Legal Responsibilities
In the present era, the management of workplace safety is the one of the key tasks of human resources management (Aswathappa, 2013). Without appropriate focus on the safety aspect of the business the chances of accident occur and productivity of the business gets affected (Silvestri, De Felice and Petrillo, 2012). Thus, the focus of management on workplace safety is most significant in the manufacturing. In this context, the present report is based on the case study of safety culture of the Parker Smallgoods applied by employers. For this purpose, critical evaluation has been done on the safety culture and legal responsibilities of employers towards the workplace safety.
In order to ensure the safe workplace, employers are responsible and accordingly they create appropriate work environment. In this regard, there are following responsibilities of the employer which creates the safe working environment for the employees-
Risk assessment- In order to minimize the risk in the workplace, it is the duty of the employer to assess the risk in an advance and prevent the hazardous situation in the organization. In the same manner, the employer of the Parker Smallgoods predicts the occurrence of the future risk and provides the solution for avoiding that risk in the future.
Fair treatment- The fair treatment is one of the key aspects which enhances the satisfaction level of employees and motivates them to effectively perform their task (Australian Apprenticeship, 2015). In this regard, the employer of the organization does not harass any employee in the organization and fairly treat them. In this context, the Australian government rule, the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 is complied by the employer to fairly treat the worker and enhance workers’ safety in the production process (Access Canberra, 2017). In this manner, in the case of Parker Smallgoods, the employer does not have the appropriate safety rule for the employees of the production line.
State legalization- The employer of the firm improves the safety standard in the workplace by analyzing the current condition of the workplace on the basis of state legislation. In this context, the Health and Safety Act of the different states in Australia set the high security and safety standards which are imposed for employers to improve the working condition in the organization. (Legal Service Commission, 2018). Owing to this, the state legislation enhances the effectiveness of employer’s responsibility to a great extent.
Code of conduct- The safety culture is proportional to good practices in the workplace. In order to ensure good practices, it is the responsibility of the firm’s employees to follow the good practices in the operation of the organization. In this regard, the employers ensure that the practices in the organization are safe and encourages employees to follow these practices (Hughes and Ferrett, 2011). Apart from this, the employers ensure that the machinery used in the firm is safe to operate through the accurate and highly visible warning signs (Nenonen, 2011). In this context, the government of Australia establishes the Machinery Act 1949 which foster the safe manufacturing process through the careful operation of the machinery (Access Canberra, 2017). Accordingly, the case of Parker Smallgoods, the company also faces the issue of poor manual handling of machinery. Due to this, it is the responsibility of the employer to improve the safe uses of the machinery by reducing the poor manual handling of the machinery and applying this government regulation in the manufacturing process.
Literature Review In Safety Culture
Workers’ compensation- The workers’ compensation is one of the leading responsibilities of the employer to provide the compensation for the employees in the harmful accident. In this regard, the Australian government establishes the Worker Compensation Act 1951 to enhance the employer’s awareness for avoiding the accident in the production process through paying smart money to the injured employee in the accident (Access Canberra, 2017). Further, it enhances the employees well-being towards the organization. In the same manner, employers of the Parker Smallgoods apply this compensation Act in their organization and provides appropriate compensation for an accident to the affected employees.
On the basis of the above discussion, if the employer does not follow the above mention responsibilities then it degrades the safety aspect of the working environment. Therefore, in order to achieve safe workplace in the production process, the standards and regulations set by the government of country should be complied.
Literature Review In Safety Culture
According to several studies, the safety culture enhances the effectiveness of manufacturing business by creating accident-free manufacturing with the low amount of loss in the working days (Nenonen, 2011; Hughes and Ferrett, 2011). Similarly, the strong safety culture enhances the employees’ retention through the upgradation in the safety standards of the working environment (DeJoy, Della, Vandenberg and Wilson, 2010). In this manner, the safety culture in manufacturing improves the handling technique of machinery (Nenonen, 2011). In this regard, by implementing the safety culture in the production the company improves the employees’ capabilities for effective handling of machinery and enhances the efficiency of the manufacturing process.
Apart from this, the safety culture enhances the productivity of workforce (Geldart, Smith, Shannon and Lohfeld, 2010). This is because safety culture forces employees to feel safe at the workplace and enhance their awareness for manufacturing operations. In the same manner, in the case of Parker Smallgoods, the implementation of a safe workplace reduces the employees’ ignorance in the proper use of protective equipment. Hereby, the safety culture decreases the absenteeism on the organization and enhances the productivity of the manufacturing process (Bjerkan, 2010). Thus, the safety culture is imperative for the manufacturing company to improve the workforce and better productivity.
On the other hand, the safety culture decreases the unexpected financial expenditure of the organization by decreasing the insurance claims and the damage in physical property (Butler, Gardner and Kleinman, 2013). Hereby, it reduces the cost of repairing in accidental damage. Due to this, the profitability of the organization positively increases and supports in obtaining the competitive edge. In this context, Zohar (2014) asserted that a safe culture helps to achieve the organizational goal in an effective and secure manner. In this regard, by ensuring the safety in the workplace, the employers of Parker Smallgoods decrease their financial expenses and increase the investment in the employee development activity. Due to this, the employers of the company are able to develop their employee and build the stronger safety culture.
Definition of Safety Culture
However, to implement safety culture in the organization, the strong leadership is required. In this regard, Schein (2010) stated that through the effective leadership, the organization improve the employee security by improving the workplace culture. At this juncture, all the basic amenities are provided for personnel through which they can work in an efficient manner. Thus, it reveals that for ensuring a safe working environment, the commitments of leaders are significant. Owing to this, it necessary for Parker Smallgoods to develop management to build essential policies for building a safety culture in the working environment of the company.
Moreover, to improve the effectiveness of workplace culture in the terms of safety, the regular monitoring is also required. This is because, through regular monitoring, the manager checks every activity of manufacturing process and avoids those circumstances which are accountable for losses in safety (Saad, See, Abdullah and Nor, 2013). In this context, in the case of Parker smallgoods, if the management could regularly check every operation of production then it can prevent the issues related to accidents. However, the appropriate level of focus on the safety standards can be effective in deriving the valid outcome. This would be helpful in meeting the expectations of related stakeholders and support business in increasing the satisfaction level of employees.
On the other hand, the communication is also imperative for enhancing the safety in the operation. In this regard, Powell, Jacob and Chapman (2011) asserted that the clear communication of management with employees improve the understanding of the employee for working in the unsafe environment. Further, the communication for the expected safe working method in the employees is also necessary to avoid the accident. In this same manner, the employer of the Parker Smallgoods enhances their communication with employees and aware them for the management expectations in the methods of the manufacturing process. Owing to this, the employer of the company fosters the employees to use safe method in the manufacturing operation. This is because the company faces the issue of low employee’s awareness in the usage of safe method in the production process. Thus, the effective communication helps management to improve employees’ safety in the workplace.
Conclusion
According to the above report, it has been concluded that the safety culture is essential for the manufacturing industry. For this purpose, it is important for employers to comply with the legal standards and fulfill the set responsibilities of maintaining the safe workplace for the employees. It can also be concluded that free flow of communication, supportive leadership and awareness among employees related to safe workplace contribute towards the reduced accidents and promote the business in the marketplace.
References
Australian Apprenticeship, 2015. Employer Responsibilities. [Online]. Available at:< https://www.australianapprenticeships.gov.au/employer-responsibilities>. [Accessed on 29September 2018].
Bjerkan, A.M., 2010. Health, environment, safety culture and climate–analysing the relationships to occupational accidents. Journal of Risk Research, 13(4), pp.445-477.
Butler, R.J., Gardner, H.H. and Kleinman, N.L., 2013. Workers’ compensation: occupational injury insurance’s influence on the workplace. In Handbook of insurance (pp. 449-469). Springer, New York, NY.
DeJoy, D.M., Della, L.J., Vandenberg, R.J. and Wilson, M.G., 2010. Making work safer: Testing a model of social exchange and safety management. Journal of safety research, 41(2), pp.163-171.
Geldart, S., Smith, C.A., Shannon, H.S. and Lohfeld, L., 2010. Organizational practices and workplace health and safety: A cross-sectional study in manufacturing companies. Safety Science, 48(5), pp.562-569.
Hughes, P. and Ferrett, E., 2011. Introduction to health and safety at work: The handbook for the NEBOSH national general certificate. Routledge.
Legal Service Commission, 2018. Safety legislation. [Online]. Available at:< https://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch01s04s04.php> [Accessed on 29September 2018].
Nenonen, S., 2011. Fatal workplace accidents in outsourced operations in the manufacturing industry. Safety Science, 49(10), pp.1394-1403.
Powell, D.A., Jacob, C.J. and Chapman, B.J., 2011. Enhancing food safety culture to reduce rates of foodborne illness. Food Control, 22(6), pp.817-822.
Saad, M., See, T.P., Abdullah, M.F.F. and Nor, N.M., 2013. Use of rapid microbial kits for regular monitoring of food-contact surfaces towards hygiene practices. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 105, pp.273-283.chein, E.H., 2010. Organizational culture and leadership(Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.
Silvestri, A., De Felice, F. and Petrillo, A., 2012. Multi-criteria risk analysis to improve safety in manufacturing systems. International Journal of Production Research, 50(17), pp.4806-4821.
Zohar, D., 2014. Safety climate: Conceptualization, measurement, and improvement. The Oxford handbook of organizational climate and culture, pp.317-334.
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