Occupational Safety and Health Administration - Essay Example

Running Head: Occupational Safety and Health Administration Occupational Safety and Health Administration Insert Insert Grade Insert Tutor’s Name 26 November 2011 Occupational Safety and Health Administration Introduction Safety measures are the steps taken in the surrounding environment to avoid certain recognized hazards that are likely to cause injuries, illness, death or other physical harm. Safety precautions are very important factors to consider in each organization. This is mainly because accidents do happens everywhere, whether in manufacturing plants, office, or hospitals among other places. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an organization that governs and monitors safety issues in U.S.A. It is very essential that the Health and Occupational Act be followed to reduce related safety accidents (Cardenas, Para 1) Steps I would take to create safety excellence As the best precaution to be taken against health and environmental hazards, the following steps would be taken into consideration: Recognition and Identification of the Surrounding Hazards and Risks: - This is in fact the first and initial step that I have to undertake in order to establish a safe and risk-free environment. It is also the most important step in the program of safety awareness. Wayne Hebertson, in “The Practical Safety Guide”, once said that the first step in the process of safety implementation is identification of Hazards and assessment of risks (Cardenas, Para, 2). I will immediately take time to review the current condition of the organization and that of the employees. This will enhance identification of the places that need changes, and then initiate the implantation process (Gregory, 97). I will introduce a program where the employees and the employers share a responsibility in understanding and practicing proper hazards and risk management. Normally, it is good for a person to use his or her knowledge to practice proper safety measures. I would recommend the employer to provide the employees with proper and safer working condition (Cardenas, Para, 2). In addition, I will try as much as possible to explore the current and new ideas in all sections concerning safety matters and check for better approaches to safety. This will be achieved through a safety program that contains effective safety procedures and processes, employees training and checklists (Gregory, 101). Further, I will make sure that all the employees and the employer’s activities agree with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and Environmental Protection Act. I will also organize special meeting and seminars at the organization for educating and training employees on proper safety measures and procedures for manufacturing plant. The organization activities must also comply with local laws and regulations including the federal state and local department codes on health. To make sure everything runs out smoothly with the changing contemporary world, I have to keep looking after any updated current information of safety matters and directly passing it to other employees (Cardenas, Para, 3). Moreover, I will use my leadership position to create a solid organizational culture that aims at improving safety in the working environment and climate. This will enable a co-existence of a safe environment and working interface system (Krause, 46). I will pass a clear message to all the employees on the advantages of keeping and maintaining safety in the working environment. Here, I will try, by all means, to practice and do what I preach (McSween, 147), including encouraging the use of control mechanisms in the organization to reduce the risk of accidents and injuries occurring. This involves the use of covered electric switches and warning device systems. Moreover, I will ensure proper procedural controls and processes are obeyed by all the employees. Checking and reviewing of supervisors work, checklists, and training individual employees are some of the procedural controls that need examination. All the employees must wear protective clothing, in addition to having their rest at the time they are supposed to do so (Gregory, 47). Nevertheless, I will make sure that all the safety measure orders are correctly followed, as well as recognize and reward those who are best performers. All these will be achieved through regular check ups, observations, and audits, including assessing every employee’s safety process data (McSween, 148). Employees need supervision and monitoring all the time. In this case, I have to keep an eye to all the activities that are related to safety. This will involve regular inspections, audits, investigations, and occasionally reviewing safety procedures and processes. This will actually require assessment of the various departments of the manufacturing plant and writing the necessary report on safety measures and performance analysis (Cardenas, Para, 5). In addition, it is important that the organization follows or agrees with the corporate policies concerned with the safety issues. This can be achieved through overall review of both corporate and the organization safety policies (Gregory, 99). Determination and development of expertise in OSHA regulations to apply in the business As a professional in safety in a manufacturing business, I will consider OSHA regulations as a protection and guidance of employees at work. This practice will involve ensuring that all the employees are working in safe environments. In addition, each employee must understand that safe working condition leads to fewer accidents, improved organization, and improved effectiveness in their work (Regulations that are put in place by OSHA, Para, 2) The implementation of OSHA regulations will be the first objective, which will involve developing safety procedures and regulations that completely agree with the OSHA regulations. This will definitely cover what the employees are supposed to do and what they are not supposed to do. These processes include safety meetings, education, awareness, and programs, and the procedures involving safety checklist, signs of machines, and equipments, and audit programs. In addition, often revision of OSHA regulations is important in order to further identify the requirements of the compliance. This is through consulting experts and qualified professionals. (Cardenas, Para, 3). There is also the issue about work and age that is entailed in OSHA regulations. This will require acting accordingly and ensuring that all the employees are at the required age to work in a manufacturing plant. This can be through checking their identification cards to identify their right ages and somehow restrict teenagers from doing heavy and dangerous jobs. In addition to this, there will be need to regulate the number of hours the employees work in a day. Obviously, young adults or teenagers cannot work for long hours as the adults and mature people can do. Finally, a clean environment is important; this will be enhanced through an exhaust system that helps maintain fresh and clean air by separating the air from dust and dangerous chemicals. Creation of more ventilation openings will definitely be the other alternative. This will also involve banning of cigarettes smoking within the working environment to avoid air pollution (Regulations that are put in place by OSHA, Para, 2). Safety leadership; what it takes to be an effective advocate for safety and steps to be a safety leader A safety leader is a leader who cares for others and always has safety in mind. In addition, a safety leader is actually a leader who leads others by practicing the safety measures, procedures, and processes as an example. A safety leader should posses effective leadership qualities and attitude, in addition to having vision of how the future of the organization will be and believing in fulfilling the state of the vision. He or she should have good communication skills, be collaborative, and actions-oriented. This effectiveness is related to personal resilience, emotions, and collegiality (Krause, 28). A safety leader must be able to ensure that safety is the first option in every employee’s choice list. He or she should also develop and practice a continuous improvement on the safety measures, in addition to setting target safety goals and objectives and making sure that they are fulfilled through regular checking and revising. Moreover, a good safety manager should regularly revise through OSHA regulations and registering the manufacturing with available associations of safety measurements, in order to be always updated with current and upcoming news (Cardenas, Para, 6). Conclusion Safety measures are very important activities of any given organization. It is appropriate for each employee to undertake and practice safety procedures no matter the place he or she is working. Normally, there are various ways of improving safety of a manufacturing plant. These procedures should however be reviewed each particular time to cover all the things necessary for safety of employees. Works Cited Anon. “Regulations that are put in place by OSHA.” Businessknowledgesource.com. 2010. 23 November 2011. http://businessknowledgesource.com/manufacturing/regulations_that_are_put_in_place_by_osha_029881.html#more. Cardenas, Heidi. “Safety Ideas for Manufacturing Plants.” eHow Money. 2011. http://www.ehow.com/list_6749889_safety-ideas-manufacturing-plants.html 23 November 2011. Gregory, Alston. How safe is safe enough: leadership, safety, and risk management. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2003. Krause, Thomas R. Leading with safety. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2005. McSween, Terry E. Improving Your Safety Culture with Behavior: Value-Based Safety Process. NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003. Read More