Chapter 16: Employee Safety and Health 16-9
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
G. Terrorism – the employer can take several steps to protect its employees and physical
assets from a terrorist attack. These steps, now familiar at many workplaces, include:
1. Screen the identities of everyone entering the premises.
2. Check mail carefully.
3. Identify ahead of time a lean “crisis organization” that can run the company on an
interim basis after a terrorist threat.
4. Identify in advance under what conditions you will close the company down, as
well as the shutdown process.
5. Institute a process to put the crisis management team together.
6. Prepare evacuation plans and make sure exits are well marked and unblocked.
7. Designate an employee who will communicate with families and off-site
employees.
8. Identify an upwind, off-site location near your facility to use as a staging area for
all evacuated personnel.
9. Designate in advance several employees who will do headcounts at the evacuation
staging area.
10. Establish an emergency text-messaging policy and procedure to notify affected
individuals that an emergency may exist.
Chapter Review
Chapter Section Summaries:
16-1: The subject safety and the manager concerns managers for several reasons, one of
which is the number of workplace accidents.
16-2: All managers need to be familiar with occupational safety laws.
16-3: There are three basic causes of workplace accidents: chance occurrences, unsafe
conditions, and employees’ unsafe acts.
16-4: In practice, how to prevent accidents boils down to reducing unsafe conditions and
reducing unsafe acts.
16-5: The centerpiece of Milliken’s safety process is its involvement-based employee
engagement program.
16-6: Most workplace health hazards aren’t obvious, like unguarded equipment.
16-7: Most employers today have occupational security and risk management programs.
Discussion Questions:
16-1: Explain how to reduce the occurrence of unsafe acts on the part of your employees.
This item can be assigned as a Discussion Question in MyManagementLab. Student
16-2: Explain the supervisor’s role in safety.
Chapter 16: Employee Safety and Health 16-10
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Beyond trying to make the workplace safe, the basic aim of the supervisor is to instill in
workers the desire to work safely. Then, when needed, enforce safety rules. The
16-3: Explain what causes unsafe acts.
People are the main cause of unsafe acts. Some researchers say that certain personal
characteristics are the basis for behavioral tendencies that result in unsafe acts. There are
16-4: Describe at least five techniques for reducing accidents.
The text lists 10 techniques: 1) selection and placement; 2) posters and other propaganda;
3) training; 4) incentive programs and positive reinforcement; 5) top-management
commitment; 6) emphasizing safety; 7) establishing a safety policy; 8) setting specific
16-5: Explain how you would reduce stress at work.
This item can be assigned as a Discussion Question in MyManagementLab. Student
Individual and Group Activities:
16-6: Working individually or in groups, answer the question, “Is there such a thing as an
accident-prone person?”
Yes and no. While most psychologists agree that accident proneness is not universal,
most do agree that accident proneness is situational. For example, personality traits may
distinguish accident-prone workers on jobs involving risk, and lack of motor skills may
16-7: Working individually or in groups, compile a list of the factors at work or in school
that create stress for you. What methods do you use for dealing with the stress?
Chapter 16: Employee Safety and Health 16-11
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
The students should refer to the section of the chapter on reducing job stress to compile
their lists of stress factors and methods for dealing with the stress, and to also find out
16-8: Appendices A and B at the end of this book list the knowledge someone studying for
the HRCI (Appendix A) or SHRM (Appendix B) certification exam needs to have in
each area of human resource management (such as in Strategic Management and
Workforce Planning). In groups of several students, do four things: (1) review
Appendix A and/or B; (2) identify the material in this chapter that relates to the
Appendix A and/or B required knowledge lists; (3) write four multiple-choice exam
questions on this material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the
HRCI exam; and (4) if time permits, have someone from your team post your
team’s questions in front of the class, so that students in all teams can answer the
exam questions created by the other teams.
Management Commitment and Safety, What Causes Accidents?, How to Prevent
Accidents, Workplace Health Hazards: Problems and Remedies, and Occupational
16-9: A safety journal presented some information about what happens when OSHA
refers criminal complaints about willful violations of OSHA standards to the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ). In one 20-year period, of the 119 cases OSHA
referred to the DOJ, only 9 resulted in prison time for at least one of the defendants.
“The Department of Justice is a disgrace,” charged the founder of an organization
for family members of workers killed on the job. One possible explanation for this
low conviction rate is that the crime in cases like these is generally a misdemeanor,
not a felony, and the DOJ generally tries to focus its attention on felony cases. Given
this information, what implications do you think this has for how employers and
their managers should manage their safety programs, and why do you take that
position?
Hopefully students will understand that it really should not have any implication as to
how they should manage their safety programs. Just as was discussed in Chapter 14 on
16-10: A 315-foot-tall, 2-million-pound crane collapsed on a construction site in East
Toledo, Ohio, killing four ironworkers. Do you think catastrophic failures like this
are avoidable? If so, what steps would you suggest the general contractor take to
avoid a disaster like this?
Without knowing the specifics, the likelihood is that the failure was avoidable. Most
such failures are the result of someone working outside of known safety parameters, or
Chapter 16: Employee Safety and Health 16-12
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
not following (or having established) safety procedures that assure that things are done
Experiential Exercise: How Safe Is My University?
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you practice in identifying unsafe conditions.
Required Understanding: You should be familiar with material covered in this chapter,
particularly on unsafe conditions and Figures 16-6 and 16-8.
How to Set up the Exercise/Instructions: Divide the class into groups of four. Assume that
each group is a safety committee retained by your college’s or university’s safety engineer to
identify and report on any possible unsafe conditions in and around the school building. Each
group will spend about 45 minutes in and around the building you are now in for the purpose of
identifying and listing possible unsafe conditions. (Make use of the checklists in Figures 16-6
and 16-8.) Return to the class in about 45 minutes. A spokesperson for each group should list on
the board the unsafe conditions you have identified. How many were there? Do you think these
also violate OSHA standards? How would you go about checking?
Application Case: The New Safety and Health Program
16-11: Based upon your knowledge of health and safety matters and your actual
observations of operations that are similar to theirs, make a list of the potential
hazardous conditions employees and others face at LearnInMotion.com. What
should they do to reduce the potential severity of the top five hazards?
Tripping, ergonomic, and electrical hazards top the list (with several specific items in
each). There are many techniques and products available to help reduce all these hazards.
16-12: Would it be advisable for them to set up a procedure for screening out stress-prone
or accident-prone individuals? Why or why not? If so, how should they screen
them?
There are a number of issues here. One likely question from students is whether
accident-prone behavior can change with training or incentives. In most cases, training
16-13: Write a short position paper on the subject, “What should we do to get all our
employees to behave more safely at work?”
Chapter 16: Employee Safety and Health 16-13
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
The paper should include insights gained from this paper and/or work experiences they
16-14: Based on what you know and on what other dot-coms are doing, write a short
position paper on the subject, “What can we do to reduce the potential problems of
stress and burnout in our company?”
The long hours, personal conflicts, and high pressure need to be reduced, or at least
offset in some ways. Look for creative ways to accomplish this including the list of
Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning Company – The New Safety Program
16-15: How should the firm go about identifying hazardous conditions that should be
rectified? Use checklists such as those in Figures 16-6 and 16-8 to list at least 10
possible dry-cleaning store hazardous conditions.
Using the information provided in the case, Internet research, and their personal
knowledge, students should be able to list at least ten potential hazards in a dry-cleaning
16-16: Would it be advisable for the firm to set up a procedure for screening out accident-
prone individuals? How should they do so?
There are a number of issues here. One likely question from students is whether
accident-prone behavior can change with training or incentives. In most cases, training
16-17: How would you suggest the Carters get all employees to behave more safely at
work? Also, how would you advise them to get those who should be wearing goggles
to do so?
The student should suggest that Carter’s management contact OSHA for assistance in
developing safety policies and procedures on the job, along with including suggestions
discussed in the chapter. They should also make it clear that those who violate the
The Hotel Paris: Improving Performance at the Hotel Paris – The New Safety and
Health Program
Chapter 16: Employee Safety and Health 16-14
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
16-18: Based on what you read in this chapter, what’s the first step you would have advised
the Hotel Paris to take as part of its new safety and health program, and why?
According to the text, reducing unsafe conditions is always an employer’s first line of
defense. Lisa should work on designing jobs to remove hazards and supervisors, and
16-19: List 10 specific high-risk areas in a typical hotel you believe Lisa and her team
should look at now, including examples of the safety or health hazards that they
should look for there.
Answers will vary. The case notes several areas, including the pool, the valet parking
area, and chemical storage areas. Additionally, guest areas like bathtubs will be of
16-20: Give three specific examples of how Hotel Paris can use HR practices to improve its
safety efforts.
Workers’ compensation costs have been high, so Lisa can measure a reduction in the
number of claims, or in total claim costs, lost time injuries, etc. The hotel can also
16-21: Write a one-page summary addressing the topic, “How improving safety and health
at the Hotel Paris will contribute to us achieving our strategic goals.”
This summary should include reduced costs, employee satisfaction and safety, guest
My Management Lab
Students can find the following assisted-graded writing questions at mymanagementlab.com.
Answers to these questions are graded against rubrics in the MyLab.
16-22: Based on everything you read in this chapter, what is Milliken doing “right” that you
believe helps to explain why they have such a good safety record?
16-23: Describe the steps employers can take to reduce workplace violence.
Key Terms:
Chapter 16: Employee Safety and Health 16-15
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 – The law passed by Congress in 1970 “to assure
so far as possible every working man and woman in the nation safe and healthful working
conditions and to preserve our human resources.”
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) – The agency created within the
Department of Labor to set safety and health standards for almost all workers in the United
States.
Occupational Illness – Any abnormal condition or disorder caused by exposure to
environmental factors associated with employment.
Citation – Summons informing employers and employees of the regulations and standards that
have been violated in the workplace.
Unsafe Conditions – The mechanical and physical conditions that cause accidents.
Job Hazard Analysis – A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating workplace hazards
before they occur.
Operational Safety Reviews – Reviews conducted by agencies to ascertain whether units under
their jurisdiction are complying with all the applicable safety laws, regulations, orders, and rules.
Behavior-Based Safety – Identifying the worker behaviors that contribute to accidents and then
training workers to avoid these behaviors.
Safety Awareness Program – Program that enables trained supervisors to orient new workers
arriving at a job site regarding common safety hazards and simple prevention methods.
Burnout – The total depletion of physical and mental resources caused by excessive striving to
reach an unrealistic work-related goal.