Power Point

Justification Report Part 3

Willie Ramirez

Professor Amy Rofail

ENG 315

May 21, 2015

Problem Statement

The Justification report is created to offer potential solutions and recommendations for the problems identified, which are safety and discrimination within the workplace. These pertinent issues need addressing in order to improve workplace conditions and increase the efficiency of the organization in terms of human resource management and precautionary measures at the workplace. Discrimination in the workplace is a pertinent issue because of the potential loss of valuable human resources. In addition, safety presents a human resource issue since the equipment and tools implemented in the workplace might lead to injuries and other hazards to the employees. The company needs to take measures to militate against these problems. Lack of measures to ensure the reduction of these problems might subject the company to potential lawsuits from employees in case of discrimination or safety issues.

Terminology

Legal consciousness – the level of knowledge that employees have about the company and legislative frameworks

Major Sections

The previous papers selected the strategies suggested for the safety and discrimination problems and subjected them to evaluation to find out the most effective ones based on five criteria. Formulation of discrimination policies was one of the measures suggested for addressing discrimination problems at the workplace. These policies should factor into their formulation the different legislation regarding discrimination at the workplace. Training and follow up on claims of discrimination are the other suggestions propose to deal with discrimination. To address safety in the workplace, safety policies and procedures were suggested as potential candidates to improve safety at the workplace. A plan of action and open communication were the other suggestions put forth.

The second paper evaluated two alternatives based on the five criteria developed in the first paper, which are importance to measure and report, scientific acceptability, feasibility, usability and comparison to competing factors. The options evaluated in the paper for discrimination include quick response option, which was found to have the same high parameter as the quick response option suggested in the first paper. The paper also found that the suggested alternative for the procedures and policies safety option for the safety problem, which is the allowance for novel circumstances option, score a low as opposed to the former that scored a high based on the five criteria.

Scope and Limitations of the Report

The report will deal with various issues pertaining to discrimination and safety at the workplace. The scope of the report includes the various issues pertaining to discrimination and safety at the workplace. Some of the issues addressed pertaining to safety include workplace policy, implementation, performance measurement and auditing workplace policy. Some of the issues addressed pertaining to discrimination at the workplace includes influence of discrimination on performance, legal issues and racial discrimination, which is identified as one of the most apparent discrimination instances since it is the most prevalent in terms of potential for occurrence. Workplace diversity in the globalized environment is one of the factors that make racial discrimination based on racial or ethnic background the most pertinent of the issues on discrimination. The report is limited in that it will not provide the specific policies and procedures or the specific measures that would be implemented in the workplace to ensure better safety and discrimination outcomes in the workplace. The recommendations offered are generalized since organizations have differing workplace contexts that determine the business operations.

Transmittal

May 20, 2015

Manager

Company

Department

Address

Subject: Safety and Discrimination at the workplace

Dear sir/madam,

Please receive the justification report for the institution of discrimination policies and safety policies and procedures at the company to ensure improved outcomes in these areas. There is the need for such improvement to reduce the exposure of the company to legal action from employees because of perceived discrimination or safety issues at the workplace.

The report has considered the various legal frameworks in safety and discrimination at the workplace legislation and made various recommendations that would to better outcomes at the workplace. Exhaustive measures were taken to evaluate and analyze various options in order to come up with the best measures that have the best outcomes.

Thank you for the opportunity to work towards improving the company’s safety and discrimination outcomes. We would appreciate feedback on the findings and recommendations of the report.

Yours Sincerely,

Student Name,

Address

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Safety

3. Discrimination

4. Recommendations

References

Executive Summary

The justification report aims to analyze the various legal and other issues associated with discrimination and safety considerations at the workplace in order to provide recommendations on measures the company could take to ensure improved safety and discrimination policies and procedures at the workplace. The safety recommendations are based on the Safety Statement of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. The discrimination recommendations are based on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII. The safety recommendations include internal reviews, performance measurements, establishment and standards in the process of creating safety policies and procedures. Involvement of employees and open communication between employees and management are suggested as beneficial to the policies and procedures formulation process. Recommendations on discrimination include an organizational culture that fosters inter and intragroup social interactions, improvement of employee legal consciousness and knowledge of organizational discrimination policies through training, creation of standards and maintaining performance measurement records.

Justification Report Part 3

1. Introduction

The report will conduct investigations into the literature available on the discrimination and safety issues identified in the company. Legal issues pertaining to formulation of discrimination policies are considered in addition to measures the company could institute to ensure that there is training on issues regarding discrimination, and there is sufficient follow-up of cases pertaining to discrimination at the workplace. With regard to safety, the issues discussed are safety policies and procedures at the workplace to reduce the incident of accidents and other hazards. Other safety issues discussed include the promotion of open communication regarding safety concerns, and a plan of action is suggested to implement the discussed safety procedures and policies. The report will provide recommendations on the best means of implementing the suggested safety and discrimination prevention measures at the workplace.

2. Safety

According to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 or simply referred to as the 2005 Act, organizations are required to ensure that they ensure that the employee’s safety is considered as far as is reasonably possible. This means that companies need to institute proactive measures to ensure that the safety of their employees is ensured through measures such as instituting policies and procedures meant to ensure the continued safety of their employees in the workplace (Health and Safety Authority, 2006). This legal adherence is mandatory for employers. Various considerations are important in formulating the safety policies and procedures at the workplace.

The figure 1 below provides a summary of the elements of a safety management system the company could use to formulate the procedures and policies to ensure improved safety in the workplace.

Figure 1: Key Elements of a Safety Policy and Procedures System

The 2005 Act requires that employers should formulate an occupational safety policy to ensure compliance with legal guidelines. In order to create an effective policy and procedures that can ensure improved safety outcomes at the organization, planning is very crucial. The Safety Statement of the 2005 Act should guide the planning process. The management should structure itself in a manner that allows for the most effective means of delivering the system policies and procedures (Health and Safety Authority, 2006). According to the Health and Safety Authority (2006), the first step is to conduct a review of the current safety procedures and policies, if they exist, and find the specific areas that need addressing according to the recommendations of the legal frameworks provided by legislative bodies. Safety and health policies should also be reviewed in addition to the internal organizational review. With the inclusion of the management, planning should then be carried out. The next step involves the implementation and operation stage.

Planning and implementation need the support of the management and the employees in order for it to be successful. Empowering and motivating employees during the process is a key consideration for management since this will create the necessary support mechanisms to ensure that the policies and procedures are implemented and followed. This stage of the policy and procedures development process requires open communication between top management and the employees. The focus of the process is to minimize the risks of safety levels to reasonable levels as suggested by the 2005 Act. Some of the measures the company could take in order to improve safety outcomes include the use of personnel protective gear, physical controls and design of the infrastructure to ensure the minimal risk of safety hazards occurring (Burke et al., 2011). Performance measurement should also comprise part of the policy and procedure formulation process to ensure constant monitoring and improvement of the process (Health and Safety Authority, 2006). Performance measurements can provide information that the company can use to audit and, therefore, develop the health and safety measures instituted in the workplace. The suggested policy and procedures formulation system ensure continuous improvement of safety measures at the workplace since it is based on a feedback loop mechanism.

3. Discrimination

Discrimination is the other company problem identified in the report. Formulation of discrimination policies, especially those regarding race and ethnic discrimination, are important because of the globalized and diversified workplace environment. The legal document outlining the legal requirements for employees in terms of preventing racial and ethnic discrimination in the workplace is the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Employers cannot engage in discriminatory practices such as classification, deprivation of promotion and other opportunities, compensation, hiring and firing of employees based on their racial or ethnic orientation. These legal provisions are mainly contained in Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII. In the formulation of policies regarding discrimination, the company needs to make various considerations that the company needs to make before the formulation process.

Employees who perceive that the company has subjected them to discrimination can file a lawsuit to the local or federal fair employment agencies. The process involves the identification of discriminatory practices, assigning them to a causal relationship that suggests discrimination and then reporting to the relevant authorities. This process is an ambiguous process since perceptions of discriminatory practices can differ between employees based on organizational contexts. Ewick and Sibley (1998) came up with the concept of legal consciousness, which is the degree to which various employees might find it necessary to institute legal action against the employer because of actions of the organizations. Since this differs from employee to employee, the company needs standards that define what constitutes discrimination in the workplace based on its organizational context.

According to established legal frameworks, there is discrimination when two workers in the same workplace situation are treated differently based on their racial or ethnic background. Some of the defenses offered by employers in such cases include differences in performance, experience and effort of the similarly situated employees (Roscigno, 2007). This means that the company should set performance and evaluation measures to ensure that actions such as firing and promotions are backed by concrete data in case of perceptions of allegations of discrimination by employees. This can act as a safeguard against legal action against the company. This brings to the fore the question of organizational contexts and their susceptibility to discriminatory practices.

Workplace contexts can improve or reduce the capacity of organizations to engage in practices that employees do not perceive as discriminatory. Workplace policies should create an organizational context that creates an environment where the employees are aware of the fair employment practices of the organization to prevent perceived racial discrimination. Another measure is the creation of an organizational culture that fosters the interaction of employees from different ethnic and racial groups. This reduces the potential for employees to interpret measures the organization takes as being racially or ethnically discriminatory.

4. Recommendations

The recommendations for improvement of the safety at the company are based on the feedback loop system suggested for the development of safety policies and procedures. The following are the safety recommendations:

· The company should conduct an internal review of the processes that need safety improvement and conduct a risk assessment of these processes. This will provide a picture of the improvement areas for policies and procedures

· It should set standards of performance that it can use to measure the effectiveness of the safety policies and procedures

· The safety outcomes should be measured based on the established standards

· Based on the findings of the measures, the company should take corrective actions to improve safety policies and procedures

· A plan of action is important in instituting the safety improvement policies and procedures based on the findings of the measures

· Employees should be involved in the process through fostering open communication between management and employees to address safety concerns

The following are the recommendations for formulation and implementation of discrimination policies at the company:

· The company should engage the employees in creating an organizational culture that fosters active social interaction between employees of different ethnic and racial orientations

· The company should engage in employee training programs that increase their legal consciousness in order to make them aware of the legal frameworks that guide the company’s discrimination policies and the redress pathways they can follow in case of perceived discrimination

· To prevent undue lawsuits from employees who perceive discrimination at the workplace, the company should create standards that act as a benchmark for determining the nature of discriminatory practices at the workplace

· The company should keep records such as performance measurements and the credentials of the employees so that there is an objective basis for making decisions such as hiring, firing and promoting employees

References

Burke et al. (2011). The Dread Factor: How Hazards and Safety Training Influence Learning and

Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(1), 46 –70.

Ewick, P. and Silbey, S. (1998) The Common Place of Law: Stories from Everyday Life. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Health and Safety Authority. (2006). Workplace Safety and Health Management. Retrieved May

20, 2015 from http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Publications_and_Forms/ Publications/

Safety_and_Health_Management/Workplace_Safety_and_Health_Management.pdf

Roscigno, V. (2007). The Face of Discrimination. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.