The Concept of Safety, Security, Health and Environmental Laws - Term Paper Example

Writing Safety, Health and Environmental Law Customer Tutor’s Name Customer’s Name Customer’s Grade Course 17th October 2010 Abstract This paper discusses the concept of Safety, Security, Health and Environmental (SSHE) laws. They are the laws which every other company is supposed to uphold in the protection of every person in the society. Of more concern to the company is the environmental conservation where violations of such could attract a penalty of seven years imprisonment or a fine of one million dollars. However, in most countries, the law applies to the directors as personal liability rather than the corporate liability. Introduction Safety, Security, Health and Environmental Law (SSHE Law) is a body in the category of law that concerns with regulating matters regarding health, security, safety and ecological problems as well as risks (Tooma, 2008). Majorly, the law applies to the individual and business undertakings which can deprive the environment impose health hazards, low safety levels and minimised security in any quarter of SSHE. The SSHE law is an integration of the federal statutes and the guidelines of the state governments and deals with the occupational safety, security especially that concern terrorism threats, occupational health the ecological regulations of the undertakings of businesses. The combination of the four components of this law is significant because there are synergies that are got when there is an integrated approach to the areas pointed out and given in their respective grounding, especially in regard to risk management of the four components (Toome, 2008). Why individuals are held personally liable for SSHE breaches? Should they be? Explain why. In the enforcement of the SSHE law, there have been a number of business owners, directors and senior managers who have been prosecuted using this law. This has largely been fuelled by the expectations from the community that senior people in the business sector should be liable for deteriorating SSHE factors. This has greatly improved in the way these sectors are taken care of by all levels of people in the society and in its application; many people have been sentenced even with maximum imprisonments terms of the law which is up to seven years. The major reason as to why this law is imposed on personal liability is to make the leadership of senior management in the SSHE agenda have positive outcomes. With imposing of personal liability and not a collective one, many people have come to take the regulations towards this law seriously and the result is improved general health, security for all people, conserved environment, and general safety. According to Toome (2008), a corporation does not have a body which can be kicked and neither does it have a soul that can be tortured for committing some wrongs. That is why it is better for senior people to be held responsible for the actions they do as representatives of the organization, or what they do in their personal businesses. A senior person in a company determines the direction the company would take regarding this law, and so, if any of the laws set are broken, then, they are accountable for the mistakes of their organisations. This has made it easy for agencies enforcing these laws persuade the senior managers and directors comply with the SSHE laws. Outline the different models for SSHE liability There are various models which are followed in the enforcement of liability for committed crimes regarding this law. One of the Models for SSHE liability is the national model legislation which is mainly operated by the rail industry. According to Toome (2008), this model recommends a system or a regime of security management plans and the emergency plans in the management for the enforcement of these laws. Another Model in regard to SSHE liability is the Regulatory model and this was adopted in relation to the regulation of security, safety and environment and it has been touted as a performance based model. This legislation imposes some obligations on the stakeholders, and especially the top ranked officials in the business sector. When these models are enforced, and especially when focused on the personal liability rather than a cooperative liability, it makes the men and women ranked top in the business evaluate all their management strategies to meet and comply with the objectives. It makes the work of agencies enforcing these law have easy ways in dealing with the law offenders. What are the maximum penalties for individuals? What is the highest penalty imposed in the safety context? What is the highest penalty imposed in the environmental context According to Toome (2008); the maximum penalty in general when applying the SSHE law is imprisonment for seven years. This applies to individuals in the world of business who stand to loose if their companies violate the Safety, Security, Health and Environmental laws. This penalty serves as a reminder for adhering to all rules which are set by agencies enforcing the SSHE laws and it makes all managers be strict to their employees to adhere to what is set. As in May 2006, the directors and managers of companies were said to be at higher risk of getting into the jail if their companies violate the laws of security, occupational health, safety and environment. It is noted that personal or individual liabilities attract a penalty of 1 million dollars or a seven years’ imprisonment if a company violates any of the environmental regulations. When before 2006 managers could rely on the provision of ‘no knowledge’ defence which made it difficult for enforcers of these laws not to be strict with the individuals, amendments to this made it easy for the enforcers to move fast whenever there are violations. The 1 million dollars charge translates to 120,000 dollars per day after the penalties were reviewed and increased by fivefold. The security and health violations attracts the same magnitude of penalties for the individuals with perhaps a small margin in the amount charged either lesser or greater than the environmental offences. Describe the defences in NSW, QLD and Tasmania for OHS offences against directors In New Swaziland, the directors are responsible for breach of obligations of OHS laws even when it is their junior officers in the company who have acted against the responsibilities. There are no defences provided for the directors as regarding these laws. In Queensland, there is however less penalties and defences for committing such gross mistakes. The maximum to such kind of mistakes and negligence are only two years. In Tasmania, the situation is like in NSW where there are no defences to the mistakes committed regarding OHS. Who is the person conceived in the management of a corporation? Is the definition wide enough/too wide? The person who is most conceived as most liable in the management for any violation of law regarding SSHE is the director of the company. This person can be defined as the pillar of the organisation and so everything concerning the company passes under his or her watch. The supervisors are not part of the liable persons because they act on behalf of a senior person and that is the director. However, in the definition of those who are supposed to be held liable, Toome (2008) does not have a conclusive definition of the people who should be liable. This is because the manager or the director cannot be in every section of the management to enforce the laws. Should supervisors be treated as persons conceived in the management of a corporation? Explain why. Even other junior managers like supervisors should as well be part of the liable team. This is because they have a great role to play in the management as they are directly responsible for the behaviours of the employees. Therefore, if the employees go against the SSHE provisions and obligations, then, they should be liable as they are always aware of what happens at the ground level in the company operations. Thus as the directors are held responsible for company’s violations of SSHE rules and regulations. Describe corporate liability. Is it available in Australia? The Corporate liability refers to the liability transferred to the whole organization if any of the violations of the provisions of law are broken. Such could be the SSHE laws which in many countries like New South Wales and Tasmania, the liability is on the director. The Corporate Liability is practiced in Australia and it has become an evolving corporate governance technique. The corporate criminal liability is argued to be more effective than the liability of the directors because the person is not everything in the company. Therefore, managers should not be jailed as much as it is the case currently, but companies be held responsible instead. Should managers be jailed for serious safety breaches? Discuss. Managers are not the right individuals or group of individuals to be held responsible for the mismanagement of companies. This is more when it comes to the provisions and regulations of the SSHE laws because they are not everything in the company. In today’s world, there is wide delegation of duties, division of labour and specialization. Therefore, there are those people who are directly responsible for various areas like safety, environment, security and health. Therefore, the best is when the whole company is held responsible for mistakes done by any quarter rather than putting the blame on one person. Describe the twenty elements of a SSHE management system The twenty elements of the SSHE refer to the components of a management system that are effective. According to Toome (2008), they are very common in the application of law in many countries which have these systems. They include; the commitment of the board of directors as well as senior managers, development of the SSHE plan, allocation of resources to SSHE management, the design of SSHE, the premises of the SSHE management, the SSHE management plant, the substances of SSHE management, the contractor of SSHE management, the procurement of SSHE management, the supplier of SSHE management, critical risk control, the SSHE management client, communication and consultation of SSHE, the people of SSHE management, incentives and motivation, the emergency response and the business continuity, supervision, training, and performance assessment and Review system. Why is senior management commitment important? Senior management in all organisations must commit themselves to the provisions of SSHE laws and how best they can influence their employees to observing those rules and laws to the letter. Therefore, all senior manager should give their thumbs up to all efforts by SSHE agencies so that the employees and other people they command follow to the letter the provisions knowing the consequences they would face if they weren’t to do that. Should safety be a subsector of Human Resource? Discuss. Safety issues in the company are a subsector of the Human Resource operations. Safety is mainly directed to the employees of the company and so, the human resource manager must be keen in the provision of safety issues in the company. When an employee has issues regarding safety or when in the course of his or her duty he tears his or her body, then, the Human Resource manager or office should be responsible for taking care of the bruises or major injuries. Prior to the occurrence of any danger, the Human resource office should provide safety measures to be enforced in the company, as regarding the operations of the employees. Why is it necessary to assess SSHE in recruitment processes? This also applies to the recruitment process where the recruits must be people of integrity and those who can maintain the provisions of SSHE law to the letter as not to put the company in collision with the SSHE law enforcers. It is therefore crucial that human resource operations be incisive so as the company or the individuals in the company such as the senior managers are not put to tasks with the mistakes of junior employees. Analyse noise risks with references to SSHE legal obligations Noise is part of pollution and so each company must regulate the noise pollution to the environment. Noise is a major air pollutant and if it is not checked, it can result to major disturbances, both to the company’s operations and the societies surrounding the company. When there is too much noise in the company during operations, little concentration in regard to the people in the surrounding area, and so, as part of the health and environmental concerns and ought to be taken seriously. When is a client a liability? A client liability comes in when a client to a company misuses the responsibilities put in by a company. For example; dumping of the waste especially materials that belong to the companies. In such case, the company can hold responsible the client for misusing the companies’ obligation to upholding the SSHE law. In fact, this liability has been touted as the most effective and which can curb unwarranted behaviours of the clients. SSHE is all about culture-get the culture right and rest will follow. Discuss Culture can be defined as a norm in the person or a group of person. In regard to the applications of SSHE laws, it is all about making obligations towards this law a norm and everything else will follow. For example, if the company gets itself used to conserving the environment around it, then, on a long run, it becomes part of the operations in this company. There are companies which have made it their responsibilities to planting trees each and every other year, and this is part of the SSHE provisions or the Corporate Social Responsibility. Is safety expenditure capital investment? Discuss. A capital expenditure is a necessary plan for the business and an important part of the operational plan. It is part of the investment since it is a business plan which looks at what plans are right for the future of the business. Therefore, the safety capital expenditure is an investment in calculating the costs which can be incurred in case a company violates the SSHE laws and so, the company has always to guide its people in the best way to protect its future. While mostly they are concerned with presentation of cash flow management, planning for the best safety measures is a way of preventing various losses which are incurred in the company out of carelessness. What are some of the issues facing SSHE in the 21st Century? In the 21st century, the SSHE law is of paramount importance especially with the environmental degradation discussions which happens every now and then. Some of the problems which are encountered in the application of this law across the world are the ignorance of some companies in some countries. Some big corporation are not taking care of their obligations to uphold the SSHE and limiting its funding. Therefore, if at all this is to be effective, many people should come together and integrate minds in how to protect environment, ensure health for all, safety and security for everyone. Can there be a national regulatory regime for safety, security, health and environment? If yes, explain Perhaps the best approach to this is in having a national regulatory body in enforcing these laws and with this, there would be surety that each and every other individual in the company takes care of their obligations towards it. Most governments leave the issue of SSHE to the federal governments or private agencies to enforce the laws. This leaves people not concerned, and the end result is the laxity of the concerned agencies. But with a national regulation, then, there would be responsibilities cutting across in all quarters. This is the best approach if at all there would be meaningful obligations of individuals and companies in SSHE. What are the impediments to SSHE in practice? In almost all enforcement of major and important laws, agencies face problems in full application. SSHE agencies are not unique in this and they are prone too to face such kind of problems while enforcing the laws. When they comes into operation, many people are always unwilling to comply, and even when there is the court process to undergo, still it becomes hard to fully compel senior managers and directors to strictly following the laws. How does the precautionary principle apply to nanotechnology? The precautionary principle is also known as the foresight principle and the nanotechnology has become a new approach to the industrial production, and more so based on the manipulation of some things like upholding the SSHE law. This kind of foresight can be done using this form as a unit measure but very important to the management of a company. Since the nanotechnology is that approach to tiny things, safety precautions could as well be tiny, but very important in the management of a company. Has risk management taken us as far as it can? Explain your answer Risk management has helped a great deal in enhancement of strong cultural values into conserving environment, improving health care, safety of all concerned in the organization and security to all. The evolvement of major risk management styles in companies have given it a good trial to promoting good orientation of companies towards making the work of SSHE agencies become easier. Can licensing SSHE provide a better outcome? How might a license regime work? Licensing in SSHE would be a viable step towards having better outcomes in regard to conservation and improvement of major outcomes of SSHE. A licensing regime can work through issuing standard certificate for those who have made to conserve or have shown that they can improve the functioning of SSHE regulatory agencies. Those companies which have met standards in conservation of environment and care for their employees and communities around them would be issued a certificate to continue with their operations. Describe the synergies that integrating SSHE can give for organisational management and regulation SSHE should be made part of the organisational management where before any person is employed into the management, he or she should be aware of major rules regarding security, safety, health and environmental issues. This would make it easier for agencies fighting for this have easy time making impacts in regulation and conservation of the environment, health issues and security/safety. Climate change is a safety challenge as well as an environmental challenge. Discuss Many times, climate changes without the expectations of the people who are affected by it. For example, farmers expect to plant their crops during rainy seasons, and the rain fails due to some changes in environmental and climate issue, then, there would be a major problem in regard to food security and the welfare of the people. Therefore, safety of people is a major concern any time there is a dramatic change in climate or environment in general. Conclusion Even though the 21st century company seems to have ignored all safety measures for their people, security, health and environmental conservation, the laws are still clear on how everyone should go about SSHE laws. The relevance of these laws is important but they can only be if there is a shift from the directors’ liability to corporate liability. This way, everyone would be feeling the pinch of not upholding the rights of every other person in the society. Some of the key components in the SSHE laws are the 20 elements, the models and the corporate versus personal liability. References Toome 2008, Security, Health and Environmental Laws, The Federation Press, Sydney. Read More