Legal

Citations and Penalties

While at the conference attended by the area director, I will bring to light penalties as well as citations that will be in line with the earlier letter for which I had acknowledged receipt. Top on the list will be citation item number #1, which involves a violation in lead exposure that had purportedly been done beyond the allowable limits. When I got news of the violation, I sanctioned an investigation to check whether it was true that the company had emitted lead fumes beyond permissible limits. The target of the investigation was the MIG welder in the frame assembly, which had been the reason for the citation. I needed information that I could carry to the meeting with the view of shaping the outcome of the meeting. If indeed it was true that the frame assembly had an airborne time-weighted average of 100 µg/m3. The investigation I conducted revealed that the alleged exposure levels that earned us a citation failed to correspond with the reasons which we were issued with a citation. The ventilation at our outfit was found to be in good working condition, which goes to show there were not any challenges with the emission of the lead fumes from the frame assembly area (Jarvela et a., 2016). Armed with this information, I would move ahead with the plan to counter the penalty. I would be seeking a rescindment of the penalty because it is not a true reflection of the circumstances at our entity. While I will seek to push for a revocation of the penalty, I will also capitalize on the development as a wake-up call for the need to rework existing ventilation with the aim of steering clear of penalties while at the same time keeping my focus on the need to maintain the efficacy of our ventilation systems at all times.

Secondly, I will be challenging item number #2 under citation 1, which indicates that we lacked a written program for those persons who had been exposed to the lead fumes. In the company, it is a policy that all employees must wear protective gear at all times. Also, the company has onboard personnel with the requisite training and experience who have periodically implored workers on the need to stay safe at all times by ensuring that they have protective gear at all times. As an imperative, we ensure that newly recruited employees are subjected to rigorous programs that bring them up to speed with the expectation, culture, and standard practices that the company holds dear. It is, therefore, doubtful that employees within our organizations would engage in blatant disregard of the rules put in place to secure their wellbeing without worrying about the dire consequences they would have to contend with if caught. To embolden my position on the milestones we have achieved in so far as keeping our employees safe, I will use PowerPoint presentations with pictorials of our employees at all levels with their earmuffs and nose masks on. The end goal here will be to have the penalty downgraded or rescinded altogether. While I will be exploring this route, I will be cautious enough not to come off as defensive. My goal would be to lay bare the strides the company has achieved so far as safeguarding employees from harm is a top priority. I will strive to change the view of the director because while in the director's view, an infraction had been committed, the extent of any possible infraction would not be the correct representation of the situation at the workplace. I will also produce the written program to show the director that we have always been adamant about following the procedures of the written program at all times.

On the violation regarding the substitution of fixed cables with flexible cables, I will capitalize on the discrepancies between the reality as is at work and as captured in the letter bearing the citation and penalty. The company has qualified electricians on board at all times to ensure that issues of electrical faults are dealt with promptly and diligently, as covered by Levchenko (1998). I will be seeking revocation of this penalty because, just like the other canvased above, it does not reflect the truth. In my submission, I will include pictures that show how the wiring has been done in the company.

Lastly, I will focus on citation 2 Item 3b that highlights the company's reluctance to subject employees to training that would help them hone their skills in the most appropriate ways of dealing with hazardous waste. At the company, we ensure that employees are trained periodically and are also put under supervisors that ensure that employees understand their roles and meet expectations on employee safety. I will see to it the director understands that while I disagree with his position and seek to have the penalty dropped, I continue to commit to organizing periodic training to ensure that safety standards at work are observed to the letter.

Reference

Järvelä, M., Kauppi, P., Tuomi, T., Luukkonen, R., Lindholm, H., & Nieminen, R. et al. (2013). The inflammatory response to acute exposure to welding fumes during the working day. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, 26(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/s13382-013-0097-z

Levchenko, O. (1998). Methods of reducing the generation of welding fumes (review). Welding International, 12(9), 747-752. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09507119809452048