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Occupational health and safety legislation
Occupational health and safety legislation
Occupational health and safety legislation
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Case Study Analysis: Government Firefighter Training Facility In this case a large engineering consulting firm was contracted by the government to perform civil engineering work for the installation of equipment that would be later used to train firefighters. Prior to the actual work being commenced on site, Donald J. Giffels, president of the consulting firm soon realized through careful observation that there was a significant amount of ambiguity in how critical safety systems were to be designed. In this situation, what are the ethical issues that the consulting firm faces in accepting such a contract from the government. What is the optimal strategy in responding to what Donald J. .Giffels identified as an unacceptable lapse in safety. These two important questions are discussed in further detail with a conclusion of noteworthy facts surrounding this case following. The training facility that Giffels firm was contracted to do civil engineering work for had recently switched from using jet fuel to liquid propane to prevent soil contamination. While this was a solution to environmental concerns it created new problems that Giffels found to be unaddressed with the lack of a design analysis for any safety systems. Even though his firm was only required to do civil engineering work, Giffels concluded that there was an unacceptable risk to the firefighters who would use the facility with the unresolved issues, so he began contacting other firms with experience handling similar contract projects, part of exercising due care to ensure they could enhance safety. The training facility met the minimum requirements of the law, but Giffels felt that it would be shirking the responsibility his firm has to the public by not callin... ... middle of paper ... ...he firm foresaw the significant probability of harm to firefighters using the training facility and acted to communicate the discovered risks to the government organization awarding them the contract. Communication was essential in persuading the government to address the safety issues because the site met the requirements set forth by law, reducing the perception of risk, and the design choice of replacing jet fuel with liquid propane created the unintended consequence of an increased risk that otherwise may have gone unnoticed if not for the actions of Giffels’ consulting firm. Giffels’ strategy to remain persistent in refusing to complete the contract and highlighting the significant risk his firm discovered proved successful when dealing with a client that at first appeared to have taken a minimalist approach by staying with the minimum requirements of the law.
At 2215 hrs, on November 28, 1942, Fire Alarm Headquarters from Box 1514, situated at Stuart and Carver streets, received an alarm. When the responding apparatus arrived they found a small car fire at the corner of Stuart Street and Broadway. After the fire was extinguished the firefighters were about to return to quarters when their attention was called to smoke emanating from the Cocoanut Grove Nightclub a few doors away. Upon their arrival at the entrance of the Broadway lounge on Broadway they encountered numerous people leaving the premises admidst the cries of “fire”. The chief in charge immediately ordered that a third alarm be sounded from Alarm Box 1521 which the alarm was received by fire alarm headquarters at 2223 hrs. A civilian sent an alarm that was received at 2220 by fire alarm headquarters. As soon as the chief in charge realized that the immediate problem was one of rescue he ordered that a fourth alarm (received at 2224) and a fifth alarm (received at 1102) be sent. The apparatus responding was comprised of 25 engine companies, 5 ladder companies, 1 water tower company, 1 rescue company and various other apparatus. 18 hose steams for cooling purposes and three ladders were utilized (located at Piedmont, Broadway, and Shawmut for venting operations).
.... (2011). Triangle Shirtwaist fire brought safety changes. Business Insurance, 45(11), 1-18. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=59700942&site=ehost-live&scope=site
...being held accountable, the city officials themselves were also held accountable because of improper safety regulations. Showing that the city itself should be at fault for not enforcing safety regulations for such things as fire escapes, that were not in working order. These unprecedented circumstances just lay down the blueprint for what is now the correct way to set regulations for industrial factory conditions.
Two tragic incidents, the Challenger Space Shuttle crash of 1986, and the Three Mile Island near meltdown of 1979, have greatly devastated our nation. Both these disasters involved failures of communication among ordinary professional people, working in largely bureaucratic companies. Two memos called the “Smoking Gun Memos,” authored by R. M. Boisjoly, of Morton Thiokol, and D. F. Hallman, of Babcook and Wilcox, will always be associated these two incidents. Unfortunately, neither of these memos were successful in preventing the accidents of the Challenger and the Three Mile Island near meltdown.
"NFPA 1710: Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments, 2010 Edition." National Fire Protection Association. N.p., 1 Jan. 2010. Web. .
The drought was near historic high levels for the time of year. In the moments before the entrapment on of the squads and the crew boss trainee were working with a fire engine and its three person crew when a spot fire erupted right next to the road. The seven Northwest Regular Crew number six and a engine crew got in there vehicles and drove south past the fire along the edge of the road. While driving they radioed the other 14 crewmembers who were working north further up the river about the dangerous situation. The 14 crewmembers and the incident commander and two Northwest Regular number six squad members were suppressing spot fires between the river and the road ¼ mile north of the first squad when they were informed of the situation that was threatening there es...
In the case, “Facing a Fire” prepared by Ann Buchholtz, there are several problems and issues to identify in determining if Herman Singer should rebuild the factory due to a fire or retire on his insurance proceeds. I believe that this case is about social reform and self-interest. I think that Singer needs to ask himself, what is in the firm’s best economic interests. There are several things to question within this case, what should Herman Singer do and why, should he rebuild the factory or begin retirement, if he rebuilds, should he relocate the firm to an area where wages are lower and what provisions, if any, should Singer make for his employees as well as for the community?
Another human factors problem that I identify in the case study is the miscommunication between the 911 operator and the Fire Department dispatcher and also between the Fire Department dispatcher with the nearby fire station unit. Although the operator clarified the address was No.9 to the dispatcher, the 911 operator missed the word “avenue” as part of the address when the operator was informing the Fire Department dispatcher the location of the fire incident. Moreover, due to the miscommunication between them, the rescue actions had delayed more than four minutes. To make the situation worse, the dispatcher sent wrong address, 3100 block of 9th Street in his order to the nearby fire station for rescue action which should be 3102 block 9th Avenue.
Varone, J. C. (2012). Legal considerations for fire & emergency services (2nd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.
Long Beach Officials and the city’s paid firefighters have reached an agreement to minimize the layoffs. They can move on and get qualified and paid paramedics and volunteers. Long Beach International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) have agreed to drop several lawsuits against the city in exchange for protection of the 18 currently paid firefighters.
Boston (as well as much of America) was experiencing an epidemic of youth gun-homicide through the late 1980s and 1990s. The violence in Boston was mostly concentrated in the lower income inner city neighborhoods. “Youth homicide (ages 24 and under) in Boston increased 230% - from 22 victims in 1987 to 73 in 1990. Between 1991 and 1995, Boston averaged about 44 youth homicides a year.” (Kennedy). The approach Operation Ceasefire (The name of the Gun Policy) went with was a Problem oriented policing approach focusing on the concentrated areas where crime was more prevalent. Illicit gun trafficking and gang violence were main causes of the gun violence in Boston. These two problems were the main focus of the operation.
Every year communities struggle each year around the nation with issues of life safety. In 2012, the nation’s fire departments responded to 31,854,000 responses that resulted in the deaths 0f 2,855 civilians and injuring 16,500 causing an estimated $12,427 million dollars in damage. (United States Fire Administration, 2014) These incidents put at risk 345,950 career and 783,300 volunteer firefighters that resulted in the deaths of 81 individuals (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2013) and nearly 70,000 reported injuries. ( Karter & Molis, 2013) These numbers represent incidents that are determined to be in the line of duty but do not take into consideration the long-term health risk issues that may develop. Evidence shows that he hazards associated with Fire and Emergency Services are consistent across the board whether paid or volunteer and jeopardize the lives and health of each individual, placing administrative and physical control measures reduces this risk to firefighter within an organization. While it is impossible to eliminate the hazards firefighters face, it is important to identify these hazards as the first step in reducing the potential for loss of life and wellbeing both physically and mentally.
During the early summer of 2017 my local fire department was hosting a recruitment fair; I showed up and signed up to take the tests. I took a short interview and after meeting all the basic requirements, I was given a test briefing packet and told to come back in two weeks, prepared to test. I returned to the department two weeks later; after countless hours of studying and still being sore from working out, I took the tests. I walked away four hours later, after finishing the written test with a 96% and completing every activity in the CPAT test, passing with an overall 94%. It was at this point when I had to decide if formal education was the right path for me.
The initial ethical guideline presented in the IEEE Code of Ethics states “to accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment”. In regards to health, safety and well-being of the public and environment, many would consider this to be the most important rule presented. Professions in electrical and electronic engineering operate in designing electrical syst...
The code says that engineers should always be aware that their first responsibility is to protect public safety, health and welfare. If their judgment is rejected in circumstances where under threat security, health, property or welfare of the people, they must notify the employer or client, and, if necessary, other authorities.