Occupational Health and Safety Manage Hazards: Code of Ethics - Term Paper Example

Occupational Health and Safety Manage Hazards: Code of Ethics Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name Insert Date Here (Day, Month, Year) Go to the websites of the Safety institute of Australia, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia and the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists and access the code of conduct, or code of ethics, for each organization. Management of hazards is the prerequisite of any company or organization, which adopt their own systems and principles within the legal framework to ensure safer environment within the precincts of environment or organization. These risks involve noise, dangerous goods, dusts, radiation, ergonomic hazards, fibers, gravity and biological or psychosocial hazards. It is the duty of companies or organizations to protect their employees from exposures to these risks. There are certain non-profit organizations in Australia, which work towards the promoting of health and safety of the employees and influence legislations and standards relative to health and safety. The Safety Institute of Australia (SIA) is one such body of professionals to provide safe environment to the professionals and practitioners. The institute aims at providing safe and healthy environment at work place, roads or at residence. They aim to achieve highest standards in an arena of safety and health provisions to its workers. The institute aims at promoting awareness of health and safety, publicizes the institute’s contribution in the health and safety, develops the professional code of conduct in forming the ethical awareness and integrity through health and safety issues. The institute ensures that its employees maintain certain code of conduct and these are: giving importance to the safety, health and welfare of the community according to the accepted norms; members are obliged to accept certain norms and standards of moral and legal behavior; members should maintain and perform their duties with highest degree of honesty, integrity and equity; members would adopt competitive spirit while performing their duty within prescribed rules and regulations of the organizations; members would not involve in any illegal or improper activities; and they must abstain themselves from any words or activities that may affect reputation of the institute, and above all they must fulfill the employment’s terms and conditions or employments contracts that may avoid real conflicts. SIA is also following Code of Ethics as maintained by the Health and Safety of the Professional Alliance for the OHS professionals. Ergonomics is all about people and the way they interact with others and their environment at work and home and play. One such professional organization of ergonomists and human factors specialists in Australia is The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia Inc (HFESA). Its main motive is the promotion of professional ethics and maintaining the practice of ergonomics all over the community. The society has also retained their certain code of ethics, which every member should maintain like ensuring of the community and client’s interests to be given priority over the private or sectional interests; upholding and maintaining the honour and dignity of the other members of the society; ensuring that they abide with the behavior and ethical code of conduct and have due regard for the professional integrity of the society, this responsibility also includes avoidance of any abuse of power and taking precedence over private or commercial interests; maintaining the standards of professionalism and communicating with the colleagues and other members politely and respectfully; maintaining the professional relationship honestly, impartially and judiciously. Any confidential material should be disclosed effectively and promptly to employers or clients and the same is true for creating influence of the impartiality of reports, advice, or decisions. Next is giving due respect to the confidential information and revealing similar information to others only with the consent of the others and take an active part in the assistance and encouragement of all the development activities of the ergonomics. The Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists Inc (AIOH) was formulated in 1980 and established at Victoria in 1988. The Institute is managed and organized by governing Council constituting the President, President Elect, Secretary, Treasurer and three Councilors. Their main objective is ensuring safety in the work places aimed to fulfill their objective by maintaining professionalism in the occupational hygiene in the industry, in government and in over all community; imparting improvement in the occupational hygiene and knowledge and maintaining competent standard; and providing a forum where the ideas can be exchanged in matters related to the occupational hygiene. Members of The Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists also have to maintain the ethical code of conduct making it mandatory for the members to maintain certain ethics and ascertain the principles of occupational hygiene, ensuring that the health and welfare of the individuals are solely dependent on their professional judgment. Their professional code of conduct ensures that the employers are advised in the most responsible and competent manner to maintain healthy working conditions without any unnecessary expenses; to keep all information regarding the health issues in confidence and maintaining the working processes; to give advice to employers to always maintain the professional accepted standard and advising employer the way to maintain statutory duty for disclosure of findings to workers or their representatives. Review the various codes together with those from any other relevant professional societies. In any organization or organizations mentioned above have the same set of professional code and ethics only with certain modifications for e.g. all organizations ascertaining their code of professionals within the legal framework and following the standards set by the Occupational Health and Safety Australia (OHSA). The OHSA was established to ensure health and safety of workers due to continuous change in environment of the industry and assess the risk factors associated with it. Many changes have been initiated by Federal and State Legislation taking into account various risk factors associated with the health and safety of the workers in any organization, whereby organization or company having less than or more than 20 employees must keep in account Occupational Health and Safety of the workers and in case of non compliance fine of $550,000 would be imposed. (OHS, Australia, Online) All states have their own specific laws and legislation regarding work ethics which all have been incorporated into joined regulations. Codes of practice are most informative pieces to identify dangers and the factors that can cause risk. Australia set up certain standards and guiding materials printed by Standards Australia and national standards organized or managed by the Office of the Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC), formerly associated by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission. Besides, there are also certain national and Australian standards that need to check if there is any particular danger. Almost all organizations want to maintain their own professional code of conduct like maintaining professional ethics. These codes of ethics entail to ensure health and safety in areas of their concern for which professionalism like maintaining discipline, retaining self-regulatory behaviors, and disciplinary approach is the foundation on the basis of which lay professionalism. All these three organizations, Safety institute of Australia, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia and The Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists have biggest responsibility for ensuring health and welfare of their workers and their community and it could be only maintained if they adopt professionalism in their approach and other code of ethics. Even for the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, discipline and self-regulation is the foundation on the basis of which credibility of professionalism rests. A pharmacist must maintain and act in a timely manner for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of their clients and of whole community. He or she should restrict himself or herself from buying, selling or supplying of any medicinal product wherever there is any doubt about its safety or efficacy. A pharmacist must consider the prevention of any supply of products that could be dangerous for health. A pharmacist should also maintain judgment on professional grounds for prevention of the supply of products. He also must ensure that disposable medicinal properties and other chemicals must be thrown very carefully and far from the reach of the hands of general public to avoid any of its misuse or any other harmful consequences. A pharmacist must adhere to all professionalism codes of conduct according to the set norms. Besides, a pharmacist like others should abide and respect the confidential information while dealing with clients and their families. Any information related to client should not be disclosed except where officer of the statutory authority under legislation seeks the same for the security or where under legal requirements confidential report is required. Develop you own personal code of professional conduct An employee must follow Australian laws while performing his duties and follow all the directions as mentioned under the laws. He must deal with all issues or any conflict of interest taking middle path or approach and adopt reasonable steps. An employee should abide himself from providing any misleading information or report in response to request for information and should never misuse any information or company’s materials for personal usage or gains. An employee should also value the integrity and reputation of colleagues. An employee should be transparent and fair in his dealings with the clients and should accept responsibility and accountability of his actions. An employee or member should strive to bring innovation and contribute towards the growth of the organization, help the organization in reducing the expenditure through effective delivery and sound financial management and sustain accountability of resources. Reference List Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists Inc. 2005. About Us. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from W.W.W: http://www.aioh.org.au/about_obj.asp Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists Inc. 1996. Code of Ethics. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from W.W.W: http://www.aioh.org.au/about_ethics.asp Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia Inc. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from W.W.W: http://www.ergonomics.org.au/ Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia Inc. 2006. code of practice. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from W.W.W: http://www.ergonomics.org.au/hfesa/code_of_practice.html National Safety Council of Australia. 2008. Manage Hazards in the Work Environment. 2(3). OHSAUSTRALIA. Welcome to OHS Australia. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from W.W.W: http://www.ohsaustralia.com.au/ Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from W.W.W: http://www.psa.org.au/site.php?id=3203 Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. 1998. Code of Professional Conduct. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from W.W.W: http://www.psa.org.au/site.php?id=628 Safety Institute of Australia. 2009. Overview. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from W.W.W: http://www.sia.org.au/about/sia Safety Institute of Australia. 2009. Code of Conduct. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from W.W.W: http://www.sia.org.au/about/conduct Read More