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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX ETHICS AND SAFETY
MAJOR TOPICS
▶ An Ethical Dilemma ▶ Ethics Defined ▶ Ethical Behavior in Organizations ▶ Safety and Health Professionals’ Role in Ethics ▶ Company’s Role in Ethics ▶ Handling of Ethical Dilemmas ▶ Questions to Ask When Making Decisions ▶ Ethics and Whistle-Blowing
Practically everyone agrees that business practices of industrial firms should be above reproach with
regard to ethical standards. Few people are willing to defend unethical behavior. For the most part,
industry in the United States operates within the scope of accepted legal and ethical standards.
This is important because “Companies and business people who wish to thrive long-term must adopt
sound ethical decision-making practices. Companies and people who behave in a socially responsible
manner are much more likely to enjoy ultimate success than those whose actions are motivated solely by
profits. Knowing the difference between right and wrong and choosing what is right is the foundation for
ethical decision making. In many cases, doing the right thing often leads to the greatest financial, social,
and personal rewards in the long run.”
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However, unethical behavior does occur frequently enough that modern safety and health professionals
should be aware of the types of ethical dilemmas that they may occasionally face and should know how to
deal with such issues. How to deal successfully and effectively with ethics on the job is the subject of this
chapter.
AN ETHICAL DILEMMA
Consider the following example of an ethical dilemma:
Mil-Tech Manufacturing Company is a Department of Defense contractor that produces air and watertight
aluminum containers for shipping nonnuclear munitions such as missiles, bombs, and torpedoes.
Business has been good and Mil-Tech is prospering. However, the company’s management team has a
problem.
Mil-Tech has been awarded a contract to produce 10,000 boxes in six months. The company’s maximum
capacity is currently 1,000 boxes per month. Unless Mil-Tech can find a way to increase its capacity, the
company will be forced to add new facilities, equipment, and personnel—an expensive undertaking that
will quickly eat up the projected profits of the new contract.
The most time-consuming bottleneck in the production of the boxes is the painting process, the last step.
The problem is with the paint that Mil-Tech uses. It poses no health,
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safety, or environmental hazards, but it is difficult to apply and requires at least two hours to dry. Clearly,
the most expeditious way to increase productivity is to find a paint that is easier to apply and takes less
time to dry.
The production manager has been searching frantically for a substitute paint for two weeks and has
finally found one. The new paint is easy to apply, and it dries almost on contact. However, it is extremely
toxic and can be dangerous to anyone exposed to it at any time before it dries. Personal protective
equipment (PPE) and other hazard-prevention techniques can minimize the health problems, but they
must be used properly with absolutely no shortcuts. In addition, it is recommended that every employee
who will work with the paint complete three full days of training.
Mil-Tech’s management team is convinced that the union will not consent to the use of this paint even if
the PPE is purchased and the training is provided. To complicate matters, the supplier of the paint cannot
provide the training within a time frame that meets MilTech’s needs. In a secret meeting, top management
officials decide to purchase PPE, use the new paint, and forgo the training. More importantly, the
management team decides to withhold all information about the hazards associated with the new paint.
Camillo Garcia, Mil-Tech’s safety and health manager, was not invited to the secret meeting. However, the
decisions made during the meeting were slipped to him anonymously. Garcia now faces an ethical
dilemma. What should he do? If he chooses to do nothing, Mil-Tech employees may be inappropriately
exposed to an extremely hazardous substance. If he confronts the management team with what he knows,
he could fall into disfavor or even lose his job. If he shares what he knows with union leaders, he may be
called on to testify about what he knows. This is an example of the type of ethical dilemma that safety and
health professionals face on the job.
ETHICS DEFINED
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There are many definitions of the term ethics. However, no one definition has emerged as universally
accepted. As applied to business, the concept means “… written and unwritten codes of principles and
values that govern decisions and actions within a company. In the business world, the organization’s
culture sets standards for determining the difference between good and bad decision making and
behavior. In the most basic terms, a definition for business ethics boils down to knowing the difference
between right and wrong and choosing what is right.”
According to Arlow and Ulrich, ethical dilemmas in the workplace are more complex than ethical
situations in general. They involve societal expectations, competition, and social responsibility as well as
the potential consequences of an employee’s behavior on customers, coworkers, competitors, and the
public at large. The result of the often-conflicting and contradictory interests of workers, customers,
competitors, and the general public is a natural tendency for ethical dilemmas to occur frequently in the
workplace.
Anytime that ethics is the topic of discussion, such terms as conscience, morality, and legality are
frequently heard. Although these terms are closely associated with ethics, they do not, by themselves,
define it. For the purpose of this book, ethics is defined as follows:
Ethics is the application of morality within a context established by cultural and professional values,
social norms, and accepted standards of behavior.
Morality refers to the values that are subscribed to and fostered by society in general and individuals
within society. Ethics attempts to apply reason in determining rules of human conduct that translate
morality into everyday behavior. Ethical behavior is that which falls within the limits prescribed by
morality.
How, then, does a safety and health professional know if someone’s behavior is ethical? Ethical questions
are rarely black and white. They typically fall into a gray area between the two extremes of right and
wrong. Personal experience, self-interest, point of view, and external pressure often cloud this gray area
further.
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Guidelines for Determining Ethical Behavior
Guidelines are needed for safety and health professionals to use when trying to sort out matters that are
not clearly right or wrong. First, however, it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of legal and
ethical. They are not the same thing. Just because an option is legal does not necessarily mean it is ethical.
In fact, it is not uncommon for people caught in the practice of questionable behavior to use the “I didn’t
do anything illegal” defense. A person’s behavior can be well within the scope of the law and still be
unethical. The following guidelines for determining ethical behavior assume that the behavior in question
is legal (Figure 26–1):
■ Apply the morning-after test. This test asks, “If you make this choice, how will you feel about it
tomorrow morning?”
■ Apply the front-page test. This test encourages you to make a decision that would not embarrass you if
printed as a story on the front page of your hometown newspaper.
■ Apply the mirror test. This test asks, “If you make this decision, how will you feel about yourself when
you look in the mirror?”
■ Apply the role-reversal test. This test requires you to trade places with the people affected by your
decision and view the decision through their eyes.
■ Apply the commonsense test. This test requires you to listen to what your instincts and common sense
are telling you. If it feels wrong, it probably is.
A four-question test anyone can use to determine if a given decision is ethical is as follows:
1. Is the decision truthful?
2. Is the decision fair to all stakeholders?
3. Will the decision generate goodwill for my organization?
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4. Is the decision beneficial to all stakeholders?
If a potential course of action is not legal, no further consideration is in order. If an action is not legal, it is
also not ethical. If an action is balanced, it is fair to all involved. This means that safety and health
professionals and their team members have responsibilities that extend well beyond the walls of their
unit, organization, and company. If a course of action is in keeping with your own moral structure, it will
make you feel good about yourself. “Another way of making sure decisions are truly ethical is by using the
publicity test. Ask yourself how you would feel if your actions were published in your hometown
newspaper. If you would be comfortable having your parents, grade school teachers, and other people
find out what you did, chances are that your decision is an ethical one. However, if you would not want
these individuals to learn about your actions, you probably need to rethink your decision.”
These tests and guidelines will help safety and health professionals make ethical choices in the workplace.
In addition to internalizing the guidelines themselves, safety and health professionals may want to share
these values with all employees with whom they interact.
FIGURE 26–1 Guidelines to determine what is ethical.
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ETHICAL BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS
Research by Trevino suggests that ethical behavior in organizations is influenced by both individual and
social factors. Trevino identified three personality measures that can influence an employee’s ethical
behavior: (1) ego strength, (2) Machiavellianism, and (3) locus of control.
An employee’s ego strength is his or her ability to undertake self-directed tasks and to cope with tense
situations. A measure of a worker’s Machiavellianism is the extent to which he or she will attempt to
deceive and confuse others. Locus of control is the perspective of workers concerning who or what
controls their behavior. Employees with an internal locus of control feel that they control their own
behavior. Employees with an external locus of control feel that their behavior is controlled by external
factors (for example, rules, regulations, their safety and health professional).
Social factors also influence ethical behavior in organizations. These factors include gender, role
differences, religion, age, work experience, nationality, and the influence of other people who are
significant in an individual’s life. Luthans and Kreitner state that people learn appropriate behavior by
observing the behavior of significant role models (parents, teachers, public officials, and so on). Because
safety and health professionals represent a significant role model for their team members, it is critical
that they exhibit ethical behavior that is beyond reproach in all situations.
SAFETY AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS’ ROLE IN ETHICS
Using the guidelines set forth in the previous section, safety and health professionals should be able to
make responsible decisions concerning ethical choices. Unfortunately, deciding what is ethical is much
easier than actually doing what is ethical. In this regard, trying to practice ethics is like trying to diet. It is
not so much a matter of knowing you should cut down eating, it is a matter of following through and
actually doing it.
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It is this fact that defines the role of safety and health professionals with regard to ethics. Their role has
three parts. First, they are responsible for setting an example of ethical behavior. Second, they are
responsible for helping fellow employees make the right decision when facing ethical questions. Finally,
safety and health professionals are responsible for helping employees follow through and actually
undertake the ethical option once the appropriate choice has been identified. In carrying out their roles,
safety and health professionals can adopt one of the following approaches (Figure 26–2): the best-ratio
approach, the black-and-white approach, or the full-potential approach.
Best-Ratio Approach
FIGURE 26–2 Three basic approaches to handling ethical problems.
The best-ratio approach is the pragmatic approach. Its philosophy is that people are basically good and
under the right circumstances behave ethically. However, under certain conditions, they can be driven to
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unethical behavior. Therefore, the safety and health
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professional should do everything possible to create conditions that promote ethical behavior and try to
maintain the best possible ratio of good choices to bad. When hard decisions must be made, the
appropriate choice is the one that does the most good for the most people. This is sometimes referred to as
situational ethics.
Safety Fact: Models for Determining Ethical Behavior
In addition to the various tests that can be used for determining ethical behavior, there are also
numerous models:
■ Categorical imperative (black and white)
■ Conventionalistic ethic (anything legal is ethical)
■ Disclosure rule (explain actions to a wide audience)
■ Doctrine of the mean (virtue through moderation)
■ The Golden Rule (do unto others…)
■ Intuition rule (what is right is just known)
■ Market ethic (whatever makes a profit is right)
■ Means-end ethic (end justifies the means)
■ Might-equals-right ethic (self-explanatory)
■ Organizational ethic (loyalty to the organization)
■ Practical imperative (treat people as ends, not means)
■ Equal freedom (full freedom unless it deprives another)
■ Proportionality ethic (good outweighs the bad)
■ Professional ethic (do only what can be explained to your peers)
■ Revelation ethic (answers revealed by prayer)
■ Rights ethic (protect rights of others)
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■ Theory of justice (impartial, even-handed)
Black-and-White Approach
Using the black-and-white approach, right is right, wrong is wrong, and circumstances are irrelevant. The
safety and health professional’s job is to make ethical decisions and carry them out. It is also to help
employees choose the ethical route. When difficult decisions must be made, safety and health
professionals should make fair and impartial choices regardless of the outcome.
Full-Potential Approach
Safety and health professionals who use the full-potential approach make decisions based on how the
outcomes affect the ability of those involved to achieve their full potential. The underlying philosophy is
that people are responsible for realizing their full potential within the confines of morality. Choices that
can achieve this goal without infringing on the rights of others are considered ethical.
Decisions made may differ, depending on the approach selected. For example, consider the ethical
dilemma presented at the beginning of this chapter. If the safety and health manager, Camillo Garcia,
applies the best-ratio approach, he may decide to keep quiet, encourage the proper use of PPE, and hope
for the best. On the other hand, if he takes the black-and-white approach, he will be compelled to confront
the Mil-Tech management team with what he knows.
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FIGURE 26–3 Ethics cannot be practiced in a vacuum. The company has a critical role to play.
COMPANY’S ROLE IN ETHICS
Industrial firms have a critical role to play in promoting ethical behavior among their employees. Safety
and health professionals cannot set ethical examples alone or expect employees to behave ethically in a
vacuum. A company’s role in ethics can be summarized as (1) creating an internal environment that
promotes, expects, and rewards ethical behavior; and (2) setting an example of ethical behavior in all
external dealings (Figure 26–3).
Creating an Ethical Environment
A company creates an ethical environment by establishing policies and practices that ensure all
employees are treated ethically and then enforcing these policies. Do employees have the right of due
process? Do employees have access to an objective grievance procedure? Are there appropriate safety and
health measures to protect employees? Are hiring practices fair and impartial? Are promotion practices
fair and objective? Are employees protected from harassment based on race, gender, or other reasons? A
company that establishes an environment that promotes, expects, and rewards ethical behavior can
answer “yes” to all of these questions.
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One effective way to create an ethical environment is to develop an ethics philosophy and specific, written
guidelines for implementing that philosophy that are shared with all employees.
A sample ethics philosophy reads as follows:
ABC Corporation is committed to conducting its business in strict accordance with all applicable laws,
regulations, rules, and policies. We have an obligation to our country, community, and company to
operate with honesty and integrity and conduct all aspects of our business according to the highest ethical
standards. High-priority concepts for our personnel at all levels are: honesty, integrity, trust, and
dependability.
Although the emphasis on ethics in the workplace is relatively new, the concept is not. Robert Wood
Johnson, the leader who built Johnson & Johnson into a major international corporation, developed an
ethics credo for his company as early as the mid-1940s.
Discussion Case: What Is Your Opinion?
The city council members are in a real quandary about the request from International Plastics
Corporation (IPC) to open a new plant on a 100-acre plot owned by the city. On one hand, the city needs
the new jobs that the IPC plant would bring—badly. High unemployment is the city’s most serious
problem, and every member of the city council ran on a job-creation platform in the last election. On the
other hand, the council members have learned that IPC is not always a good corporate citizen in spite of
its claims to the contrary.
Several cities with IPC plants have had problems enforcing their safety and health regulations. The
consensus among other cities is that IPC officials say all the right things until contracts are signed. Then,
all of a sudden, they begin to procrastinate, stonewall, and break promises. Should the city council allow
IPC to build the new plant? What is your opinion?
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Johnson’s credo read as follows:
■ To customers and users: quality and service at reasonable prices
■ To suppliers: a fair opportunity
■ To employees: respect, equal opportunity, and a sense of job security
■ To communities: a civic responsibility
■ To the environment: protection
■ To shareholders: a fair return
Written philosophies and guidelines such as those developed by Martin Marietta Corporation and Johnson
& Johnson are the first step in creating an ethical environment in the workplace. Safety and health
professionals can play a key role in promoting ethical behavior on the job by encouraging higher
management to develop written ethics philosophies, credos, and guidelines and then by modeling the
behavior that they encourage.
Setting an Ethical Example
Companies that take the “Do as I say, not as I do” approach to ethics will not succeed. Employees must be
able to trust their company to conduct all external and internal dealings in an ethical manner. Companies
that do not pay their bills on time; companies that pollute; companies that place short-term profits ahead
of employee safety and health; companies that do not live up to advertised quality standards; companies
that do not stand behind their guarantees; and companies that are not good neighbors in their
communities are not setting a good ethical example. Such companies can expect employees to mimic their
un-ethical behavior.
A final word on the company’s role in ethics is in order. In addition to creating an ethical internal
environment and handling external dealings in an ethical manner, companies must support safety and
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health professionals who make ethically correct decisions. This support must be given not just when such
decisions are profitable, but in all cases. For example, in the ethical dilemma presented earlier in this
chapter, say Camillo Garcia decided that his ethical choice was to confront the management team with his
knowledge of the hazards associated with the new paint. Management gave the order to withhold critical
information. This is obviously the profitable choice in the short run. But is it the ethical choice? If Camillo
Garcia does not think so, will Mil-Tech stand behind him? If not, everything else that the company does to
promote ethics will fail.
HANDLING OF ETHICAL DILEMMAS
No person will serve long as a safety and health professional without confronting an ethical dilemma.
How, then, should you proceed when confronting an ethical dilemma? There are three steps (Figure 26–4):
1. Apply the various guidelines for determining what is ethical presented earlier in this chapter.
2. Select one of the three basic approaches to handling ethical questions.
3. Proceed in accordance with the approach selected, and proceed with consistency.
FIGURE 26–4 Handling ethical dilemmas.
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Apply the Guidelines
In this step, as a safety and health professional, you should apply as many of the tests set forth in Figure
26–1 as necessary to determine the ethically correct decision. In applying these guidelines, attempt to
block out all mitigating circumstances and other factors that tend to cloud the issue. At this point, the goal
is only to identify the ethical choice. Deciding whether to implement the ethical choice comes in the next
step.
Select the Approach
When deciding how to proceed after Step 1, you have three basic approaches. These approaches, as set
forth in Figure 26–2, are the best-ratio, black-and-white, and full-potential approaches. These approaches
and their ramifications can be debated ad infinitum; however, selecting an approach to ethical questions
is a matter of personal choice. Factors that will affect the ultimate decision include your personal makeup,
the expectations of the company, and the degree of company support.
Proceed with the Decision
The approach selected in Step 2 will dictate how you should proceed as a safety and health professional.
Two things are important in this final step. The first is to proceed in strict accordance with the approach
selected. The second is to proceed consistently. Consistency is critical when handling ethical dilemmas.
Fairness is a large part of ethics, and consistency is a large part of fairness. The grapevine will ensure that
all employees know how a safety and health professional handles an ethical dilemma. Some will agree,
and some will disagree, regardless of the decision. Such is the nature of human interaction. However,
regardless of the differing perceptions of the problem, employees respect consistency. Conversely, even if
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the decision is universally popular, you may lose respect if the decision is not consistent with past
decisions.
QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN MAKING DECISIONS
Safety and health professionals often must make decisions that have ethical dimensions. A constant state
of tension often exists between meeting production schedules and maintaining employee safety. Safety
and health professionals usually are right in the middle of these issues. Following are some questions that
can and should be asked by managers when making decisions about issues that have ethical dimensions.
Safety and health professionals should ask these questions themselves, and they should encourage other
decision makers within their organizations to do the same.
■ Has the issue or problem been thoroughly and accurately defined?
■ Have all dimensions of the problem (productivity, quality, cost, safety, health, and so on) been
identified?
■ Would other stakeholders (employees, customers) agree with your definition of the problem?
■ What is your real motivation in making this decision? Meeting a deadline? Outperforming another
organizational unit, or a competitor? Self-promoting? Getting the job done right? Protecting the safety
and health of employees? Some combination of these?
■ What is the probable short-term result of your decision? What is the probable long-term result?
■ Who will be affected by your decision and in what way? In the short term? In the long term?
■ Did you discuss the decision with all stakeholders (or all possible stakeholders) before making it?
■ Would your decision withstand the scrutiny of employees, customers, colleagues, and the general
public?
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Safety professionals should ask themselves these questions, but equally important, they should insist that
other managers do so. The manager responsible for meeting this month’s production quota may be so
focused on the numbers that he or she overlooks safety. The manager who is feeling the pressure to cut
production costs may make decisions that work in the short term but have disastrous consequences in the
long term. Questions such as those posed above can help managers broaden their focus and consider the
long-range impact when making decisions.
ETHICS AND WHISTLE-BLOWING
What can safety and health professionals do when their employer is violating legal or ethical standards?
The first option, of course, should be to bring violations to the attention of appropriate management
executives through established channels. In most cases, this will be sufficient to stop the illegal or
unethical behavior. But what about those occasions when the safety and health professional is ignored or,
worse yet, told to “mind your own business”? These are the types of situations that have led to the concept
of whistle-blowing, which can be defined as follows:
Whistle-blowing is the act of informing an outside authority or media organ of alleged illegal or
unethical acts on the part of an organization or individual.
Problems with Whistle-Blowing
American society has an interesting attitude toward the concept of whistle-blowing. There seems to be an
inherent uneasiness with the concept that is deeply rooted in the American psyche. Even when the illegal
or unethical practice in question threatens the safety and health of employees, some people still don’t like
whistle-blowers. There is often a “don’t tell” mentality that causes whistle-blowers to be shunned and
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viewed as outcasts. As children we learned not to be “tattle-tales.” Many adults still seem to hold to this
philosophy.
The “don’t be a tattle-tale” attitude is only one of the problems that works against whistle-blowing. Others
are as follows:
■ Retribution. People who blow the whistle on their employer may be subjected to retribution. They
may be fired, transferred to an undesirable location, or reassigned to an undesirable job. They may
also be shunned. There are numerous ways—legal ways—for an employer to take retribution against
a whistle-blower.
■ Damaged relationships and hostility. Blowing the whistle about an illegal or unethical practice can
often damage relationships. Somebody—by commission or omission—is responsible. That person or
those persons may be disciplined as a result. When this happens, people tend to choose sides; this, in
turn, leads to damaged relationships. Damaged relationships are often manifested as hostility
directed toward the whistle-blower.
■ Loss of focus. Whistle-blowers often find that their time, energy, and attention are overtaken by the
events surrounding the claim of illegal or unethical behavior. Rather than focusing on doing their
jobs, they find themselves dealing with retribution, damaged relationships, and hostility.
■ Scapegoating. Negative consequences certainly can occur as a result of whistle-blowing. Because of
this, some safety and health professionals may decide to ignore the issue or to raise it to the next level
of management and let it drop there. The problem with this approach is the issue of accountability.
When an employee is injured or the environment is damaged, the actions of safety and health
professionals are certain to be closely scrutinized. “Did you know about the hazardous condition?”
“Did you do everything in your power to prevent the accident or incident?” These types of questions
are always asked when litigation is brought, as is often the case. An irresponsible organization facing
charges of negligence may begin looking for a convenient scapegoat. One obvious candidate in such
situations is the organization’s chief safety and health professional.
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Discussion Case: What Is Your Opinion?
Following are two ethical dilemmas that a safety and health professional may face. What is the right thing
to do in each case? What is your opinion?
■ You are the safety director for West Coast Power Company. Your son is a line worker for a branch of
the company that is located in another city. He is visiting you while recuperating from a back injury
for which he is collecting workers’ compensation. While visiting, he jogs, lifts weights, and plays
softball with friends. You finally realize that he is not really injured. What should you do?
■ The manufacturing director and the union representative have just had a chin-to-chin argument
about removing the new machine guards from the milling machines. They have asked you—the
company’s safety director—to mediate the dispute. According to the manufacturing director, “We ran
these machines for five years without an accident. The only reason we put them on was because
some OSHA inspector suggested it. They’re fine when we are not in a hurry, but they slow us down
when the rush is on. Unless we remove the guards, this job will not be shipped on time.” The union
representative counters by saying, “These machines are dangerous.” What is the right thing to do
here? What is your opinion?
OSHA and Whistle-Blowing
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) dealt with the issue of whistle-blowing for certain
employees when it adopted regulations governing the employee protection provisions of Section 211
(formerly 210) of the Energy Reorganization Act (ERA). This statute makes it illegal for an employer
covered by the act to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee in terms of compensation,
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conditions, or privileges of employment because the employee or any person acting at an employee’s
request performs a protected activity.
Key provisions of the ERA are summarized as follows:
■ Right to raise a safety concern. You are engaged in protected activity when you (1) notify your
employer of an alleged violation of the ERA; (2) refuse to engage in any practice made unlawful by the
ERA if you have identified the alleged illegality to the employer; (3) testify before Congress or at any
federal or state proceeding regarding any provision or proposed provision of the ERA; (4) commence
or cause to be commenced a proceeding under the ERA, or a proceeding for the administration or
enforcement of any requirement imposed under the ERA; (5) testify or are about to testify in any such
proceeding; or (6) assist or participate in such a proceeding or in any other action to carry out the
purposes of the ERA.
■ Unlawful acts by employers. It is unlawful for an employer to intimidate, threaten, restrain, coerce,
blacklist, discharge, or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because this employee
has engaged in a protected activity.
■ Complaint. An employee or employee representative may file a complaint charging discrimination in
violation of the ERA within 180 days of the discriminatory action. A complaint must be in writing and
should include a full statement of facts, including the protected activity engaged in by the employee,
knowledge by the employer of the protected activity and the basis for believing that the activity
resulted in discrimination against the employee by the employer. A complaint may be filed in person
or by mail at the nearest local office of OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor; or with the Office of the
Assistant Secretary, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC.
■ Enforcement. OSHA will review the complaint to ensure that it makes an initial showing of
discrimination. If not, or if the employer provides clear and convincing evidence
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that there was no discrimination, there will be no investigation. If the required showing is made,
OSHA will notify the employer and conduct an investigation to determine whether a violation has
occurred. Either the employee or the employer may request a hearing.
Discussion Case: What Is Your Opinion?
Jack Wilson, safety director for Vitacom Inc. is facing a dilemma. His employer is seeking registration
as an ISO 14000 company. Internal assessments and trial audits show that the company is ready and
will probably pass the registration audit with flying colors. If so, Vitacom will be able to double its
business in just two years. A European company is looking for a partner in the United States. Vitacom
wants to be that partner, but ISO 14000 registration is a prerequisite.
Vitacom looks good on paper, but Wilson knows of a least two serious environmental problems that
the company is covering up rather than correcting. Vitacom’s Environmental Management Plan,
required by ISO 14000, shows that the environmental problems have been corrected. They haven’t.
Worse yet, Wilson has been warned to say or do nothing that may jeopardize Vitacom’s ISO 14000
registration. On the other hand, if the environmental problems in question are not corrected soon,
the community’s water supply could be contaminated in the future. What should Wilson do?
■ Relief. If discrimination is found, the employer will be required to provide appropriate relief,
including reinstatement (even if the period is between the decision and appeal), back wages or
compensation for injury suffered from the discrimination, and attorney’s fees and costs.
Noncovered Whistle-Blowing
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The ERA covers a number of different types of organizations, but most employers fall outside the law’s
coverage. Consequently, employees in many organizations have no special protection when they blow the
whistle on an unethical employer. This is one more reason why safety and health professionals should
encourage their employers to develop comprehensive safety and health policies.
A key element of such a policy should be a mechanism that allows employees to raise questions about
safety and health concerns. Such a mechanism should contain provisions that protect employees who
raise concerns from retribution by the employer.
SUMMARY
1. Ethics is the application of morality within a context established by cultural and professional values,
social norms, and accepted standards of behavior. Morality refers to the values that are subscribed to
and fostered by society. Ethics attempts to apply reason in determining rules of human conduct that
translate morality into everyday behavior.
2. Ethical behavior is that which falls within the limits prescribed by morality.
3. Legal and ethical are not the same. If something is illegal, it is also unethical. However, just because
something is legal does not mean that it is ethical. An act can be legal but unethical.
4. To determine if a choice is ethical, you can apply the following tests: morning-after, front-page,
mirror, role-reversal, and commonsense.
5. Safety and health professionals have a three-pronged role with regard to ethics. They are responsible
for setting an ethical example, helping employees identify the ethical choices when facing ethical
questions, and helping employees follow through and actually undertake the ethical option.
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6. Safety and health professionals have three approaches available in handling ethical dilemmas: best-
ratio, black-and-white, and full-potential.
7. The company’s role in ethics is to create an ethical environment and to set an ethical example. An
effective way is to develop a written ethics philosophy and share it with all employees.
8. Three personality characteristics that can influence an employee’s ethical behavior are ego strength,
Machiavellianism, and locus of control.
9. People facing ethical dilemmas should apply the tests for determining what is ethical, select one of the
three basic approaches, and proceed consistently.
10. Whistle-blowing is the act of informing an outside authority or the media of alleged illegal or
unethical acts on the part of an organization or individual.
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
Best-ratio approach
Black-and-white approach
Commonsense test
Conscience
Consistency
Ego strength
Employee protection
Ethical behavior
Ethical environment
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Ethics
Ethics philosophy
Front-page test
Full-potential approach
Gray area
Legality
Locus of control
Machiavellianism
Mirror test
Morality
Morning-after test
Perspective
Purpose
Role-reversal test
Values
Whistle-blowing
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Define the term morality.
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2. Define the term ethics.
3. Briefly explain each of the following ethics tests: morning-after, front-page, mirror, role-reversal, and
commonsense.
4. What is the safety and health professional’s role with regard to ethics?
5. Briefly explain the following approaches to handling ethical behavior: best-ratio, black-and-white,
and full-potential.
6. Briefly explain a company’s role with regard to ethics.
7. Explain how one should proceed when facing an ethical dilemma.
8. Write a brief ethics philosophy for a chemical company.
9. List the individual and social factors that may influence an employee’s ethical behavior.
10. What questions should safety and health professionals ask when making decisions that have an
ethical component?
11. Explain the most common problems associated with whistle-blowing.
ENDNOTES
1. A Definition for Business Ethics. Retrieved from business.lovetoknow.cora/wiki/A_Definition_for_Business_Ethics on July 13, 2013.
2. A Definition for Business Ethics.
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