The Human Resource

Human Resource
Management
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is defined as strategic approach for people in organisation
which assist business to gain competitive advantage. This is mainly designed to enhance
performance of employees working in order to achieve strategic goal and objectives. It is very
important for organisation to have proper management of business and human resource so that
problem would not be arising. The given report is based on Westray Mine which is coal mine in
Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in September 1991 and within eight months later
explosion took place and closed on 9th May, 1992 that killed 26 employees working underground
that time. This was regarded as Canada worst mining disaster which killed many people. The
main aim of report is to form Joint Health and Safety Committee and assist business for
improvement. It also includes recommendation which could be provided to Westray Mine for
improvement of their business. Each and factors has to be considered by business and
accordingly decisions should be made.
MAIN BODY
The incident took place on 9th May, 1992 where coal dust as well as methane gases both
explosion at 5:18am in morning which killed 26 miners. It was regarded as worst mining disaster
which caused various impacts to business and employee working at that time. After the
happening of such incident, Nova Scotia government ordered for public inquiry where they
found that mine was mismanaged, poor oversight and safety of miner was avoided. Also case
was filed against owner named as Curragh Resources who went into bankruptcy and it was
dropped out. This incident made 117 miners unemployed, 15 bodies were found, 11 miners at
depth of mine were found. The major losses were in terms of injury to valuable staff, suffering
experience by family as well as worker, cost for health care system, work to be performed on
basis of undergoing physiotherapy (DeCenzo, Robbins & Verhulst, 2016). In consideration of
above case, there should be formation of Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) which is
described below:
JHSC is also known as occupational health committee, workplace safety, occupational health and
safety committee. This is regarded as forum to bring internal responsibility into single system to
practice. These comprises of both management representative as well as labour in order to meet
on regular basis for dealing with safety as well as health issues. This brings practical knowledge
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of particular task to large view of procedures, policies and strategy. It also brings cooperation
among workforce to solve problem of health and safety (Brewster & et al., 2016). It is formed by
employee where Canadian JHSC focuses on setting guidelines for management, structure, roles
and responsibilities of committee members. The main duties and responsibility of JHSC in terms
of occupational health and safety act are as follows:
 Recognising hazards of workplaces
 Evaluation of risks as well as hazards which may cause injuries, incidents and illness
 Responding to suggestions and complaints of employees to concern health and safety
 Ensuring about maintenance as well as monitoring of work hazard as well as injury
records (Donnelly, 2016)
 Setting and promoting programs for improving education and training of employees
 Consultation with both technical and professional experts
 Monitoring proper procedure and programme related with health and safety of employee
working in an organisation (Brewster & Hegewisch, 2017).
According to scenario given in report, there were six members in group of Stimulation of Joint
Health and Safety Committee where half are regarded as worker representative and other half are
regarded as management representative. Here, recommendation should be made for ABC Inc by
senior management by following of JHSC (Berman & et al., 2019). In context of ABC, laser
printer is used by human resource department which has installed recently and loose wires are
found in corridors. Here, Paula who works as HR in respective organisation has injured her back
as she tripped on wires and feels down from her heel and got pain (Bailey & et al., 2018). As
printer area is very busy place everyone move her and there to get print of their work. In this
case, some recommendations are provided to senior management of ABC Inc in terms of JHSC
to follow up actions which are described below:
 To monitor along with following hazard report and recommendation
 Recognised of hazards workplace
 Proper checking of place to avoid harm
 Responding towards complaints of employees and providing suggestions to them for
positive results (Banfield, Kay & Royles, 2018)
 The harmed employee should be provided with proper treatment
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 It is also recommended to bear all cost of worker who got harm at premises in effective
manner (Morgeson, Brannick & Levine, 2019)
 It is recommended to make timeframe for employee to complaints to high authority so
that instant actions can be taken for improvement.
Hazard is defined as agent who has cause damage or harm to property, humans and environment.
It leads towards negative consequence and there is no exposure of risk in hazard. It is very
important for business to identify hazard faced by their employee or organisation so that positive
results can be attained (Guest, 2017). In context of Westray Mine, it has faced hazard due to
explosions of incident which took place on 9th May, 1992 which has killed 26 miners and made
117 unemployed. It was big hazard that has impacted business and their working force in terms
of their health and safety. This has happened due to lack of following safety and health
precautions at business which leads to suffer them a lot in negative manner. It is very important
for business to follow all legal laws and legislation especially in case of manufacturing coal,
metal and other (Kaufman, 2019). As such industry requires proper policies and strategy to be
followed in organisation for positive results. In Canada, there are Joint health and Safety
Committee which should be followed by each and every organisation for maintenance of their
employee’s health and safety for better results (Soltis, Brass & Lepak, 2018).
When any business established at marketplace then it has to make office policy so that positive
results are attained in most effective manner. As there are no such standard which are meant for
business but organisation has to make some office policy which should be made compulsory for
all employee working in company to follow so that issues and problems would not arise in any
case. These standards should consider about time, working hour, grievances handling committee,
policy regarding leave, resignation and so on (Brewster, Mayrhofer & Farndale, 2018). This
makes work easy for both organisation as well as employee for better results. These policies
should be framed by organisation considering each and every aspect to run business in most
efficient and efficient manner. If Westray Mine has made office policy then there is no chance
for explosion that has killed 26 miners working in place. The policies are within organisation
related to office and safety of their workforce so that they work for long time period to attain
desired goal and objectives (Jabbour & de Sousa Jabbour, 2016).
Canadian Safety Association (CSA) standards are made by Canada for different organisation
such as medical device, equipment, machinery, electrical appliances, coals mine and so on.
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These standards are made in 1919 as non-profit and nongovernmental standardization business.
This standard may be applied to respective organisation as it bring positive impact and hard work
across multiple industries (Delery & Roumpi, 2017). It includes:
 Assist in ensuring quality as well as safety of each and every product, service, process at
work
 Driving business motivation
 Providing consumers with peace of mind
 Reducing impact to environment
 Maintaining occupational health and safety (Reiche & et al., 2016)
 Protecting environment
 Health care as well as well being
 Safety of employee working in an organisation.
Therefore, these are the impact of CSA standard to business to achieve positive results in most
effective manner. It should be applied by each and every organisation for better results. These
provide safety to business and employee along with it leads to rise in brand value and goodwill at
marketplace in most effective manner (Hecklau & et al., 2016). These standards should be
upgraded as per time and situation because various laws keep on changing which impact
business in positive way. Therefore, such standard assist Westray Coal to attain set goal and
objectives in appropriate manner. If respective organisation has followed such standard then
there is no chance for arising of mine explosion which has impacted as well as killed many
employees and lead towards closing of business within eight months after establishment. These
practices help organisation to carry their activities and operations in most diligent manner along
with attaining positive results (Nankervis & et al., 2016).
The problem raised at Westray Mine was major after Nova Cotia Coal mine took place in
Springhill that has killed 75 miners. Such incident happened due to mismanagement of miners,
ignorance of safety and poor oversight by regulating bodies. This was large explosion which has
killed 11 people and made unemployed to 117 miners. Also the owner of organisation became
bankrupt duet to which claim was dropped. The actual problem raised due to fault of
organisation itself which lead harm to them and closure of business in negative manner
(Brewster, 2017). These problem leads towards seriousness of injury to skilled and capable
employees, costing to health care system, pain as well as suffering experienced by both family
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and worker. Along with it, employees have also face problem during part time at time of
physiotherapy and many more (Lussier & Hendon, 2017).
In order to solve issues and problems faced by organisation, different solutions have been
provided so that better results are attained. In terms of coal mine industry, they required more
health and safety measure to prevent accident and hazardous substance which might be taken
place at business. They need to form Joint Health and Safety Committee which is made by
employees working in an organisation (Shanock & et al., 2019). This helps business to work in
most diligent manner as it leads towards success and growth of organisation at marketplace. It is
very important to use corrective actions on urgent basis to avoid further issues and problems
which might be faced by them. JHSC is regarded as best solution for coal manufacturing
business as it help business to monitor different activities, suggestion for complaints made by
employees, recognising hazards substances and so on (Kianto, Sáenz & Aramburu, 2017). With
implementation of JHSC, organisations lead for success and growth in competitive market for
better results. Each and every organisation should follow all legal laws and legislation to carry
out operations and functions in better way. These incurred low cost for business to adopt such
laws, legislation and standard for carrying out activities and operations in most diligent manner
(Voegtlin & Greenwood, 2016).
Therefore, it is essential for business to make proper standard and policy for organisation
so that they work as per norms and value of firm. In case of coal mine business, JHSC are
required because manufacturing of such is hazardous for employees which can cause several
problems and issues to them. The following of JHSC leads success and growth of business at
competitive market. Westray Mine has faced issues due to lack of following of standards,
legislation, rules and laws which are made for such industry. Thus, it is recommended to
enterprise to follow all legal aspects in proper manner to avoid future problems and issues which
may cause harm to organisation and leads towards negative aspects (Olson & et al., 2018).
Cause of Accident
The main cause of accident is due to lack of following of policies, legislation, standards made by
country for their business and people in effective manner. There were different contributing
factors which lead towards accidents such as lack of following standards, legislation, practices
and other. In addition to this, other factors are poor oversight, ignorance of safety of workforce,
mismanagement of different activities and operations. In context of ABC Inc, Paula who worked
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in HR department has injured her back due to improper management of wires for their printer
which made her to stick on wires and got caught in those wires in her heel which leads her to fell
down and face pain. These happened due to lack of management of wires and made open for all.
As employees worked in it and get stick on them and feel down. It is not good for organisation to
avoid such small things as these tiny things leads towards failure of business and decline brand
value and goodwill at marketplace. It is essential to consider to each and every factor in most
efficient manner and make improvement for attainment of positive results (Troth & Guest,
2020).
Housekeeping departments plays an essential role in the success of any organisation as their
work is to remove the obstacle faced by the employees so that their productivity or efficiency
won’t get hamper at all. As if employees are not satisfied with the working environment then
their motivation will get down resulting in lower performance of the company as compare to
their original potential. Role of housekeeping at ABC INC is given below,
 To attain maximum efficiency by ensuring caring and comforting of all the employees
working in the premises (Huemann, Keegan & Turner, 2018)
 To clear out any junk placed in the working premises as it will create unfavourable
environment which lowers down the productivity
 To maintain and comply with health and safety act set by the local authorities as
following them would assist them to maintain healthy working environment which turns
into a motivation factor for the employees.
All these duties and responsibilities of housekeeping employees can only be attain if
management are providing them proper equipment’s and tools to conduct their work smoothly.
As if they don’t feel proper working environment then their motivation will get lower thus
overall company would get affected in a negative way (Reiche, Harzing & Tenzer, 2018). In
context of case study given, it’s the responsibility of housekeeping department to clear the loose
wires which comes out of the printer as wires comes under high risk material as it could create
many hazardous circumstances like fire, short circuit etc. But on the other side, as the printer was
placed in the most crowded area in the office then it’s the responsibility of other employees to
contact with the housekeeping department regarding the loose wire as it is possible that they
might be working in some other floor. So overall, it can be said that employees working in the
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office and housekeeping department does not do their assigned job responsibilities which leads
to Paula got tripped in the wire and fell off.
As mentioned above, workstation environment is directly connected with employee’s
motivation and company success due to which it needs to be healthier all the time. There are few
things which needs to be marinated by management and housekeeping management to organised
workstations i.e., to clear all the unnecessary material, loose wires must be eliminated or cover
with insulator whenever departments finds out, coordination between employees and
housekeeping department must be there as then only workstations would remain organised.
Filing cabinets must be there in the working premises as all the extra material can be placed their
so that it won’t affect employees performance at all. On the other hand, if they needed then
employees could easily get it thus enhancing their working performance to a certain level
(Brewster & Hegewisch, 2017). By seeing the incidents, it did not looks like that company
follows any kind of safe work practices and procedures as loose wires incidents which
considered as hazardous or primary risk in nature which should be eliminated as soon as anyone
found it.
Supervisor is the important employees in the office who work is to monitor, manage and
amend the workplace working so that no obstacle would be faced by anyone in the office which
also includes housekeeping department as well. Besides this, there are two main responsibilities
which are held by supervisor i.e., give order and coordinates with the employees according to
their assigned work and responsible for all the work done by employees. So overall, supervisor
work is to maintain the working actions of employees and try to improve it over time so that
higher productivity would be attain in the future. Paula and other employees did not do their
responsibilities assigned to them as one of the main responsibilities all the employees held is to
maintain the working environment and coordinate with the concerned team if they are having
problem in environment. For instance, if Paula or other employees have contacted with the
housekeeping department or supervisor regarding the loose wire then who incident might be
eliminated in the first place.
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CONCLUSION
From the report, it has summarised that it is very important for organisation to follow proper
health and safety at their business so that there is no arising of critical situation which harm firm
as well as employees working in organisation. This helps them to follow all legal laws and
legislation related with employee safety to attain goal and objective in most effective manner.
Organisation has faced incident which has killed many employee and losses to business due to
lack of proper employee act and their safety. It is also important to provide recommendation to
business in terms of maintaining health safety along with following all legal laws and regulations
so that no issues would be arise. Standard has to be made for safety as well as office policy and
should be applied in organisation in proper way. These incidents are faced by organisation by
their own faults as they lack in following of safety measure, ignoring compliance and so on for
business.
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REFERENCES
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management. Oxford University Press.
Banfield, P., Kay, R., & Royles, D. (2018). Introduction to human resource management. Oxford
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Berman, E. M., Bowman, J. S., West, J. P., & Van Wart, M. R. (2019). Human resource
management in public service: Paradoxes, processes, and problems. CQ Press.
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management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield survey. Taylor & Francis.
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Shanock, L. R., Eisenberger, R., Heggestad, E. D., Malone, G., Clark, L., Dunn, A. M., ... &
Woznyj, H. (2019). Treating employees well: The value of organizational support theory
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Soltis, S. M., Brass, D. J., & Lepak, D. P. (2018). Social resource management: Integrating
social network theory and human resource management. Academy of Management
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Troth, A. C., & Guest, D. E. (2020). The case for psychology in human resource management
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Voegtlin, C., & Greenwood, M. (2016). Corporate social responsibility and human resource
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