Big business Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Big business - Term Paper Example But others were not happy with these developments and thought these companies and men had too much power and they sought to challenge them with new laws. Economic power should never be so consolidated that it eclipses the needs of the Republic. Roosevelt considered himself a progressive, and he felt that many of these new big companies, the trusts, were having a negative effect on ordinary American lives. He felt they needed new regulations and rules in order to do business more fairly. When he looked at the American economic scene, he saw workers being exploited, shoddy products being created, a lack of competition, and a sense of impunity. Not only were these things unjust in their own way, he believed they would also be economically detrimental in the longer term. He decided to challenge the Robber Barons and return power to the people. Importantly, he wasn’t going to challenge the right of someone to try to make such money or the system that produces such inequalities, but only the inequality itself. This, of course, was a delicate balancing act. There has always been a debate about how much influence the government should have over the economy. Indeed, this debate continues to this day with President Obama desiring more regulation and interference, and the Republican Party standing for freedom and less government intrusion. Then as now, it was true that too much interference would quash innovation. The longer it takes to start a business and the more oversight a business is subject to, the less innovative and profitable it will be. The higher the taxes a business must pay, the less profitable it will be. Government regulation can destroy businesses. However, Roosevelt didn't see it that way. He saw monopolies and trusts sprouting up everywhere, killing competition (Dalton, 204). He felt some minimum standards of regulation were required to prevent business from taking over government and exploiting people merely to increase the profit margin. What r esulted from Roosevelt's desire to regulate American business and show them who was in charge? Three main pieces of legislation were rammed through Congress. Each has had a major influence on American life ever since. The first major change was to create the Department of Commerce which would oversee business and trade in the country. Roosevelt felt that there was not enough control wielded by the government over business and that business was free to influence any member of government. Creating a central department to deal with all of these issues would free him and other leaders to deal with other matters. Around the time Roosevelt was considering all of these issues, a writer by the name of Upton Sinclair wrote a book about meat production in the U.S. that illustrated the low quality of the food product and the manner in which it was disgustingly adulterated. The Jungle was actually intended as a claim for socialism, but it became a rallying cry for food safety and regulation. Th is book caused an uproar. Roosevelt was not convinced of its conclusions so he sent his own men to do an inspection of a number of factories. What they found appalled him. The quality of the meat and the conditions in the factories were unacceptable. He stood tall and passed an Act to ensure higher standards. The nineteenth century saw a significant increase in the sale of pharmaceuticals. But like food, they were often impure or mislabeled. These drugs could be

Construction Health and Safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Construction Health and Safety - Essay Example Otherwise, any designer who may be engaged by a domestic client is obliged to comply with the rules. Construction works refer to construction alteration, upkeep, repair and maintenance, commissioning, renovation, decommissioning, redecoration, fitting-out, demolition or dismantling. It also includes site preparation, exploration and surveys. Failure to comply with the code is treated as evidence of breach of health and safety legislation by a court of law. The regulations cover the responsibilities of clients, the roles of principal contractors and sub-contractors, the roles of designers and planning supervisors (Griffiths and Griffiths, 2011). The CDM regulations help in the improvement of health and safety in construction industries. When these regulations are followed to the letter, a significant improvement is observed. Then, they ensure that the construction involves the right people at the right time. Risk management is done on time to reduce its vulnerability and possibility o f occurrence. The construction team is also able to focus on effective planning and practical management of risks. Every one in the controlling site work is charged with responsibilities of ensuring that work conditions are healthy and safe before work commences. They also ensure that the work to be done will not expose others into risk. The CDM 2007 places all those involved in construction work with legal duties commonly called duty holders. generally, the CDM regulations is aimed at facilitating, and enhancing the overall management and coordination of health, safety and welfare in the entire process of a construction project to reduce the rate of injuries and serious accidents that occur in the construction industry (Kogan Page Ltd, 2012). The Designers Response These are organisations or persons involved in preparing designs which involves drawing, designing detail, preparing specifications, creating bills of quantities, specifying articles and substances, analysing, calculatin g and preparing for the construction work. Designers include architects, structural engineers, building surveyors, mechanical and electronic engineers. The responses on whether the designers’ duties are appropriate, reasonable and proportionate attracted various responses. Recommendations stated that there should be more guidance in the regulations on a risk management hierarchy since they are under considerable economic pressure from clients to reduce the costs. Education was the key to improving designer understanding, especially on risk assessment issues, availability of funds for training on new designer principles in companies struggling to survive (Murdoch and Hughes, 2007). Half of the accidents could be avoided through better understanding of the relationship between design and construction. The duties however need to be more prescriptive to make them easier to follow. There should be also some responsibility on others who impact the design of the works like local pla nning departments and local authorities. Greater clarification is required on the definition of design work. Again, the designers need to start a project work after a coordinator has been appointed (Ramsey, 2007). The Resident Owner or Facilities Manager Response Facilities managers have been the main