Workplace Safety and Sexual Harassment

Introduction

Workplace safety and sexual harassment are among the current issues that any manager should address before starting a company. Sexual harassment can be defined as a situation where people are bullied concerning their sexual nature.It ranges from mild transgressions to sexual assault. Verbal, non-verbal and physical are the primary types of sexual harassments.It can be in different forms such as sexual comments, unwanted sexual jokes, actual sexual assault and rape, pressure for dates, sexually suggestive signals only to mention a few.Workplace safety, on the other hand, establishes regulations that eliminate harm in the workplace.Safety training reinforces the belief that safety is an essential part of the growth of any business entity.The Occupational and Safety Health Act (OSHA) is the statute that protects individuals from workplace illnesses and injuries (Bradbury, 2006). It was developed in 1971 to establish a safety standard for all workplaces to safeguard their workers better.Since issues related to workplace safety and sexual harassment are among the significant challenges facing most institutions today, I saw it fit to explore more on the topic.Furthermore, because my company is dealing with both heavy and light machinery, promoting work safety should be my primary goal.

Biblically, we see that the Lord neither cover nor ignores sexual assault.The book of Deuteronomy 22:25 states that “safeguard the survivor of sexual assault from being unjustly ignored or blamed .“This scripture made it easier for early Israelites to discern situations and correctly judge them. In as much as much is not said regarding occupational safety, there are a few writings that recommend that people should keep safe in their work environments.As stated in the book of Deuteronomy 22:8, the Bible suggests that people should make parapets for their houses to promote safety.

Need Analysis

With the advancement in technology and the introduction of new work equipment and machinery, cases of workplace injuries and deaths have been on the rise. However, and OSHA has helped in reducing the burden of injury in workplaces. Workplace injuries and fatalities is not only a problem facing America, but it is a global problem, with higher cases in third world countries (Beus et al.,2017 ). Therefore, many organizations are coming up with training programs to educate their employees on workplace safety.

Sexual Harassment is a global problem with women being at higher risk compared to men.It is prohibited by law, and all employers are required to set guidelines that protect their employees from sexual harassment.Since sexual harassment may be in different forms, people are called out to be keen to ensure they are sexually harassed (Gutek, 2015). As recorded by the Australian Human Rights Commission at least one out of five women go through sexual harassment in their workplace. In the US, campaigns such as the “Me too “aim to protect individuals from sexual harassment (Gutek, 2015). However, in as much as the state is trying to protect its citizens from sexual harassment, it is reported that the system continuously fails the victims.These among other reasons compelled me to explore more on workplace safety and sexual harassment.

Since my company deals with heavy and light machinery, ensuring workplace safety is essential. These protect the employees from injuries or even death.Sexual harassment can also be a problem since the company employs people from different backgrounds. Ensuring both male and female employees are protected from sexual harassment is one of the organizations key roles.

Training Program Development

When developing a program, the following steps are crucial;

  1. Determining the training needs

At this point, the program developer identifies the reasons as to why the training is essential. The training could be done due to lack of skills and knowledge among the employees, the introduction of new work procedures as well as due to new machinery among others.

  1. Identifying the training needs

The sole purpose of conducting training is to ensure that the employees will be able to perform allocated to them effectively.The training needs of each employee concerning what area they need to be trained are also identified.

  • Identifying the goals and objectives

You determine what you need to achieve from conducting the program.

  1. Developing Learning activities

At this point, you determine the activities that you are going to conduct to enhance learning among the employees .you also determine the training method that you will use.

 

  1. Conducting the training

The actual training is done after reviewing the critical training subjects and objectives.

  1. Evaluate the program

You evaluate the program to see if it works based on the set objectives and goals.

  • Program improvement

At this step, you improve your program based on the evaluations you made on stage six.

A Training Program for Workplace Safety and Sexual Harassment

Company Profile

Name’s company is a company that imports machinery and sells them both locally and internationally.It was started in 1992 and is one of the fastest growing companies in the United States. To run its operations effectively, the company recruits and trains new employees regularly. We have a good number of employees who work to meet the company’s goals and objectives. Furthermore, it recruits new employees regularly to meet their growing needs.It has an average of 1000 employees currently and looks forward to hiring more.

Program Overview

Before recruiting any new employees, the company is charged with the responsibility of training its prospective employees for 4 hours.During the training, the employees will be educated on the need for observing workplace safety and the importance of avoiding Sexual Harassment. Before the practice, all the new employees are required to pay a total of 15USD to cater for the training.

Training goals and objectives

When setting the purpose and objectives, the program manager must know what he expects from the employees in terms of their ability to perform tasks, what they need to do to improve their performance as well as their behavior.

Goals

  1. The goal of the training is to equip the employees with information about the company.
  2. To educate the employees on the right procedures of handling machinery.
  3. To inform them on the need for respecting each other sexuality to avoid sexual harassment.
  4. To reduce the burden of death and workplace illnesses.

Objectives

  1. To create awareness and visibility of Sexual Harassment.
  2. To inform the employees of restroom issues that they should avoid.
  3. To inform the employees on the laws regarding sexual harassment.
  4. To promote sensitivity to gender issues among the employees.
  5. To encourage the employees to do their work and improve on the performance.
  6. To educate them on the proper ways of dealing with the machinery.
  7. To inform them on how to deal with injuries.

Methods and Media Used in the presentation

The technique and media used in presentation can improve the understanding and also help in persuading and motivating the listeners. Various methods and media can be used in displays.Some of them are lectures, case studies, video aids only to mention a few (JF et al.,2010 ). Notably, in this training program, I used lectures, case study as well as on-the-job discussions.I also used PowerPoint slides to project the presentations to the employees.

Moreover, I sent them, WhatsApp videos illustrating how different machines are handled. The main reason for this is that with the lectures and PowerPoint presentations, I could reach most if not all of the employees since most of them were available during the performances.Based on the current trends, it is assumed that the majority of the Americans own smartphones that can support the Whatsapp app.

For this reason, I considered using the audios and videos an easy way of reaching the employees. Case studies were appropriate since through it I could narrow down the topics that I wanted to discuss with the employees.Furthermore, with the case study, the employees could easily understand the actions they should take to increase their productivity.

Workplace Safety Training Program

Framework Plan
Needs Assessment Workplace Safety Training
Goals To reduce the burden of injury and workplace illnesses.

To educate the employees on the right procedures for handling machines.

Objectives To encourage the employees to do their work and improve on the performance.

To educate them on the proper ways of dealing with the machinery.

To inform them on what to do in case they are injured while working.

Methods and Media Lectures.

Case studies,

On-the-job discussions

PowerPoint Slides

Whatsapp

videos

Attendees All new employees
Budget (per person ) All employees to pay  user fee $15
Timeline 2 hours

 

Sexual Harassment Training program

Framework Plan
Needs Assessment Sexual Harassment Training
Goals The goal of the training is to equip the employees with information about the company.

To educate the employees on the right procedures of handling machinery.

Objectives To create awareness and visibility of Sexual Harassment.

To inform the employees of restroom issues that they should avoid.

To inform the employees on the laws regarding sexual harassment.

To promote sensitivity to gender issues among the employees.

Media and Methods Lectures.

Case studies

Whatsapp Audio and Videos

Attendees All new employees
Budget per person Free for those who had initially paid
Timeline 2hours

Training Evaluation methods

Evaluation is the process of making judgments about the values or usefulness of something. Summative and formative are the major types of assessments. Formative assessment involves judging the program while it is in progress.It is a systematic method for answering questions about policies, projects, and programs.

There are five evaluation methods.These are; Behavioralapplication, knowledge acquisition, Return on Investment, Measurable business improvement and Satisfaction reaction which is the most basic (JF et al.,2010). For my evaluation, I will measure the satisfaction by giving out surveys to determine the impact of the training on the employees. Precisely,I will decide if the employees enjoyed the training process, whether the liked the trainer or not, whether they felt it is a waste of time if they see the relevance of the training to their work.After evaluating the employees’ satisfaction and reaction, It will be easier for me to determine the usefulness of the practice.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a training program is essential since from it the trainers can learn what they achieved and how it was achieved. Besides, they can also learn about the objectives that were not met and develop strategies to improve on them (JF et al. 2010). To evaluate this program, I will first establish some evaluations questions. The answer gotten from these questions will make it possible to know whether the training is of benefit or not. From the responses, the areas that need to improve can also be determined. The programs goals can help determine the questions to be used for the evaluation. This questions often answer the questions, who, what, when and how many program activities and outputs. Evaluation questions help to determine the issues that are to be explored by the evaluation. Some of the items to be examined are;

  1. Were the objectives achieved?
  2. Were all the activities planned for the program accomplished?
  3. Whether or not the targeted audience was reached. I.e., the employees.
  4. What internal factors influenced the training program and how they influenced it?
  5. What external factors influenced the program and how they influenced?

Having effective training programs is the main reason behind developing them. Stakeholders are the people who care about the program. They are involved in the program, and they help determine whether the program is useful or not (JF et al., 2010).

 

Summary

At this point, any scholar can be able to draw conclusions and also point out the essential things they have learned.From the project, I have gained on the need for promoting workplace safety. Sexuality should be respected, and no one should be victimized based on their gender.Since gender harassment issues are on the rise, different programs are coming up to guide people from being sexually harassed.Since sexual harassment comes in various forms, people should be on the lookout and report any instance of sexual harassment to be it in the workplace or social settings.

The only difficulty I got why developing the project was connecting the current issues I chose with the religious and spiritual understanding. Topics such as workplace safety have minimal reference to biblical concepts.However, I still managed to come up with a well-detailed project.

The biblical concept that guided me through the project was equality, justice, and fairness.Specifically the scriptures from the book of Deuteronomythat talks a lot about justice and fairness.It starts that God is not unjust and that all his ways are. From this, I developed a better understanding of Gender Harassment and how to deal with it.Moreover, I learned a little bit on the biblical perception of workplace safety.

 

References

Evaluating your strategic plan [Evaluation Briefs No. 5]. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/evaluation/pdf/ertnews_spring09.pdf Chriqui JF, Schneider L, Chaloupka FJ, Gourdet C, Bruursema A, Ide K &Pugach O. (2010).

Beus, J. M., McCord, M. A., & Zohar, D. (2016). Workplace safety: A review and research synthesis. Organizational psychology review, 6(4), 352-381.

Bradbury, J. C. (2006). Regulatory federalism and workplace safety: Evidence from OSHA

Gutek, B. A. (2015). Sexual harassment. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1-1.

Enforcement, 1981–1995. Journal of Regulatory Economics, 29(2), 211-224.

Jagsi, R., Griffith, K. A., Jones, R., Perumalswami, C. R., Ubel, P., & Stewart, A. (2016). Sexual harassment and discrimination experiences of the academic medical faculty. Jama, 315(19), 2120-2121.

 

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