Construction Safety and the OSHA Standards
1. Explain how workplace tragedies have affected the safety movement. What circumstances led to the development of the first organized safety program?
2. You are a supervisor in the construction industry and you are responsible for teaching accident prevention techniques to your employees. What techniques would you use in this area to help ensure accident prevention, and why?
3. State the major players that make up the safety and health team of a construction company, and explain the roles of each person in the safety and health plan.
4. State and describe at least four to five examples of milestones affecting the safety movement, from the 1800s until present. How has the role of organized labor played a significant role in the safety movement?
5. Identify four examples of forces that have been influential in changing the nature of the construction industry. Provide examples of each and explain their impact in detail.
6. Analyze how the overall cost of a workplace accident is calculated. Once an accident is calculated, what elements make up the cost? Identify and explain these elements in detail.
7. How does today's rate of accidental work deaths compare with the rates of the early 1900s? What are the five leading causes of deaths on work sites today?
8. Compare and contrast the Human Factors Theory in Practice with the Accident/Incident Theory in Practice. Explain ways that a safety system can fail, thereby contributing to these theories.
9. Heinrich summarized what he thought health and safety decision makers should know about accidents. Identify his 10 Axioms of Industrial Safety. Compare these 10 ideas to his Domino Theory. Explain your answer.
10. What are the five factors that workers should consider before beginning the process of collecting information in order to make a decision? Explain how you think pondering these factors can assist a worker in making an informed decision while on the job. How do stressors cloud the judgment of someone making decisions on-site?
11. A commercial shipping company experienced increased business prior to the holiday season and immediately needed more trained forklift operators to help with the workload. Due to the urgent need, an employee was ordered by his supervisor to start moving pallets with a forklift. Knowing that he has never operated a forklift previously and has never been trained in how to operate one, the employee was concerned about his safety and expressed this concern to his supervisor. His supervisor told the employee to do what he was told or start looking for another job. The employee notified the facility union representative, who promptly called OSHA to report the concerns. Subsequently, OSHA arrived and conducted an inspection; multiple violations were issued to the company concerning forklift operators who had not been trained. Upon receipt of the violations, the company terminated the employment of the employee who notified the union representative. Were the actions of the employee appropriate? Were the actions of the employer appropriate? Review the whistleblower portions of the OSH Act at www.osha.gov, and provide your opinion on each question, along with a thorough explanation of your stance.
12. You are a safety manager for a West Coast construction company. In the past, you have made poor choices when faced with ethical dilemmas involving on-the-job accidents. Now you are called to the job-site to act as the mediator for a situation involving a supervisor and some of his employees. The disagreement involves the employees stating that their supervisor is implying that they disregard OSHA regulations when it comes to their own safety. Your team is working against a deadline to complete a job in an area in which the construction industry is booming. You and your supervisor know that you both will get a monetary bonus if you complete the job by a certain time. How would you determine a potential course of action in handling this situation? What ethical guidelines would you follow in making a decision on handling the issue? Explain your answers in detail.
13. Briefly explain the mission of the OSH Act. What is the rationale behind the Act?
14. Summarize some of the problems that are associated with workers' compensation. What types of actions are workers' compensation reform movements likely to recommend in the future?
15. Based on the findings of a compliance officer's workplace inspections, OSHA is empowered to issue citations and penalties. Compare and contrast the four different types of citations that can be issued. How are they different from each other?
16. Explain how workers' compensation can sometimes result in people abusing the system? Describe cautionary flags that could raise suspicion of workers' compensation fraud. Identify and explain a past case of workers' compensation fraud. What were the results?
17. Explain the differences between temporary disability and permanent disability claims. What are some theories that are used in handling permanent and partial disability cases?
18. State the major components of a safety and health plan, describe each component, and discuss how you would structure each component of the plan on a construction site that you are in control. Use the Safety and Health Program Evaluation Checklist as a guide to aid in structuring your plan.
19. Outline and describe the roles and responsibilities of management, supervisors, and employees in construction safety. How is accountability critical for each of the three levels? As a safety professional, how would you mitigate accident prevention for employees?
20. When conducting a detailed analysis, explain the method technic of operations review. Explain how it allows both supervisors and employees to work together to analyze workplace accidents, failures, and incidents. Is this a successful method? What are some of the weaknesses of using the technic operations review?
21. When conducting an accident investigation, what are some of the more important techniques that need to be used in interviewing accident witnesses in order to ensure all information is objective and accurate? Describe these techniques in detail.
22. Compare and contrast the following hazard analysis methods:
a. failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA),
b. hazard and operability review (HAZOP),
c. human error analysis (HEA),
d. fault tree analysis (FTA), and
e. technic of operations review (TOR).
23. Explain the elements of the OSHA guidelines regarding workplace violence that can be adapted for use in construction companies. Choose a few of the elements and explain them in detail. Provide examples of using them at a construction work site.
24. Research the Internet and locate an article regarding workplace violence in the construction industry. Identify the issue, explain how the issue was addressed by the employer, and outline the factors that led to a resolution. Do you feel that the actions taken towards resolution were successful? Should the issue have been handled differently? Explain your answer.
25. What are some factors that are associated with violence? What environmental factors help contribute to violence and when brought to the workplace, how are these factors dealt with? Provide some examples where violence has crossed over into the workplace. Explain your answer.
26. Define the differences between conflict management and anger management. How would you use each in order to help employees in a disagreement come to a successful resolution? Explain.
27. How is the employer liable for workplace violence? Define the exclusivity provision, and analyze how this provision helps protect the employer from civil lawsuits that are associated with workplace violence?
28. Define the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. What are the four major components of this Act? How does this law provide the community with the knowledge to respond to an emergency?
29. Explain why safety in the construction industry is so important. How can incentive programs be used by a construction company in order to promote safety? What are the steps for ensuring incentives actually promote safety?
30. Provide a descriptive example of a workplace emergency. Define how your company's Employee Assistance Program might respond to the emergency. How might your company respond to the trauma that is the result of an emergency on the job site?
31. Identify innovative methods that are used by companies in order to keep their workers safe and healthy. How are these methods useful in the construction industry? Explain your answer.