Chapter Five – SAFETY, HEALTH, AND COMPETITION IN THE GLOBAL
MARKETPLACE
TRUE OR FALSE: Place T or F in the space provided.
_____1. Companies that are careful about protecting the environment may
find themselves the subject of protest demonstrations on the nightly news.
_____2. Committing to safety and health is the profitable thing to do in terms
of
competitiveness.
_____3. Quality is a measure of the extent to which a product or service
meets or exceeds customer expectations.
_____4. Pressure to increase productivity often shows up in ways that are
detrimental to the safety and health of workers.
_____5. Productivity is declined when (1) output is constant but input
decreases or (2) output increases and input is constant.
_____6. Of the various factors that influence a company’s competitiveness,
the two most important are service and cost.
_____7. What is considered world-class quality today will be considered
mediocre tomorrow.
_____8. Competitiveness is “the ability to consistently succeed and prosper in
the marketplace whether it is local, regional, national, or global.”
_____9. Competing in the global marketplace is easy to do but difficult to
understand.
_____10. It is critical that modern safety and health professionals understand
the positive relationship between health/safety and competitiveness and that
they be able to articulate it e8ectively.
MULTIPLE CHOICE: Circle the letter before the correct answer.
1. Quality is essential to which of the following?
A. Safety
B. Productivity
C. Competitiveness
D. None of the above
2. The literacy level of the labor pool is actually declining in the US. This will
in turn cause:
A. Higher levels of waste
B. Lower levels of productivity
C. difficulty in filling high skill jobs
D. All of the above
3. Quality without which of the following will result in costs that are too high
to be
competitive?
A. Service
B. Productivity
C. Image
D. Response
4. Productivity is a measure of which of the following ratios?
A. Output/input
B. Productivity/cost
C. Input/cost
D. Input/output
5. Competitiveness is the ability to succeed and prosper in which of the
following types of markets?
A. Local
B. Regional
C. National/global
D. All of the above
Chapter Five – Safety, Health, and Competition in the Global
1. Explain why and how global competition can have a negative impact on
safety and health in the workplace.
2. Define the term competitiveness.
3. What are the common characteristics of the most competitive companies?
4. Explain the importance of continual improvement as it relates to global
competitiveness.
5. Define the terms productivity and value added. Explain their relationship.
6. State two rules of thumb that explain how to recognize declining
productivity.
7. State two rules of thumb that explain how to recognize improving
productivity.
8. Explain the relationship between productivity and quality as it relates to
competitiveness.
9. Define the term quality.
10. Write a brief rebuttal to the following statement: “A safety and health
program is just a bunch of bureaucratic regulations that get in the way of
profits.”