Workplace Safety at McDonalds - Case Study Example

WОRKРLАСЕ SАFЕTY Name Course Tutor Institutional Affiliation City Date: WОRKРLАСЕ SАFЕTY Introduction McDonalds serves clients globally in unusual numbers of the globe`s largest food retail chain. This is based on its quality of food, fast service, cleanliness, quality of existence and so has made a high-profile brand image. Moreover, experienced administration, advanced functional structures, client-friendly strategies, present time infrastructure, data structures to compete in the highly competitive market. The McDonalds stores can be found in a number of locations that comprise of conventional high streets, shopping centers, retail park, roadside, leisure parks, as well as rail and air access and motorway service zones. McDonalds Store Risk Chart There are various risks that McDonalds food retail chain stores face in their daily operations. The first risk regards numerous labor strikes and protests against McDonalds by its employees concerning issues of augmenting minimum hourly wages and the privilege to unionize. The most recent protest took place on May 21, 2013 in Chicago, and when such protests occur, the company risk losing clients and cash flow as no business or operation takes place during the entire protest or strike time. Another risk concerns currency risk where at the end of 2013, McDonalds had forty percent of its debt denominated in overseas currency. This comprised of world major currencies (Euro, Australian Dollar, British Pound, and Canadian Dollar) depicting about sixty-five percent of the company`s working revenues over a similar time scale (Beneke and Carter 2015,pp.22-35). The administration estimates about 0.25 dollar alteration to the proceeds for every share in any of these currencies moved even by ten percent. Such impact on the revenues of the company affects its services, operation, and shareholders at the extreme end, implying that the entire organization is shaken. Since McDonalds operates in developed markets comprising of the US and Europe, this implies that the organization faces tighter regulations. As such, some regulatory alterations comprise of printing nutritional descriptions on items sold, merchandise packaging, taxation, and promotional activities targeting children. This translates to augmented outlays for compliance, and for instance, in 2012 McDonalds had committed itself to the EU pledge, which it would accomplish nutritional criteria for items advertised to children under the age of twelve. The same effort the company also committed to not engage in interaction to primary learning institutions in Europe. These activities make the organization`s existence and operation very difficult and expensive in a number of ways, and this could limit its workforce and services offered at the end while impact on its shareholder dividends. The other issue regards reputation risks where there have been a number of studies and some criticism regarding MacDonalds on numerous topics like treatment of employees and food quality among others. All such issues lead to alterations in client perceptions towards McDonalds and the food it offers to its clients (Kowitt 2014, p. 110). Trends in food behaviors comprising of move towards a healthier menu in accordance impacts sales when the organization cannot keep up with the rising demands. In essence introducing a healthier menu and altering the image from a junk food restaurant to a healthy food restaurant presents huge risk based on client`s set of perception about the organization. This comes in addition to a huge marketing financial plan already in existence and committed to the present items. a) Combating Possible High Risks Hazards To combat issues of reputation regarding food quality and employee handling, there are numerous steps necessary for bringing required changes. To begin with, the management has to make sure that the employees ` affairs are well catered for in a manner that motivates them to work even harder in accomplishing tasks. Such efforts should be geared towards involving employees in the design of tasks and key decisions concerning working hours and the environment. The company has to supply necessary kits and equipment for working. Employees can be allowed to own shares and then overtime as well as the hourly wages should be reviewed accordingly to eliminate any discrepancy. Regarding the quality of food offered, the company has to venture into serious advertisement involving satisfied clients who will be engaged in revealing the real quality to doubtful clients in a bid to instill confidence and trust in them. The other thing regards the numerous strikes and protests where the company has to look at the root causes like increasing minimum hourly wages as mentioned above to allow employees keep the pace with the rising living standards. The company has to continuously review its waging methods to make sure that employees get quality for their efforts and time spend attending to various takes at the organization. This will create a good image even to the potential clients because many clients prefer a place where human beings o employees are treated fairly for their input. The other solution is to allow employees to unionize because the world has changed and leaving employees enclosed outside the trends around the employment world would only mean that more trouble is awaiting the company in the coming days. Moreover, McDonald`s has to chose its markets where there are less tight operating regulations to avoid difficulties incurred in coming to terms or maintaining the required standards. Nonetheless, the management has to make sure that its operations including nutritional labeling on items is the normal standard of doing things in all its markets so that the costs incurred are budgeted for and even the pricing should reflect such costs to uphold profitability. Furthermore, the currency or financial jeopardizes can be eliminated through a number of hedging instruments. At some point, such jeopardizes are eliminated based on natural hedging where the revenues declined and the cost declines automatically. This implies that the issues of currency can only be handled better naturally by allowing things to flow on their own course, but some hedging instruments can be employed to accelerate the process to get the desired results. Flowchart of Emergency Procedures in the Event of Fire at McDonalds Process for Ongoing Evaluation of the Potential Hazards Identified at McDonalds The process is initiated by having a simple line scale that will show essential structural aspects and the use of precise zones, production, storage, dining area, reception, accommodation (if any) among others. A copy of this plan is useful during a fire incident as it offers fire service when the emergency response team arrives and it will direct them in fire fighting functions. The plan can after that be utilized to indicate dangers, and populace at threat. It will help in recognizing where flammables and explosion sources come together or where they are in close immediacy and the action to take. In essence, acquaintance of the fire tetrahedron and the most obvious causes of fire is helpful in recognizing potential fire situations. For a fire to break out there is a source of explosion (heat or a flame) and a possible source of fuel as well as oxygen. If the exposition sources and fuel are kept apart, removed, and even eliminated, then the hazards to individuals and the food store will be minimized at the same time (Weller, Florentine, Silitoe and Bhagirath 2015, p.24). It is important to note that, all workplaces especially a retail food store contain sources of explosion (cooking equipment, open flames (heating or process), and heat from chemical process for preparing certain food stuffs and electrical equipment. There are numerous possible sources of explosion in a retail food store which comprise of defective electrical fittings and defective misuse of electrical apparatus (light bulbs too close to flammable materials). Others comprise of matches, lighters, candles, and smoking materials, flame or sparks from a work process in the food preparation. A number of comprise of sources of ‘electrostatic discharges,’ ‘incinerators,’ ‘open hearths,’ ‘frictional heat,’ ‘kilns,’ ‘furnaces,’ and ‘ovens.’ Boilers, engines and other oil burning apparatus pose a huge fire hazard in the retail food store. Moreover, the potential sources of fuel and dangerous conditions in a food retail store comprise of any flammables (paper, wood, cardboard), and others highly flammable comprise of thinners, solvents, polyurethane foam and others. Unsafe processes, where certain people undertake dangerous activities as smoking next to flammable materials. To this end, a consideration is done regarding the danger to any individuals who might be trapped or present in some of the rooms. In many cases and precisely for most small workplaces most individuals can be regarded as normal threat and particular measures for people in this category will be need. There are occasions when particular people might be at risk from the fire because of their particular task, site, and the workplace engagement. Again a careful consideration of matters concerning people sleeping, individuals that are physically challenged (visual, hearing, or mental). In accordance, after identifying the hazards, there is need to mitigate the chances of a fire from both occurring and spreading and thus minimize and eliminating the chances of harm to people in the store. The threat has to be decreased to a satisfactory stage through removal of the danger at the identical instance. The mitigation process also may encompass reduction of the danger to the point where there is little or no risk, there follows replacing the existing danger with a safer option, and separating the danger from the workplace. The next thing that is also important in the fire hazard evaluation process concerns the development of a fire safety package and culture to make sure dangers do not take place in the workplace. There are attempts to categorize each zone as either hi, normal and low risk areas. The low risk zones comprise of those that there is limited in the manner of heat or flame or fire explosion sources where typically there is not much to burn and should a fire occur then people would be able to react in plenty of time. The ordinary jeopardy parts comprise of about all parts of nearly all rooms. The high risk areas area zones where the available time required to evacuate the zone is mitigated by the speed of advancement of a fire (paint spraying with highly combustible paints, where reaction time to the fire alarm is slower based on the type of individual present or the activity in the rooms) (Weller, Florentine, Silitoe and Bhagirath 2015, p.24). The other thing is that the means of escape and emergency lighting are evaluated for their adequacy in terms of dimension, quantity, location, and void of obstructions. There are is also an evaluation of the firefighting equipment to check their suitability for the sorts of fire hazards present and in adequate number. Increasingly, where people are deemed to be at risks, extra compensatory measures will be put in place. Moreover, agreements for cautioning all inhabitants in the occasion of a fire ought to be provided adequately based on the evaluation. Three Hazardous Substances Found in Supermarket The first hazardous substance found in Wal-Mart supercenters regards flammable gases, which comprise of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas, hydrogen, acetylene, hydrogen supplied, as well as carbon monoxide. In the same line, there are also flammable and combustible solids (fats, waxes, timber and its products, cardboard, and granulated rubber, as well as metal shavings. Such flammable gases are very hazardous and when employees are exposed to them, they face a very huge danger in light of their lives. Chemical reactions, which comprise of water reactive chemicals especially calcium carbide, sodium hydride, and certain aluminum, lithium powders (Violante 2014, p.220). These release inflammable gases including hydrogen when they come in contact with water or certain acids. Such chemical reactions are very serious threats to supermarket workers since they cause huge harms to workers (Smith 2014, p.1). Moreover, pyrophoric substances that compose of barium and calcium alloys, iron sulphide and celluloid scrap found in the supermarket packages poses huge threats to the safety of the employees in the case of an explosion. a) 4 Areas of Hazardous Substances Control To start with Wal-Mart has identified all hazardous substances that are deemed dangerous to employees at the workplace setting. Following this, the supercenters of Wal-Mart released check list that lists all the relevant substances, and the check list has ingredients and PLU numbers for product identification. Increasingly, Wal-Mart has embarked on creating information structures where there are regular training sessions that are used to inform employees of all the identifies hazardous substances and the threat of mishandling them (Violante 2014, p.223). The company has also embarked on implementing OSHA regulations in regard to hazardous substances at work in the way of packaging, storing, and transporting such substances. These are in addition to the company`s storeroom regulations of treating LPGs and other dangerous materials. OH&S Requirements for Business Manufacturing Paint In regard to exposure to control plan for asbestos, if an employee is exposed to potentially harmful levels of asbestos, the employer must advance and implement an exposure regulation strategy that meet the requirements outlined (Noweir 2013). In section six part four, an employer has to guarantee that qualified individual gathers representative samples of the materials in the work station that the qualified individual thinks contain asbestos. The capable individual has to decide whether every model is asbestos-containing substance. Section six and part five of the OH regulations demand that the employer should make sure that all asbestos containing substances present in the work station are recognized through labels (Sadiq 2012). Moreover, in section six part six sub-part one, the employer has to ensure that a risk assessment is carried out by qualified personnel on asbestos containing substance identified in the inventory created. This is done so while taking note of the status of the material, its friability, convenience, and possibility of harm, and the possibility for fiber release and exposure of employees. Reference List Beneke, J and Carter, S, 2015, ‘The development of a consumer value proposition of private label brands and the application thereof in a South African retail context,’ Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, vol. 25, pp. 22-35. Kowitt, B, 2014, ‘Fallen Arches.’ Fortune, Vol. 170 Issue 8, pp.106-116. Weller, S, Florentine, S, Silitoe, J and Bhagirath, S, 2015, ‘Review: The need for speed: Timely prevention of the dispersal of noxious weeds in relief fodder using efficient sampling procedures,’ Crop Protection, vol.70, pp.21-27. Violante, F,S, 2014,‘Occupational risks in grocery stores,’ Italiano Di Medicina Del Lavoro Ed Ergonomia, Vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 219-25. Smith, K, 2014, ‘Hazardous chemicals found in children's products,’ Just-Style.com (Global News), p1. Noweir, M, 2013, ‘Occupational safety and health performance of the manufacturing sector in Jeddah Industrial Estate, Saudi Arabia: A 20-years follow-up study,’ Safety Science. Sadiq, N, 2012, OHSAS 18001 Step by Step: A Practical Guide, Washington, DC: IT Governance Publishing. Read More