impact on cultures in the workplace

Assignment #3
Part I.
Safety in the workplace ensures that every employee is working in a non-hazardous environment that is safe from workplace injuries and promotes safe workplace practices. “Therefore, it 's about protecting the non-profit’s most valuable asset: its workers. By protecting the employees ' and volunteers ' well-being, the non-profit reduces the amount of money paid out in health insurance benefits, workers ' compensation benefits and the cost of wages for temporary help” (Non-profit risk, 2008). Workplace safety is also about educating employees about the risks and hazards of their workplace environment and preventative actions. Workplace safety also refers to verbal and physical harassment at work. This can be anything from an inappropriate comment or unwanted touching by another employee.
If a company fails to comply with its own industry standards, the Ministry of Labour has the authority to enforce the law. Inspectors have the power to inspect any workplace, investigate any potentially hazardous situation and work refusal, order compliance with the Act and regulations and initiate prosecutions. “For failing to comply with an order of an inspector, a director or the minister . These prosecutions are conducted by the Ministry of the Attorney General Lawyers or paralegals on behalf of the Ministry of Labour. If convicted, a court may impose a fine and/or jail term against an individual defendant. The maximum fine per charge for an individual is $25,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 12 months.” (Ministry of Labour, 2012).
Workers in Ontario are well protected because before you get hired in any job, you are informed about all the hazardous material and products. You are required to watch videos about safety and complete a WHIMS chart. So this means that each employee is aware of the dangers in the workplace. There are also health and safety binders in every manager’s office that is available for every employee to refer to. Most companies enforce the importance of workplace safety, but it is inevitable that accidents will happen. “Over 1,000 Canadian workers are dying every year. In Canada, four workers die each day. The number of people killed at work each year in Canada has risen for the past 15 years. This is in contrast to almost every other OECD country where the incidence of workplace fatalities is declining” (Georgetti, 2012).
There are 28 deaths a year in Sweden, and 222 deaths a year in India. In comparison to Canada these stats are very low considering Canada has about 1000 deaths a year. One would assume that a country like India would have more deaths because of lack of training and lack of proper equipment. These numbers are very shocking because I thought that our workplace is a very safe environment and you rarely hear about employees in fatal accidents.
This information that I have gathered has put out workplace safety into perspective, Canada has to change their labour laws to ensure that there are less deaths on the job. Other countries are seeing a decline in deaths but Canada has a very high death rate comparatively. I think that this tells us a lot about every employee needs to be very aware of the hazards on the job in Canada. The workplace can be a very dangerous place if not taken caution.

Part II.
If my manager used a very aggressive tone with me and humiliated me, I would approach him in a mannerly way and express my feelings towards him before I go to an HR manager. Once you speak to HR, you will be required to document everything and could lead into an investigation. The one thing that you do not want to do is escalade the problem to a point where it gets out of hand. I would ask him how he feels he treats his employees, and then I would tell him that he is very disrespectful in his tone of voice and let him know that I do not appreciate being humiliated by him. I would point out that he does not have to lose his temper because that doesn’t help the cause. If the problem continues after the discussion I will have no choice but to talk to HR about this topic.
Every worker has the right to speak his mind on any different topic include one as sensitive as this. As a manager you have to respect the opinion of other workers. The worker has the right to report to HR and claim that they are being harassed by a manager. An employee should not feel as if they cannot reach out to anyone because that will make the problem even worse and the manager will feel as if he is not doing anything wrong. If at any time at work you feel uncomfortable it should be discussed.
I would definitely approach my manager when he is in a good mood, because he will likely be calmer and listen to what you have to say. If he is in a good mood he can also reflect on how he is treating his employees. He is also less likely to lose his temper because of his good mood.
My friend thinks I should speak with HR because they can resolve the problem faster but HR might investigate and fire the manager for inappropriate work conduct. Also, HR is experienced in dealing with these kinds of situations, this would be the obvious choice. HR will also tell me if this behaviour is acceptable or not and tell me how to approach the situation in a legal aspect.
If my manager was the VP of HR I would inform him that he should know that the way he is acting is unacceptable and illegal under bill 168. I would approach someone who has a higher authority than he does because this will show him that he does not have all the power to do whatever he pleases. I could contact the ministry of labour and let them know about my situation, they will hire an inspector to investigate the problem, and if found guilty he can face charges or even jail time.

References

" Part IX: Offences and Penalties | A Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act." Ministry of Labour. N.p., 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. .
Georgetti, Ken. "Day of Mourning." Canadian Labour Congress. N.p., 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. .
"What is workplace safety." Workplace Safety Toolkit. Nonprofit Risk Management Center, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. .

References: " Part IX: Offences and Penalties | A Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act." Ministry of Labour. N.p., 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. . Georgetti, Ken. "Day of Mourning." Canadian Labour Congress. N.p., 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. . "What is workplace safety." Workplace Safety Toolkit. Nonprofit Risk Management Center, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. .