12-1: Week 12 Review Exercises

Purpose
To assess your ability to:
Students will use the knowledge from this week's readings to complete this assignment.

Action Items
Complete the Chapter 13 Review Questions.
In addition, answer the following:
o Employers should be concerned with helping employees cope with stress, both job-related stress and off-
the-job-related stress. Do you agree or disagree? Discuss.


Submission
Complete and submit this assignment per your professor's instructions.


Grading Criteria
0 - 10 points
















1. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) outlines comprehensive and specific
safety and health standards. Its objectives are to ensure that the workplace is free from
unnecessary hazards, and to enforce sanctions and penalties for violators.

2. OSHA has a five-step priority enforcement process consisting of imminent danger,
serious accidents, employee complaints, inspection of targeted industries, and random
inspections. Imminent danger refers to a situation in which an accident is about to
occur. Serious accidents means that when death or serious injury occurs, an
organization has 8 hours to report the incident to OSHA. Employee complaints are used
when a worker sees a violation of OSHA standards and may refuse to work until OSHA
has investigated the complaint. Industries with high incidence rates are targeted for
routine inspection: meat processing, chemical processing, roofing and sheet metal,
lumber and wood products, mobile homes and campers, and stevedoring. Random
inspections are conducted as time permits. OSHA inspectors can enter a workplace to
make sure the company is in compliance; however, employers are not required to let
OSHA inspectors enter the premises unless they have search warrants.













3. The text mentions five methods to prevent accidents: education, skills training,
engineering, protection devices, and regulation enforcement.
Education: Create safety awareness by posting highly visible signs with safety
slogans, placing articles on accident prevention in organization newsletters, and
requiring periodic safety updates by supervisors. Posting the number of days
without a lost-day accident and informing employees about accidents that do
occur can increase awareness.
Skills Training: Incorporate accident prevention measures into the job learning
process.
Engineering: Prevent accidents through both the design of the equipment and
the design of the jobs themselves. This may also include eliminating those
factors that promote operator fatigue, boredom, and daydreaming.
Protection Devices: Provide protective equipment where necessary. This may
include safety shoes, gloves, hard hats, safety glasses, and noise mufflers.
Protection also includes performing preventative maintenance on machinery.
Regulation enforcement: The best safety rules and regulations will be
ineffective in reducing accidents if they are not enforced. Additionally, if such
rules are not enforced, the employer may be liable for any injuries that occur.

4. Incidence rates are calculated: (N/EH) x 200,000, where N = number of injuries and/or
illness or lost workdays EH = total hours worked by all employees during the year
(200,000 is the base hour rate equivalent (100 workers x 40 hours a week x 50 weeks
per year). Incidence rates indicate the number of injuries, illnesses, or lost workdays as
it relates to a common base of full-time employees. If a companys incidence rate is
higher than its industry average, OSHA may want to investigate.

5. Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity,
constraint, or demand for which the outcome is perceived to be both important and
uncertain. Stress can be positive when there is an opportunity for the individual to gain
something. Being psyched is an example of positive stress.

6. Physiological symptoms include increased heart and breathing rates, increased blood
pressure, headaches, increased risk of heart attacks and changes in metabolism.
Psychological symptoms of stress include increased tension and anxiety, boredom, and
procrastination. Behavioral symptoms of stress include changes in eating habits, rapid
speech, sleep disorders, and increased consumption of alcohol or tobacco or other
drugs.

7. An organization can help prevent workplace violence by ensuring that its policies are not
adversely affecting employees, by developing a plan to deal with the issue, and by
training its managers in identifying troubled employees.


8. Employee assistance and wellness programs are designed to offer employees a variety
of services that will help them become mentally and physically healthy, which in turn
reduces absenteeism and productivity losses due to accidents and decreases turnover.
Healthier employees also use their medical benefits less, which keeps premium costs
down.

9. Companies begin by preparing a health-related checklist which typically includes:
1. An up-to-date health certificate which includes a record of current inoculations and
general physical condition.
2. A general first aid kit equipped with all over-the-counter medications that the
employee usually takes, plus all prescription medication.
3. Emergency plans which include medical and dental facilities, and evacuation routes.
4. Security issues must also be addressed.



o Employers should be concerned with helping employees cope with stress, both job-
related stress and off-the-job-related stress. Do you agree or disagree? Discuss.

Agree. Individuals have different tolerances for, and attitudes toward, stress. When an
employees reaction to stress affects work, the supervisor can step in. The supervisor is not
expected to be a counselor, but should take appropriate steps to keep job performance on
target and to offer available help to the employee. Proactive employers recognize the
benefits of preventing negative stress, and try to design jobs and work environments to
minimize its occurrence. They also recognize the costs of stress, and may provide help in
the form of counseling or wellness programs to help those employees who are experiencing
stress. Off-the-job stress can certainly impact job performance, so it is worthwhile to
provide resources to help employees manage all forms of stress, and to monitor job
performance