident and Emergency Situation Identification – In order to identify potential for and responding to emergency situations and accidents, the organization should develop a procedure for systematically identifying accident and emergency situations, evaluating their probability of occurrence, their likely consequences, and their severity.Organizations often engage risk management specialists to assist in the identification of potential emergency or accident situations that could lead to human injury, environmental damage, or economic loss. While many checklists are available to facilitate this kind of evaluation, there is virtually no substitute for physical evaluation of facilities by knowledgeable personnel, whether employees or outside professionals.
Emergency Response Procedures – The organization is required to develop procedures for responding to emergency situations and accidents when they occur. Typically, response procedures include identifying public emergency response agencies and their capabilities, identifying individuals within the organization who are trained and able to provide assistance in emergencies, establishing an emergency communications network, and providing emergency lighting, signage, and equipment. Because Emergency Response Procedures are based on identified potential emergency situations and accidents specific to the organization, the emergency response plan will be unique for each organization.
Periodic Testing – The value of conducting emergency response exercises lies not only with simulating situations that could occur but also in identifying flaws in the response plan. Practice drills can be the most effective test of the system to give employees, emergency response personnel, and management the opportunity to walk through the plan and gain familiarity with its procedures. While a full-dress response exercise is valuable, testing of procedures can be effectively done on much smaller scales and still provide the benefits of testing. Above all, the organization should not let the impracticality of a full-dress exercise keep it from testing sub elements of the emergency response plan.
Review and Revise – ISO 14001 calls for continual improvement of the EMS. Periodically reviewing and revising emergency response plans based on the experience gained from the occurrence of emergency situations or accidents or in testing response plans is an example of continual improvement.
Written Response Plans – Many written emergency response plans are too cumbersome to be of value in an emergency situation – their value depends entirely upon previous training of persons who will be called upon to execute them. Yet, many organizations fail to provide the emergency response training necessary to make the plans functional.Keeping in mind that even the simplest, most direct emergency response plan requires training for effective implementation, an alternative for organizations to consider is establishment of abbreviated, readily available Immediate Response Directions established for each kind of potential emergency situation or accident. Such an emergency response plan might consist of a laminated card prepared for each potential emergency situation or accident and providing specific responsibilities and associated actions for employees and visitors, supervisors, emergency coordinators, and emergency directors.

Migration to ISO 9001:2008

Migration To ISO 9001:2008The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Organization forStandardization (ISO) have agreed on an implementation plan to ensure a smooth transition ofaccredited certification to ISO 9001:2008, the latest version of the world’s most widely usedstandard for quality management systems (QMS). The details of the plan are given in the jointcommuniqué by the two organizations which appears below.Like all of ISO’s more than 17 000 standards, ISO 9001 is periodically reviewed to ensure that itis maintained at the state of the art and a decision taken to confirm, withdraw or revise thedocument.ISO 9001:2008, which is due to be published before the end of the year, will replace the year2000 version of the standard which is implemented by both business and public sectororganizations in 170 countries. Although certification is not a requirement of the standard, theQMS of about one million organizations have been audited and certified by independentcertification bodies (also known in some countries as registration bodies) to ISO 9001:2000.ISO 9001 certification is frequently used in both private and public sectors to increaseconfidence in the products and services provided by certified organizations, between partnersin business-to-business relations, in the selection of suppliers in supply chains and in the rightto tender for procurement contracts.ISO is the developer and publisher of ISO 9001, but does not itself carry out auditing andcertification. These services are performed independently of ISO by certification bodies. ISOdoes not control such bodies, but does develop voluntary International Standards toencourage good practice in their activities on a worldwide basis. For example, ISO/IEC17021:2006 specifies the requirements for bodies providing auditing and certification ofmanagement systems.Certification bodies that wish to provide further confidence in their services may apply to be“accredited” as competent by an IAF recognized national accreditation body. ISO/IEC17011:2004 specifies the requirements for carrying out such accreditation. IAF is aninternational association whose membership includes the national accreditation bodies of 49economies.ISO technical committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, which isresponsible for the ISO 9000 family of standards, is preparing a number of support documentsexplaining what the differences are between ISO 9001:2008 and the year 2000 version, whyand what they mean for users. Once approved, these documents will be posted on the ISOWeb site – probably in October 2008.
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and the IAF (International AccreditationForum) have agreed an implementation plan to ensure a smooth migration of accreditedcertification to ISO 9001:2008, after consultation with international groupings representingquality system or auditor certification bodies, and industry users of ISO 9001 certificationservices.ISO 9001:2008 does not contain any new requirementsThey have recognized that ISO 9001:2008 introduces no new requirements. ISO 9001:2008only introduces clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000 based on eightyears of experience of implementing the standard world wide with about one millioncertificates issued in 170 countries to date. It also introduces changes intended to improveconsistency with ISO14001:2004The agreed implementation plan in relation to accredited certification is therefore thefollowing:Accredited certification to the ISO 9001:2008 shall not be granted until the publication of ISO9001:2008 as an International Standard.Certification of conformity to ISO 9001:2008 and/or national equivalents shall only be issuedafter official publication of ISO 9001:2008 (which should take place before the end of 2008)and after a routine surveillance or recertification audit against ISO 9001:2008.Validity of certifications to ISO 9001:2000One year after publication of ISO 9001:2008 all accredited certifications issued (newcertifications or recertifications) shall be to ISO 9001:2008.Twenty four months after publication by ISO of ISO 9001:2008, any existing certification issuedto ISO 9001:2000 shall not be valid.