Workplace safety Essay Example

Workplace safety Essay Example Workplace safety Essay Workplace safety Essay Workers in the meat packing industries in the United States are faced with very many safety issues in their work places. They perform dangerous jobs in very difficult conditions as they dispatch non-stop rows and rows of animal carcasses in the plant kill floors and the hang areas, sawing and cutting the meat at volumes and pace which is unpredictable. Due to the high demand for the meat in restaurants and supermarkets, workers are faced with bloody and greasy conditions, vulnerabilities, and several abuses by the foremans which violate their human rights.The workers work in great fear and risk as the industry has an extraordinary high rates of injuries and other workers face dismissals especially when they exercise their rights to organize or bargain for a collective   attempt to improve their working conditions which are constantly devastating. These industries mostly have immigrant workers who are particularly at risk especially due to the language barrier which prevent them fro m knowing their rights under the American law and the hazardous workplaces which they are exposed to. These workers are mostly undocumented and therefore they are threatened with deportation if they try to organize themselves in trying to improve their working conditions which are particularly worrying. ;fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/98-027R/WorkerSafetyIssuesRelatedtoAMR.pdfThe major features of the industry make it rife with hazards to life, limb and health, the key dangers are; one, line speed. Meat parkers try to maximize volume of animals going through the plant by increasing the speed of processing animals which is directly related to profits and injuries and has made the regulators to set line speed based on the safety and health considerations.The second is close- quarters cutting where workers use sharp hooks and knives and cut at close quarters. Heights of disassembly lines and work surfaces and the space between the workers is equal regardless of the, height (tall or sh ort) or stoutness, therefore workers have to make extra efforts which bring greater risks to them and the coworkers. The force used to cut and the direction of the stabs, jerks, cuts and yanks are unpredictable and workers end up cutting each other.Workers have to lift, shove and turn heavy animal parks, saws and other equipments which tire them and make them strain as they require force for sawing, cutting, lifting, slicing and pulling which is the major cause of musculoskeletal disorders. They work in dirty conditions especially those who are in the live hang department of poultry industry because the chicken bit, peck, urinate and defecate on them. Workers have sullied work conditions where they lack protective equipments, they come into contact with blood, grease, ingesta, animal feces and other excretions from animals and especially in Nebraska Beef which has not met the sanitary production standards for workers and consumers since 2001 and 2002. ;osha.gov/SLTC/meatpacking/   ;According to (Forkard, 2004), the workers work for long hours and have prolonged work shifts which are less safe for workers and increase the risk of accidents. Workers have inadequate training before being put on the jobs and they lark adequate equipments. The industries under report injuries as found out by OSHA and one recent article show that 69% of nonfatal occupational injuries are not reported, (Leigh, Marcin ; Miller2004).There have been several measures and recommendations which have been taken to protect workers in the meat and poultry industry by the human rights watch.One of them is the the international human rights standard and the U.S law. The human rights instruments recognize the importance of the insurance system for job related injuries and illnesses to protect workers including non-citizens. Universal declaration of human rights expects everyone to have aright to just and favorable working conditions, the right to security in event of unemployment, disability o r lark of other livelihoods which are beyond the workers control. The ILO convention prescribes workers compensation for employees including medical care, rehabilitation services, salary replacement and death benefits for survivors of dead workers, United States and trading partners of North America committed themselves to establishing a system which provide benefits and compensation to workers and Dependants in case of occupational injury which has occurred in the course of employment.In regard to compliance to the international standards on freedom of association, the universal declaration of human rights declare that everyone has a right of freedom of peaceful assembly and association and join trade unions without impediments. They should have a right to bargain collectively on matters concerning terms and conditions of employment and right to strike so as to defend their collective interests.regarding the law censoring safety of workers regardless of the immigration status, the universal declaration of human rights shows that the law should apply to all persons including the immigrant workers regardless of their status. the International Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of all Migrant workers and members of their families call for equal treatment which is not less favorable than the one which applies to the nationals. The equal treatment include pay, work conditions, and legal protections which include the rights to organize and carry out a collective bargaining.   ; unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/m_mwctoc.htm;(According to anonymous, (1999), United States working conditions were improved remarkably in the 1990s and despite the successes, much work remains with the goal of workers being a productive and a safe working life where retirement will be free of occupational diseases. there has been decrease in fatal occupational injuries due to efforts by labor and management to improve the worker safety. Other efforts were from state labor and health authorities through education, research and regulatory activities which have been undertaken by the government agencies such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA]. there was physical changes such as safer equipment, safer work practices, improvement training of health and professionals for workers and there has been reduction in workplace deaths. ;www.osha.gov/SLTC/meatpacking/ ;Recommendations of the human rights watch are; the new federal state laws to reduce the line speed in the meat and poultry industry to reasonable levels which do not create a constant preventable risk of injury and establish ergonomics standards so as to reduce repetitive injuries and the health and safety authorities should put stronger enforcement measures and development of stronger worker compensation laws and enforcement mechanisms to ensure that the laws are followed.The safety authorities and government health should device stricter injury reporting requirements so as to end the chro nic under reporting of injuries in the industry. Stronger laws should be enforced stronger laws so that the employers does not avoid claims by the injured workers.;fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/98027R/WorkerSafetyIssuesRelatedtoAMR.pdf ;Anti-retaliation laws which are meant to prohibit the firing of employees who file workers compensation claims should be enforced. In particular, immigrant workers must be informed of of their rights under the laws of workers compensation and be assured of their ability to file claims without the fear of reprisal.Employers should not intimidate anti-organizing campaigns to take advantage of loopholes and the weaknesses found in U.S labor law and congress should enact legislation to bring the labor law into compliance with the international standards.The new laws should ensure respect for human rights of immigrant workers regardless of their status and they should have the same work place protection as the nationalists which include coverage of unde r fair labor standards and other labor laws and same remedies should apply when their human rights are violated.The deontological theory or duty ethics in work places determine if an act or rule is morall right or wrong and if it meets the set moral standards. If a rule is made universal without any contradiction, the it is right and vice versa. Giving promises and not keeping them is morally wrong because it cannot be made a universal law. Utilitarianism refers to the ethical merit of an act which is determined to be best due to the consequences or the results of the act. It says that actions are right when they produce the benefits and prevent harm.Determining the greatest good for the greatest number of people is not easily determined, therefore, these recommendations by the human rights watch may be a bit hard to establish in the meat packing industry because they will be good for the employees and not the employers.In conclusion, the meat packing industries in the United States work in very poor conditions which put their livest at risk. They lack safety equipments, compensation in case of injuries and are exposed to extremely harsh conditions which result to severe injuries and even deaths. The employers put the workers at severe risks of serious physical injury even though there are various means in which they can avoid those injuries which are predictable and well known.   They put the workers under constant frustration especially when they try to get a compensation for injuries sustained during the working process and crush their self organizing efforts and the rights of association of the workers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Employers pay little attention to the modern human resources management policies and exploit the vulnerability of the workforce which is predominated by the immigrant labor force. Several measures have been taken by the human rights watch where laws have been established so that the workers and especially the immigrants can be able to claim good working environments as well as their human rights from their employers.