Employee Safety and Health

Employee Safety and Health

Lecture Outline:

Safety and the Manager

      Why Safety Is Important?

Management’s Role in Safety

Manger’s Briefing on Occupational Safety Law

OSHA Standards and Record Keeping

Inspections and Citations

Responsibilities and Rights of Employers and Employees

What Causes Accidents?

What Causes Unsafe Conditions?  

What Causes Unsafe Acts?

How to Prevent Accidents

Reducing Unsafe Conditions

Diversity Counts

Reducing Unsafe Acts

Reducing Unsafe Acts through Screening

Reducing Unsafe Acts through Training

Improving Performance through HRIS

Reducing Unsafe Acts through Posters, Incentives, and Positive Reinforcement

      Reducing Unsafe Acts by Fostering a Culture of Safety

      Reducing Unsafe Acts by Creating a Supportive Environment

Reducing Unsafe Acts by Establishing a Safety Policy

Reducing Unsafe Acts by Setting Specific Loss Control Goals

Reducing Unsafe Acts through Behavior-Based and Safety Awareness Programs

Reducing Unsafe Acts through Employee Participation

Conducting Safety and Health Audits and Inspections

Controlling Workers’ Compensation Costs

Workplace Health Hazards: Problems and Remedies

Chemicals and Industrial Hygiene

Asbestos Exposure at Work and Air Quality

Alcoholism and Substance Abuse

Stress, Burnout, and Depression

Solving Computer-Related Ergonomic Problems

Repetitive Motion Disorders

Infectious Diseases

Workplace Smoking

Occupational Security and Risk Management

Enterprise Risk Management

Preventing and Dealing with Violence at Work

Setting up a Basic Security Program

Basic Prerequisites for a Crime Prevention Plan

Company Security and Employee Privacy

Business Continuity and Emergency Plans

Terrorism

In Brief: 

This chapter outlines occupational safety laws, and then discusses causes of accidents and how to prevent them.  There is also a section devoted to employee health, stress, company security, and employee privacy.

Interesting Issues: 

The role of OSHA is somewhat controversial in today's society.  Some feel it is an intrusion by a bungling governmental bureaucracy that doesn't really understand the nature of work and jobs, while others view it as the only check and balance available to help save employees' lives and limbs.

Learning Objectives:

1.      Explain the supervisor’s role in safety.

2.      Explain the basic facts about safety law and OSHA.

3.      Answer the question, “What causes accidents?”

4.      List and explain five ways to prevent accidents.

5.      List five workplace health hazards and how to deal with them.

6.      Discuss the prerequisites for a security plan and how to set up a basic security program.

Annotated Outline:

I. Safety and the Manager

A.    Why Safety Is Important? - Safety and accident prevention concern managers for several reasons, one of which is the staggering number of workplace accidents.

B.     Management’s Role in Safety – Reducing accidents often boils down to reducing accident-causing conditions and accident-causing acts.  Most safety experts would agree that safety should start at the top.

II. Manger’s Briefing on Occupational Safety Law

A.    OSHA Standards and Record Keeping - Under OSHA, employers with 11 or more employees must maintain records of, and report occupational injuries and occupational illnesses, which are any abnormal conditions or disorders caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment. 

B.     Inspections and Citations - Are how OSHA enforces its standards. The agency has limited funds so it tries to encourage cooperative safety programs as well.

C.     Responsibilities and Rights of Employers and Employees – Employers are responsible for providing a hazard-free workplace, being familiar with mandatory OSHA standards, and examining workplace conditions to make sure they conform to applicable standards.  Employers have the right to seek advice and off-site consultation from OSHA, request and receive proper identification of the OSHA compliance officer before inspection, and be advised by the compliance officer of the reason for an inspection.  OSHA can’t cite employees for violations of their responsibilities.  Employees are responsible for complying with all applicable OSHA standards, for following all employer safety and health rules and regulations, and for reporting hazardous conditions to the supervisor.  Employees have a right to demand safety and health on the job without fear of punishment.  The act forbids employers from punishing or discriminating against workers who complain to OSHA about job safety and health hazards.

III. What Causes Accidents?

A.    What Causes Unsafe Conditions? – Unsafe conditions are one main cause of accidents.  Three other work-related accident factors are the job itself, the work schedule, and the psychological climate of the workplace.

B.     What Causes Unsafe Acts? – Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to the question of what causes unsafe acts.  The consensus is that accident proneness is situational. Some accident repeaters are just unlucky, or they may be more meticulous about reporting. Certain traits have been identified with accident proneness.

IV. How to Prevent Accidents

A.    Reducing Unsafe Conditions – Reducing unsafe conditions is always an employer’s first line of defense.  Safety engineers should design jobs to remove hazards, and supervisors and managers should help identify and remove potential hazards.

B.     Diversity Counts – In designing safe and healthy environments, employers should pay special attention to venerable workers, such as young, immigrant, aging, and women workers.

C.     Reducing Unsafe Acts – It’s the supervisor’s responsibility to set the tone so subordinates want to work safely.

D.    Reducing Unsafe Acts through Screening – The basic aim is to isolate the trait that might predict accidents on the job in question, and then screen candidates for this trait.  Studies suggest that the Employee Reliability Inventory (ERI), which measures emotional maturity, conscientiousness, safe job performance, and courteous job performance, can help employers reduce unsafe acts at work.  The ADA has particular relevance for safety-related screening decisions.

E.     Reducing Unsafe Acts through Training – Training is especially appropriate for new employees.  OSHA has published two booklets: “Training Requirements under OSHA” and “Teaching Safety and Health in the Workplace.”

F.      Improving Performance through HRIS – Many employers are turning to the Web to support their safety and training programs.

G.    Reducing Unsafe Acts through Posters, Incentives, and Positive Reinforcement – Motivational tools have been successful at reducing workplace injuries. Research Insight: Positive Reinforcement – Many employers stress positive reinforcement to improve safety. This segment discusses the experience of a wholesale bakery. The firm set and communicated a reasonable goal; trained the employees; then posted a graph with their pre-training safety record plotted and a list of safety rules.  Observers walked through collecting safety data to provide workers with feedback on their safety performance as a form of positive reinforcement.

H.    Reducing Unsafe Acts by Fostering a Culture of Safety – Employers and supervisors should create a safety-conscious culture by showing that they take safety seriously.

I.        Reducing Unsafe Acts by Creating a Supportive Environment – Organizations can develop a supportive environment by training supervisors to be better leaders, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and social support, and establishing the value of safety.

J.      Reducing Unsafe Acts by Establishing a Safety Policy – The company’s written safety policy should emphasize that accident prevention is of the utmost importance at your firm, and that the firm will do everything practical to illuminate or reduce accidents and injuries.

K.   Reducing Unsafe Acts by Setting Specific Loss Control Goals – Set specific safety goals to achieve. For example, set safety goals in terms of frequency of loss-time injuries per number of full-time employees.

L.    Reducing Unsafe Acts through Behavior-Based and Safety Awareness Programs – This involves identifying the worker behaviors that contribute to accidents and then training workers to avoid these behaviors.

M.  Reducing Unsafe Acts through Employee Participation – There are at least two reasons to get the employees involved in designing the safety program.  First, those actually doing the jobs are often management’s best source of ideas about what the potential problems are and how to solve them. Second, it is generally easier to get employees to accept and enthusiastically follow the safety program when they’ve had a hand in designing it.

N.   Conducting Safety and Health Audits and Inspections – Managers should inspect all premises for possible safety and health problems, using checklists as aids.  All accidents and near misses should be investigated.  A system should be in place for employees to notify management about hazardous conditions.

O.    Controlling Workers’ Compensation Costs can affect what a firm pays in workers’ compensation insurance premiums.

1.      Before the Accident – Costs can be controlled before the accident by removing unsafe conditions.

2.      After the Accident – Employers should provide first aid and make sure the worker gets quick medical attention; document the accident; file required accident reports; and encourage a speedy return to work.

V. Workplace Health Hazards: Problems and Remedies

A.    Chemicals and Industrial Hygiene – First, the facility’s health and safety officers must recognize possible exposure hazards.  The evaluation phase involves determining how severe the hazard is.  Finally, the hazard control phase involves taking steps to eliminate or reduce the hazard so that it no longer ranks as dangerous.

B.     Asbestos Exposure at Work and Air Quality – There are four major sources of occupational respiratory diseases: asbestos, silica, lead, and carbon dioxide. Of these, asbestos has become a major concern. Air Quality -“Green” office buildings produce illnesses such as itchy eyes and troubled breathing. The solution is to monitor the air quality.

C.     Alcoholism and Substance Abuse – These are serious and widespread problems at work because they usually lead to declines in the quality and quantity of work.

1.      Effects of Alcohol Abuse –The quality and quantity of the work decline due to alcohol abuse. The alcoholic’s on-the-job accidents usually don’t increase significantly, apparently, because he or she becomes much more cautious. However, the off-the-job accident rate is higher. Morale of other workers drops, as they have to shoulder the alcoholic’s burdens.

2.      Supervisor Training – Guidelines supervisor should follow include: If an employee appears to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, ask how the employee feels and look for signs of impairment such as slurred speech; send an employee judged unfit home; make a written record of your observations and follow up each incident; inform workers of the number of warnings the company will tolerate before requiring termination; and refer troubled employees to the company’s employee assistance program.

3.      Dealing with Substance Abuse – Various techniques can be used to deal with these problems, which start with testing, and include disciplining, discharge, in-house counseling, and referral to an outside agency.

4.   Substance Abuse Policies – Employers must establish a policy that states management’s position on substance abuse.

D.    Stress, Burnout, and Depression - can sometimes lead to alcoholism and drug abuse, which are problematic for the employee and employer.  A variety of external environmental factors can lead to job stress.  Personal factors also influence stress – no two people react to the same job in the very same way.  Human consequences of stress include anxiety, depression, anger, and various physical consequences.  Organizational consequences include reductions in the quantity and quality of job performance, increased absenteeism and turnover, increased grievances, and increased health care costs.  Stress is not necessarily dysfunctional; it can lead some people to be more productive and/or creative.

1.      Reducing Job Stress – Employees can reduce stress by getting more sleep, eating better, and negotiating with managers for realistic deadlines on important projects. The three-step stress-reduction technique involves developing awareness, adjusting attitudes, and taking action. The HR department can take a positive role in reducing stress.

2.      Burnout is the total depletion of physical and mental resources caused by excessive striving to reach an unrealistic work-related goal. Some suggestions for alleviating burnout include breaking your patterns; getting away from it all periodically; reassessing your goals in terms of their intrinsic worth; and thinking about your work.

3.      Employee Depression – Organizations must ensure that depressed employees use available support services.

E.     Solving Computer-Related Ergonomic Problems – Short-term eye problems (like burning, itching, tearing, eyestrain, and eye soreness), backaches, and neck-aches are common complaints among video display operators.  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has several recommendations for reducing these problems.

F.      Repetitive Motion Disorders – Such disorders include carpal tunnel syndrome. Employees can reduce the issue if the pace of work is altered.

G.    Infectious Diseases – With many employees traveling to and from international destinations, monitoring and controlling infectious diseases like H1N1, Ebola and SARS has become an important safety issue.  Obviously, employers must make provisions for ensuring that a returning employee does not inadvertently infect one or more colleagues.  Employers can take a number of steps to prevent the entry or spread of infectious diseases into their workplaces. These steps include:

1.      Closely monitor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) travel alerts.

2.      Access this information at www.cdc.gov.

3.      Provide daily medical screenings for employees returning from infected areas.

4.      Deny access for 10 days to employees or visitors who have had contact with suspected infected individuals.

5.      Tell employees to stay home if they have a fever or respiratory system symptoms.

6.      Clean work areas and surfaces regularly. Make sanitizers containing alcohol easily available.

7.      Stagger breaks. Offer several lunch periods to reduce overcrowding. Special situations prompt special requirements. For example, a few years ago, the CDC advised employers that health-care workers working with H1N1 patients should use special respirators to reduce virus inhalation risks.

      H.  Workplace Smoking – The nature of the problem is serious for employees and employers. Smokers have significantly greater risk of occupational accidents and higher absenteeism rates than nonsmokers.  Smokers increase the cost of health and fire insurance.

VI. Occupational Security and Risk Management

A.    Enterprise Risk Management – is “the process of assessing exposures to loss within an operation and determining how best to eliminate, manage or otherwise reduce the risk of an adverse event from having a negative impact on the business.” Companies face a variety of risks, only some of which are direct risks to employees’ health and safety. Specific risks include, for instance, natural disaster risks, financial risks, and risks to the firm’s computer systems. Human capital risks would rank high. These include safety risks like those we discussed in this chapter as well as, for instance, risks from unionization and from inadequate staffing plans.

B.     Preventing and Dealing with Violence at Work – Violence against employees is one such (internal preventable) enterprise risk, and a huge problem. On average, 20 workers are murdered and 18,000 assaulted each week at work. By one early estimate, workplace violence costs employers about $4 billion a year. One report called bullying the “silent epidemic” of the workplace, “where abusive behavior, threats, and intimidation often go unreported.”

C.     Setting up a Basic Security Program – In simplest terms, instituting a basic security program requires four steps: analyzing the current level of risk, and then installing mechanical, natural, and organizational security systems.

D.    Basic Prerequisites for a Crime Prevention Plan – as one corporate security summary put it, “workplace security involves more than installing an alarm system.” Ideally, a comprehensive corporate anticrime program should start with the following:

1.      Company philosophy and policy on crime. Make sure employees understand that the employer has a zero-tolerance policy with respect to workers who commit any crimes.

2.      Investigations of job applicants. Always conduct full background checks.

3.      Crime awareness training. Make it clear during training and orientation that the employer is tough on workplace crime.

4.      Crisis management. Establish and communicate what to do in the event of a bomb threat, fire, or other emergency.

E.     Company Security and Employee Privacy – Employers must consider employee privacy when using monitoring to investigate possible employee security breaches. 

F.      Business Continuity and Emergence Plans – The possibility of emergencies prompted by fires, attacks, and similar issues means that employers need facility continuity and emergency plans. One source estimates that 40% of companies never reopen after suffering business disruptions from a major catastrophe, so putting a disaster plan in place is imperative.  Such plans should cover early detection of a problem, methods for communicating the emergency externally, and communications plans for initiating an evacuation

G.    Terrorism – The employer can take several steps to protect its employees and physical assets from terrorist attack. These steps, now familiar at many workplaces, include:

1.      Screen the identities of everyone entering the premises.

2.      Check mail carefully.

3.      Identify ahead of time a lean “crisis organization” that can run the company on an interim basis after a terrorist threat.

4.      Identify in advance under what conditions you will close the company down, as well as the shutdown process.

5.      Institute a process to put the crisis management team together.

6.      Prepare evacuation plans and make sure exits are well marked and unblocked.

7.      Designate an employee who will communicate with families and off-site employees.

8.      Identify an upwind, off-site location near your facility to use as a staging area for all evacuated personnel.

9.      Designate in advance several employees who will do headcounts at the evacuation staging area.

10.  Establish an emergency text-messaging policy and procedure to notify affected individuals that an emergency may exist.

Improving Performance Questions:

16-1: Assuming this is true, why do so many employers apparently cut corners on safety?

16-2: Please stop what you are doing and look around the immediate area where you are now: List four potential safety hazards.

16-3: Write a short description on this theme: “How a small business owner can make use of OSHA’s Safety Pays website.”

16-4: List six more unsafe incidents you believe might occur in a bakery, and a “safe manner” for doing each.

16-5: Answer this: “Based on what I read so far in this chapter, here is why I think this facility has a good safety record.”

16-6: Explain briefly how using CompWatch illustrates a scientific approach.

16-7: Discuss how taking this approach might save the employer money (as well as protecting the one doing the firing).

Discussion Questions:

16-8:  Explain how to reduce the occurrence of unsafe acts on the part of your employees.

The text lists 10 different ways to help reduce unsafe acts.  Answers should reflect at least a majority of these.

16-9:  Explain the supervisor’s role in safety.

Beyond trying to make the workplace safe, the basic aim of the supervisor is to instill in workers the desire to work safely.  Then, when needed, enforce safety rules.

16-10: Explain what causes unsafe acts.

People are the main cause of unsafe acts.  Some researchers say that certain personal characteristics are the basis for behavioral tendencies that result in unsafe acts. There are several human traits that contribute to accident proneness, and they are listed in the chapter.  There is also a list of some examples of unsafe acts.

16-11: Describe at least five techniques for reducing accidents.

The text lists 10 techniques: 1) selection and placement; 2) posters and other propaganda; 3) training; 4) incentive programs and positive reinforcement; 5) top-management commitment; 6) emphasizing safety; 7) establishing a safety policy; 8) setting specific loss control goals; 9) conducting safety and health inspections; 10) monitoring work overload and stress. 

16-12: Explain how you would reduce stress at work.

Both environmental and personal factors can lead to job stress.  If individuals are feeling dysfunctional levels of stress, the work schedule, pace of work, job security, and number or nature of clients, modifications in these factors should be made.  Because personal factors influence stress, health and exercise programs can be promoted.  Sometimes counseling should be offered, especially through an EAP, or a job more suitable to the individual should be found.  Supervisors should monitor performance to identify symptoms of stress, and inform the employee.

Individual and Group Activities:

16-13: Working individually or in groups, answer the question, “Is there such a thing as an accident-prone person?” Develop your answer using examples of actual people you know who seemed to be accident prone on some endeavor.

Yes and No.  While most psychologists agree that accident proneness is not universal, most do agree that accident proneness is situational.  For example, personality traits may distinguish accident-prone workers on jobs involving risk, and lack of motor skills may distinguish accident-prone workers on jobs involving coordination.  Many human traits have been found to be related to accident repetition in specific situations.

16-14: Working individually or in groups, compile a list of the factors at work or in school that create dysfunctional stress for you. What methods do you use for dealing with the stress?

The students should refer to the section of the chapter on reducing job stress to compile their lists of stress factors and methods for dealing with the stress, and to also find out more about some specific types of jobs in which they may have an interest.

16-15: Appendix A, PHR and SPHR Knowledge Base at the end of this book lists the knowledge someone studying for the HRCI certification exam needs to have in each area of human resource management (such as in Strategic Management, Workforce Planning, and Human Resource Development). In groups of four to five students, do four things: (1) review Appendix A; (2) identify the material in this chapter that relates to the required knowledge Appendix A lists; (3) write four multiple-choice exam questions on this material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the HRCI exam; and (4) if time permits, have someone from your team post your team’s questions in front of the class, so that students in all teams can answer the exam questions created by the other teams.

Management Commitment and Safety, What Causes Accidents?, How to Prevent Accidents, Workplace Health Hazards:  Problems and Remedies, and Occupational Security, Safety, and Health in a Post 9/11 World.  In short, virtually the entire chapter is applicable to the test.

16-16: A safety journal presented some information about what happens when OSHA refers criminal complaints about willful violations of OSHA standards to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). In one 20-year period, OSHA referred 119 fatal cases allegedly involving willful violations of OSHA to the DOJ for criminal prosecution. The DOJ declined to pursue 57% of them, and some were dropped for other reasons. Of the remaining 51 cases, the DOJ settled 63% with pretrial settlements involving no prison time. So, counting acquittals, of the 119 cases OSHA referred to the DOJ, only 9 resulted in prison time for at least one of the defendants. “The Department of Justice is a disgrace,” charged the founder of an organization for family members of workers killed on the job. One possible explanation for this low conviction rate is that the crime in cases like these is generally a misdemeanor, not a felony, and the DOJ generally tries to focus its attention on felony cases. Given this information, what implications do you think this has for how employers and their managers should manage their safety programs, and why do you take that position?

Hopefully students will understand that it really should not have any implication as to how they should manage their safety programs.  Just as was discussed in Chapter 14 on Ethics, Justice, and Fair Treatment, the legal implications should be the least of the motivations for doing what is right.  Just because the penalties may not be severe is not a reason to allow unsafe conditions to exist.

16-17: A 315-foot-tall, 2-million-pound crane collapsed on a construction site in East Toledo, Ohio, killing four ironworkers. Do you think catastrophic failures like this are avoidable? If so, what steps would you suggest the general contractor take to avoid a disaster like this?

Without knowing the specifics, the likelihood is that the failure was avoidable.  Most such failures are the result of someone working outside of known safety parameters, or not following (or having established) safety procedures that assure that things are done correctly.

Experiential Exercise: How Safe Is My University?

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you practice in identifying unsafe conditions.

Required Understanding:  You should be familiar with material covered in this chapter, particularly that on unsafe conditions and the in Figures 16-6, 16-7, and 16-9.

How to Set up the Exercise/Instructions: Divide the class into groups of four. Assume that each group is a safety committee retained by your college’s or university’s safety engineer to identify and report on any possible unsafe conditions in and around the school building. Each group will spend about 45 minutes in and around the building you are now in for the purpose of identifying and listing possible unsafe conditions. (Make use of the checklists in Figures 16-6, 16-7, and 16-9.) Return to the class in about 45 minutes. A spokesperson for each group should list on the board the unsafe conditions you have identified. How many were there? Do you think these also violate OSHA standards? How would you go about checking?

Video Case Appendix:

Video Title: Safety (California Health Foundation)

Synopsis:

Company initiatives to promote safety and emergency preparedness are discussed. These include proactive measures to encourage employee health and to prevent injuries, especially ergonomic ones. Different methods of preventing injuries are discussed, including employee health programs that reimburse employees for gym memberships, smoking cessation, weight loss, and other programs. When the company helps foster better employee health, they are more likely to perform well and remain free of injuries.

Discussion Questions:

16-18: What are some ways of lowering stress that the California Health Foundation emphasizes?

16-19: How are the employees at the California Health Foundation involved in ensuring an adequate response to an emergency?

16-20: Why are proactive measures the most appropriate for addressing ergonomic injuries?

16-21: Based on what you’ve seen to this point, how comprehensive would you say that the company’s safety program is? What suggestions would you make for additional steps it should take?

16-22: What are the other economic side effects of accidents?

16-23: Do you agree that “safety in the office is a matter of attitude”? Why or why not?

16-24: What other steps would you suggest the company take to boost safety? For instance, what would you have supervisors do to improve the company’s safety and accident record?

Video Title: Safety (City of Los Angeles)

Synopsis:

In this video, Randall Macfarlane says, among other things, that they use four methods to ensure safety and health: training, providing personal protective equipment, providing a special 8-hour training course for their staff, and holding biweekly safety meetings. He also says they train supervisors to recognize behaviors or other things that may be warning signs. Furthermore, an in-house review every year aims to make sure all information, videos, and so on, are current. He also focuses on ergonomics in order to prevent problems like carpal tunnel syndrome. The company has periodic reviews from California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Discussion Questions:

16-25: What should the city do prior to issuing personal protective equipment, according to this chapter?

16-26: What do you think of the safety program? What else would you suggest, and why?

16-27: What are some of the issues and caveats the employer and its supervisors should follow when dealing with a visit from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration?

16-28: If you were asked to put together a list of items that supervisors should keep in mind with respect to supervising safety and health at work, what would you include on your list?

Application Case - The New Safety and Health Program

16-29: Based upon your knowledge of health and safety matters and your actual observations of operations that are similar to theirs make a list of the potential hazardous conditions employees and others face at LearnInMotion.com. What should they do to reduce the potential severity of the top five hazards?

Tripping, ergonomic, and electrical hazards top the list (with several specific items in each).  There are many techniques and products available to help reduce all these hazards.  Safety procedures are also needed for example, not working on any electrical item such as computers while they are plugged in.

16-30: Would it be advisable for them to set up a procedure for screening out stress-prone or accident-prone individuals? Why or why not? If so, how should they screen them?

There are a number of issues here.  One likely question from students is whether accident-prone behavior can change with training or incentives. In most cases, training and incentives can resolve the problem. Some students may argue that screening out employees who are accident-prone raises ethical issues.

16-31: Write a short position paper on the subject, “What should we do to get all our employees to behave more safely at work?”

The paper should include insights gained from this paper and/or work experiences they have.  Look for reasonableness and the likelihood of adoption in real life.

16-32: Based on what you know and on what other dot-coms are doing, write a short position paper on the subject, “What can we do to reduce the potential problems of stress and burnout in our company?”

The long hours and high pressure need to be reduced, or at least offset in some ways.  Look for creative ways to accomplish this.

Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning Company – The New Safety Program

16-33: How should the firm go about identifying hazardous conditions that should be rectified? Use checklists such as those in Figures 16-6 and 16-9 to list at least 10 possible dry-cleaning store hazardous conditions.

Using the information provided in the case, Internet research, and their personal knowledge, the students should be able to list at least ten potential hazards in a dry-cleaning store, if not more.  This hazard should not be limited to chemical, but should include physical, mechanical, and electrical hazards as well.

16-34: Would it be advisable for the firm to set up a procedure for screening out accident-prone individuals? How should they do so?

There are a number of issues here.  One likely question from students is whether accident-prone behavior can change with training or incentives. In most cases, training and incentives can resolve the problem. Some students may argue that screening out employees who are accident-prone raises ethical issues.

16-35: How would you suggest the Carters get all employees to behave more safely at work? Also, how would you advise them to get those who should be wearing goggles to do so?

The student should suggest that Carter’s management contact OSHA for assistance in developing safety policies and procedures on the job, along with including suggestions discussed in the chapter.  They should also make it clear that those who violate the policies will be disciplined, and then follow up by doing it.  If employees see that management is serious about it and that they will be disciplined, or even lose their jobs, they will begin to use them.

The Hotel Paris: Improving Performance at the Hotel Paris – The New Safety and Health Program

16-36: Based on what you read in this chapter, what’s the first step you would have advised the Hotel Paris to take as part of its new safety and health program, and why?

According to the text, reducing unsafe conditions is always an employer’s first line of defense. Lisa should work on designing jobs to remove hazards and supervisors, and managers should help identify and remove potential hazards immediately. They can then focus on other aspects of safety awareness and training.

16-37: List 10 specific high-risk areas in a typical hotel you believe Lisa and her team should look at now, including examples of the safety or health hazards that they should look for there.

Answers will vary. The case notes several areas, including the pool, the valet parking area, and chemical storage areas. Additionally, guest areas like bathtubs will be of concern.

16-38: Give three specific examples of how Hotel Paris can use HR practices to improve its safety efforts.

Workers’ compensation costs have been high, so Lisa can measure a reduction in the number of claims, or in total claim costs, lost time injuries, etc.  The hotel can also measure the number and severity of violations that are found on internal safety inspections.

16-39: Write a one-page summary addressing the topic, “How improving safety and health at the Hotel Paris will contribute to us achieving our strategic goals.”

This summary should include reduced costs, employee satisfaction and safety, guest safety and health, and increased revenues.

Key Terms:

Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970) - The law passed by Congress in 1970 "to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources."

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - The agency created within the Department of Labor to set safety and health standards for almost all workers in the United States.

Occupational Illness - Any abnormal condition or disorder caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment.

Citation - Summons informing employers and employees of the regulations and standards that have been violated in the workplace.

Unsafe Conditions - The mechanical and physical conditions that cause accidents.

Job Hazard Analysis - A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating workplace hazards before they occur.

Operational Safety Reviews - Reviews conducted by agencies to ascertain whether units under their jurisdiction are complying with all the applicable safety laws, regulations, orders, and rules.

Behavior-Based Safety - Identifying the worker behaviors that contribute to accidents and then training workers to avoid these behaviors.

Safety Awareness Program - Program that enables trained supervisors to orient new workers arriving at a job site regarding common safety hazards and simple prevention methods.      

Burnout - The total depletion of physical and mental resources caused by excessive striving to reach an unrealistic work-related goal.

（中国经济管理大学MBA公益课堂---美华管理人才学校---28年知名管理培训机构）

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