Workplace: Safety and Workers

1.INTRODUCTION
1.1PURPOSE OF REPORT
I made this report based on the observation and tour made by me, thus it was my duty as the Occupational Health Manager of the company. From my tour in the factory, I saw and observed some of the operators were blatantly ignoring the safety regulations. To make the operators and workers alert the important of safety, I made this report so that they will follow the rules as I will standardize the rules and regulations of the company. Therefore through this report hopefully the managing director will take actions.

Through my tour and observations of the factory, I came across a problem, that was the workers did not wear their special attires that should been put on during handling the material. The protective garments were safety hat, rubber gloves, rubber shoes and goggles. All of these garments were been supplied for the workers to be wore during their working hours. As their work were dangerous and as preventions they need to wear all of these garments. As a result, from my tour I came across too many workers did not wear their protective garments properly. For example, one’s wore rubber shoes and goggle only and one’s only wore rubber gloves.

All of these situation was not suitable and dangerous and if an accident appear, these workers were under risk. Besides that, mostly workers were smoking and talking to each other while handling the material. I also noticed that one of the workers look very tired and sleepy. These situations were against the rules and regulations of the company. When doing the tour I also knew that the workers never been trained or listen to any emergency drills conduct by the company. Therefore they were lack of knowledge about the emergency drill. Even though this company is a small company but safety of the workers came first. Therefore as a way of preventing accident happened, I strictly suggest rules and regulations should come first. If many of the company workers met an accident therefore it would effects the productions as well.

Therefore, through this report I would like to recommend and propose actions that should be taken to prevent these problems from happening again.

1.2PROPOSAL FOR ACTIONS

Through the tour and observation made, I hereby propose the actions that could be considered and to be taken into actions by our company. Firstly, always make sure that workers should be alert on their job. Being awake and alert all the time while at work will not only prevent accidents from happening at work. It will also enhance the performance of the workers and can even earn them promotions or a salary increase. Most of the people who become involved with accidents at work are those who feel sleepy while working. Secondly, wearing the required uniform by our company. A worker who works in our factory has a greater chance of being involved in an accident. Thus, he should be more vigilant about the wearing of proper uniforms and other protective garments when working. They should never take safety to chance so always go to work with the proper dress code. If their work requires them to wear a hardhat helmet then wear it and so on and don’t just ignore the protective garments.

Thirdly, workers should listen and actively participate during emergency drills – our work place need to conduct emergency drills to make sure our workers know what to do in cases of emergencies so as to avoid accidents. Some workers take this as another boring drill so they just look around and take it for granted. So when emergency time comes they are the ones who are left behind in the face of grave danger. Besides that, workers should always ask their supervisor about the possible risks of doing a certain task . There are workers who are exposed to danger just by doing their regular workloads. A worker should always check with his supervisor if he is unsure about the task at hand or if he feels that doing that task will expose him to great danger.

As a proposal, I think that our company need a formation of an emergency team among the workers . The team will be responsible for monitoring possible hazards at work that may cause an accident. They will also formulate rules and regulation to be observed in case of possible incidents that may cause harm to the workers. Further action that can be done is always be on the lookout for possible cause of accidents and then report it to the management. There are workers who are already aware of a disaster waiting to happen but they refuse to see the warning and go on with their work. So, if they see telltale signs of a possible cause of accident at work like a ceiling that is about to give way or a stairway that about to give way then they should report it to the proper authority immediately.

Do not wait for the accident to happen as it might happen to them first. Besides that, our company should always post signs or rules that should be observed by our workers in order to avoid a possible accident at work. These posters should be posted in areas that are highly visible to the workers so they will be able to read them. As the Occupational Health Manager I suggest that our company should never risk the health and safety of our workers. Profit may be the main motivation of a company but they should earn their keep without exposing their workers to hazard. Our company should always prioritize the health and safety of their workers no matter what. There are a lot of precautionary measures that both employers and employees can take to prevent an accident at work. However, a worker who follows the safety measures and procedures set by the employers for the workplace will most likely be able to prevent future accidents.

I hope that, my proposed plan of action could be considered as a way of solving these problems. By the way, it depends on our company to proceed either to take it as an action in solving these problems.

2.BODY: PRESENT SITUATION
2.1 PROBLEMS

Through the tour and observation done by me, several problems emerged about the safety of the workers which they blatantly ignoring the safety regulations. Based on the tour, I believed that some of the regulations should be standardized among the workers. Below is the statistic stating percent of problems for our company according to their age.

Table 1
Based on the statistic shown above, I assume that the problems were based on the age of the workers. The workers between 18 to 25 years old were facing the problems on did not wearing proper uniform and smoking while working. These problems happened because of their age which did not alert on their appearance at work and their habit on smoking. Their habit on smoking were the main problem at these age. They were also not aware of the company rules and regulations.

The workers between 26 to 35 facing the problems on mostly of the problems appeared. That was did not wearing proper uniform, smoking and talking while working and feeling tired and sleepy. I think these problems happened to them because of maybe, they got little time sleeping at home. Based on my investigation, at these age (26 to 35) mostly all of them were married. Maybe the situation and commitment at home effect their performance at work. If this continue, facing an accident at work will be easily occur. As for the workers age between 36 to 50 age, mostly most of them facing problems on talking while working and lack of knowledge on emergency drills. This happened because at this age usually workers had many experiences and express their experiences while doing their work even though while they were working. Lack of knowledge on emergency drills were the main problems for the workers at this age. This happened because at this age the workers assume that they had many experiences and they just ignored on learning the emergency drills conduct by our company. Therefore, I suggest that all categories of workers should involve on whatever our company held. This is for the benefit of our company.

2.2NEED FOR CHANGES

In order for a company to be a productive and welcoming environment, safety must be a priority. The overall plan and execution of safety measures ensure that the staff or workers will be well-prepared and have peace of mind on a daily basis. The best way to handle any bad situation is to properly evaluate the steps and think about scenarios ahead of time. In order to improve safety in a work environment, the company must analyze the location, availability, and knowledge of the workers in regard to safety equipment, evacuation plans, and emergency medical situations. Therefore, I suggest that changes should be made for the benefit of our company. It depends on our workers to work systematically as rules and regulations came first to make sure that the company’s profits will increase. Besides that, our workers will be satisfied with our commitment for their safety while working in our company. The first thing to do is to install first aid kits and fire extinguishers throughout the building in order to provide equally accessible safety items for all workers.

As an extra precaution for extreme medical emergencies, a defibrillator is a potentially life-saving investment. Signs should be positioned throughout the building in order to clearly mark the locations of all of the safety equipment. The workers who are talking and smoking a lot should be the one who operated this preparations. Mark all of the building’s exits clearly with signs that are visible in the daytime as well as in the dark. Installing security or emergency lights that come on when the power goes off is also important for keeping workers safe. As I, the Occupational Health Manager need to explain to the workers that an effective evacuation plan should be determined and practiced regularly, and include fire drills and natural disaster preparation. Holding regular meetings and training sessions that require workers to locate and familiarize themselves with emergency safety equipment. As a new workers I suggest that they should go through an orientation process that includes education about safety measures and procedures.

Meetings should also be held regularly to discuss possible advancements and improvement that would benefit the entire safety program. Besides that, through their meetings and training sessions the workers could been told the appropriate garments that should be put on during their work, what could happen if they smoke and talk while working and so on. Besides that, a development on an incentive program that rewards workers who follow the safety standards. Therefore I will do everything in my power to promote safety and inspire workers to maintain a secure working environment. Through this program for example emergency drilling, could make the workers alert and know how to handle the situation. As the Occupational health Manager I would strongly belief that the workers will be able to improve their safety and health condition throughout these program as well.

2.3 COSTS AND BENEFITS

No| Costs| Benefits|
01| RM1 5,000 First Aid Kits and Fire Extinguishers| Workers will be satisfied and they will feel safe and healthy as kits are prepared and as well as the fire extinguishers.| 02| RM 20,000Clearly signs or rules to be hang upInstalling security or emergency lights| By hanging up all the signs of rules around the company will make sure the workers alert and the rules will bear on their mind. Besides that, conducting and installing security or emergency lights would be an advantage too.| 03| RM10,435Holding regular meetings and training sessions to locate and familiarize themselves with emergency safety equipment| Workers should be provided with training sessions that is to locate and familiarize themselves with emergency equipment. Therefore, if an emergency happen they will know what to do.|

3.CONCLUSION
3.1EVALUATION

Through the investigation based on tour made, Besta Factory is facing several problems with the main problem seen by me as well. It is about the safety of the workers while conducting their work at the factory. Based on it, I strongly believe that through this report will summarize all the problems face by our company. The first problem is by making sure that the first aid kits and fire extinguishers been place to an appropriate place which it is easier to see and use. Clearly marking the locations of all of the safety equipment also needed to be done by our company as this situation was not been done yet. All of the signs and rules should be positioned throughout the building of the company and its should be clear. These situation will make sure that the workers always reminded.

Though it will take a lot of budget hanging all the signs and rules throughout the building but it worth for the sake of our company. To make sure the emergency drilling been carry out effectively, evacuation plan should be determined and practiced regularly, that is including fire drilling and natural disaster preparation. In this case, specialists from other department will be giving out the practical sessions as they are the profesional in this matter. Besides that, a development on an incentive program that rewards workers who follow the safety standards. This will be as an annual events as rewarding workers will make them to target their achievement of the year. Therefore I will do everything in my power to promote safety and inspire workers to maintain a secure working environment.

Besta Factory is looking forward to getting a reply from the general manager on this matter. Through this report made, the board of director must take immediate actions about this matter. Hopefully this will get your attention to proceed with all the recommendation stated earlier.

Below is a figure that will be used on making evaluation for the workers in our company. That figure could be used to the workers as well as to the manager in all department.

FIGURE 1
3.2RECOMMENDATION

Therefore this report recommends the following:
a) Mandatory training of Health and Safety Representatives and health and safety awareness training for all workers and supervisors prior to being exposed to workplace hazards. b) Training program would include the rights and responsibilities of workers and supervisors, the roles of workplace parties and the definition of a hazard. c) Improve the protection for new workers, youth and recent immigrants through mandatory training, creation of safety-related materials in multiple languages, and the establishment of a committee to provide advice on issues related to vulnerable workers. d) Installing first aid kits and fire extinguishers throughout the building in order to provide equally accessible safety items for all workers. e) Marking all of the building’s exits clearly with signs that are visible in the daytime as well as in the dark and installing security or emergency lights that come on when the power goes off is also important for keeping workers safe. f) Holding regular meetings and training sessions that require workers to locate and familiarize themselves with emergency safety equipment.

I hope that, my recommended actions could be considered as a way of solving
these problems. By the way, it depends on our company to proceed either to take it as an action in solving these problems.

REFERENCES

* Ardichvili, A. & Kuchinke, K.P. (2002). ‘Leadership styles and cultural values among managers and subordinates: a comparative study of four countries of the former Soviet Union, Germany and the US’, Human Resource Development International, Vol. 5, No 1, 2002, pp. 99–117. * Bramming, P., Raastrup Kristensen, A. & Pedersen, M. (2009). ‘The entry of self-leadership into work environment research’, Working Environment Challenges for the Future. Seminar Proceedings. Internal Expert Seminar, Danish Working Environment Authority; Partnership for European Research in Occupational Safety and Health (PEROSH), Copenhagen, 24-25 September 2009, pp. 53–56. * Flin, R., Mearns, K., O’Connor, P. & Bryden, R. (2000). ‘Measuring safety climate: identifying the common features’, Safety Science, Vol. 34, pp. 177–192. * HSE (2005). A review of safety culture and safety climate literature for the development of the safety culture inspection toolkit: Research Report 367, Health and Safety Executive. Retrieved 26 April 2011, from: http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr367.pdf * Steiger, T. (2003). ‘Das Rollenkonzept der Führung’, in Steiger, T. & Lippman, E. (Eds.), Handbuch Angewandte Psychologie für Führungskräfte. Führungskompetenz und Führungswissen (second edition), Vol. 1, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2003, pp. 43–73.

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WEBSITES

* http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2006/98/en/2/ef0698en.pdf * http://www.efcog.org/wg/ism_pmi/docs/Safety_Culture/Feb08/safety_culture_and_safety_climate_a_review_of_the_literature.pdf * http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200708300059DOWJONESDJONLINE000016_FORTUNE5.htm * http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/health_and_safety/health_safety_work.html *