Managing Contemporary Safety, Health, and Behavioral Issues

Effectively managing workplace safety and health requires far more than reducing the numbers of job-related accidents and injuries. In practice, managers must deal with a variety of practical, legal, and ethical issues, many of which involve a careful balancing of individual rights (particularly the right to privacy) with the needs of the organization (see Chapter 14). Because these issues often give rise to legal questions, HR professionals are frequently called upon to develop and implement policies to deal with them. Among the issues facing employers today are dealing with AIDS in the workplace, workplace violence, cumulative trauma disorders, hearing impairment, fetal protection, hazardous chemicals, and genetic testing.

It is important to recognize that, in addition to these direct challenges, there is also the challenge of employee commitment to safety and health programs. Many organizations face the problem of employees ignoring and even being hostile to safety and health measures. The reason: Employees often view safety and health measures as intrusive and inefficient.

Top managers can generate commitment to safety and health programs by explaining to supervisors and others the rationale for the relevant safety and health practices. For example, it is important that everyone understand the cost of accidents to the organization. Furthermore, the costs (such as fines) for violating safety and health standards should be clearly explained to employees at all levels. Once people understand the link between safety measures and the business’s bottom line, resistance to safety programs should largely disappear. Of course, removing human resistance to any kind of program can be a difficult and delicate process that requires time and commitment.

AIDS

Dealing effectively with workplace concerns that arise when an employee contracts acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has become an important workplace health challenge. In the early 1980s, AIDS was scarcely known, but by 1996 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that two-thirds of organizations with more than 2,500 employees had already experienced an employee with this disease or HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus that leads to AIDS).38

Most people in China who have HIV have lost their jobs and cannot find work due to their HIV status.39 China is now wrestling with the HIV issue, and pressure is mounting to legislate protection against discrimination for Chinese workers with HIV. A sign of a possible shift against HIV discrimination is reflected in a 2012 Chinese court decision regarding an aspiring teacher. The court found the teacher was unlawfully denied employment due to his positive HIV status. The court ordered that damages be paid to the teacher, making him the first person in China to win compensation for HIV employment-related discrimination.40

There are federal guidelines regarding AIDS that require organizational compliance. The major sources of these guidelines are OSHA and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

OSHA

In 1992, OSHA issued the Bloodborne Pathogens Standards, a set of standards meant to lower the accidental occurrence of bloodborne infections, such as HIV and hepatitis. The standards were revised in 2001 and provide steps that must be followed in all workplaces where employees can reasonably be expected to come in contact with blood or other body fluids. For example, people who are in the environmental health, safety, or emergency response professions, among others, fall under this standard. OSHA requires all workers who may come into contact with infectious bodily fluids to be educated about bloodborne pathogens and trained in how to reduce the risks of infection. This preparation should help workers reduce their risks and employers’ health care costs. Figure 16.3 summarizes key management steps based on the OSHA standards.

  • Create an Exposure Control Plan. An exposure control plan must be written and updated annually for all jobs that involve potential exposure to blood and body fluids. The plan should identify risks and preventive techniques.

  • Provide Training. Annual training regarding bloodborne infection needs to be completed by employees who might be exposed to infection while performing their jobs. Unless a medical response can be guaranteed in less than four minutes (a guarantee that would be difficult to make in most situations), training should also include first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

  • Make Available Appropriate Personal Protective Equipment. Gloves, masks, and other protective gear need to be available if an accident involving blood or bodily fluid occurs.

  • Install Bloodborne Pathogen Protection Kits. Protection kits typically include protective items such as gloves, shoe covers, and masks. Clean-up items, such as towels, absorbent powder, disinfectant, and biohazard bags should also be in a kit.

FIGURE 16.3

Key Components of OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standards

Sources:Based on Business Wire. (2013, March 28). Six essential steps to reducing the impact of a bloodborne pathogen incident; Howe, M. A., Brewer, J. D., and Shane, S. D. (2013). If not you, who? Responding to emergencies in physical education and physical activity settings. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 84, 47–52; McLaughlin, S. B. (2012). Top 10 troubles. Health Facilities Management, 25, 39–41; Mitchell, B. (2013). Protecting your people, property and posterior: The top 11 errors in emergency planning. Security, 50, 38–39.

ADA and the Manager’s Role

According to ADA guidelines, having HIV infection or AIDS does not necessarily prevent people from performing the essential functions of most jobs.41 Thus, organizations must make reasonable accommodations for infected employees. Reasonable accommodation might include adjustments to work schedules or workstation modifications. For example, one company gave a manager with AIDS a chair that converted into a sleeping recliner and allowed a 90-minute break in the afternoon.42 The chair allowed the manager to deal with the drop in his energy level in the afternoon. The manager scheduled all meetings in the morning and came into work extra hours on evenings and weekends, if needed. This arrangement was reasonable and provided an important accommodation for the manager at minimal cost.

ADA guidelines also affect the hiring process. Employers cannot ask job candidates about their HIV or AIDS status or require job candidates to take an HIV test before making a job offer. Testing can be done and questions posed after a job offer is made. However, test results must be kept confidential. The job offer cannot be withdrawn on the basis of a positive HIV test unless the employer can demonstrate that the person would pose a direct threat to coworkers or customers and that this threat could not be eliminated through reasonable accommodation. Such demonstration would be all but impossible in most jobs.

In addition to complying with the guidelines issued by federal agencies, some organizations choose to proactively address the AIDS issue by developing an AIDS policy and education programs. Educational programs can provide accurate information about the disease and how it is transmitted. The Manager’s Notebook, “Proactive Approaches to AIDS in South Africa,” offers examples of companies that go beyond compliance with guidelines in their efforts to deal with AIDS in the workplace.

MANAGER’S NOTEBOOK Proactive Approaches to AIDS in South Africa

Global

Southern Africa, a beautiful area at the southern tip of the African continent, is in the midst of an HIV/AIDS epidemic. The percentage of adults in this area with HIV exceeds 17 percent, one of the highest rates of infection in the world. While this region accounts for approximately 10 percent of the world’s population, it is estimated that over 60% of deaths from AIDs have occurred in Southern Africa. This epidemic has had many negative effects, including reduced life spans and lowered productivity.

Business has been part of the effort to turn around the epidemic and improve the situation in the region. Heineken, Volkswagen, and BMW are examples of companies doing business in the nation of South Africa that have developed notable approaches to HIV/AIDS.

Given the limited public health care available in South Africa, Heineken’s operations there provide company health care to the local staff. In the 1990s, Heineken set up a network of in-house clinics that include doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and pharmacists as part of Heineken’s staff. The initial internal focus at Heineken broadened to include the local communities. In 2008, Heineken established a foundation that focuses on improving the health of people in the local South African communities where Heineken has operations.

Volkswagen of South Africa has received awards for its efforts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region. The company’s HIV/AIDS program focuses on prevention, treatment, and care. Their internal program includes an ongoing awareness campaign that emphasizes accurate information and support. A quarterly employee newsletter provides updated information on HIV/AIDS. The program also uses voluntary peer educators to assist in raising awareness and understanding among employees. Volkswagen South Africa provides full medical examinations for employees and has on-site employee assistance practitioners who provide support and counseling. Experts estimate that 11 percent of the country’s population, or 5.5 million people, are infected with the HIV virus. The epidemic has cut life expectancy in South Africa to 51 years. Social responsibility requires businesses in South Africa to be proactive about the epidemic and to be part of the larger solution. Volkswagen and BMW are two examples of companies doing business in South Africa that have developed notable approaches to HIV/AIDS.

Volkswagen South Africa employs over 6,000 people in South Africa. The company’s HIV program, which has an annual budget of $167,000, provides the following:

  • ▪ Medical services for employees and their family members

  • ▪ Antiretroviral therapy for employees and their family members

  • ▪ Free condoms for employees

BMW South Africa employs approximately 3,000 workers. BMW’s HIV/AIDS program features the following components:

  • ▪ Peer educators

  • ▪ Training and workshops

  • ▪ Free condoms

  • ▪ Voluntary HIV/AIDS counseling and testing

  • ▪ Antiretroviral therapy

Sources:Based on Anyanwu, J. C., Siliadin, Y. G., and Okonkwo, E. (2013). Role of fiscal policy in tackling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa. African Development Review, 25, 256–275; Chicoine, L. (2012). Aids mortality and its effect on the labor market: Evidence from South Africa. Journal of Development Economics, 98, 256–269; Van Cranenburgh, K. C., and Arenas, D. (2013, June 17). Strategic and moral dilemmas of corporate philanthropy in developing countries: Heineken in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Business Ethics, published online; Commended: Volkswagen South Africa, case study available at www.gbchealth.org/commended-company-2012-volkswagen-south-africa , accessed on October 2, 2013; Bolton, P. L. (2008). Corporate responses to HIV/AIDS: Experience and leadership from South Africa. Business and Society Review, 113, 277–300.▪▪

As illustrated in the Manager’s Notebook, increasing awareness and educating workers can be positive and proactive steps taken by companies. However, as an upcoming manager, you should be aware that there are boundaries to discussion of AIDS-related issues. Specifically, the ADA includes strict confidentiality provisions in regard to employee medical information. Confidential medical information can be disclosed to supervisory personnel only if they need to know for purposes of providing reasonable accommodation or to safety personnel who might be required to provide emergency medical services to the employee.43 An employer who discloses an employee’s medical condition, such as AIDS, risks violating the employee’s right of privacy and the right to work without discrimination as provided by the ADA. Open discussion of the issue of AIDS in the workplace can help create a positive and productive environment, but disclosure of an employee’s AIDS status is legally prohibited.

Violence in the Workplace

Media coverage can paint a picture of homicides in the workplace—particularly those carried out by disgruntled current or former employees—to be a fairly common occurrence. Statistics on workplace homicides indicate that it is a relatively infrequent occurrence. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 463 homicides that occurred in the workplace in 2012. In addition to the fairly low number, the frequency of workplace homicides has decreased in recent years. The number of workplace homicides in 1994, for example, was 1,080.

Nonlethal violence is a much more common workplace threat than homicide. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, from 1993 to 2000 the average annual number of people who were victims of violent crimes while working was 1.7 million.44 Violence in the workplace can be lethal or nonlethal and can take a variety of forms, including assaults, threats, and sabotage. Whatever the severity or type, recognizing the threat of violence remains an important workplace issue.45

Reducing Assaults and Threats

Approximately half of U.S. organizations with 1,000 or more employees report the occurrence of workplace violence. However, approximately 70 percent of U.S. companies do not have policies regarding workplace violence.46 Proactive management that assesses risks and puts a policy in place should prevent the occurrence of violence in the workplace. Although a criminal trying to rob a business or a disgruntled former employee may seem obvious risks that should be addressed in an organization, another source of risk is domestic violence.

Domestic violence is probably viewed by many people as a private issue, but it can impact the workplace. One study has estimated that one third of domestic violence incidents happen in workplaces, from parking lots to offices.47 Just how widespread is the problem of domestic violence? Approximately 26 percent of women in the workplace identify themselves as victims or survivors of domestic violence.48 Domestic violence affects the employee’s well-being as well as the company’s bottom line. Domestic violence can adversely affect an employee’s performance through absenteeism, tardiness, poor performance, and mistakes on the job.

Some states and companies are being proactive about domestic violence. Laws protecting domestic violence victims in the workplace have been put in place in 14 states and in various municipalities. The law in the state of Illinois, for example, offers broad protection for victims of domestic violence. In Illinois, employers with 15 or more employees are prohibited from discriminating or retaliating against domestic violence victims and have a responsibility to make reasonable accommodations for victims, such as transferring the employee and changing phone numbers and work schedules.49 The clothing retailer Macy’s West provides training for managers and sales associates that addresses how to detect warning signs of domestic violence and how to respond to the issue.50 Liz Claiborne is another company using preventive management to reduce domestic violence. The company trains its managers in how to spot and respond to domestic violence. It also maintains a domestic violence response team that deals with victims. In two years, the company handled more than 40 cases that required more action than simply a referral.

Implementing a workplace violence policy and taking a preventive approach should lower the risk of violence erupting at work. However, the threat can still arise. The Manager’s Notebook, “Management Suggestions Regarding Domestic Violence,” provides suggestions to help manage a workplace threat due to domestic violence.

Reducing Threats from Sabotage

Another form of workplace violence is sabotage. Sabotage is not physical violence, but just the same, it is a violent act. Acts of sabotage can be directed either at a person, such as attempts to damage someone’s career, or at an organization, such as attempts to damage equipment or reputation. Most sabotage includes an aspect or motive of revenge. Angry and bitter employees have done everything ranging from putting rodents into food products and needles in baby food to starting company fires and wiping out computer databases.51

MANAGER’S NOTEBOOK Management Suggestions Regarding Domestic Violence

Ethics/Social Responsibility

Domestic violence can spill into the workplace, affecting the abuse victim and others. The following are some management suggestions when there is an identifiable domestic violence threat:

  • ▪ Request that local law enforcement patrol the workplace, particularly at the beginning and end of an abuse victim’s shift.

  • ▪ Provide closer parking for the abuse victim so that he or she has a shorter walk into the building. Extra parking lot patrols at the beginning and end of each work shift can be an effective use of resources.

  • ▪ If an escort for the employee to and from the parking lot seems like a good idea, provide someone who is competent in this task. Unless he or she has security training, an escort shouldn’t just be the nice person in the office.

  • ▪ Use monitoring and detection devices, such as surveillance equipment. They can give immediate warning of an on-site problem.

  • ▪ Temporarily move the employee to another site or work station.

  • ▪ In an extreme case, provide the employee time off through an administrative leave or sick leave.

For additional information and help with developing policies to prevent workplace tragedies due to domestic violence, go to www.workplacesrespond.org .

Sources:Based on Gurchiek, K. (2005). Study: Domestic violence spills over into the workplace. HRMagazine, 50, 32, 38; Savard, D., and Kennedy, D. B. (2013). Responding to intimate partner violence in the workplace. Security Journal, 26, 249–263; Twigg, T., and Crane, R. (2009). Ending the silence on domestic violence in the workplace. Dental Economics, 99, 33–34.▪▪

The frequency and prevalence of sabotage is difficult to assess. However, experts suggest that sabotage is increasingly a problem for organizations. Many saboteurs are disgruntled former employees who, as the victims of downsizing or termination, feel underappreciated and unfairly treated by their former employers. Disgruntled employees who retaliate by doing damage to a computer system pose a major concern in organizations.

Whatever form workplace violence may take, managers need to take responsibility for reducing or eliminating violence in the workplace. To this end, they must be sensitive to the causes of workplace violence. Many people feel pressured in their jobs and fear layoffs. Workplace events such as negative performance appraisals, personality conflicts with coworkers or managers, or personal problems such as a divorce add to this existing stress level, and a potentially dangerous person may emerge.

Certainly, managers cannot eliminate all these pressures, which are realities of everyday life in modern organizations. However, they can make sure that employees are treated fairly. Treating employees as though they are expendable will not create commitment to the company and could be enough to trigger a violent reaction. Managers should deal with performance problems by focusing on the behavior and future improvement, rather than condemning the person for past performance problems (see Chapter 7 on performance appraisal). Managers should never discipline employees in front of coworkers; doing so can humiliate the person and incite a violent reaction.52

Managers should also take steps to reduce the possibility of hiring workers who might be prone to violence. For example, interviewers might ask job candidates to describe how they reacted to a past management decision they did not agree with and why they did so.53 The responses to this question and follow-up questions could be quite revealing. Also, interviewers should check for evidence of substance abuse or emotional problems, which might be indicated by careless driving or DWI (driving while intoxicated) entries on driving records. Unexplained gaps in a person’s employment history should be carefully examined. Avoiding a negligent hiring charge requires thorough background checks.54

Cumulative Trauma Disorders

Cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) are also called repetitive stress (or motion or strain) injuries (or illnesses or syndromes). CTDs refer not to one disorder, but rather to a wide array of maladies, from carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), which often affects the wrists of computer keyboard users, to tennis elbow and forearm and shoulder complaints.55 It has been estimated that CTDs account for more than 16 million lost workdays annually in the United States, with a cost of more than $40 billion.56

Managers should take steps to reduce CTDs by educating workers and altering the physical arrangement of the workplace if necessary. Figure 16.4 presents suggestions for a production workplace layout that should reduce the likelihood of CTDs. Many of these suggestions can be adapted for nonproduction workers.

Do:

  • Make certain work surface heights are comfortable and can accommodate chair heights, people sizes, and needed movements.

  • Place all supplies and tools within easy reach.

  • Keep work below heart level to reduce muscle fatigue.

  • Match light intensity to the task so that errors, straining, and fatigue are reduced.

  • Adjust work equipment to the worker and the task.

FIGURE 16.4

Suggestions to Lower the Incidence of CTDs Do

Sources:Based on Material Handling Management. (2008). Seven ways to fit the task to the worker, 63, 34–35.

Source:© Phorovir/Alamy.

Hearing Impairment

It is widely recognized that loud noise can lead to loss of hearing. However, consistent exposure to loud noise of 95 decibels has also been found to be related to elevated blood pressure and various digestive, respiratory, allergenic, and musculoskeletal disorders. Exposure to loud noise has also been found to lead to disorientation and reduction of eye focus, possibly leading to an increase in the rate of accidents and injuries.57 Evidence regarding the potential negative health effects of loud noise led OSHA to develop the Occupational Noise Exposure standard. This standard requires organizations to provide hearing protectors free to employees who are exposed to an average of 85 decibels of noise or greater. Regardless of this standard, research findings indicate that, on average, fewer than 50 percent of employees who should wear hearing protectors actually wear them.58 Furthermore, many employees who wear hearing protectors don’t wear them correctly. Part of the problem in dealing with the prevention of hearing loss is getting employees to recognize and take seriously the threat that noise can pose to hearing acuity.

Efforts to prevent hearing loss should not be limited to getting employees to protect their hearing. Reducing the amount of noise in the work environment is a direct and primary way of preventing hearing loss. Although noise reduction isn’t always possible, many organizations are finding that new machinery often offers the advantage of quieter operation.59 Efforts to prevent hearing loss need to be broad-based and include consideration of both system (machinery) and person (employee) factors. The Manager’s Notebook, “Say What? Management Steps to the Prevention of Hearing Loss,” identifies basic steps for preventing hearing damage in the workplace.

Fetal Protection, Hazardous Chemicals, and Genetic Testing

During the 1970s and 1980s, a handful of large U.S. firms developed workplace policies designed to prevent pregnant employees from exposure to hazardous chemicals that might damage the fetus. These policies were controversial because they tended to restrict women’s access to some of industry’s better-paying jobs. For example, in 1978 several women working for American Cyanamid underwent sterilization rather than risk losing highly paid jobs.

MANAGER’S NOTEBOOK Say What? Management Steps to the Prevention of Hearing Loss

Customer-Driven HR

Hearing damage can be invisible and can take years to be recognized. When workers are exposed to excessive workplace noise, hearing loss can get worse over time, but usually only in small increments. It may not be noticed on a day-to-day basis. Given its silent and insidious nature, it is important that management take a proactive approach to limiting hearing loss. Below are some basic steps for developing a hearing loss prevention program.

  1. How noisy is the environment? The first step is to determine the noise level in the workplace. Noise levels that require people to raise their voices to have a conversation could indicate a problem level of noise. However, you can’t rely on subjective judgment. You need to use a sound-level meter to determine the levels of noise that workers are exposed to.

  2. Reduce the noise levels! If there is excessive noise, the next logical step is to try to reduce it. Possibilities here include replacement with new machinery that may be significantly quieter or shielding the existing sources of noise.

  3. Protect the hearing of individual workers While reducing overall noise levels helps everyone avoid hearing loss, wearing hearing protection protects only the wearer. To the extent that noise levels can’t be sufficiently reduced, the next option is to provide workers with hearing protection.

  4. Train workers to wear the hearing protection properly If workers don’t wear hearing protection correctly, it probably won’t be doing an adequate job to protect their hearing. Make sure they know how to wear it correctly.

  5. Motivate workers to wear hearing protection Some workers may not want to wear hearing protection. As a manager, you need to make clear that avoiding hearing loss is an important goal to which the organization is committed. You can demonstrate this commitment with the use of brochures, posters, and other sources of information. You can also provide recognition, money, or prizes for work teams whose members are all wearing hearing protection.

Sources:Based on Vallee, L., Ruddy, M., and Bota, K. (2020). Can you hear me now? Professional Safety, 55, 26–32. Selwyn, B. (2020). Noise measurement and control. Professional Safety, 55, 16–18; Safety Director’s Report (2002); Hearing protection strategies for any safety department budget. May newsletter of the Institute of Management and Administration.▪▪

The fetal protection controversy came to national attention in 1982 when Johnson Controls, a battery manufacturer, prevented women of childbearing age from working in jobs involving contact with lead. The union sued Johnson Controls for sex discrimination because the company’s policy restricted only female employees. The Supreme Court ruled against the company, finding it guilty of illegal sex bias.60

This decision caused great concern among companies like General Motors, DuPont, Monsanto, and others with fetal protection policies. These companies argue that their only alternative is to greatly reduce the use of certain substances. But reducing the use of these compounds, they claim, would be both difficult and costly. Critics counter that these companies should do more to protect all workers, not simply remove some dangerous substances from the workplace.61

Reproductive health concerns are an important workplace issue with the potential to affect thousands of employers and millions of workers. For example, one study of 1,600 pregnant women showed that those who used the old-style video display terminals (VDTs) heavily had a miscarriage rate double that of women who do not use monitors. A study of pregnant women at a Digital Equipment plant in Houston reached a similar conclusion. While old-style VDTs are less common today, the issue still exists in areas that still employ this old technology.62 The fetal health issue is compounded by the fact that only a handful of companies have comprehensive fetal health policies and research about the effects of many industrial compounds on reproductive health is inconclusive or incomplete. Although some substances (for example, lead) represent clear health threats to fetuses, exposure to many other compounds may not cause problems. However, certain compounds may present significant reproductive hazards to both sexes, not just women.

Hazardous Chemicals

Many thousands of workplace accidents and injuries reported each year have been attributed to exposure to toxic chemicals. In the past, workers were often required to handle chemicals without being fully informed of the hazards involved. In 1983, however, OSHA’s hazard communication standard gave employees the right to know about hazardous chemicals in the workplace (see Figure 16.1). The current standard requires manufacturers and users of hazardous chemicals to identify the chemicals, provide employees with information about them, and train employees in understanding the dangers and in how to handle them.63

Determining whether a substance might have hazardous effects and the levels at which toxicity is a concern can be a difficult task that requires sorting through a variety of sources. To help streamline this process, the U.S. Department of Labor and health professionals have developed an online decision-support system. The purpose of the system, called Haz-Map , is to help users recognize and prevent diseases caused by chemical and biological agents in the workplace.64 Haz-Map is a useful tool for preventing toxic exposures and for identifying occupational diseases. The site is available to the public at . An example window from the Web site is presented in Figure 16.5. The site can be searched by hazardous agent as well as by job.

Genetic Testing

A new and controversial tool is genetic testing , which can be used to identify employees who are genetically susceptible to illness or disability. In 2008, federal legislation was passed that protects employees in regard to genetic testing. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of genetic information. Employers are not allowed to request, require, or buy genetic information. GINA also prohibits health insurers from basing eligibility or premiums on the basis of genetic information.65

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