14-21. Would it be advisable for the firm to set up a procedure for screening out accident-prone individuals? How should it do so?
Motivating Safe Behavior
Employees’ safety and health are very important in the laundry and cleaning business. Each facility is a small production plant in which machines, powered by high-pressure steam and compressed air, work at high temperatures washing, cleaning, and pressing garments, often under very hot, slippery conditions. Chemical vapors are continually produced, and caustic chemicals are used in the cleaning process. High-temperature stills are almost continually “cooking down” cleaning solvents to remove impurities so that the solvents can be reused. If a mistake is made in this process—like injecting too much steam into the still—a boil-over occurs, in which boiling chemical solvent erupts out of the still and over the floor, and on anyone who happens to be standing in its way.
As a result of these hazards and the fact that these stores continually produce chemically hazardous waste, several government agencies (including OSHA and the EPA) have strict guidelines regarding management of these plants. For example, posters must be placed in each store, notifying employees of their right to be told what hazardous chemicals they are dealing with and what the proper method for handling each chemical is. Special waste-management firms must be used to pick up and properly dispose of the hazardous waste.
A chronic problem the Carters (and most other laundry owners) have is the unwillingness on the part of the cleaning-spotting workers to wear safety goggles. Not all the chemicals they use require safety goggles, but some—like the hydrofluorous acid used to remove rust stains from garments—are very dangerous. The latter is kept in special plastic containers because it dissolves glass. The problem is that safety goggles are somewhat uncomfortable, and they become smudged easily and thus reduce visibility. As a result, Jack has found it almost impossible to get these employees to wear their goggles.
Questions
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14-21. Would it be advisable for the firm to set up a procedure for screening out accident-prone individuals? How should it do so?
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14-22. In general, how would you suggest the Carters get all employees to behave more safely at work?
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14-23. Describe in detail how you would use motivation to get those who should be wearing goggles to do so.
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