This individual assignment requires students to analyze an ethics case based upon the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) framework.

Is It Wrong To Be Right? Confronting Alcoholism On The Job

Leon felt a headache coming on. Ironically, he wanted to stop thinking and just have a beer. Recent events, however, made him decide that probably wasn’t the best strategy to solve his problem or the best coping mechanism. Leon just didn’t know what to do about his mentor and friend Ralph’s on-the-job alcoholism. Here he was, barely out of school, and nobody else seemed concerned about what was going on. But Leon remembered a course he had taken in occupational health and safety and he remembered hearing about people being hurt and even dying on the job. He didn’t want Ralph and his other coworkers to hate him, but Leon didn’t want him to become another statistic either. What could he do? He thought back to how it had all started.

Getting a Job and a Mentor

Leon had spent a year and a half sitting in the back of university lectures daydreaming, surfing the internet and doing pretty much anything other than actually paying attention. He didn’t see the point of it all, in fact the only reason he decided to go to university after high school was because that was what all of his friends were doing. What he really wanted was to start working so that he could finally move out of his parent’s house and become independent. So after the first semester of his second year, Leon decided that he was done with school and he was going to instead start looking for a full time job.

After a couple months of unsuccessful searching, Leon had started to become pretty dejected. It was at this time that his mother suggested that Leon contact a family friend who owned a local printing company. John, the owner of Precise Printing, had been an old friend of Leon’s mom and had always been very nice to Leon. Although he didn’t like the idea of going to John and asking him for a job, Leon had become pretty desperate at that point, so he swallowed his pride and called him. The phone call went great and John told Leon that he was looking for someone to operate one of the machines in the shop and that if he was interested he should come in the next day to meet Gary, the plant manager. Leon thanked John and told him that he wouldn’t regret his decision. When Leon showed up at Precise the next day Gary met him at the receptionist’s desk and gave him a tour of the shop. By the time the tour ended they were at the cutting machine, this was where Leon was going to be working. Gary quickly introduced Leon to Ralph, the operator who would be training him and then told Leon he had a meeting to go to and that if he needed anything to come see him in his office.

The cutter was an enormous industrial sized machine used for cutting large amounts of paper down to various sizes so that it could be moved to other machines down the production line. One of the first things Ralph warned Leon about was how seriously he could hurt himself if he was not paying attention. It had a pneumatic clamp that could crush your hand and a large blade that could slice through bone. After hearing that Leon was well aware that he would have to pay serious attention to what he was doing when he was operating the machine.

A Rough Beginning

After only one week of training Ralph went on vacation, leaving Leon as the sole cutter operator for the next two weeks. Those two weeks went about as badly as possible for Leon. He was making a lot of mistakes and because everything he cut had to meet precise requirements for operators further along the production line, he was creating a lot of problems for his co-workers operating the other machines. Leon already felt as though his co-workers didn’t like him. He had overheard some of them talking about how he only got his job because of his family connection to John and that if he couldn’t carry his weight they were going to go to Gary and petition to get him fired. The only person who stood up for Leon in the entire shop was Ralph. He understood that Leon probably wouldn’t be ready and shouldn’t have been left on his own after only one week of training and he told the other guys to go easy on him. After all, the majority of the people working at Precise were in the middle to late forties and had been working in the printing industry for nearly half their lives. Ralph told them to think about themselves back when they first started and how overwhelmed they probably felt. Ralph reassured Leon that once he proved that he could do the job all the guys would start to cut him some slack and be more accepting.

As time went on Leon started to get better and better at his job and just like Ralph said everyone started to become much friendlier. After a few months Leon was fitting in quite well and even went out for drinks with his co-workers on occasion. They would tell stories about what they were like when they were Leon’s age and what the printing industry used to be like. For a lot of them, their stories revolved around long nights full of drinking and partying, which was something that Leon could relate to. Ralph in particular had some outrageous stories about when he was young, with most of them ending with him getting tossed in the drunk tank.

Warning Signs Emerge

It was amazing how long many Leon’s co-workers had known each other; they had all worked together at one shop or another over the years. Ralph would always bring up stories about a shop that he and Gary had worked at when they were in their early twenties. He would talk about how they used to shut down the machines early every Friday and all the guys in the shop, managers included, would start throwing back beers. Ralph always said that was the best place he ever worked at and that if it were up to him we’d be doing the same every Friday at Precise.

Over the next few months Leon started to learn more about Ralph’s history. He had been married, but it ended in a messy divorce and he had a son who lived with his ex-wife that he only saw a few times a year. Ralph would say that it was his wild partying had caused his marriage to fail and that he had regrets about his relationship with his son. Leon came to realize that Ralph’s drinking went beyond social settings and was a large part of Ralph’s life. Ralph would always say that his drinking would only be a problem if it interfered with his work. Ralph took a lot of pride in his work and Leon truly believed that his job was the only thing keeping Ralph from drinking even more heavily.

Precise was getting busier and to accommodate all the work that was coming in Gary told everyone that the shop was going to start operating twenty four hours a day and that shifts would have to be scheduled to fit the new production plan. Since there were three cutter operators the shifts became 6:00am-2:00pm, 2:00pm-10:00pm, and 10:00pm-6:00am. Gary asked if there were any volunteers to work the overnight shift and Ralph jumped at the opportunity, while Leon took the 2:00pm-10:00pm shift and the other operator took the 6:00am-2:00pm shift. Leon was disappointed that he wouldn’t be working directly with his friend Ralph anymore, but he was relieved that he wasn’t the one who was going to have to work nights. Besides he knew that he would still see him when their shifts changed over.

The Realization

It was late November and everyone at Precise was working overtime to keep up with the increase in work. The end of the year was always a busy time because there was an influx of printing from all of next year’s calendar jobs coming through. Leon started working ten to twelve hour days and was reunited with his friend Ralph. The first night Leon noticed some strange behavior from Ralph. He told Leon that he was going to go for a smoke and ended up being gone for nearly an hour. When he came back Leon joked that he must have smoked the whole pack and at first Ralph didn’t seem to get it but then he quickly caught on and laughed. The next night the same thing happened and a puzzled Leon went to talk to one of the printing press operators to see if he knew where Ralph was going for such long periods of time. The operator told Leon that he didn’t really know but if he had to guess he was probably walking to the beer vendor. At first Leon thought this was a joke but over the course of the next few days he realized through observation that it was actually the truth. Ralph had been drinking on the job.

Leon couldn’t believe it. Ralph was walking over to a nearby hotel that sold beer and would buy a six pack and drink it in his car. Sometimes he even brought alcohol into the shop disguised in cola cans. He had always known that Ralph had issues with alcohol but he would have never thought that he would bring those problems into work with him. Leon knew how much Ralph cared about his job so it was confusing for him that he would jeopardize it with such reckless actions.

Leon decided he needed to talk to Ralph but he had no idea how to go about doing it. He didn’t want to sound judgmental but at the same time he wanted to let Ralph know how serious this was. Ralph could end up hurting himself or someone else. He was driving the forklift around the shop, what if he hit somebody? The cutter itself was dangerous enough, how could Ralph safely operate it with his judgment impaired by alcohol? Leon had hurt himself twice using it and that was with a clear mind and the reaction time of a person more than twenty years younger than Ralph. When Leon finally went to Ralph and asked him about it he laughed it off. He told Leon that he had been working on a cutter for twenty-five years and that the machines today were built in such a way that it was impossible to hurt yourself. When Leon brought up the fact that he had twice hurt himself on the machine Ralph blamed it on inexperience. The conversation ended with Ralph saying that Leon shouldn’t worry about it, that he was a grown man who could handle himself, and even if it did, he would only be hurting himself.

Seeking Support – But For Whom?

Leon was at a loss. He couldn’t believe that Ralph actually thought that drinking on the job was okay. Leon decided that he would go talk to some of the other guys working nights and see what their thoughts on it were. Again to Leon’s surprise almost every one of them gave him a similar response, that Ralph could make his own decisions and that if he decided that he was going to drink at work then he would be ready to accept the consequences if anything bad happened. Besides nothing bad had happened and until he did something that negatively impacted any of them they could care less what he did.

Leon felt uneasy, to him Ralph drinking on the job was wrong but everyone else seemed to think that it was okay as long as nothing bad happened. How could Leon convince Ralph that what he was doing was wrong if no one else seemed to care about it? Leon had only been working at Precise for just over eight months; did he really have the authority to tell Ralph what to do? That said, he seemed to remember from his occupational health and safety course that employees had to report unsafe acts. So why was nobody else reporting them? He thought about telling Gary about it, but then what would happen to Ralph? He didn’t want his friend to get fired and what if Gary already knew? Ralph and Gary had known each other for nearly twenty years so Leon thought that Gary probably knows about Ralph’s drinking problem. Maybe he knew by putting Ralph on overnights that this could end up happening. Leon was fairly certain that if he told Gary about Ralph’s drinking on the job that Ralph would inevitably figure out that it was Leon who reported him. How would that affect the close friendship Ralph and Leon had developed? Would Ralph try to turn everyone else in the shop against Leon? Then Leon thought about John and how he told him he wouldn’t regret giving him this chance. Leon knew he would be letting John down if he did nothing to stop Ralph’s drinking as it would cost the company money if jobs started to get screwed up because Ralph started making mistakes. And what if Ralph injured himself while he was intoxicated? Leon knew that this would have severe damaging ramification for Precise Printing, and on multiple dimensions. All of these thoughts went through Leon’s head. He wanted to make a decision that would limit the damage for everyone; but he knew that no matter what he did there would be negative consequences for somebody.

Appendix A: Occupational Health and Safety Acts in Canada

This appendix outlines the rights and responsibilities of employees, supervisors, and employers across all provincial and territorial versions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OH&S) in Canada. All appendix material found below is directly quoted from the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) website, published by the Government of Canada and accessed June 17, 2018. https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/legisl/responsi.html

Employees’ responsibilities include the following:

Work in compliance with OH&S acts and regulations.
Use personal protective equipment and clothing as directed by the employer.
Report workplace hazards and dangers to the supervisor or employer.
Work in a safe manner as required by the employer and use the prescribed safety equipment.
Tell the supervisor or employer about any missing or defective equipment or protective device that may be dangerous.

Employees have the following three basic rights:

Right to refuse unsafe work.
Right to participate in the workplace health and safety activities through the Health and Safety Committee (HSC) or as a worker health and safety representative.
Right to know, or the right to be informed about, actual and potential dangers in the workplace.

The manager or supervisor must:

Make sure workers work in compliance with OH&S acts and regulations.
Make sure that workers use prescribed protective equipment devices.
Advise workers of potential and actual hazards.
Provide workers with written instructions as to the measures and procedures to be taken for protection of the worker.
Take every reasonable precaution in the circumstances for the protection of workers.

Managers and supervisors act on behalf of the employer, and hence have the responsibility to meet the duties of the employer as specified in the Act for the work they (the managers and supervisors) direct.

An employer must:

Establish and maintain a health and safety committee, or cause workers to select at least one health and safety representative.
Take every reasonable precaution to ensure the workplace is safe.
Train employees about any potential hazards and in how to safely use, handle, store and dispose of hazardous substances and how to handle emergencies.
Supply personal protective equipment and ensure workers know how to use and handle the equipment safely and properly.
Immediately report all critical injuries to the government department responsible for OH&S.
Appoint a competent supervisor who sets the standards for performance, and who ensures safe working conditions are always observed.

QUESTIONS

Identify the relevant stakeholders and what they have to lose or gain based upon Leon’s decision/actions.

What are the main arguments that Leon is trying to counter? In other words, what are the reasons and rationalizations for not saying anything and allowing Ralph’s use of alcohol to continue unabated?

Looking beyond individual stakeholders, is there anything about the overall company culture that might inhibit or encourage the reporting of Ralph’s alcohol use? If so, what is it and why does it influence reporting? (BE BRIEF! I am only expecting about a paragraph here.)

What Giving Voice to Values levers and arguments can Leon use to counter the individual reasons and rationalizations identified above?

What Giving Voice to Values levers and arguments can Leon use to argue that a change to a more safety oriented culture is needed?

What would be an appropriate employer response to Ralph’s intoxication at work? Take into account his individual situation, his personal circumstances, and his work history when answering.

What would an appropriate policy-level (not individual) response to this situation be? Put another way, should this employer have a substance abuse policy and if so, what should it be?