Health and Safety is the first

4^th April 2023

What is health and safety of workplace 

Employees should have a right to work in healthy and safety at their works. This is a legal right for employees. The protection should be ensured of  from hazards that can be happened in the organization. Hazard can come as an injury or illness. It is one of the main responsibilities of organizations to create a work background as a healthy and safety space for their employees. At present most of organizations are paying attention on this subject and also getting more positive outcomes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a healthy workplace as: “one in which workers and managers collaborate to use a continual improvement process to protect and promote the health, safety and well-being of all workers and the sustainability of the workplace.” (WHO, 2010, p.90).

Hazard categories

Hazards can be different according to nature of works in engaged and industry. However common hazards able to identify as follows, Manuele (2010:33) defines a hazard as ‘the potential for harm’ and describes hazards as ‘all aspects of technology and activity that produces risk.’

Hazards can be different according to the nature of the work in engaged and industry. 

Manuele (2010:33) defines a hazard as ‘the potential for harm’ and describes hazards as ‘all aspects of technology and activity that produces risk’

However common hazards able to identify as follows,

Types of Hazard,             

     1. Physical hazards

• This can happen mostly with visible factors. these include, slip on smooth or wet surfaces, hazard due to loud voices, bright lights and moving heavy items and so on.

     2. Chemical hazards

• Chemical hazards generated due to chemicals that are used for production, gases, dust.

     3. Biological hazards

• This hazard also presents with invisible factors, such as harmful bacteria, virus, microorganisms.

     4. Work organization hazards

• These involve stress, fatigue due to poor organizational controls, high workloads, lack of work life balance and so on. This hazard type affect to employee for both and long period.

     5. Ergonomic hazards

• This hazard mostly generated with wrong working positions and repetitive motions. This will lead to make back pain, headaches and eye weakness to workers.

Manage and improve health and safety of employees

The organization should have a clear plan for the hazards and negative situations that  affect to employees directly or indirectly. Employers are able to ensure whether the employees are free from hazards in their work environment .

“Industries and professions such as nursing, dental health, mail deliveries, Nano-technology, manufacturing, construction and mining are identified in the literature raising the importance of good hazard identification in the workplace as a preventative injury mechanism.” (Bentley & Haslam, 2001; Ramsay et al, 2006; Schulte & Salamanca-Buentello, 2007; Biggs et al, 2006; Reinhold & Tint, 2009).

In this duration most organizations are using mechanisms for preventing hazards and safeguard employees.

    1. Better idea with hazards

• This is refer to the fact that employers should have a strong awareness on hazards. The very first step for managing health and safety in the organization is identifying hazards and possible wat to occur hazards. This can be reviewed with physical observations, safety audit reports and hazard reports.

    2. Rating risk of hazards

• Process of assessing the risk level of hazards and take prioritizing decisions. The organization should pay attentions for high risk level of hazards.

    3. Safety measures in placed

• This is refer to apply safety equipment and methods, machinery keep in well maintaining, modifying process as a safety measurements.

    4. Safety training

• Employees should be conducted to identify hazards, follow safety procedures, steps for avoiding damages due to hazards.

     5. Regular inspection

• Monitor the organization's premises for verifying the safety measures and compliance with safety policies. This method lead to identify new risk regarding to hazards and apply policies for preventing from hazards.

Advantages of health and safety and organizational career

Implementing and Practicing better health and safety policy be a ladder to achieve various benefits to organizations. “The benefits of managing OHS are widely recognized to include increased productivity, lower rates of absenteeism, and lower voluntary employee turnover.” (Hofmann et al., 2017; Nahrgang, Morgeson, & Hofmann, 2011).

     1. Increase productivity

• When employee spend their behavior with safety and supportive work place, they try to give a full effort for generating better output and they are always in job satisfaction. Hence employee productivity will be improved.

    2. Reduce absenteeism and turnover

• Employees show favorable condition for engaging with safer environment without illness and injuries . Hence employees no need to take more leave instead of their personal reasons.

    3. Save cost relating to injuries and accidents

• Implement effective work policies lead to prevent accidents and hazards and the result is saving money of the company.

    4. Compliance with legal requirements

• Rules and regulations regarding to health and safety effect to all organization. When the organization is practicing better a health and safety policy, When any hazard organization can have ability take insurance and legal steps easily.

    5. Boost goodwill of the organization

• Practicing good practice of health and safety is not affect only to employees, it also affects to customers, investors and whole society. When stakeholders feel the company as a safer and healthy place, it leads to promote goodwill of the organization.

Conclusion

Health and safety is a important factor of organization and this will lead to gain positive benefits to organization. Improve productivity, increase job satisfaction, promote goodwill of organization. Existing healthy and safer background is not effect to just employees, it will lead to increase attraction of all stakeholders. Hence all organization should have to pay attention on this subject initially.

Reference

• World Health Organization (WHO). (2010). Healthy workplaces: a model for action: for employers, workers, policymakers and practitioners. Geneva: World Health Organization.

• Manuele, FA (2010) Acceptable risk: Time for SH&E professionals to adopt the concept, Professional Safety, May pp.30-38.

• Bentley, TA & Haslam, RA (2001) Identification of risk factors and countermeasures for slip, trip and fall accidents during the delivery of mail, Applied Ergonomics, 32(2) pp.127-134.

• Nahrgang, J. D., Morgeson, F. P., & Hofmann, D. A. (2011). Safety at work: A meta-analytic investigation of the link between job demands, job resources, burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(1), 71–94.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPpx0ukREvM (Acess on 5th April 2023)

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