Forest International - Situation Audit - Essay Example

Case study STEP SITUATION AUDIT Forest International is a Georgia based company, comprising of around 45,000 employees. It operates in one of the most sensitive industries i.e. sawmills, plywood and paper mills, often been intervened by regulatory bodies and social organizations based on concerns related to environmental degradation. A major concern adding to this notion has been accounted as the many hazardous incidents recorded within the company for the last few years. As a consequence, the employees lacked safety assurance and were of the viewpoint that the management of Forest International was concerned with their profit and productivity ignoring the well-being of the employees. Thus, for the better understanding of the competencies and shortcomings of Forest International, aimed at suggesting rational strategies to overcome the identified issue, a SWOTT analysis has been assessed in the below mentioned section. Strengths. Forest International has annual revenue of $11 billion along with employee strength of 45,000, which makes it quite competent to invest in safety measures. Although employee turnover is negligible, it does not embark on the employee loyalty but rather on the economic construction of the region where workers are somewhat forced to work in hazardous conditions. Weaknesses. The employees perceive that the management has been more concerned about their profit and productivity rather than the betterment of employees; thus, lacking sustainability. Opportunities. In the course of improvement of safety records of the company, it can seek for the assistance of standards developed by Federal OSHA, to ensure the safety of paper mills industry. Correspondingly, the company must abide with the 1910.145 standard under the OSHO Code, which emphasizes the prevention of accidents during the duty work of the employees (US Department of Labor, “Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills”). Threats. The major threat that Forest International have been facing is the downfall of its market share as compared to that of its competitors. Due to its lack of sustainability concerns and frequent workplace accidents, the company also faces threats in terms of lowering stakeholders’ loyalty. Trend. In accordance to the past records, it was observed that the accidents occurred in Forest International was the consequence of the management’s negligence. Jack Taylor, crew leader had once reported an accident caused due to the loosened up jack in the machinery and suggested the management on ways of improving safety lines. However, it was ignored by the management. Thus, emphasizing this particular issue in the report, few of the measures for improvement of safety lines in the company is being suggested gauged with rational justifications for the same. STEP 2: PROBLEM STATEMENTS During a four year period in Forest International, 29 employees were killed due to the accidents caused by giant saw blades. Due to this incident, the productivity of the company has been hampered substantially, obstructing the sustainable and competitive growth of the company. Contextually, the problem can be identified as inadequate managerial importance to social; responsibilities of the company, added with its poor management notion of shared leadership, empowerment and teamwork. STEP3: IDENTIFICATION OF ALTERNATIVES The below mentioned lists represent the alternatives for improving safety records of the company and raising the productivity. Alternative 1: Implementation of well-defined Codes of Practice, which describes maintenance of safety by the employees during the job hours through effective empowerment and teamwork with due significance to shared leadership vision Alternative 2: Providing the employees with Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) to avoid workplace hazards (Source: WorkSafeNB, “Health & safety orientation Guide for employers”) STEP 4: CRITICAL ISSUES The aforementioned alternatives will be evaluated under the supervision of three of the following criteria. Morals: How will these alternatives be beneficial for the company to develop its organizational leadership efficiency in assuring workplace safety? Costs: Will the cost be attainable by the company? Timetable: By when the alternatives are expected to deliver the desired results? STEP 5: ANALYSES Alternatives Morals Costs Timetable 1.Well-defined Codes of Practice Codes of Practice will include rules and regulations under which the employees will accomplish their assigned tasks. Likewise, employees will be responsible for reporting any kind of harmful incidents within the workplace to their supervisor, which is likely to inspire the vision of shared leadership and teamwork amid them. The goal of implementing this alternative is to promote safety in the workplace and developing standards wherein the employees and employers both can work for the safety and security in the workplace attaining their desired empowerment. Implementation of code of practice will not require huge costs as it can be developed within the company. However, the assistance of a skilled legal advisor to suggest effective ideas of its implementation will be necessary. This alternative will be accomplished within the short-run, i.e. within a year. 2.Introduction of Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) This alternative will be the sole responsibility of the employer. PPE is that particular dress or material, which must be used by the employee to avoid any hazardous incident in the workplace. Wearing of this equipment shall be made compulsory by the employer during the working hours. It will be provided to the employees so that they can ensure their own safety and promote safer work policies combined following the specified standards through a vision of shared leadership. The cost of this alternative depends on the equipments the company is selecting for PPE and the subsequent training demanded by the workers to use those. It will take quite a long time as the preparation of the equipments is a costly means and require a longer time to be ready and hence, shall prove effective in the long-run. Summary Assessment (Chart) STEP 6: RECOMMENDATIONS After the assessment of the alternatives for the promotion of safety within Forest International, it can be affirmed that alternative 1 is best-suited for the company. The implementation of structured and defined codes of practice can certainly enhance the standard of the company along with the promotion of safety. It will also help the company to meet its targeted goals of improving the safety records and regaining its sustainability as well as competency within the market. The competitive position of the company has been affected to a large extent through the accidents caused to the employees. Alternative 2 is effective in terms of safety promotion, but considering its costs, it can be tagged as secondary recommendation. However, if focused on empowerment of the workers, igniting a vision of shared leadership amid them and encouraging teamwork within the workplace, the accomplishment of both the suggested alternatives shall be possible. Works Cited “Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills.” US Department of Labor. No Date. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. “Health & safety orientation Guide for employers.” WorkSafeNB. 2012. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. Read More