The Pros And Cons Of The Occupational Safety Environment

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1) Any work stoppage can affect the production and goals of the company. Imagine an automobile manufacture that has faulty equipment. The faulty equipment could cause serious safety risk to employees and damage to the vehicles being made. One would think that once safety risks has been identified, managers would automatically address the safety concerns and fix the equipment. However, in the automobile manufacturing industry safety is often overlooked. In recent news, we have seen companies like General Motors (GM) overlook blatant safety risk. Their major concern is the cost to fix the safety areas rather than the safety of its employees and potentially the customers that purchase the vehicles. A former employee for the company stated that GM knew of the safety risk involved in the faulty ignition switch but refused to fix the problem due to the lead time required and most of all the cost which was estimated at $1 per car (Valdes-Dapena, 2014). This unethical business decision eventually cost twelve deaths over a ten year period. If GM acted in this manner toward the safety of its customers, how do they act toward the safety of their employees? Do they overlook the need maintain and fix equipment? Are employees working in a hazardous environment? Since companies like GM often overlook these safety concerns, the government has stepped in to protect employees and their right to work in a safe environment. This law is the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970. The OSHA law states that “employees have the right to a safe workplace and require that employers provide their employees with working conditions that are free of known dangers” (OSHA, 2014). OSHA also gives employees the right to refuse dangerou... ... middle of paper ... ... plastered on student lockers. New Jersey is also allowing advertisements within its school system since the state cut an estimated $812 million dollars from the public school system’s budget. The new advertisements will be placed on the side of school buses and will earn at least $1,000 per bus. There are few people who oppose this move and so far the advertisements have not had a negative effect on the school, children, or the parents. If done tactfully, advertising in schools is not morally wrong. Backpacks, health cereal and anti-bullying ads are all great advertisements for children. All in school advertisements should be educational and should not include false or unproven claims. Reference Ford, A. (2010). Captive Audience: Has Advertising in School Gone Too Far? Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2028060,00.html

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