Managing Employee Safety Paper

Managing Employee Safety Paper

University of Phoenix

June 2, 2008

Introduction

“Under the law, each employer has a general duty to provide a place of employment free from recognized hazards.” (Cascio, 2002, p. 582) The concept of employee safety is an important element in the success of any company. In other words, it is essential that all organizations ensure the safety of its employees in order to maintain a successful reputation and growth. Legislations have been implemented in order to ensure such safety but more importantly, the company must be able to conduct proper risk and safety management. This paper will analyze the following constituents that allow for an organization to maintain its employee and workplace safety; violence in the workplace, alcoholism, employee health, causes of accidents, OSHA enforcement, and employee selection.

Synopsis

Violence at Work and American Express –

Violence at the workplace is a serious safety and health issue. The violence can at or outside of the office. It can range from verbal to physical violence. American Express employs many employees from different walks of life. In one of the main offices within the United States they had several employees that were in the process of having sex changes and we being harassed in the men’s bathroom. The harassment started with verbal comments, which, the employee being abused kept secret, and went on with his day-to-day job taking the abuse.

Within a six-month period, the abuse became so persistent that the employee decided to report it to his manager. The company took the employees allegations and immediately investigated the alleged report. They interviewed each employee involved and witnesses that heard the abuse take place, and viewed the videotapes from the video cameras located on each floor and found that the three employees were harassing the employee and they were terminated.

American Express realized that because they have such a diverse group of individuals working for them they had to do something to ensure the safety of all their employees. They made the decision to increase their security, and improve their employee badges and equipment used to gain access to their buildings. They also increase their security guards to 24-hours a day. The company sent a mass communication to all employees after this incident explaining the importance of reporting any violence within the workplace and the employee’s expectation of acting as responsible adults. They also placed posters up in every bathroom and in the cafeteria. The company also decided to hold annual training sessions for all employees to attend “Violence in the Workplace” seminars and was mandatory. The importance of violence in the workplace was not top priority for the company because they didn’t have to deal with too many situations. However, they realized with the different generation gaps and many different life styles employed with the company they needed to make the necessary changes to ensure that they are able to control and future situations that might occur.

Alcoholism and TradeStation Securities, Inc.

American industry has become increasingly aware of the physical, social, psychological, and economic costs of problem drinking to the individual worker and to the larger work organization (Walsh, 1992). Employers sustain productivity losses and substantial treatment costs, covered through employee benefit plans, for alcohol abuse per se, as well as even greater costs of medical treatment for illnesses secondarily related to alcohol abuse (Walsh, 1992). TradeStation Securities, Inc. realizes the importance of keeping this issue under control. The company provides all employees with access to an Employee Assistance Program that includes counseling for alcoholism. The service provided is completely confidently and is highly suggested to employees so that the company can continue to be successful and keep all of their employees safe and healthy.

At the beginning of 2008, the HR director was given feedback that one of their managers with their call center was seen walking unsteady outside and they were concerned. The HR director decided to go outside to witness the individual walking around tripping over his own feet and she confronted the manager. Immediately she smelt the alcohol on his breath and after about one hour of talking to the employee decided she had a serious issue on her hand. She sent the employee home to recuperate and asked him to come see her first thing in the morning. The next morning, the HR director met with the manager and found out that the