Assignment task:
Wanda Robbins was extremely excited a year ago when she joined Abt Electronics as its first safety engineer. She had graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in electrical engineering and had a strong desire to enter business. Wanda had selected her job at Abt Electronics over several other offers. She believed that it would provide her with a broad range of experiences that she could not receive in a strictly engineering job. Also, when the company president, Martha Lincoln, interviewed her, she promised her that the firm's resources would be at her disposal to correct any safety-related problems.
Her first few months were hectic but exciting. She immediately identified numerous safety problems. One of the most dangerous involved a failure to install safety guards on all exposed equipment. Wanda carefully prepared her proposal, including expected costs to make needed minimum changes. She estimated that it would take approximately $50,000 to complete the necessary conversions. Wanda then presented the entire package to the president. She explained the need for changes to her, and the president cordially received her presentation.
She said she would think it over and get back to her. But that was 6 months ago. Every time Wanda attempted to get some action on her proposal, the president was friendly but still wanted more time to consider it. In the meantime, Wanda had become increasingly anxious. Recently a worker had barely avoided a serious injury. Some workers had also become concerned. She head through the grapevine that someone had phoned the regional office of OSHA.
Her suspicions were confirmed the very next week when the OSHA inspection appeared at the plant. No previous visits had ever been made to the company. Although the president was not overjoyed, she permitted the inspector access to the company. Later, she might have wished that she had not been so cooperative. Before the inspector left, he wrote violations for each piece of equipment that did not have the necessary safety guards. The fines could total $70,000 if the problems were not corrected right away. The inspector cautioned that repeat violations could cost $700,000 and possible imprisonment.
Immediately after the inspector left, the president called Wanda and said they needed to get the project under way.
Discuss the president's level of commitment to OSHA.
Safety programs may accomplish their purposed 2 ways: one focusing on unsafe employee actions and the other on unsafe working conditions. Which areas of Wanda's proposal was she directing her efforts?