Reference no: EM133574413

Case Study: Your group has been hired as a team of consultants to provide some theoretically sound and practical advice to the Chief Executive Officer of Fine Smallgoods. Founded in 1920, the Fine family of farmers and butchers had a dream to provide the Australian public with the finest quality meat, cured using traditional Italian recipes. In 2021, the Fines are a major supplier of small goods to the Australian market. The product range spans across traditional Italian salami, ham, bacon and small goods. The family-owned company has state-of-the-art facilities located in Bundoora, Victoria and employs over 250 workers. The company has a very flat organizational structure - the CEO reports to a Board of Directors (made up of members of the Fine family). Each department has a manager, with the production department having supervisors who directly manage the production line workers.

In a recent independent health and safety investigation, the auditor found "multiple instances of lax safety practices by front line workers" and "a poor attitude towards safety amongst front line staff, supervisors and middle management." However, the auditor commended senior management on their general commitment to the safety of workers but found 'this has not translated into safe working practices on the factory floor'. The auditor cited several examples of dangerous practices he witnessed on the production line, including workers reaching into meat mincers to remove blockages whilst the mincer was operating; poor manual handling practices; workers not wearing their personal protective equipment; dangerous use of forklifts; equipment such as knives not being put away properly and safety barriers on machines being removed to speed up the production process.

In his recommendations, the auditor suggested that Fine Smallgoods 'work towards developing a culture of safety within the organization'.

Ben Fine, the CEO, is concerned about his workers' safety. In a private meeting, he commented 'It's just a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or dies on the factory floor. What can I do? We have good procedures. We have spent a lot of money on making sure the factory is safe. But I can't make the supervisors and employees follow our safety procedures.....I can't watch them all the time'.

Your task:

Ben has hired your group to come up with five recommendations as to how he can create a 'safety culture' within Fine Smallgoods. He has asked for a comprehensive report that he can give to the Board of Directors. The Report should:

Questions:

1.Briefly outline the legal responsibilities that employers have to ensure a safe workplace.

2.Define the term 'safety culture' (drawing on appropriate academic literature)

3.Explain how a safety culture can improve the safety behaviours of employees (drawing on appropriate academic literature)

4.Identify five recommendations that Fine Smallgoods should implement to improve the safety culture within the organization. These recommendations may incorporate multiple HRM functions, including :