Working conditions at Walmart

Wal-Mart

It is likely that the most dangerous jobs at Wal-Mart are in the company's warehouses and shipping centers. Jobs of this nature would involve stacking pallets and other heavy lifting with equipment. The company appears to do a good job in protecting these workers. One of its distribution plants received commendation from OSHA with respect to its workplace safety program (Wal-Mart, 2008), so there is anecdotal evidence that Wal-Mart takes safety procedures in its warehouse and shipping facilities seriously. Where Wal-Mart appears to struggle more is with respect to safety standards at its suppliers and with other aspects of worker's rights. The risks associated with the company's warehousing activities are acceptable and reasonable. They are consistent with the risks associated with this work at other companies -- the job's risks are inherent. Indeed, Wal-Mart's cross docking policy means that goods are handled with less frequency by its workers, thereby reducing overall risk.

The OSH Act of 1970 defines the general duty of employers with respect to providing a safe workplace as furnishing "a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm." This frames occupational safety in terms of the ability of the organization to reasonably predict and prevent incidents involving its workers. An example of how this is interpreted and tested comes from the Wal-Mart trampling case, where the company and OSHA disagree over the core of the understanding of the nature of workplace safety. In the case, OSHA finds that trampling by a mob is a recognized and preventable risk; Wal-Mart disagrees (Craig, 2010).

The OSH Act and its application represent a primarily deontological approach to workplace safety. The rules that are defined and enforced by OSHA highlight the agency's objective of protecting all workers. The agency's view of the Wal-Mart trampling highlights that it takes an uncompromising attitude -- clearly trampling by mobs is an extreme, rare and isolated event in the normal course of Wal-Mart's business. Thousands of Wal-Mart stores are opened every day and there are no tramplings involved. But OSHA takes the view that workplace fatalities are unacceptable, even once, and this colors its application of the concept of workplace safety.

Wal-Mart's view of this incident illustrates a more utilitarian approach. Whatever safety procedures OSHA wants to see at the company's stores are likely to be costly. In addition, other retailers would thereby face the same conditions as Wal-Mart. The cost to business will run into the tens or even hundreds of millions, despite the absolute lack of risk faced by the tens of thousands of employees opening stores across America each morning. The utilitarian approach clearly sees that incident as isolated and unpredictable, and something that is not part of the daily risk to Wal-Mart workers. As such, expenditure on safety measures would be detrimental to the company and to the economy as a whole. The negative impacts are known and from Wal-Mart's perspective outweigh the benefits afforded by implement OSHA's preferred protections.