Corporate Responsibility - OR - Are You Ill Yet?

Today, while listening in on the radio, a subject that creates a good amount of controversy was brought up once more, Corporations and Social Responsibility.

While the radio station that I refer to is not one that is of my usual pickings, I do sit in once and while to see if there are any new brain cells developing, or if it's the same old same old throw up. This radio station airs the over inflated helium of Rush Limbaugh and a like.

It is often discussed on the radio on his show and the one following his, (Sean Hannity) that we should leave Corporations alone. That we should not be worried about Corporate Social Responsibility. Sean Hannity even goes at it, with no real thought to what he can spurt out.
Feeling quite justified that I heard enough, I decided to spend a little time giving a little information about some reasonable facts regarding Corporate Ill Responsibility, as well as some very good reasonable examples of real Corporate Social Responsibility. Forget about those that protest the rest for now. Let's just think about real Product Safety.

Since, there are those, not withstanding Rush and alike, have a hard time understanding what real CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) involves. I will list a few examples below. Let's just see if most of us can determine which ones are responsible and which ones are not.

Mattel/China Manufacturer
Product: Various Toys
Problem: Lead Paint
Responsible/Not Responsible Actions: Recalled all toys believed to have the lead based paint used. Who should be following testing and quality assurance? Why trust a company in China? Companies that are in a different company do not have the same laws we do? Perhaps there is trust there, but hopefully Mattel will do more on their part to ensure the quality and safety standards.

Tile Perfect/Home Depot/SLR Inc/Innovative Chemical Technologies
Product: Stand N Seal Grout Sealant
Problem: Product had incorrect chemicals and levels of those chemicals creating people to become ill or die. (Zonyl, Flexipel) possibly more?
Responsible/Not Responsible Actions: Slow to call recall on product on certain batches, no recall on all necessary batches. Home Depot had complaints afterwards and did not take it off the shelves, knowing others where still getting seriously sick and letting other purchase the product and get very ill. 2 deaths. Many permanently ill. Product was still making sick after almost a year when one soon to be victim walked in, purchased the product and ended up in the hospital with serious injury. Many others followed and became ill. Waited until March of 2007 to take the product off the shelves completely.

Johnson & Johnson
Product: Extra Strength Tylenol
Problem: Certain shipment of bottles had been contaminated with cyanide.
Responsible/Not Responsible Actions: Recalled all bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol, told all retailers to take it off the shelf. News report to all consumers asking not to use Tylenol and why.
Added a foil seal to their products for safety reasons. Put up an award for finding the people responsible and lost tons of money. All of this, even though they had knowledge that the product had not been contaminated at their own facility.

Let's KIS - The Tobacco Industry
Product: Tobacco Products/Cigarettes
Problem: causes cancer, etc. Adding more chemicals to create more addiction to sell more cigarettes.
Responsible/Not Responsible Actions: The Tobacco Industry held back knowledge about smoking hazards for at least 50 years. Let's add that before 1970's more chemicals and additives were added to enhance and entice tobacco products. It took lawsuits and litigation to try to hold them accountable. To this day, most Tobacco companies still do not have to tell anyone one what additives or levels of those additives are really in their Tobacco products.

Yes, most of already know about most of these companies I have listed, and the products involved. Although there are a couple of better actions of responsibility listed, they do seem to be more of the exception, then the rule.

Perhaps that positive response will help lead an example. Seeing people become ill and financially broken because of Corporate Ill Responsibility, does nothing to my confidence in humanity. Environment protections wouldn't need to be there if the people running the companies with moral and social responsibility in the first place.

I really have a hard time giving creditability to any talk show host, person, worker or politician who does not see that problem here.

I am not a "tree hugger", but I do believe in doing what we can to protect ourselves and each other. Just the research on this subject will make you feel despair. The "bottom line" is usually the rule, and not the exception considered.

I will note this. There are people who do try to sue for the darnest things. Frivolous law suites are a pain in the arse. There are many times things have happened to me, and it really made me angry enough to do something about it. That does not mean I would start a lawsuit on every one of them.

Reasonable Minds. Reasonable Actions. We would be reasonably okay if "reasonable" was a big part of our day.

For Sean Hannity: You can eat lead paint all you want.