Mandatory drug testing

The majority of employers have adopted mandatory random drug testing on their employees, arguing that the enormous damage caused by the pervasive use of drugs in our society carries over into the workplace. Typically the tests involve taking urine or blood samples under close observation, thereby raising questions about personal privacy as well as privacy issues regarding drug use away from the workplace that is revealed by the tests.

Present & defend your view concerning mandatory drug tests at the workplace.

In your answer, take account of the argument that, except where safety is a clear & present danger, as in the work of pilots, police & the military, such tests are unjustified. Employera have a right to the level of performance for which they pay employees, a level typically specified in contracts & job descriptions. When a particular employee fails to meet that level of performance, then employers will take appropriate disciplinary action based on observable behaviour. Either way, it is employee performance that is relevant in evaluating employees, not drug use per se.

What do you think?

Over the years, I have met and had the pleasure of knowing people who are basically drug addicts. Most of the times they didn't even show up when we were close to each other and gathered with our friends, especially as they choose that time to gather and dope and not answer their parents phone calls. Guess who gets to cover that family issue when they can't reach them plus rearranging a story to tell them they are asleep or they are studying or whatsoever ? Yes,  it was always me since I had the most clear reputation in front of their parents. You get old really fast. Another aspect is that drug users, even if they do show up for attending classes or work, well, they are likely to be either high or hung over. This can create safety issues.

Here's two examples: a guy I knew who was a pot smoker, well, he managed to put his hand into a running meat grinder. He lost 3 fingers while he was studying abroad and away from his family. Another girl I used to study with cut off a third of one finger using a meat slicer.

People who are high or hung over do not pay attention to details. This may mean that they go to mop the floor in a grocery store for instance, but neglect to put out the 'Caution - Wet Floor' signs. Then, if a customer slips and falls due to the wet floor with no warning signs, the customer can sue the store, and will likely win the lawsuit. (Although the customer may need a hip replacement or hip surgery or back surgery, yet even that probably would be covered by the lawsuit.)

It's a tricky question.
Should I allow my employees if I am the employer to get high on their off hours?
That is indeed their free time, and I have no right to tell them what to do in their off hours.
Yet, as a employer, I cannot have lawsuits based on drugged out employees.

Overall, as an employer, I have every right to have a drug-testing policy for my employees, mainly to reduce the chances of the aforementioned outcomes due to employees who might be drug users.  Drug testing saves lives, That's the bottom line.

Case Study 1

2006 Luluat Al Khair Hotel building collapse

 

 

Introduction:

On 5 January 2006 a 5-storey Hotel collapsed in Mecca just 60 meters away from the walls of Masjid Al Haram or the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest city, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Casualties: 76 dead, 62 injured. The disaster marred the start of the annual gathering of millions of Muslims for the hajj pilgrimage in that year. The massive gathering suffered several tragedies in the past 20 years despite the Saudi effort to organize and accommodate more than 2 million people who descend on Mecca every year to perform the Hajj which is an obligation for every Muslim who is physically and financially able to fulfil at least once in a lifetime.

 

 

 

 

Overview:

The building that collapsed contained shops, restaurants and is used as a hotel during pilgrimages; the building base was surrounded by market stalls as well as the path towards the Grand Mosque. Prior to the collapse a fire was witnessed spreading on the ground floor; the fire alarm was on and sprinklers were in operation. Fortunately, the building wasn’t full because most of the residents were in the holy shrine at that time. Nevertheless, most of the casualties were from the passers-by near the building. United Arab Emirates state news agency WAM said four of its citizens had been killed, and according to Islam, anyone who dies on the way to or during the hajj is a martyr (Allah’s will).

 

 

 

Ethical issues:

a)   Engineering: After a lengthy and through investigation, it has been shown that the building, which was constructed 50 years ago where the majority of contractors at that time were not professional in the real sense of architecture, and they were not bound to any professional ethics or code of conduct. They have used traditional methods, therefore, the building collapsed because of its ageing structure and ill-designed annex.

 

b)  Administrative: an investigation committee was formed after the incident where it examined all buildings housing pilgrims and ensured they are safe.

 

c)   National politics: Habib Turkestani, the Saudi owner and the operator of the hotel kept on insisting that the structure was safe; and related the incident to the matter of fate and divine decree. Therefore, the Saudi Government proposed public clarification, placing emphasis on how building disasters could be prevented rather than managing situations which might be costlier in order to identify the safety standard to all of the building owners, where nothing was released to the media whether an action was taken against Turkestani by that time or not.

 

d)  Shop owners: many of the market sellers around the hotel lost their shops and under orders from the minister of Interior, back at that time, Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz “may peace be upon him” they were provided with a financial assistance until they get settled with brand new shops at other locations around the Grand Mosque as well.

 

e)  Building inspectors: the built environment, in any country, determines the nature and pace of national development. Inspectors should always bear in mind that accommodation is one of the basic needs of human kind, and based on that, the governor of Mecca revoked all the licenses given before the collapse and ordered a re-evaluation from the building inspectors of all buildings.

 

f)    General pilgrims: the number of pilgrims that descend on Mecca each year has increased in the past 8 years; during that time, the Saudi government spent billions of dollars to improve the accommodation, transportation and medical facilities in order to ensure the safety of the millions of the faithful who arrive for hajj each year.

 

 

Conclusion:

 

After the lengthy and through investigation, the government of Saudi Arabia stated that the responsibility for the incident lay on the shoulders of the first tenant, the architectural department, the ministry of commerce and industry’s branch in Mecca and the general secretariat in the city. The investigation committee that was formed after the incident took the case in addition to the public prosecution in order to examine the allegations filed against employees of the ministry of commerce and industry in Mecca and the general secretariat in the city.


References:

1. Mecca Hotel Collapse Kills Hajj Pilgrims." Review. The Guardian [London] n.d.: n. pag. Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 05 Jan. 2006. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
2. Pilgrim Hostel Collapses in Mecca." BBC News. BBC, 05 Jan. 2006. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
3. Rescuers Search in Rubble of Mecca Building." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 6 Jan. 2006. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
4. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Ministry of Hajj. Hajj Ministry Portal. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
5. Adnan, Hamimah, Norfashiha Hashim, Norazian Mohd, Norizan Ahmad, and Yusuwan. Ethical Issues in the Construction Industry: Contractor's Perspective. Rep. Universiti Teknologi MARA, 9 Apr. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
6. Curry, David. "Saudi Arabia MOH Issues." Global Vaccine Ethics and Policy. Center of Vaccine Ethics and Policy, 28 July 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

Human rights

The American Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The core of the American Declaration of Independence circled around some ideas of great thinkers from the Explanation Era. One of these ideas suggested that all men are created equal by the Lord Almighty and every single person had the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  those slaves were denied their rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness while being torn away from their homelands and brought to a whole different place where they were not familiar to any of the aspects of the society. Moreover they were tortured by their white masters and were treated like objects and not human beings. Considering all these facts about slavery, the American Declaration of Independence sounded like a ridiculous irony that they kept making fun of which doesn’t represent the real comprehension of equality. It was quite an ironic declaration if one cared to relate these words by Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg address (November 1864) ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ to the social and political mechanism of the American colonies.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

"Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains" That was the first sentence of Rousseau's "The Social Contract."

This was the concept of ‘the noble savage’.

Thomas Hobbes:

"In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently, not culture of the earth, no navigation, nor the use of commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building, no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

Design, production & ethical issues

Aluminium cans

Approximately 1 billion are produced in the USA each year. The first can was designed in 1958 by Kaiser Aluminium. This metal proved ideal as it was a lightweight, flexible material that allowed manufacturing of the bottom & sides of the can from a single sheet, leaving the top to be added after the can was filled.

The first cans were opened with a separate opener but this was inconvenient so Ermal Fraze designed a small lever attached to the can which was removed as the can was opened.

The design was workable but after a while it created an ethical dilemma:

First of all it was a human problem because discarded drink tabs were a health hazard, despite what has been going around over half a century; the recycling of used aluminium cans has been the driving force in the growth of the aluminium sector world-wide.

So in 1976 Daniel F. Cudzik invented a simple, stay-attached opener of the sort familiar today.

As improvements were made in the design & production of aluminium cans, various ethical problems arose concerning:

a. Human safety: Millions of pounds of aluminium are used in producing aluminium cans; they are melted and cast safely in the industry at their specific foundries all over the world. However, there are inherent hazards in virtually every activity. These hazards can be minimized or eliminated by careful attention to safe handling practices.

b. Environmental pollution: Each ton of alluminum cans requires 5 tons of bautxite ore to be crushed, washed, and produced as an alumina product; this process itself is considered as a threat in terms of enviromental pollution since it creates about 5 tons of caustic red mud residues which can seep into surface and ground water.

c. Convenience: Few beverage can technologies of the past decade have made as big a splash as have aluminium cans. Yet another convenience technology,  aluminium cans have helped the aluminum beverage industry regain some of the ground lost to the rise in popularity of polyethylene cans.

d. Money: Aluminium cans are the only container permitted in a couple of Asian countries such as Himalayas, Nepal because they are light and easy to crush. The local people who collect used aluminium cans also earn money from recycling the cans.

 

Ethical Issues; Hiroshima and Nagasaki dilemma

Was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the right thing to do?

I believe World war 2 was the wrong thing to do for everyone involved in it. Having said that, I believe all bets were off in so far as what any of the parties did once it was going.

The Japanese chose to invade China, rape Shanghai and Nanking, bomb Pearl Harbor, to refuse to surrender when they were given a chance with regards to the bomb being dropped. Those choices were made by the Japanese.

At any point that war could have stopped in the Pacific if the Japanese had chosen to end it.

Meanwhile, the United States was acting and making choices, largely in response to choices made by the Japanese. Each side was acting in what it believed were the best interests of the populations or governments in each country. Neither was considering the best interests of the opposing side. It would be dishonest and unreasonable to expect them to.

The Japanese made the decision to have two bombs dropped on cities it controlled. It didn't have to happen. They could have chosen otherwise. The choice rests firmly on the government of Japan.

To suggest the United States had an obligation to lose a single soldier more than it would have otherwise to obtain a choice from Japan to end the war is contradictory to the entire concept of the times and the situation and has nothing to do with ethics, morals, anything but strategy and tactics with the object of squeezing a specific, narrow choice out of Japan and the leaders the Japanese had chosen to follow in their choices.

Furthermore, every population of every country lives with the consequences of decisions made by the governments of those countries.

 

References:-

1.       Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Www.crisismagazine.com. Terry Hall, n.d. Web.

Ethical Issues

Ethics is the application of morality within a context established by cultural and professional values, social tradition, and accepted standards of behavior.

• Morality refers to values subscribed to and promoted by society in general and individuals within society.

• Ethical behavior is that which falls within the limits prescribed by morality.

• Ethical questions are rarely black and white, but typically fall into a gray area between the extremes of right and wrong. (Personal experience, self-interest, point of view, and external pressure often cloud this gray area further.)

THIS FOLDEDMIND (Mind Map #33: [Gray Area])

 

 

 

 

 

 



Do Gray Areas exist in our lives ?

Do we mean Gray Areas as far as unclear situations? By way of ignorance, sure. Most everything we do or say is a matter of estimation or theory. However if you mean Gray Areas as it is related to moral/ethical questions, as to how one should live or what one should do I'd have to say no.

If we are about to accept the idea that there are gray areas of life then it stands to reason that by  the requirement of comparison alone there must be White and Black areas. In principle 100% correct choices or responses and 100% incorrect.

If there is in fact a correct course of action, in any situation, then the principle of "being correct" must have some inherent value or form universally.

If there is a universal "correctness" then there can be no "Gray" areas as it pertains to living one's life as everything done can either be seen to support or not-support what is correct.

If an action seemed not to affect living correctly or acting correctly in one way or the other, completely uncertain, to commit that action is allowing yourself to be used for a purpose other than what you should do.

Of course it's not reasonable for any man to believe he knows what he should or should not do at a given point, to have that knowledge would approach the area of uncertainty but still the ideal decision is set.

What I am trying to say is, whenever you accept anything as having definite values or qualities then an immediate contradiction is created. All things with said value on one side and all things without on the other.

 

References :

1. "Ethics." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
2. N.p., n.d. Web