Bachelor Of Occupational Safety and Health

FAHM 3083
Ethics in OSH Profession

CHAPTER 7
ETHICS AND WORKPLACE SAFETY
 Focus of the Chapter
• Ethics And Workplace Safety
• The Right To Safe And Healthy Workplace
• Ethical Climate
• Techniques For A Safe Workplace
 Introduction
✓ Worker have a right to be protected against
workplace hazard that can cause injury, illness, and
even death. Some accidents and exposures are
unavoidable but can be prevented at considerable
cost.

✓ Questions can also be raised about the right of

employees to be given information about the
workplace hazards to which they are exposed, their
right to refuse to perform dangerous work without
fear for dismissal or other reprisals.
✓ This chapter concerned with the right of workers in
matters of occupational health and safety.
✓ It involve the obligation of employers with respect to
worker and government regulation of the workplace
such as Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).
 ETHICS AND WORKPLACE SAFETY

✓ The link between ethics and safety, although neglected, is not a

new one. In fact, some have argued that organizational concern
for safety is intrinsically related to organizational concern for
ethics.

✓ In terms of perceptions, organizations that place a high

importance on safety are usually perceived as more ethical than
those that do not.
✓The practice of safety often has an ethical
component. Often, the most ethical route is
obvious, such as the choice between a legal
option and an illegal one.
✓ Most safety professionals probably follow
similar ethical guidelines; the challenge comes
in applying them when facing situational
constraints and organizational priorities.
✓The process begins with safety culture and
management truly valuing employees.
 ETHICS AND WORKPLACE SAFETY

✓ Employers will consider the trade-off between costs

and safety.
✓ As a business decision, workplace safety has
implications of expenses and time.
✓ Managers must understand the importance of work
safety, and not view it as a sunk cost, but as an
investment for a business.
 Importance of Ethics in Workplace Safety
✓ Safety programs based on ethics is better for sustaining and managing
future safety issues.

✓ It is no necessary based on compliance with regulations but it is the right

thing to do. Managers must lead a culture that values safe behaviour for
the sake of ethics, and not for the purpose of regulatory compliance.

✓ Ethics will produce outcomes such as justice, open communication,

sensitivity towards others, organizational support, and management
credibility.

✓ Managers are ethically obliged to use their authority to increase safety.

Proper attention to workplace safety can result in improved morale,
increased job satisfaction, and greater health for the organization as a
whole.
CASE STUDY
On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded
shortly after liftoff, killing all seven crew members. In the months
after the disaster, the government commission created to
investigate the causes of the accident. Source revealed that MTI
management had been alerted to the cold weather danger to the O-
ring booster joints well in advance of the decision to launch Biosjoly
had submitted. A memo warning that the seals would not be
functional in cold weather, but MTI management classified the
document as company private so it never reached NASA. Disregard
for this warning not only resulted in a disastrous breach in safety,
but was also a reflection of a significant flaw in the ethical decision-
making process of MTI.
 The Right to Safe and Healthy Workplace
✓ Fundamentally, the right of employee s to a safe and healthy and
employers have obligation to provide working conditions free
from hazard.

✓ Some writer based a right to safe and healthy workplace on Kant

theory that a person ought to treated as ends rather than as
means.

✓ OSH Act granting all employees the right of a safe and healthy
workplace but it rely on the cost-benefit analysis.
✓ It employ Utilitarian theory in order to balance the cost to
industry and saving to the economy as a whole.

✓ Regardless of the ethical reasoning used, workers have an

undeniable right not to be injured or killed on the job.

✓ However, it is not clear what specific protection workers are

entitled or what specific obligations employer have with
respect to occupational health and safety.
 …. The Right to Safe and Healthy Workplace
• In most workplace accidents, however, employers can defend
themselves against the charge of violating the rights of workers
with two arguments:

a) Not the direct cause – Employer action’s were not the direct
cause of the injury. This is because the industrial accidents are
typically caused by combination of things, including the
actions of worker themselves. Thus, it is difficult to assign
responsibility to any one person. Then it is because it is not
practical to reduce the probability of harm any further. As long
as employer are not negligent in meeting minimal obligations,
they are not generally held liable for injuries resulting from
industrial accidents.
b) Worker voluntarily assume the risk:
Employees voluntarily assume the risk inherent in
work. Some jobs such as coal mining and construction
are well known for their high rates of accidents., yet
individual can freely choose these links of work even
when safer employment is available. The hazardous
jobs might offer greater wage to compensate greater
risk. Unless the employer or fellow employees is
negligent in some way, they have no one to blame but
themselves.
 Ethical climate
▪ Safety professionals do not make decisions in a vacuum. The personal
safety ethics are something that you have formed over your life experience
and value.

▪ The organizational ethical climate can have an influence on the personal

safety ethic.

▪ Ethical climate refers to the organization’s shared perceptions about what

behaviours are considered right or wrong.

▪ Companies may value safety but for different reasons based on their ethical
climate.

▪ Ethical climate types are linked to incidences of injuries and two types of
safety-enhancing behaviours: safety compliance and safety participation
The three climate types are as follows:

➢ Utilitarian (also called benevolent) revolves around the most good for the
most people. Utilitarian climate was associated with fewer injuries.
Communicate that helping to maintain a safe and healthy workplace will
benefit fellow employees.

➢ Principled supports following fundamental universal truths (i.e., obeying

the law or doing the right thing). Principled climates showed more
motivation to comply with rules. Safety is a key tenet driving the
organization

➢ Egoist promotes self-interest. For example, in an egoist climate, let

workers know that following the rules is in their best interest because
being injured would reduce their quality of life. Egoist climate was
neither positive nor negative in terms of injuries and safety motivation.
 Techniques for a Safe Workplace
Employees expect management to act responsibly and to put
employee health and safety first, far above and well beyond any
other concern of the business. In order to create a safe
workplace, employers can use the following techniques:

➢ Set up a safety incentive program to motivate workers to

comply with workplace safety guidelines.
➢ Adopt a zero-tolerance policy on workplace violence and
safety violations.
➢ Ongoing safety training for employees.

❑ These techniques in the long run will bring savings of time,

money, and injuries.
ICEBERG THEORY
 Conclusion
▪ A safer workplace has healthier workers, less costs, more
efficiency, and overall, higher quality. Employers must go
above and beyond of what is required and create a
culture of care and respect for their valuable assets,
employees.

▪ Companies should have safety programs blended into

their business plans and cultures. The results of having
integrated safety programs include fewer accidents,
waste, and downtimes.
THANK YOU