Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Significance to Hr Management

Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Significance to HR Management

MBA 475

Contemporary Issues of Human Resource Management

BSA 504

April 23, 2012

Abstract

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure compliance with safety regulations in the workplace (OSHA, 2012). Today, human resource managers maintain training and conformance to OSHA's current safety standards. OSHA has reduced workplace injuries by more than 60% and has directed human resource departments to implement effective safety programs that generate a return of $4 to $6 for every $1 invested (OSHA, 2012). This report discusses the safety conscience work environment within U.S. nuclear power plant. OSHA works together with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to ensure that nuclear power plants have a safe working environment and operate properly (Stello, 1988). The power plants have partnered with the NRC-OSHA to maintain employees with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform their duties effectively and safely (Stroschien, 2011). Our team of researchers suggests that training remain key to ensuring safety in the nuclear power plants. Human resource managers must find creative ways to inspire employees to be safe by implementing incentive programs and attaching individuals' safety conformance records to their performance evaluations.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Significance to HR Management

Who is responsible for workers' safety in U.S. nuclear power plants? Is it the responsibility of the workers themselves, their managers, or is it is the responsibility of the government? The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was enacted by Congress to provide employers and employees in the United States safe and healthy working environments and to ensure that the nation's human resources are preserved (OSHA, 2012). The OSH Act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure compliance with safety regulations in the workplace. It provides continued awareness of workplace safety issues to reduce work related injuries, illnesses, and death. This report will focus primarily on the significance of OSHA in U.S. nuclear power plants. A discussion reviewing the benefits of current OSHA safety regulations and situations prior to OSHA will be provided along with safety regulations in other developed countries. A review of how safety in the workplace affects productivity, employee morale, and operational costs will be presented as well. Furthermore, the significance of human resource management in conforming to safety regulations will be reviewed.

Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and the recent Japan nuclear crisis at Fukushima all remind humanity of the potential terror from a nuclear accident. U.S. Senators have recently discussed safety concerns with their nuclear power plants just one year after Japan's nuclear crisis (Billups, 2012). According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, 2012), the oldest operating nuclear reactor in the U.S. is the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Power Plant in Lacey Township, New Jersey. The facility is currently owned and operated by Excelon Corporation. This plant first came online on December 1, 1969 and currently licensed to operate until April 9, 2029.

Today, nuclear power plants adhere to several OHSA regulations. The human resources (HR) department must maintain training and conformity to current safety standards. In addition, the HR department must implement safety action plans that will maintain employee efficiency and certification without increased cost (OSHA, 2012). According to the NRC (2011), 104 nuclear power reactors are housed in 65 U.S. generating plants. The closest to the Hampton Roads area of Virginia is the North Anna Power Station in Surry. This nuclear plant was built and is routinely inspected to seismic standards, as required by the NRC, Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), Institute of Nuclear Operators (INPO) and World Association of Nuclear Operations (WANO). The plant has safety systems designed to those standards that would direct operators to shut down the reactors in the event of a major earthquake such as the one that struck Japan in the spring of 2011 (NRC, 2011).

Over the past 40 years since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was signed into law, work related injuries and deaths have dropped by more than 60%. Before the passage of the OSH Act in 1970, there were approximately 15,000 work-related fatalities each year. According to the OSHA (2012), programs designed to prevent job-related injuries and illnesses have transformed the workplace culture resulting in higher productivity, improved quality of work, decreased turnover, reduced costs, and an increase in employee satisfaction. OSHA believes that implementation of an effective safety program will generate a return of $4 to $6 for every $1 invested (Huang, Leamon, Courtney, DeArmond, Chen, & Blair, 2009).

However, in the United States, businesses continue to suffer from 4.1 million serious job-related injuries or illnesses and 4,500 job-related deaths each year (OSHA, 2012). Workers suffering from a job-related injury or illness experience increased financial and emotional hardships. A combination of limited workers' compensation and limited medical insurance results in outstanding debts and sometimes an inability to return to their previous standard of living. According to the Liberty Mutual Research Institute (2010), the direct costs of the most disabling workplace injuries in 2008 $53 billion. Liberty Mutual defines "most disabling" as an injury or illness that caused the employee to miss six months or more of work. Another estimate from the National Academy of Social Insurance (2011) reported total workers' compensation paid by employers which increased from $60 billion in 2000 to $74 billion in 2009.

As is well known, direct costs refer to the labor and expenses related to the production of a product or providing a service. However, the indirect costs related to workplace injuries are more covert. These include costs related to wages paid to employees while absent, costs associated with decreased production, administrative time spent by supervisors following injuries, training new employees, decreased productivity associated with new and