Employee Health and Safety

 

Ensuring a better place to work in terms of health and safety is a significant task that every company is struggling to fulfill. In simple terms occupational safety refers to establishing a working environment where accidents and occupational diseases are which cause personal injuries and illnesses are free. In every aspect, workplace hazards seem to be the cost to the organization. This becomes a direct cost when a company has to pay fines and legal expenses, medical cost, and future claims related to injuries for occupational hazards and this becomes an indirect cost when the company has to train another employee for a particular vacant position and decrease daily target levels.

Every company needs to adhere to related laws in order to minimize workplace hazards. A powerful leadership should be within the organization to carry out occupational safety and health activities (International Labour Organization, 2020). Good safety and occupational health and management system consists of a few elements namely policy, organization, planning and implementation, evaluation,, and action for improvements (International Labour Organization, 2020).

Health hazards can be taken in various ways, for instance, physical, chemical, biological, psycho-social, and agronomical. However, most of the time improper and lack of training, unsafe working procedures, stress, unsafe machines, conditions of the physical environment, and unsafe and inappropriate human actions cause many accidents at the workplace. Ensuring safety environment is also a responsibility of every organization. When the working environment appears unsafe, it directly affects on reputation and image of the business. Moreover, it decreases employee satisfaction, productivity, and morale. On the other hand, one of the reasons for labor turnover might be an unsafe working environment and working conditions. Therefore every organization has the responsibility to ensure a safe working environment. In order to ensure it many companies have introduced a proper set of guidelines, sufficient training facilities, punishments for employees who neglect in following required steps and instructions, conducting awareness sessions, providing safety equipment, etc. However, in order to accomplish the desired goals, every company needs to ensure a safe working environment, a job with safe conditions, and prepare a worker who is always ready to adhere to safety conditions. 

 

 References

International Labour The organization, 2020. How can occupational safety and health be managed?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-administration-inspection/resources-library/publications/guide-for-labour-inspectors/how-can-osh-be-managed/lang--en/index.htm
[Accessed 10 December 2020].

 

Jonathan. G.K, Mbogo. R.W.(2016)Maintaining Health and Safety at the Workplace: Employee and Employer’s Role in Ensuring a Safe Working Environment.Journal of education and practice,29(7).