Transcript Safety - leadmore.org

Chapter 14
Safety Video
Safety Awards
SECTION 5
Employee
Relations
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1 in 4 employees report being harassed
threatened and attacked
1 million crimes committed at work each year
16% of assaults occur at work
Workplace homicide victims are 80% male
however is the leading cause of occupational
death among women.
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Most common jobs experiencing homicide:
cab drivers
security guards
hotel clerks
convenience store clerks
hospital workers
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Someone just got their arm cut off in a
machine on the factory floor…what do you
do?
Two married employees just got a divorce
because the wife was committing adultery
with another employee in the same work
group. What should be your response?
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Risk Management
◦ Involves responsibilities to consider physical,
human, and financial factors to protect
organizational and individual interests.
Focus of Risk Management
Health
Safety
Security
(Individual)
(Physical)
(Organizational)
14–5
FIGURE 14–1
Hidden Costs of Accidents
14–6
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Health
◦ A general state of physical, mental, and emotional
well-being.
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Safety
◦ A condition in which the physical well-being of
people is protected.

Security
◦ The protection of employees and organizational
facilities.
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Review
◦ Workers’ Compensation
◦ Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
◦ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
 Reinstatement after injury
 Importance of Essential Job Functions
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Three Top Reasons for Injuries in the
Workplace
◦ Overextending
◦ Falling
◦ Bodily Reaction
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Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
◦ Passed to assure safe and healthful working conditions.
◦ Applies to all organizations with at least 1 person
◦ Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
administers provisions of the Act.
◦ Can engage in site visits and investigations
◦ Can refuse visit without a search warrant
◦ OSHA Enforcement Standards regulate equipment and
working environments:
 The “general duty” of employers to provide safe and healthy
working conditions.
 Notification and posters are required of employers to inform
employees of OSHA’s safety and health standards.
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Imminent Danger- immediate concern of death or physical
harm
Serious- Probability of death or serious physical harm
Other than serious- Impact health and safety, but unlikely
death
De minimis- not directly related to employees health and
safety (e.g., no doors on toilet stalls)
Willful and Repeated- citations for things organizations have
been cited for in the past
Hazard
Communication
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
Lock out/tag out regulations
Blood-borne
Pathogens
Protection for workers exposed to blood
and other substances from AIDS
Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE)
Hazard analysis, training, and provision of
PPE to employees
Cumulative Stress
Disorders (CTDs)
Protection from muscle and skeletal
injuries from repetitive tasks
Work Assignments
Protection for reproductive health and
refusal to perform unsafe work
Source: U.S. Department of
Labor Statistics, What Every
Employer Needs to Know
About OSHA Record Keeping
(Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office).
Dov Zohar’s Research on
Safety Climate
Safety Policies
and Discipline
Safety
Committees
Employee and
Workplace
Safety
Employee
Motivation
and Incentives
Safety Training
and
Communications
Phases of Accident Investigation
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Substance abuse
◦ Use of illicit substances or misuse of controlled
substances, alcohol, or other drugs.
◦ Covered under the ADA
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Types of Drug Tests
◦ Urinalysis
 Least Expensive
 Can Produce False Positives (rare)
 One of the most intrusive
◦ Radioimmunoassay of hair
◦ Fitness-for-duty tests
◦ Employees rights to privacy- discussed later
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Top Security Concerns at Work:
◦ Workplace violence
◦ Internet/intranet security
◦ Business interruption/disaster recovery
◦ Fraud/white collar crime
◦ Employee selection/screening concerns
First Aid/CPR
Hazardous Materials
Containment
Disaster Escape Means
Disaster
Training
Topics
Employee Contact Methods
Organizational Restoration
Efforts
14–21
How to deal with employee complaints
Chapter 15
SECTION 5
Employee
Relations
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Rights
 That which belongs to a person by law, nature, or
tradition.
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Responsibilities
 Obligations to perform certain tasks and duties.
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Statutory Rights
 Rights based on specific laws and statutes passed by
federal, state, and local governments.
 Minimum Wage
 Equal employment opportunity
 Collective bargaining
 Workplace safety
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Contractual Rights
 Rights based on a specific contract between employer
and employee.
 Can be spelled out formally in written employment contracts
or implied in employee handbooks and published policies..
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Employment Contract
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Implied Contract
 An agreement that formally outlines the details of
employment.
 Originally for executive managers
 The idea that a contract exists between the employer
and the employee based on the implied promises of the
employer. Enforceable in court.
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Non-Compete Agreements
 Prohibit individuals who quit from competing with
an employer in the same line of business for a
specified period of time.
 Non-piracy agreements bar former employees from
soliciting business from former customers and clients
for a specified period of time.
 Non-solicitation of current employees agreements
prevent a former employee encouraging former coworkers to join a different company, often a
competitor.
 Intellectual property and trade secrets prevent former
employees from revealing key competitive information.
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Employment-at-Will (EAW)
◦ Common law doctrine that employers have the right to hire,
fire, demote, or promote as they choose, unless there is a
law or contract to the contrary.
◦ Employees have the right to quit and get another job under
the same constraints.
 Horace Gay Wood
◦ “Master and Servant” treatise- 1877
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 Described Employment At Will
 Cited Court Cases
 Stated it was accepted by courts
 Completely falsified
1887 - McCullough Iron Co. v. Carpenter
◦ -One of first cases to cite Wood’s treatise stating “[Wood’s treatise]
is an American authority of high repute”
Union Represented employees are not EAW employees
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Wrongful Discharge
◦ Termination of an individual’s employment for
reasons that are illegal or improper (covenant of
good faith and good dealing).
 Fortune v. National Cash Register
 Violation of covenant of good faith and fair dealing
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Exceptions to EAW
◦ Public Policy
◦ Employment Contracts (Express / Implied
Contracts)
◦ Good Faith
Figure 16–2
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Constructive Discharge
◦ An employer deliberately makes working conditions
intolerable for an employee in an attempt to get (to
force) that employee to resign or quit.
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Just Cause
◦ Reasonable justification for taking an employmentrelated action.
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Due Process
◦ The means used for individuals to explain and
defend their actions against charges or discipline.
◦ Unionized due process based on grievance
procedures
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Distributive Justice
◦ Perceived fairness in the distribution of outcomes.
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Procedural Justice
◦ Perceived fairness of the process used to make
decision about employees.
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The issue of transparency
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Right to Privacy
◦ Defined in legal terms for individuals as the
freedom from unauthorized and unreasonable
intrusion into their personal affairs.
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Privacy Rights and Employee Records:
◦ Access to personal information held by employer
◦ Response to unfavorable information in records
◦ Correction of erroneous information
◦ Notification when information is given to a third
party
Body Appearance
Off-Duty Behavior
An employer can place
legitimate job-related limits
on an employee’s personal
at-work appearance such as
tattoos and body piercings.
An employer can discipline
an employee if the
employee’s off-the-job
behavior puts the company
in legal or financial jeopardy.
15–33
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Electronic Communications Policy Elements
◦ Voice mail, e-mail, and computer files are provided by the
employer and are for business use only.
◦ Use of these media for personal reasons is restricted and
subject to employer review.
◦ All computer passwords and codes must be available to the
employer.
◦ The employer reserves the right to monitor or search any of
the media, without notice, for business purposes.
Figure 16–5
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Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988
◦ Requires government contractors to take steps to
eliminate employee drug use. Failure to do so can
lead to contract termination.
◦ Tobacco and alcohol do not qualify as controlled
substances under the act, and off-the-job drug use
is not included.
◦ U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requires
regular testing of truck and bus drivers, train crews,
mass-transit employees, airline pilots and
mechanics, pipeline workers, and licensed sailors.
Figure 16–7

Conducting Drug Tests
 Random testing of all employees at periodic
intervals
 Testing only in cases of probable cause
 Testing after accidents
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When to Test (Conditions)
 Job consequences outweigh privacy concerns
 Accurate test procedures are available
 Written consent of the employee is obtained
 Results are treated confidentially
 Employer has drug program, including an EAP.
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Discipline
◦ A form of training that enforces organizational
rules.
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Positive Discipline Approach
1. Counseling
2. Written Documentation
3. Final Warning (decision day-off)
4. Discharge
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Good discipline (or a rule) is like a hot stove
in that:
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It
It
It
It
provides a warning (feels hot)
is consistent (burns every time)
is immediate (burns now)
is impersonal (burns all alike)
 No discriminator of persons
 No discriminator of levels
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This philosophy is very theory X. However,
the legal environment does not tolerate an
individualized approach.
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Termination Process
 Coordinate manager and HR review
 If layoffs, do not announce until all affected people have been
notified. Move swift and cut deep.
 Select a neutral and private location (e.g. No e-mail even if virtual)
 Conduct the termination meeting
 If for cause on a Friday
 If layoffs without a WARN or two week notice, midweek (to find new
job)
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Clearly tell employee they are being terminated and why
Should be no surprises (e.g., don’t bring up anything new)
Be prepared with notes and example only if needed
Give them time to react
Discuss termination benefits.
Escort the employee from the building (if terminating for cause)
Notify the department staff
Separation agreement
 An agreement in which a terminated employee agrees not to sue
the employer, in exchange for specified benefits.