Learning Agreement Essay

Instructions: * There are 4 parts to a Learning Agreement. You must remember to complete every section since marks will be awarded for each section. Sections in a Learning Agreement Remarks Marks Allocated Objective(s) This is where you determine ‘What’ you want to learn from a particular department 15% Strategies The ‘Strategies’ is where you determine ‘How’ you are going to achieve your objective(s) or ‘where’ you are going to get the information required to fulfill your learning. 15% Assessor Comments You will have to submit this to your Manager(s) for their comments and signature & company stamp. (When submitting this to your manager(s), you need not show them the Students Reflections, just your objectives and strategies) 5% Student Reflections This is where you develop a report on your objective(s) – this is where you can also develop the learning outcomes. 65% * No part of this report may be reproduced, in any form or by any means. Work submitted based on any of the examples may be awarded no marks. AN EXAMPLE OF A LEARNING AGREEMENT Student Name : X Placement : Human Resource Department Assessor : Ms A Subject Area : Health and Safety Objective To learn and observe the health and safety regulation used in R Company for its employees Strategies for achieving the objective * Discuss with the Human Resource Manager regarding the safety procedures provided by R Company * Tour around the office to observe any hazardous condition and safety procedures implemented in R Company * Discuss with the staff on their opinion about safety in R Company Target date of completion : Y Verification by Assessor and Comments [This is where you get your Manager/Assessor to comment about your performance in the area identified above and get him/her to sign (& stamped).] Signature & Stamp _________________________________________________________ Student’s Reflections [This is where you write in detail about your objectives.] It is important that any company to provide a safe workplace for its employees. For many companies, safety is considered to be a very minor issue, but if one were to look at it closely, it plays a very important role to ensure a safe working environment. This is because a minor negligence in safety could lead to a major disaster. R Company being a company dealing with both local and foreign customers has to always take the effort to ensure that they provide safe and secure services to its customers. It is also necessary to provide enough safety for the employees working there. In my observation on the working condition in R Company, the safety here is awfully neglected. From my personally experience, I had injured my toe more than twice during my 5 months there. This is because all the files are allocated on the floor and due to the small walking space, it is easy for anyone to kick the files and causing injury. The first reason why the files are placed on the floor is because lack of space in the file cabinets. The second reason is because of the staff themselves, they place the files that they need on the floor around the desk. A condition such as this is hazardous to the employees because it will reduce that maneuverability in the company. The staff will have difficulty walking around and might injure themselves because of the files being placed on the floor. If in any case where there is fire, the employees will tend to rush out of the office. With the files placed on the floor, someone might trip and fall. Due to the rushing of all the employees, the victim might suffer major injuries and probably death. It is always important to keep all walk space clear of any obstacle and is wide enough for people to walk safely. This is to ensure that nobody would get trip and injure themselves while working or in an emergency case. The other thing that I observed in both branches of R Company in M City and N City is that they do not have a fire exit. The fire exit of N City branch is locked and blocked with boxes of old documents and brochures. I also noticed that they do not even have any fire extinguisher placed in the office. This shows that there are no proper safety procedures for the staff when there is an emergency situation. Fire escape routes are also not set and displayed in the office. Without these safety items in the office, it can be hazardous when there is a fire situation. The employees there do not know how to react during a fire, how to vacate the building during a fire and the knowledge of any fire fighting equipment placed in the premises. When I interviewed the Human Resource Manager regarding the practice of safety for the employees, I was shocked when he told me that this issue was never discussed. This is very disappointing because I believe many companies fail to see the importance to practice a safe workplace and concern about the welfare of its employees. Even though an emergency situation is unlikely to happen in a commercial office, it is very important that the staff know what to do when an emergency situation occurs. Firstly, it is important that the staff know how to react during a fire situation. This is because a fire accident could happen anytime without warning, therefore it is better to be prepared when it does happen. To be prepared for this, the fire escape route must be cleared. The management of the company should set up and display the emergency escape route all over the office. With this information displayed, the staff would know where to go during an emergency situation. The fire escape routes should also be cleared of any obstacles. This is to ensure an easy escape path and there are no difficulties using it. The office should also be equipped with fire extinguishers to combat any fire situations. This is because in most cases, a fire disaster can be avoided if it is dealt with immediately. With fire extinguishers placed around the office, a minor fire can be attended to before it gets out of hand. I noticed that in R Company there is no fire alarm system. It is important to install a fire alarm system to alert the staff in case of a fire situation because it could take just a few minutes for any fire to consume the whole building. Therefore it is best that all the employees are notified immediately by the fire alarm and able to vacate the premises as soon as possible. When all the facilities and procedures installed to combat a fire situation, it is also necessary to educate the employees on how to use them. A safety committee should be set up to continuously educate the employees on safety and how to react during an emergency situation. The committee is responsible to provide education to the employees on how to use the fire extinguisher, identify the different types of fire extinguishers available and which one is best to use in each type of fire cause. The committee can also conduct frequent audit of the workplace to ensure that all fire escape routes are not blocked and all fire extinguishers are easily accessible. By conducting audits, it is also possible to identify any fire hazard in the company and action could be taken before it turns into a disaster. R Company should also hold a fire drill twice a year to make sure that all employees know what to do if the fire alarm goes off. This is to avoid a panic situation which could cost lives. When the staff are educated with fire drills, they would know the correct procedure on how to vacate the building in an organized manner. The company should also provide training for a certain number of staff in First Aid. This is because if there is any accident that occurs in the workplace, the victim could be attended to immediately while waiting for the arrival of the ambulance. This is vital because in many cases, lives were lost because no immediate attention was given to them. This committee should also work closely with the fire department to learn any latest information regarding safety. They should also encourage frequent checking of the electrical wiring in the company because wires tend to wear off over the years. Even though the Tourism industry usually deals with tourists and giving them the best services available, it is also important to ensure that safety of the tourist. To do so it is best to start with the company. This is because without the concern of safety in the office, how it is expected that the safety of the customers can be guaranteed. Often many people overlooked the issue of safety in their working environment because it rarely happens, but bear in mind that accidents happen without a warning and it is always better to be prepared for it.