Salama Company: Guide Safety and Environmental Issues at the Workplace - Case Study Example

Salama Company Name Institution Date Table of contents Table of contents……………………………………………………………………………….2 1.0Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….3 2.0 Industry……………………………………………………………………………………..3 3.0 Environmental laws………………………………………………………………………...4 3.1 Clean Air Act……………………………………………………………………………….4 3.2 Safe Drinking Water Act……………………………………………………………………4 3.3 Solid Waste Disposal ……………………………………………………………………….5 4.0 Programs and systems ……………………………………………………………………....6 4.1 Chemical Risk Assessment ………………………………………………………………....6 4.2 Training of Employee…………………………………………………………………….…6 4.3 Environmental Audit………………………………………………………………………..7 4.4 Healthy Indoor Environment………………………………………………………………..7 5.0 Working with government officials……………………………………………..….……..... 7 6.0 Challenges in implementation……………………………………………………………....8 7.0 Ethical issues and dilemmas……………………………………………………………….10 8.0 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………...11 9.0 Checklists…………………………………………………………………………………..12 10.0 References ………………………………………………………………………………..14 1.0 Introduction Safety and environmental compliance are vital aspects of workplace safety that have to be applied in all workplaces as a way or reducing incidents which may occur while undertaking tasks at a workstation. Most of the environmental hazards that are identified in this research are self-inflicted so that the procedures which should be used to counter the hazards are also man-made. The government has enacted laws which govern workplaces in terms of safety and pollution as a way of ensuring that the health of employees is not compromised. However, at certain points of establishing projects aimed at reducing environmental hazards at the workplace, employees, as well as, management often presents resistance to professionals and government officials affiliated to the department of environmental health. Consequently, there are a series of ethical issues and dilemmas which are experienced by the environmental safety professional who is given the responsibility of assisting a firm apply its safety measures. 2.0 Industry Salama Company is a commercial box store that sis involved in retail as well as wholesale trading of a wide array of merchandise. The stores stock foodstuffs, chemicals such as detergents, body oils and household appliances. Similarly, the store has offices in the same building where management offices are located. This study identifies laws that guide safety and environmental issues at the workplace, procedures to be applied, the role of government officials, challenges when solving the issues and ethical issues encountered. 3.0 Activities to be undertaken to comply with environmental laws 3.1 Clean Air Act Salama Company as a commercial box store has 1000 employees so that at any given time, the business premises are always occupied. According to the Clean Air Act, employees in any given workplace should be provided with clean air which is free from any contamination. The same environmental legislation also calls for employees to reduce harmful emissions at all times so as to reduce air pollution which may affect other employees in the same workplace. The air inside Salama Company’s premises is always clean as the firm does not undertake any manufacturing activities. However, emissions from computers and other machines in the offices could cause much damage on the health of employees. However, this issue can be curbed by purchasing office equipment with minimal radiations (Howard, 2010). Incinerators which are used by majority of the industries to dispose off wastes a re expected to comply with the Clean Air Act which states that the facility should not emit fumes that could harm human life. Consequently, Salama Company is expected to avail medical treatment to its employees especially those with airborne diseases as these could have been triggered by unclean air at the workplace. Introduction of a dispensary at Salama grounds would be appropriate towards treating sick employees promptly before airborne infections are transmitted to other employees (Wilson & Haines, 1997). 3.2 Safe Drinking Water Act The Safe Drinking Water Act is inclined towards providing clean water which is safe for human consumption to all employees. Therefore, Salama Company has an obligation to ensure that at any given time, employees at the company should have access to safe water that is fit for consumption. This can be done by introducing water treatment plants which are connected to dispensers. Consequently, the water should be delivered by a recognized company so as to emphasize on the degree of safety (Roughton, 2002). 3.3 Solid Waste Disposal Act The other environmental legislations states that any organization or company must clean up wastes which it discards in the course of its operations. In this case, waste material should be disposed in an environmental friendly way which will not pollute the environment. The same applies to areas around the company which should be cleaned by the company in case any litter is disposed there hence harming the natural environment. Failure to clean up leads to heavy fines being imposed on the firm by the Solid Waste Disposal Act so that the environment is kept clean at all times (Wilson, 1997). However, in order to comply with this legislation, Salama Company can sort its solid wastes so that the biodegradable wastes are converted to manure while non-biodegradable like old computers can be sold to recycling companies. Consequently, such moves will regulate the amount of wastes being produced by Salama hence disposal by incineration will not emit harmful fumes. The products that are sold by the company are both biodegradable and non-biodegradable hence adequate measures have to be undertaken when handling products that are way past their sell by date. The advantage is that most of the non-biodegradable goods do not have to be disposed off as they rarely have an expiry date hence most of the solid wastes from the company is from spoilt perishables (Novice, 1999). The other environmental legislation which Salama Company needs to comply with is employee safety while inside the workplace. This entails provision of proper lighting as well as appropriate office lighting and ventilation so that employees do not get injured in the course of undertaking their duties. Poor lighting and inadequate ventilation are root causes of numerous employee safety issues. However, these accidents can be prevented by maintaining sufficient air circulation around the room, in addition to, increasing the size of windows which will not only allow fresh air to get in, but also allow more light to penetrate inside the room (Wilson, 1997). Based on the list of activities above, it is apparent that Salama Company has a wide range of environmental hazards and safety issues which require urgent intervention. It is apparent that most of the safety issues are man-made hence they can be solved upon application of appropriate measures. Consequently, to maintain the high profits which Salama has been accumulating over the past years, adequate steps have to be made according to the environmental legislations so as to minimize possible fines due to broken laws (Roughton, 2002). 4.0 Programs and systems at Salama Company 4.1 Chemical Risk Assessment A very important procedure which should be conducted at Salama to reduce environmental pollution is the Chemical Risk Assessment. This test involves undertaking several tests on chemicals used in the vicinity of the workplace. The tests include identifying the chemical components in detergents used to clean surfaces at the workplace. It also entails analyzing the components of water which is consumed by employees while at the workplace. A chemical risk assessment is vital in a modern workplace where customers and employees get into contact with chemicals for a better part of their day (Bahr, 1997). These assessments include radiation safety where tests are conducted to determine the nature of radiation emitted by laser machines, microwaves and videos. Generally some radiations are either ionizing or non-ionizing hence the health risk imposed by either radiation is identified after conducting the risk assessment. Consequently, most of the products that are stocked by the company in its stores are capable of emitting harmful radioactive waves which may in turn harm the health of employees deployed inside the store (Bahr, 1997). 4.2 Employee Training The other program that can be used by Salama to control environmental accidents is providing sufficient training to all members of staff. Employees are at a high risk of being injured mainly due to their own ignorance or due to human. Therefore, to cut down on such avoidable incidents, proper training of employees on matters related to safety will go along way into enhancing compliance with legislations concerned with the environment (Bahr, 1997). 4.3 Environmental Audits Similarly, it is vital for Salama Company to engage in environmental audits at given intervals so that the level of safety can be identified. Such audits are essential as they give a clear indication on the degree to which employees are exposed to environmental risks. The environmental audit also covers the monitoring and evaluation of existing environmental control programs so as to decide their fate (Bahr, 1997). 4.4 Healthy Indoor Environment Other procedures involve maintenance of a health indoor environment that is free from pollution as well as not susceptible to potential environmental hazards. Therefore, employees who are working at Salama Company must uphold high levels of cleanliness while in the company premises. Similarly, employees must ensure that their offices are adequately ventilated and air conditioned as deemed appropriate as a health measure. The employees should; also take active participation in the implementation of the environmental compliance procedures as this will determine the ability to reduce environmental hazards (Novice, 1999). 5.0 Working with government officials The government through its Safety and Environmental professionals ensures that the environmental legislations are adhered to in all workplaces. However, there are challenges associated with working together with the government officials when establishing programs or projects in aid of environmental safety. One of the challenges involves bureaucracy so that gaining the attention of any government official is hectic because the one seeking their help has to follow protocol to contact the said official. Therefore, it is difficult to apply emergency measures as sufficient time is required to contact the government officials (Wilson, 1997). However, this issue can be addressed by management at Salama ensuring that they include government officials in all their projects involving safety and environment hence allowing adequate time to get their attention. Consequently, undertaking environmental safety measures frequently will reduce piling up hence the projects cease to be emergencies (Howard, 2010). The other issue which may arise when working with government officials is huge workloads which may hamper their ability to exclusively handle each case as it arises. Consequently, their output at the said task is compromised as fatigue sets in hence interfering with their responsibilities. This issue can be addressed by ensuring that Salama Company enlists more than two government officials form the department of safety and environmental compliance. This will make it easier to reach out to another official when the present one proves inadequate (Roughton, 2002). 6.0 Challenges associated with company personnel following regulations Human beings are always rigid when it comes to adapting changes especially if their normal routine will be affected by the change. Therefore, introducing new environmental safety measures at Salama Company will not be initially smooth as employees will be expected to change their old habits as a way of implementing safety measures. Resistance to change is common in most workplaces; hence management at Salama need to be prepared for resistance initially though this will fade over time as the information becomes comprehended by personnel (Novice, 1999). To overcome this challenge, management at Salama need to engage heads of various departments in prior training as well as briefing so that the heads of department act as front liners in the project implementation process. Consequently, when more employees acquire information regarding the essence of safety and environmental compliance at the workplace, the reception upon introducing the procedures will be positive. The other challenge will be presented by willingness of employees to adhere to the legislation governing safety and the environment without being watched over. Employees often tend to relax during implementation of certain projects at the workplace especially if they are not monitored. For instance the environmental control measures that ensure every employee maintains cleanliness at their workstation may not auger well with some employees who are fond of clutter (Wilson, 1997). Another challenge that may be witnessed is lack of participation in training activities or lack of cooperation whenever assistance is sought from personnel in the course of introducing environmental safety education. This challenge is often exhibited in the form of poor attendance during training sessions as personnel coin excuses to evade the sessions. Some of the employees may pose as very busy at their workstations so that they cannot leave their slot unoccupied (Howard, 2010). Poor cooperation is portrayed as a type of sabotage where employees feel it is upon management to ensure that the workplace is safe. Such employees will not take part in any procedure aimed at enhancing their safety as they rely on management to make the workplace safe for them to work in sufficiently. Some employees also tend to decline from engaging in activities that are not along their assigned responsibilities hence they skip items which seem to be distractions (Roughton, 2002). 7.0 Possible ethical and professional dilemmas of a responsible environmental professional A responsible environmental professional will face professional dilemmas when asked to recommend a government official who is expected to assist the company when implementing safety programs. This is attributed to the fact that such professionals may not be in possession of information which enable the client would conduct his/her procedures with minimal resistance. Disappointments are also eminent as the nature of response obtained from one client cannot be guaranteed from the next client. Customer satisfaction is not always guaranteed at each business transaction therefore, the environmental professionals may be forced to work beyond their capabilities to satisfy their client. The uncertainty of poor results or disappointing the client when the cost of implementing safety procedures exceeds the set budget may hamper with professional’s competence hence compromise their work (Wilson, 1997). The other professional dilemma which may affect the ethical situation of the environmental professional is applying measures which may be against the culture or way of life of the employees at Salama Company. Culture plays a great role in determining how individuals conduct their behaviors in the workplace. For instance, in some cultures, men do not play any part in cleaning furniture or opening windows. Hence this will be a possible ethical issue for the professional as employees who are tied by this culture may not adhere to strategies laid by the professional (Howard, 2010). Environmental safety professionals are supposed to comply with the environmental legislations aid out by the government while at the same time they work for companies whose interest is in minimizing the operation costs. Consequently, the environmental safety professional may be faced with ethical issues when identifying the sources of hazardous wastes from the company and sustaining good working relations with management at the company. This balance is often difficult to sustain especially when the said company has flouted some of the legislations due to ignorance of employees (Roughton, 2002). Therefore, accountability has to be established so that Salama Company owns up to the flaws which have been pointed out and work on them so that lasting solutions are identified. Similarly, the safety and environmental professional has to provide suggestions and information regarding the most useful procedure which can solve the environmental hazards. At this point, the professional is expected to recommend a procedure that will meet requirements of the environmental legislations while at the same time ensure that the procedure will be cost effective for Salama (Novice, 1999). 8.0 Conclusion In conclusion, Salama Company can resolve its workplace safety and environmental issues by incorporating adequate training for all employees. Similarly, utilizing appropriate procedures and ensuring that employees are ready to cooperate are fundamental towards adhering to legislations laid out to curb environmental hazards in the workplace. Safety and environmental compliance are significant in the attainment of the company goals as employee safety will be maintained at all times. 10.0 Checklist for the environmental assessment As a commercial box type of business, Salama exhibits several safety hazards. These are presented in the checklist below; Figure 1 Question Yes No 1. Are solid wastes the larger percentage of wastes produced at Salama? 2. Is the store one of the sections that produces most solid wastes? 3. Does employees and management know about the recommended limit for harmful emissions as per the Environmental Health Act? 4. Are there health related cases reported by employees at Salama per month connected to safety issues at the workplace? 5. Are there any minimal measures which exist at Salama Company that may be vital towards minimizing the impact of safety related problems at the firm? 6. Are there any legal documents at the company which indicate the nature of hazards present as well as evidence of past interventions? 7. Has Salama engaged in recycling measures which could have made it possible to cut down on the amount of solid wastes produced everyday? 8. Does the company have adequate ventilation in all offices and stores so that fresh air can circulate freely? 9. Is the company premises located in a residential or industrial region? 10. If the location is residential, does Salama have a permitting license authorizing it to apply in the locality? 11. Do the perishable products have expiry dates clearly placed on the packets so that employees can sort them out way before they start emitting harmful chemicals? 12. Is there a specific department at the company that deals with all sorts of issues that are related to health risks? 13. Does Salama have a government official who handles safety issues at the workplace or is there any other environmental professional who acts as a consultant? 11.0 References Bahr, N. J. (1997). System Safety Engineering and Risk Assessment: A Practical Approach (Chemical Engineering) (1st Edition ed.). Taylor & Francis Group Howard F. (2010), environmental health: from local to global. 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons. San Francisco Novice, R. (1999). "Overview of the environment and health in Europe in the 1990s" (PDF). World Health Organization. Roughton, J. (2002). Developing an Effective Safety Culture: A Leadership Approach (1st ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann Wilson, J. R. & Haines, H. M. (1997). Participatory ergonomics. John Wiley and Sons Read More