Blow the Whistle - Case Study Example

Blow the Whistle Case Study This is a case study illustrating a situation at a work place that has cause upheavals among employees of Manly Construction Company, due to a harmful substance called asbestos that had been used during the construction of impregnated wallboard and insulation of overhead pipes. For a well organized presentation, the study is subdivided into sections discussed below. Relevant details of the case In the write-up, a number of issues have been discussed. Among such issues are the most important points out of the whole case study. They include: i. Asbestos has a harmful effect on human health. If too much of it is inhaled into the body, the results are epidemic of lung cancer or asbestosis. ii. Employee of Manly Construction Company should be aware that their life is more important that the job opportunity they have. Therefore, they should make hast to quit if their health/welfare related grievances cannot be addressed by the company. iii. Even if not disturbed, the cyclic circulation of air is able to blow up certain fibers into the air and still be breathed in by the surrounding individuals. iv. The President is an escapist when he does a memo instructing people not to disturb (move) any boxes or perform any activities that could damage the asbestos or release fibers into the air yet there was still impacts felt. What is wrong? The wrongs are misleading pieces of information relayed to the people. In this case; i. Employees of Manly Construction Company are threatened of losing their job positions by the management should any information about the existence of this hazardous asbestos be released to the public for any mater. The employees should be offered with suitable work environments for effectiveness. Besides, no threats should be issued to any employees who is seeking his or her rights within the work area. ii. Each and everyone have the right to acquire information. It is hence a violation of this right by the President when he refuses to speak about this situation to the people. iii. In his memo, the President still insists that people have to attend to their respective places of work despite the unhealthy conditions that have prevailed in particular work stations. This is considered unethical because it is a command that kills. All those who shall have reported as stipulated on the memo, though their work places are proved dangerous, will be risking contracting cancer of the lungs. Conflicts identified A conflict is a state of disharmony than may be between incompatible or opposing persons, ideas, or interests in a particular issue or topic. Blow the whistle case study revealed a number of conflicting issues that had little or no practicality in them. Among the ideologies, instructions, words and statements identified as contradicting in the concept of ethical expectations include: i. While the President’s memo denotes the risks of disturbing any boxes by moving or performing any activities that could damage the asbestos or release fibers into the air, the county gives Manly Construction Company up to a period of seventeen days to clean up the fallen asbestos fibers in the vaults. ii. All that information received from the county inspector was contrary to the recommendations of the law which stated that under such cases as of Manly Construction Company, the company was to remove of seal off the asbestos in the wallboard or on the pipes. iii. After the agreement and the payment of the $1400 that included clean up of the asbestos, no action was done rather than the payment. Asbestos and all that the employees had complained of never changed. iv. Instead of Rocky Pedowski claiming his safety rights, he tool sides with the management and in attempts tried to convince other employees that there was no danger at all if the asbestos were never touched. v. Whereas the employees of Manly were threatened not to say anything about the existence of those asbestos in their offices, those who lived in the neighboring surrounding continued to suffer out of ignorance/ lack of information that there was asbestos in the areas. Who is affected Impact of this harmful substance in the work area has affected all these three categories of principalities. i. Individuals All the employees have in one way or another been affected by this substance since it is stated that if inhaled for a certain period, in gets into the body and the result may only be felt afterwards. ii. Groups Families living within the neighborhoods of the Company also stand the risks. iii. Companies Companies, and particularly Manly that was constructed using asbestos are in the risk of being affected. Options of resolving the problem from : i. Deontologist: deontologists will probably opt for the disclosure of this information to the danger prone areas so that they could take necessary initiatives. ii. Virtue ethics: if was an employee, he/she would probably resign from the job to secure the life from danger. iii. Consequentialist: would rather stick to the currently job, for better or worse. What to do My first step would be to put the Company into a lime light by ensuring that they take the correct action to save the situation. Failure to which, I would raise and an alarm by spreading this information so that the ignorant can be aware and save their health too. Most challenging aspect of the case By trying to fit into the shoes of all personalities in the company, I realized it could have been very challenging to be the manager or owner of the Company as it would probably mean the sudden end to that investment. Work Cites “2001 AMA Survey Workplace Monitoring & Surveillance”: 2001 (American Management Association, New York), http://www.amanet.org/research/pdfs/ems_short2001.pdf. Read More