If those are the worst you've seen .... I envy you your innocence.
Have you considered that you might be part of the problem?
First ... where do you think the pressure to be 'cheap' originates? As a general rule of business, work comes in three forms: good, cheap, and fast. You only get to choose two of the three.
Second, there are avenues you may take .. but they require YOU to actually DO something. Like, say, calling OSHA. Or moving out (voting with your feet).
No alternatives? You're trying to tell that to a guy who spent the 80's living out of a backpack, and the first part of the 90's living in a pick-up truck. You want findsympathy, I'm sure the college has a dictionary somewhere.
Getting back to code issues ....
I suppose we now see why the NEC calls for accessible outdoor receptacles. Or why OSHA wants GFI protection on job sites. Or, why the trade stresses having a good ground path so much.
As for the A/C cord ... I have my suspisions; I suspect that the LL was caught up in some changes; A/C's didn't always have 'different' plugs, and many appliances seem designed to make replacing the cord nearly impossible.
More important ... I suspect that the A/C is supposed to have a special 'leakage current detection' plug on it. I can see where, if the unit was constantly tripping the protective device, that someone might substitute a 'normal' plug. If so, that is a very dangerous situation. To test, I'd first use the nameplate to learn whether there was supposed to be a LCDI, then power through a GFI to see if the GFI trips.
