The Safety and Health Manager and Function

10 Pages 2492 Words

THE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGER AND FUNCTION; HAZARD AVOIDANCE

Regardless of the occupation an individual chooses, safety and health will always be a concern. The severity of the concern is dictated by the danger entailed within a particular occupation. Whether the danger is small or large, measures to protect the worker need to be put into place, and practiced. Responsibility for personal safety cannot be solely placed on the individual. The safety and health manager is needed to help facilitate worker protection from hazards. Of course the main objective is to keep individuals in the workplace safe as well as healthy, but there are also regulations that must be followed; regulations that were put into place with a goal of protecting the worker. The safety and health manager also has an important role in ensuring these regulations are enforced and upheld. Of course each firm has unique programs to deal with safety and health issue. This paper will discuss the various aspects of safety and health within the Rockford Illinois attachment of Cadbury Adams; from an interview conducted with Ms. Robin Sullivan, the Safety Manager.
Cadbury Adams, which is a U.S. subsidiary of a British company Cadbury Schweppes (Hoovers Online, 2004) and is a confectionary manufacturer. The Rockford based detachment of Cadbury Adams produces products such as chewing gum, gum base, as well as encapsulated sweeteners. They are commonly known for the productions of such products as Bubblicious, Dentyne, Chicklets and Halls cough drops. The Cadbury Adams firm employs about 850 personnel, 200 of which are employed through a temporary service (R. Sullivan, personal communication, August 20, 2004). The average worker’s workweek for this firm is a 5-day a week 40 hours per day schedule, but with the current production demands, many departments have a 6 to 7 day workweek (R. Sullivan, personal communication, August 20, 2004). With 850 employees engaged in a nume...