Before the company was sold to the new owner, the safety conditions had been neglected for a long period of time. The company’s management observed the minor safety conditions in order to avoid penalties from OSHA. For a lengthy period of time, the company’s operations were not approved by OSHA inspectors.
During this time, the company was quite fortunate in the sense that there were no serious injuries or fatal accidents which could have attracted OSHA’s attention. By 1990s, the company was already lacking a number of safety practices set by OSHA to ensure workers’ safety. For example, the company had not managed to set up a safety plan for its workers. Besides, it also failed to train the new employees on safety.
Additionally, the company did not see any need of a PPE unless it was required by a contractor. Worse still, none of the employees was trained on how to administer first-aid. This meant that the employees could not undertake basic duties like offering first-aid to a fellow worker. The absence of safety measures subjected many employees to myriads of risks.
The company also performed extremely poorly due to low productivity of workers.for instance, injury cases like broken bones, burns and cuts also increased. From the year 1975 up to around 2000, the company employees suffered close to 14.5 injuries (Mundy, 2003).
Safety initiatives introduced following the change in ownership
Quite a number of safety initiatives were introduced in the company after change in ownership. All the initiatives introduced to the company were aimed at increasing the safety of workers. It is imperative to note that the establishment of safety initiatives may help a company to reduce or eliminate unnecessary costs and make by becoming more competitive (Neelankavil & Rai, 2009).
In order to achieve success, the new owner started by hiring a manager capable of developing an effective safety plan. The newly hired manager opted to get familiar with OSHA standards by learning more on workplace safety. The workers were convinced on the need of executing changes to the current working practices that had put their lives at risk.
Such changes would ensure that workers were safe and also secure their jobs. Another safety initiative introduced by the new owner was pre-employment and undertaking random drug test on the workers. Some workers opted to leave the company after the introduction of this initiative. Despite the exit of some workers, the company managed to become more productive and dependable.
In order to protect workers against fall injuries, the company bought guardrails, warning-lines and safety vests whereby all the workers were expected to use the equipment while at work. Some workers were against this move, but with time, they were able to acknowledge the need of using them mainly for safety purposes. After successful employment of this initiative, the new manager embarked on training the employees on safety.
This was made possible after the company bought training videos that covered different areas like fall protection and roofing procedures. The employees also received adequate training on how to operate cranes and forklifts. The lead men and foremen were also trained on how to administer first-aid (Mundy, 2003).
Mundy’s role is similar to that of the “safety man”. Both are concerned about the safety of the workers. They help to bring out the need of ensuring that workers are exposed to safe working conditions in order to prevent injuries at workplace.
References
Mundy, R. D. (2003). The Safety man cometh. Professional Safety 48(12), 43-46.
Neelankavil, J. P. & Rai, A. (2009). Basics of international business. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe.