Respect is a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something caused by their abilities, qualities or achievements. Respect is important because it helps in building and maintaining positive relationships, this makes it one of the essential aspects of life. Respect should not only be embraced in our homes or relationships but also at the workplace.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created by Congress in 1970 to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for employees both men and women by coming up with and enforcing regulations and through offering training, education and various assistance to workers (Lis, 2012). The inspections carried out by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ensure that employers provide a workplace that is free from recognizable severe hazards. By observing the standards, regulations, and rules under the OSH Act. Some of the measures that OSHA makes sure employers have included are; staff uses safe tools and equipment that are properly maintained (Lis, 2012).
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Usually, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration carries out impromptu inspections in the different worksites. The reviews carried out help minimize imminent danger situations, which are hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm, if the employer does not lessen these hazards, then the compliance officers might have to remove the employees who are in danger or close the whole worksite altogether. OSHA also receives complaints from employees regarding allegations of hazards or other violations. When OSHA cites breaches in the different workplaces, they issue fines and penalties depending on the degree of violation. It is by making employers adhere to these stringent standards that OSHA helps in preserving safe and healthy environments for the workers.
It is an employer’s responsibility to safeguard the health, safety, and well-being of their staff and other stakeholders who are affected by their business. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the employer to act as their safety inspectors even without the OSHA compliance officers having to step in. Also, it is essential that employers achieve this through whichever practical reasoning they might choose to use (Lis, 2012). Thus the employer has to ensure that employees are protected from anything that may pose a threat to their well-being by causing injury or health complications arising from the workplace. The managers are obliged by the health and safety law to evaluate risks in the workplace and inform their employees on how they are protected.
Arguably, it is not entirely the responsibility of the employers to act as their safety inspectors because they have more urgent issues to deal with at the management level. Instead, it is the responsibility of every stakeholder to ensure safety and well-being at the worksite by problems avoiding like workplace violence and embracing policies like being your brother’s keeper . Following the OSHA rules and regulations, I am convinced that the employer would have been held responsible if any of the five hazards had taken place at the worksite. The manager would have been liable because most of these rules guide on how to implement the various safety measures to be put in place, for instance, there were no safety precautions to preventing the sidewalls from caving in and harming the laborer that was working in the trench. The employer would have been liable because the OSHA laws clearly state that it is the responsibility of the employer to provide a safe workplace away from any critical hazards by complying with the standards and regulations issued under the OSHA Act. The OSHA have put a set of rules and rules that instruct organizations on how to safeguard their staff, for instance; a construction company should put in place a fall protection gear as a safety precaution in case a worker slips and falls from a high building. I am of the opinion that if any of the tragic events had occurred, it would have been interpreted both as willful and severe because there are measures that could have been put in place to avoid the incident and severe because the hazard would have seriously injured the workers involved or even possibly could have cost them their lives.
The current issues highlighted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration include workplace violence which involves any act of physical violence, intimidation or any other disruptive behavior which could be either physical or verbal. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards that might result in fatal work-related injuries or illnesses that might arise from radiological exposure, chemicals or electrical hazards these range from the simple gloves to advanced suits. Ergonomics is the science of the design of equipment to reduce operator fatigue, discomfort or injury, based from ergonomics; workers can then assign workers of different builds to different machinery that they can optimally handle. It, in turn, increases work productivity because the design of the machinery is best suited for the particular operator. Occupational noise exposure is harmful to workers and if not provided with the necessary equipment might lead to hearing complications or loss in hearing ultimately due to prolonged exposure to noise. The employer can also put measures to reducing the noise level from the different machines at the worksite in addition to giving the workers earplugs and other safety equipment to shield them from noise.
In conclusion, respect is paramount and should be observed in all aspects of life including the workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should be granted the respect they deserve for the tremendous job that they do every day even if it does not reach to the public.
References
Lis, B. (2012). The relevance of corporate social responsibility for a sustainable human resource management: an analysis of organizational attractiveness as a determinant in employees' selection of a (potential) employer. Management Revue , 279-295.
