Reference no: EM132887965

Fred Wayans is an HR Specialist at a long-established, mid-sized (300 employee) equipment firm, and safety has just been added to his responsibilities. The Company has recently had a downturn, but the last two years bounced back and made a small profit.

The Company has not had anyone in this safety role previously. Most employees (225) are in the machine and equipment shop, which operates on a two-shift basis (days and evenings). It's a crowded shop, and hazards are primarily in the metal fabrication, materials handling and shipping/receiving sections. Most accidents are nicks and strains, but there have been some serious cuts and injuries to people's feet. Many in the workforce are relatively new due to retirement of experienced staff. In addition, many of the jobs are interchangeable, so staff may be shifted to different departments 2-3 times a year. Being able to seamlessly reassign employees is seen as a strength in keeping the plant operating smoothly and efficiently.

This is a mixed blessing. It's added responsibility for Fred, after two years of assisting other people in their work (staffing, training, employee relations, compensation, etc.). On the other hand, problems have preceded this assignment, as the firm has a poor workers' compensation record and a relatively high minor accident rate. They have a fairly casual approach to safety, as there have been no very serious accidents for some time.

He knows he faces challenges, as the firm does not have a strong "culture of safety". Many of the workers are relatively young, so don't appreciate some of the safety risks or what their rights are. In addition, they are inclined to take short cuts and not follow laid out safety procedures if they feel those interfere or are awkward (such as wearing safety glasses, or, unauthorized operation of forklifts).

The provincial government has just introduced updated safety legislation that requires every new employee, as well as any existing employees reassigned to new roles, to receive a safety briefing on their new job, if the hazards in the new job are substantially different from the one they had just been in. The firm has a Safety and Health Committee, but it meets sporadically. The Workplace Safety and Health Branch has followed up occasionally where the Committee minutes have not been properly forwarded to ensure it is operational. Also, it is hard to recruit members to the Committee, so continuity is a concern. Their Workers' Compensation costs are high.

One of his concerns is to ensure the Company is meeting all safety requirements, while balancing practical operations. There have been a few issues where employees have refused dangerous work, but, after one intervention by the Workplace Safety Health Branch, the Managers seem to understand that regulation and employees' "right to refuse".
Based on what he can gather, the safety briefings required for each new job don't appear too onerous. A number of problems do exist, however. First of all, there is no strong focus on safety, so the imposition of this new requirement may be challenging. Secondly, as workers often change jobs, a concern may be the slowing down of production and services.

Address the three questions below (base your answers on course material AND on your personal experiences and sensibilities about workplaces):

-What practical and attitudinal barriers does Fred face in his new role?

-What steps could he take to ensure the company complies with the new safety regulation?

-What practical steps could he take to engage the managers in increasing their commitment to safety and build a "safety culture" in the Company?