HR

HR CHALLENGE: OSHA ANALYSIS

Introduction

Creating a culture of workplace safety and legal compliance is a very real task for the human resource professional. Each type of work setting has some overarching safety standards. Compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is part of everyday record keeping and expenses within a business. 

You will have the opportunity to learn more about OSHA and how its work impacts modern organizations. By creating a memorandum for your leadership team, you will get practical experience communicating the legal issues, expenses, and benefits of compliance with OSHA regulations.

Scenario

Your organization is reviewing their OSHA practices and expenses to determine if they are currently effective or if they need to be revisited. Your executive memorandum will serve as background information for the ongoing discussions between organizational leadership and the human resource department.

Your Challenge

You are a human resources specialist with experience in establishing OSHA protocols and the related costs. You will write the memo of explanation to the organizational leadership team so that they can have an informed discussion about practices in your organization.

Instructions

1. Write a 2–3-page executive memorandum to organizational leadership regarding the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and its effectiveness in the workplace. Include the following: 

• Describe the mission and function of OSHA. 
  • What is OSHA intended to do? Is it working? 
• List some of the compliance objectives, or the overarching safety standards.
• Analyze the impact of OSHA in modern organizations. 
  • What does the HRM professional need to know about OSHA? 
• Analyze the cost of regulations and enforcement versus the benefit in reduced worker injury. Is the cost of regulations and enforcement worth the results? 
• Develop health- and safety-related best practices for human resources and organizational leadership. 
  • Are there different perspectives toward interpretation, monitoring, and compliance with OSHA, and do the differing perspectives enhance or hinder workplace safety? 
• Evaluate the ways in which a company can mitigate risk.

2. Your executive memorandum is to be written coherently to support a central idea with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics as expected of a business professional.
3. Support your assignment with citations from relevant readings, and use real-world organization examples to demonstrate the importance of the concepts and analysis you have provided.

Note: Your instructor may use the Writing Feedback Tool when grading this assignment. The Writing Feedback Tool is designed to provide you with guidance and resources to develop your writing based on five core skills. You will find writing feedback in the Scoring Guide for the assignment, once your work has been evaluated. Learn more about the Writing Feedback Tool on the course Tools and Resources page. 

Submission Requirements

The deliverable for this assignment applies professional skills in Human Resources Management (HRM) to workplace situations which you will likely encounter in your day-to-day work in HRM. As part of your learning, we focus on the development of effective professional communication skills for the workplace. 

• Length of paper: Your paper should be 2–3 double-spaced pages, 11 point font, Times New Roman.
• Organization: Make sure that your assignment writing is well-organized, using headings and subheadings to organize content for the reader.
• Resources: It is suggested that you use just the resources provided for this assignment and used in this course, no outside research should be necessary.
• Evidence: Support your assertions with data and/or in-text citations. Use current APA format for in-text citations and create a reference list at the end of your documents. 
• APA formatting: Resources and in-text citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting. 
• Written communication:
  • Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.
  • Write for a specific audience, using the vernacular of the profession.
  • Use spell-check and other tools to ensure correct spelling and grammar.
• Recommended Headings for the Memorandum:
  • OSHA Description.
  • Compliance Objectives.
  • Risk/Opportunity (costs and benefits).
  • Specific Steps (approach).