Quiz 6

Critics in both industry and government argue that OSHA should aim to achieve the optimal, rather than highest feasible, level of safety. Which of the following can be used to achieve this goal?

Cost-benefit analysis

Some employers emphasize the rights and duties of all employees and treat employees well simply because "it is the right thing to do." Identify the ethical approach for this perspective.

Deontological ethics

Identify a true statement about health and safety at a workplace.

Health and safety are "goods" that are valued both as a means for attaining other valuable ends and as ends in themselves.

When can we conclude that an activity has an "acceptable level of risk?"

If it can be determined that the probability of harm involved in a specific work activity is equal to or less than the probability of harm of some more common activity.

If the risks in a workplace have been reduced to the lowest feasible level and employees are fully aware of them, then a society that respects its citizens as autonomous decision makers has done its duty.

True

Philosophically, the right of _____ is the right to be protected against the arbitrary use of authority.

due process

The doctrine of _____ holds that, unless an agreement specifies otherwise, employers are free to fire an employee at any time and for any reason.

employment at will

The life of one who dies in a workplace accident has _____ value that can be measured, in part, by the lost wages that would have been earned had that person lived.

instrumental

Which of the following is a distinguishing feature between cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness?

Cost-benefit analysis treats health and safety merely as an instrumental value and denies its intrinsic value.

A true statement about the market controlled approach to health and safety is that in this approach:

This approach can support compensation to injured workers when it can be shown that employers were responsible for causing the harm.

"Relative risks" are determined by comparing the probabilities of harm involved in various activities.

True

The doctrine of "employment at will"(EAW) holds that, unless an agreement specifies otherwise, employers are free to fire an employee at any time and for any reason.

True

The life of one who dies in a workplace accident has instrumental value that can be measured, in part, by the lost wages that would have been earned had that person lived.

True

In the context of government-regulated ethics approach to health and safety, a true statement about government standards is that:

they prevent employees from having to face the fundamentally coercive choice between job and safety.

Discussions in ethics about employee health and safety tend to focus on the relative risks workers face and the level of acceptable workplace risk because:

employers cannot be responsible for providing an ideally safe and healthy workplace.

Some employers might decide to treat employees well as a means to produce greater workplace harmony and productivity. This approach is reminiscent of _____ ethics.

utilitarian

Which of the following is true of "bullying" in the workplace?

Bullying can involve a boss who is constantly yelling dictates at workers because that is his job.

Companies that place employees at the core of their strategies produce lower long-term returns to shareholders than do industry peers.

False

Employees have a universal right to a "happy" workplace.

False

In legal contexts, due process is the right to be protected against the arbitrary use of authority.

False

Rewards and compensation structures have no impact on the emotions of workers.

False

Identify the doctrine which holds that employers are free to fire an employee at any time and for any reason unless an agreement specifies otherwise.

The doctrine of employment at will

Even if private property rights grant managers authority over employees, the right of private property itself is limited by other rights and duties.

True

In the context of downsizing in an organization, allowing a worker to remain in a position for a period of time after she or he has been informed of impending termination might not be the best course of action. Identify a supporting argument for this statement.

Workers are less likely to interpret early notice as an effort to allow them time to come to grips with the loss of their jobs.