Ethical issue in industry free essay sample

The poor layout of facilities inside the plant directly and seriously affected the worker safety. There were several evidences to show that IMC did not provide a safety and proper working environment for its staff and contractors: Zinc buffer stocks were stored everywhere even blocking the walkways and emergency exits. Furthermore, the plant was a dangerous place with many overused and overheated machinery which may explore easily. And the management refused to stop operating the plant even getting knowledge about the unsound roof which finally collapsed. IMC enforced the contractors worked under a precarious condition without providing relative protection clothing and respirators, working closely to dangerous machinery. Chemical poisoning in the plant was a critical concern. The lead poisoning level was much higher than the international acceptable level and it would definitely affect the health of all the workers. IMC did not alarm its staff about the consequence of over inhaling the lead and the protection action. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical issue in industry or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It even restrained the contractors to get relative information and rejected to provide any respirator which was violating the regulation. With such dangerous workplace, two workers had died during their work and the health and safety issue was obviously serious. ii. Unfair Treatment for Staff Referring to Mr. Singh’s case, the working hour was excessive and long with more than 12 hours per day. It was much longer than other similar factories. The pay was low and many privileges may be exploited with some unreasonable causes. In addition, the living place provided by IMC was as poor as work place. It was small and crowded. iii. Illegally Hiring Female as Worker In order to cut cost, IMC violated the regulation to hire females as half of contractors in lead mines and processing plants. Referring to all the above facts, IMC’s policy related to the safety, health and welfare issue to the workers were definitely unethical. It merely treated its workers as a means to its objective rather than an end. 2. Issue of Ignoring Citizen IMC also affected the healthy and living standard of the local villages by the fallowing aspects: i. Air and Water Pollution The emission of sulphurous, poisoning gases and other dangerous chemicals from the plant had blown over local villages. Also, the lead had been found in water sample from a nearby river, which was the source of the local water supply, due to the inefficiency of the plant. Those pollutions certainly affected the health of the local citizens. ii. Exploiting the local electricity Due to the failure on building the own power station, the plant drew power from the public electricity supplier and lead to a fluctuating power supply in the local area. Obviously, IMC did not take the local villages into account to its practices. Its actions were not ethical because it only concerned on profit-making and totally ignore the people affected by its operation. 3. Issue of Environmental Protection i. Dumping the waste into a wood When the crushing machinery broke down, the plant decided to dump the waste into a wood. It was totally an irresponsible decision which destroyed the environment. ii. Releasing Greenhouse Gases In order to increase output, IMC modified the pre-product plant, which resulted in the release of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. And the unsound roof collapsing event also lead to release carbon monoxide. As we see, IMC never care about the environmental problem caused by its operation. 4. Issue of product quality and In order to maintain a ‘non-stop’ operation of the plant, IMC would not make reprisals for poor quality products and continue to send those products to customers. It did not take customers’ interest into account. 5. Issue of Bribe Even there were many illegal actions taken by IMC, no any punishment or exposures on its improper operation. And it even can pass many regular inspections. There was high probability that IMC had bribed the officers in order to continue its illegal operation. It totally failed to Carroll’s four-part model of corporate social responsibilityi to its worker. Q2. Comment on the maintenance strategy at the plant. Are there any alternative methods that would be suitable? Q3. ‘John wondered, realistically, if the plant could ever be changed. ’ If you were to carry out improvements at the plant, what would your ethical priority be? 1. Safety Concern on its employees and contractors 2. Citizen’s healthy and related local problem 3. Product quality control 4. Environmental Protection