Human Resource Management - Case Study Example

Human Resource Management Table of Contents Introduction 3 Was OSHA Justified? 4 McWane’s Respones 5 The Measures 6 Workplace Safety Laws 7 References 8 Bibliography 8 Introduction One of the most precious assets of the companies for the organizational growth has been the human capital. The other factors of production like land, capital and technology can be arranged as and when required but not the work force. It is indeed difficult to find the right person with the right traits for the right position at the right time. And even after finding such people, the company or the organization undertakes series of steps to train and develop the incumbent for the designated job. In the modern world of business there are little doubts that with the free flow of information and easy access to technology, it is the human asset that plays the most vital role in the success of the company. To protect and retain such employees, the work place safety measures along with health laws have been attaining increased importance. The prime aim of such measures is to prevent personal injuries and occurrence of illness at the work place. For the purpose OSHA (Occupational and Safety Health Act) has been enacted by the US Congress (Cornell University Law School, “Workplace Safety: An Overview”). Was OSHA Justified? McWane has been the repeated violator of the work place safety rules which resulted more than 4600 of the employees (out of 5000 employee base) to get seriously injured in between 1995 to 2002. Nine of the employees laid their lives for the deliberate violations of the laws by the company. The company had the worst record of more than 400 cases of safety violation in the same period, much higher than the rate of such violations by the competing companies (Barstow & Bergman, “OSHA to Address Persistent Violators Of Job Safety Rules”). Having such records, the company compelled OSHO officials and inspectors make frequent visits and raids to the sites of the companies. Also, the company has been fined several times. Even before the passing of the law of verifying of all the sites of the company if an accident happens in any one of the sites, OSHO inspectors have undertaken constant observation of all the work sites of McWane. One might feel that OSHO went beyond its rights to have the inspectors present in all of the sites of McWane. But the action taken by the Occupational and Safety Health Act is perfectly justified. Rather, it was expected from the constitutional body to be more stringent and not only levy fine on the offending company but also to held the accountable officers and executives and punish them. McWane’s Respones Responding to the allegations and the acquisitions against the company and its policies by not only the OSHA but also by the section of the industry and the media and most importantly by the former employees of the company, the reply of the company is more of an eye – washing measure as it did not focus on any of the past issues or reasons for the repeated happenings of such accidents (or incidents as the actual case may be). The response of the McWane was more concentrated upon the features of the so called safety program that it had. It included the oversight at the corporate level, the training procedures of the supervisors, the safety committees comprising the management as well as the employees, safety audits by the external parties, safety inspections by the plant supervisors and the inspectors, return to work programs, joint safety conferences, abiding the OSHA guidelines and host of other environmental policies (Frontline, “A Dangerous Business”). But the response of the company did not talk about the past accidents and safety faults. Overall, it can be said that the response of McWane was not appropriate at all. The Measures The company could have taken more effective measures. It could have inquired about the accidents with honest intentions and develop upon the findings of such enquiries so that similar unfortunate happenings do not occur again. The company could have reduced the work load of the employees and in the way it could have been a preferred employer for the prospective employees so that it could attract the best of the industry talents. The OSHA should have been more strict with the repeated violator of the law and should have taken harsh measure like imprisonment of the responsible officers and not just fined the company. McWean should dedicate considerable portion of its revenue towards the safety measures and also create a fund to financially aid the injured employees or the legal heirs of the deceased employees. Workplace Safety Laws From the case of McLean, it can be well understood that the work place safety laws are not at all tough and the offenders can go scot free repeatedly. As it is observed that McWean had violated the federal laws for more than 400 times, according to the own investigations carried by OSHA. Yet the company was only fined which turned up to be lesser than 1% of the revenue of the company and much lesser than the amount that would have been required to install safety measures to avoid such accidents and violations. As J Alan has observed, “The OSHA laws are not effective, as they don’t penalize companies sufficiently to discourage them from violating the laws.  Knowingly sending a man to his death is a misdemeanor.  From my personal experience with OSHA requirements, I know for a fact that they are very lenient.” (Alan, “Student Comment”). To reduce the number of accidents and injuries of the employees at their place of work, the authorities must initiate more strict measures so that the companies are compelled to have a dedicated safety departments and safety officers and effective safety policies. Apart from the fines, the government should inculcate the provisions of imprisonment of the accountable officers and the suspension of the companies if found guilty of the safety provisions. The authority should stress upon identifying the defaulter and lay emphasize upon exemplary punishments of such defaulters so that those activities are not repeated again in the industry. There is no doubt that the private corporations are motivated towards earning more profit and therefore are not concerned to implement such safety measures. The onus lies on the government to make the companies incorporate the safety provisions. References Alan, J, “Student Comment”, 09 December, 2009. University of California. No Date. Barstow, David & Bergman, Lowell, “OSHA to Address Persistent Violators Of Job Safety Rules”, 09 December, 2009, The New York Times, 11 March, 2003. Cornell University Law School, “Workplace Safety: An Overview”, 09 December, 2009. Legal Information Institute. No Date. < http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/workplace_safety> Frontline, “A Dangerous Business”, 09 December, 2009. The New York Times. 17 October, 2002. Bibliography The Frontline, “The McWane Way”, 09 Decemebr, 2009, Two Companies, Two Visions, 2003, < http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/workplace/mcwane/two.html> Read More