Instructions:
Please respond to the discussion topic item and questions for it below by Thursday 11:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time (EST), and reply to at least two (2) other classmates posts by Sunday 11:59 PM EST. Respond to more classmates for a higher score in the Frequency rubric criteria area.
Make sure you support all of your posts and replies to classmate posts with in-text citations and corresponding references from the course materials and other research.
Be sure to review the information and rubric scoring criteria in the “Discussions – Read Me!” section under the Content tab of the course to understand the requirements and grading for these assignments. You should also read the “Learn How to Support What You Write – Must Read” section under the Content tab to learn more about acceptable methods of supporting your ideas, reasoning and thus the conclusions you have drawn in your posts and other assignments.
Discussion
Tyson Foods Inc. has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for four workplace safety violations at the Hutchinson prepared foods manufacturing plant after a worker’s hand was severed by an unguarded conveyor belt. “Removing guards and failing to train workers in proper lockout procedures is inexcusable,” said Judy Freeman, OSHA’s area director in Wichita. “Tyson Foods failed to ensure safety procedures, demonstrating a lack of commitment to workplace safety and health and resulting in a tragic injury.”
OSHA began its inspection upon learning of the amputation, which occurred June 17, 2013 when four workers were cleaning conveyor equipment at the end of their shift. Guarding on the conveyor was removed, exposing workers to rotating parts. A worker’s frock and the employee’s arm were then pulled into moving gears of a conveyor that had not been locked out to prevent unintentional operation. Another situation involved fall hazards at Tyson Foods plants when workers ascended upper platform work areas in two separate plant locations.
According to OSHA’s investigation this happened due to Tyson Foods not training workers on procedures and to lock out equipment use in situations such as this in order to prevent the unintentional operation of equipment and exposure to amputation hazards.
An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known existed.
Questions:
What OSHA “willful violations” occurred in at Tyson’s Food? Why is that that the case?
What criteria is used to determine if an OSHA violation is serious? How does this apply in the case of Tyson Foods?
Refer to this US Department of Labor reference for information on this topic https://www.osha.gov/Publications/fedrites.html
Be sure to to support the ideas presented with course readings and other research from this week.