Safety Culture: An Innovative Leadership Approach - Book Report/Review Example

Business Case Report Contents Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Issues 3 Causes 4 Alternatives 6 Decision Criteria 7 Recommended solution/s 8 Implementation and implications 9 Executive Summary In this study different issue of health and safety of employees of the company Rio Tinto’s is described in details. One of the offices of this company is located in Japan. Japan faces serious problem for earthquake which creates huge loss for the company. This case describes that the employees of Rio Tinto have faced serious problem during the time of the earthquake. They were stuck in the office for a long time and were having problem in communicating with their families. The company was not helping them in handling the situation. The case also explains that the company has not provided any transport service to its employees after the natural disaster. The workflow of the company was hampered for the effect of the earthquake. The case also provides necessary recommendation for overcoming the problems of the employees in such situations. It describes important6 alternative suggestion for Rio Tinto to improve its health and safety issues benefiting the employees. Issues Rio Tinto is an active organization within mining industry. The company has its operations in Japan. There are various minerals which are explored by the company and supplied to wide base of industries. Rio Tinto Japan possesses a diverse business portfolio. They are responsible for supplying minerals and metals that facilitates growth across the globe. Their major products are diamonds, aluminum, uranium, copper, metallurgical and thermal coal, iron ore and industrial minerals. They have a large employee base and operate in 40 countries around six continents. It can be stated that there large-scale operations are well supported by innovation, exploration and technology groups. As identified in the video interview the main issue was related to earthquake that took place in Japan. This natural disaster made it difficult to normally execute its global set of operations. The team members had no idea about how to proceed with their work after earthquake had taken place. This resulted into more of chaos within the system since overall business operations were standstill. Since appropriate measures were not taken by management before-hand it affected employee base. Though the earthquake took place far away from Tokyo but its impact was significant. The buildings at Tokyo shook to almost three times. This clearly highlights that the company is investing in other factors to compete effectively but no such measures are taken towards their employees. There were employees who had to stay back overnight due to lack of transport facilities. It was not a normal work environment because there was lack of information and employees were not aware about any external environmental condition. Japan is undoubtedly an earthquake prone area and hence appropriate measures are necessary to be taken. From employee perspective, when working with an organization team members rely heavily on their management in terms of health and safety. However Rio Tinto was not able to meet expectations of most important stakeholder which is employees. Apart from earthquake, their activities were also causing drastic impact on environment. Throughout the video interview there was no such corporate social responsibility activities outlined. The company invested more in profitable segments then in any other necessary CSR activities. Causes The earthquake had occurred around 520 kilometers away from Tokyo but it created a significant impact at Rio Tinto. This company was located in a building that was not earthquake resistant. It was an unsafe workplace for employees and they even had to hide under tables to protect themselves. The causes of identified issues are highly important for the company due to its wide set of business operations. Rio Tinto has a strong brand name and is actively involved in providing minerals and metals to their clients. The exploration, technology and innovative techniques utilized by the firm are inclined towards achieving business goals and objectives. It can be stated that lump sum investment in business operations prevent the company from investing in health and safety measures of employees. Team members are responsible for enhancing productivity level of a company. They are key success factors for any organization and top management is responsible for implementing appropriate workplace health and safety standards.1 There are set workplace conditions in every organization that protects employees from all possible natural hazards. It is essential for all companies to communicate necessary information to all team members. For instance, in Rio Tinto employees were not aware about external circumstances and they were stuck within the office building. There could have been more drastic impact within the organization in terms of employees being severely injured. Since Japan is an earthquake prone area it is necessary that managerial body acquire information prior to occurrence of earthquake. This could have benefitted employees of Rio Tinto as they would be informed about such natural disaster going to take place. Communication plays a critical role when this natural phenomenon occurs and employees should be provided with appropriate communication channels.2 This factor was not present in case of Rio Tinto as they were not being able to communicate with their family. Management should have paid more attention towards transport facilities so that employees do not have to spend a night in office. Occupational health and safety has not gained importance at Rio Tinto since more inclination was towards profit making goals and staying competitive at the market place. Alternatives The causes and issues identified in the case of Rio Tinto are closely knitted with workplace health and safety conditions. Firstly the company should adopt innovative measures that could facilitate effective communication. This kind of strategy will enable employees to be aware about external environmental information and undertake preventive measures. 3Communication shall also be in the form of transmitting weather forecast information to team members. Employees on basis of these communication channels are able to eradicate any form of safety measure issues from their mind. Other alternative in this situation is to re-locate the office premises to any other location. In current scenario the office building of Rio Tinto is located at an earthquake prone area. The company can avoid any such circumstances in nearby future by shifting their office building to a safer location. This would safeguard employees from any form of natural disasters. Other effective measure can be incorporating an emergency plan. 4This plan shall encompass various aspects like communicating with family members after a natural disaster has occurred, developing more efficient earthquake resistant buildings, transport facilities for team members in different emergency situations, continuation of business operations after such event occurrence, etc. Emergency plan is important for all companies since it prevents work flow from getting disrupted. The management should be strongly connected with headquarters and in such scenario extended help needs to be asked from head office. This help can be in two forms like managerial and financial terms. It would help to reduce staff turnover and enhance overall employee retention. 5This is simply because of the fact that employees are more inclined towards appropriate safety and health measures rather than any form of financial rewards or appraisals. To certain extent identified causes and issues can be well addressed by set alternatives. Decision Criteria Based on the alternatives the firm has to set its decision criteria for handling the issues related to the problems of the earthquake. The decision criteria will involve qualitative and quantitative aspects. The important qualitative decision criteria of selecting the alternatives will be based on safety, flexibility, motivation, corporate strategies and efficiency. The quantitative decision criteria will be based on cost, profit, risk, productivity and staff turnover. In Rio Tinto Company these various decision criteria plays a vital role in choosing different alternatives solution for the company for improving the situation. Safety of the employee plays a vital role in the company. In case of any natural disaster employee safety should becomes the main concerned for the organization. The work place safety has to include the issues like proving proper safety precaution in the office to deal with the calamities. The organization should provide drop facility to its employees in at the time of such situation. The employees should receive proper benefits of the safety measures in those situations. Rio Tinto Company should have flexibility in its work process. It should allow leave to its employees whenever it gets information about the occurrence of major natural disaster in Japan. Proper safety measures and flexibility of work during the time of natural disaster will help to motivate the employees more towards their work. Its decision criteria should also involve development of different corporate strategies which will value its employees and also its customers even at the time of natural disaster. Efficiency in the management process is another important criterion to select alternatives. This is because efficient management process plays a vital role in implementing alternative decisions. In the quantitative decision criteria cost plays an important role. A huge amount of cost is related with the loss of life of the employee. If the company takes appropriate preventive measures for the natural disaster then it would not have to bear that cost. By taking appropriate measures Rio Tinto Company can prevent many issues which are directly related with the profitability of the firm. With the help of effective decision the firm will be to reduce the risk of its employees resulted from natural disaster. The productivity and the staff turnover of the company will increase by implementing effective strategies in the company for employee benefit. When the employees will get proper care and benefits from the company then they will not resign from the company and will perform their work efficiently. Recommended solution/s Rio Tinto faces many problems in workplace safety and health of its employees. Among its alternative solutions the company should develop the solution like effective communication of the employees with their family at the time of natural disaster when they can go home. 6This process will help the company to get news from outside which will give information about the external environment of the place at the time of such accidents. Implementing strong communication system with weather department will help the company to take necessary precautions. The organization should provide transport facilities to its employees after the natural disaster.7 It should provide drop service to its employees from office at the time of such incidents. Transportation becomes very difficult when natural calamities occur. Safety of the employees highly depends on getting proper transportation facilities in that situation. Another recommendation for the company can be to shift its office to any other location which is less prone to earthquake. By this solution the company can avoid the risk of facing natural disaster frequently. Implementation and implications The company Rio Tinto has to develop some strict rules and regulation for implementing these decisions. This organization has to become conscious about its employees safety and health issues. It should implement the decision of effective communication by doing tie ups with strong telecommunication companies who provides services even during the time of natural disaster. 8The firm can improve its communication among its employees by using public address system. It will provide mental support to the staffs by providing assistance to them at the time of crisis. It will also provide information to the employees about handling such situation. The firm also has to do tie up with weather forecasting department. It will give information about the upcoming natural disaster which will help the company to build strategic plans and decision according to that. Implementing the strategy of transport facility Rio Tinto has to keep car or bus service of its own which will be available all the time. The implication of decision will help in providing transport service to its employees at the time of natural disaster. The staffs will feel safe by getting this type of service from the company. References Burke, Ronald, Clarke, Sharon, and Cary, Cooper. Occupational health and safety. USA: Gower Publishing, Ltd. 2012. Crutchfield, Nathan, and James, Roughton. Safety Culture: An Innovative Leadership Approach. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. 2014. Daft, Richard. Organization Theory and Design. Masson: Cengage Learning. 2012. Kingston, Jeff. Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan. New York: Routledge. 2014. Leat, Mike. Exploring employee relations. New York: Routledge. 2012. Levy, Barry. Occupational and Environmental Health: Recognizing and Preventing Disease and Injury. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2006. Reese, Charles. Occupational health and safety management. Florida: CRC Press. 2011. Schuster, Peter. Fundamentals of international occupational health and safety law. USA: Aberdeen University Press. 2008. Read More