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Essay: Health and safety in the workplace

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Accidents and mishaps are unforeseen circumstances that can affect individuals and groups at any time and in any place. Most accidents are preventable, but the carelessness or negligence of the involved individuals leads to major injuries and grievances. Accidents can also occur in the workplace and seriously affect the ability and health of the involved workers.

The objectives of this essay to discuss the safety and wellbeing of all workers are necessary for the organization not only for consistent productivity but also due to regulatory requirements. Workers and human resources are the necessary components of all organizations due to their role in the effective accomplishment of objectives. Corporations cannot achieve long-term success and sustainable growth in the absence of motivated, safe, healthy, and effective workers. The health and safety of all workers are necessary to ensure the enhancement of productivity and efficiency at all levels and areas. Lack of safety measures can create havoc for the organization and negatively affect the working criterion of an organization. The management has to devise and implement effective safety procedures to reduce hazards and prevent accidents in the workplace. The can motivate the employees through this perspective as employees admire working in organizations that prefer safe working conditions. Employees believe that safer working conditions enhance their ability work because they do not feel scared in troublesome situations. The management should coordinate with all the related stakeholders when they devise policies about safety at workplace, as this would enhance a positive change in an organization. Different legislations also depict that organizations should focus on these perspectives and they should attain self-sufficiency in providing workplace safety.

Introduction

Corporations in the current era focus on the development of employees and they believed in the ideology of benefiting employees through different approaches. Safety at the work force is an important aspect that many organizations of today’s world disregard. Many people face mishaps and accidents in various situations especially due to negligence, recklessness, and carelessness. Many accidents and serious injuries are avoidable and preventable by taking effective safety measures and reducing hazards. For example, drivers and passengers can avoid serious injuries and death by wearing seatbelts while traveling in cars. However, many people fail to realize the importance of seatbelts and face a variety of consequences in the event of an accident. Mishaps and accidents are unforeseen occurrences that can lead to several adverse consequences in the absence of effective safety measures and precautions. Accidents, disasters, and mishaps can also occur in the workplace and affect several employees in the absence of precautions and safety procedures. Certain mediocre organizations do not regard this aspect as important and they do not focus on safety at the workplace. The owners and management of the organization need to implement rules, regulations, procedures, and systems relevant to safety and health. The management also needs to ensure that all workers have ample knowledge and information regarding safety procedures, prevention of accidents, and safe working practices.

Human resources

Human resources are one of the most important assets of the organization with respect to success and growth. The success and growth of the organization depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of the human resources. However, the inefficiencies in human resources caused by any circumstances, occurrences, and events can hinder the accomplishments of the organization. Organizations take all necessary measures to ensure the productivity of all workers and employees to maximize profits and achieve organizational objectives (Blair, 2013 ). The wellbeing, safety, and health of all employees are among the highest priorities of all organizations. Organizations cannot take risk for their respective employees because an occurrence of a negative event would tarnish the credibility of an organization. Safe and healthy workers are more productive as compared to injured or sick employees. Employees that cannot work in safe conditions feel suffocated because of the risks associated with their respective work. Risks and hazards associated with a specific job or organization adversely affect the morale and motivation level of employees. The unsafe or hazardous working conditions have several long-term psychological and physiological consequences for the workers and the organizations. When a negative event occurs in an organization, it sets up the mindset of an employee. Employees would feel that this event would occur again and this would create hurdles in their effective working process. Organizations need to create a safe and healthy working environment for all workers to ensure high levels of motivation and enhancement in efficiency (Stricoff & Groover, 2012).

Safety at Workplace

Workplace safety refers to the prevention of illness, injury, and hazards in the workplace for all employees. Workplace safety involves the creation of a safe and healthy environment for all workers to evade hazards, injuries, and illnesses. Organizations can ensure the efficiency of all workers and circumvent a considerable amount of costs by ensuring workplace safety and health. Organizations develop different strategies through which they set up different work place safety policies and benefit the workers through this. Workplace injuries and illnesses lead to compensation benefits, health insurance costs, hiring temporary replacements, lost work hours, and lawsuits. Lack of concentration would cost severe damage to an organization and they should sort such issues in order to attain proactive benefits. Business can save a considerable amount of costs by creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for all workers. Safeguarding the interests and wellbeing of the employees allows organizations to circumvent costs relevant to injuries and illnesses (Legg, Laird, Olsen, & Hasle, 2014). On the other hand, workplace safety instills a sense of commitment and dedication among the employees due to the safety assurance of the organization. The morale and motivation of the workers increase due to the implementation of rules that safeguard the health and interest of the employees. Employees feel that they are safe to work in this place, and through this perspective, they would perform well.

Purpose of Workplace safety

The primary objective of safety in the workplace is to create a safe, healthy, and risk-free environment for all workers. Workplace safety involves the evaluation, analysis, prevention, and elimination of hazardous and dangerous elements from the workplace. Workplace safety programs evaluate and remove the risks and hazards relevant to the safety, well-being, and health of workers and other relevant individuals. Organizations develop health and safety standards due to several reasons including laws, regulatory requirements, organizational policies, and historical occurrences. Certain industries and their associations bind organizations to work for the benefit of their employees and they force organizations to focus on different safety related perspectives. Workplace injuries and illnesses caused by working conditions or environment can lead to lawsuits, high costs, and deterioration of the corporate image. There are instances when employees at times die because of sever working conditions. Employees might got injured because of certain safety and the lack of safety would be the only probable reason of this. Enhanced safety measures and appropriate quality of these measures can reduce this perspective to a considerable level.

Safety at the workplace enables organizations to comply with regulatory requirements and prevent high costs resulting from injuries and illnesses. Several corporations can consider the fact that these safety measures would save their health and medicinal costs that would arise when an employees would hurt him. They should take proactive measures earlier through which people can benefit from these perspectives. The management can maintain high levels of productivity and efficiency by creating a safe and healthy working environment. Conversely, the employees work with dedication due to their perceptions regarding the commitment of the organization with respect to the wellbeing of the workers.

Importance of safety at workplace

Legislative and legal requirements are the most prominent cause of health and safety policies in most organizations. The Occupational and Safety Health Act is the primary law for the assurance of health and safety of all workers throughout the United States. The Occupational and Safety Health Act (OSHA) necessitates the dissemination of standards, rules, and regulations relevant to the safety and health of workers. The government establishes and enforces the standards for the safety and health of all workers and their families through the Act. All public and private organizations have to comply with the rules, regulations, and standards prescribed in OSHA (Jung & Makowsky, 2014). They would face legal complications if they do not comply with such policies and measures taken by the decision makers. However, many organizations develop and implement health and safety procedures to safeguard their interests relevant to organizational objectives rather than legal requirements. The financial and moral aspects of workers’ health and safety have a greater influence as compared to regulatory compliance. Corporations can save considerable costs by avoiding high insurance expenses, lawsuits, and employee replacement costs in the event of injuries and illnesses (Barling & Frone, 2003).

Manpower and Management

The primary objective of all managers is to enhance and promote productivity and efficiency in all areas and functions. However, the managers cannot uphold efficiency and effectiveness in the absence of a safe workplace. The managers need to create a safe working environment and increase the awareness and knowledge of all employees with respect to safe working practices. The employees and workers also need to understand the importance of workplace safety and reduce personal injury through attentiveness and removal of hazards. These safety hazards are negative for the effectiveness of organizations and create a long-term negative impact. The attitude of the employees, management, and employers plays a vital role in preventing accidents and creating a safe working environment. The negligence on the part of the employers and employees can cause a variety of hazards and accidents (Rahim, Ng, Biggs, & Boots, 2014). However, the diligence and commitment of all stakeholders regarding safe work practices leads to the prevention of major accidents and injuries. The employees and management can create a safe workplace through a shared responsibility model for workplace safety and cooperation. Organizations should own this perspective and they should realize the fact that it is their managerial responsibility to focus on this perspective so that employees can remain safe.

Conclusively, a safety plan is necessary and it comprises of certain steps that would develop a safer workplace. Organizations should make sure that everyone else in the workplace is aware of the core problem. People should notify their respective supervisors and they should file any reports if there is a problem. An important aspect is that people should realize that there is a problem as sitting back and holding the problem for a long time would not solve the problem.

Barling, J., & Frone, M. (2003). The Psychology of Workplace Safety. New Jersey: Amer Psychological Assn. Blair, E. H. (2013). Building safety culture. Professional Safety , 58 (11), 59-65. Cobb, E. (2013). Bullying, Violence, Harassment, Discrimination and Stress: Emerging Workplace Health and Safety Issues. New Jersey: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Jung, J., & Makowsky, M. D. (2014). The determinants of federal and state enforcement of workplace safety regulations: OSHA inspections 1990’2010. Journal of Regulatory Economics , 45 (1), 1-33. Legg, S., Laird, I., Olsen, K., & Hasle, P. (2014). Creating healthy work in small enterprises – from understanding to action: Summary of current knowledge. Small Enterprise Research , 21 (2), 139-147. Mathis, T., & Galloway, S. (2013). Steps to Safety Culture Excellence. New Jersey: Wiley. Rahim, A. N., Ng, H. K., Biggs, D., & Boots, K. (2014). Perceptions of safety, physical working conditions and stress between Malaysia and United Kingdom. International Journal of Business & Society , 15 (2), 321-338. Stricoff, R., & Groover, D. (2012). The Manager’s Guide to Workplace Safety. New York : Safety in Action Press.

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Importance of Health and Safety at Workplace, Essay Example

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Both the employer and the employees are responsible for health and safety of the workplace. The most important responsibility of an employee is taking reasonable care of their own safety and health this means you are you own keeper. The employees should use properly any material provided to them for safety purposes, health and safety. For example protective clothes like gloves, protective masks and laboratory coats should always be worn as required. An employee should also ensure that they understand and adhere to what they are trained on concerning the health and safety policies of the company they are working for. For example they should understand all the technical aspects of the machine they operate to avoid accidents and should also observe safety precautions as far as operation of machines is concerned. In operation of machines, loose clothing, long hair, jewellerly which can get entangled by moving parts of the machine. This can be achieved by avoiding such clothing and jewellerly when operating machines and wearing head scarf incase of the long hair.

In any working environment, employees should also be responsible for their colleague’s health and safety by ensuring that what they do does not pose risk to other workers and the environment (Dalton, 98).  For example when mixing chemicals in laboratory poisonous gases might be released and so safety precautions – working in a fume chamber- must be taken to avoid their release to the environment because they can produce hazardous effects to the environment in which case the near surrounding is your colleague and also members of the public. Another example is when working in a microbiology laboratory the dust coats and any other protective clothing worn should remain in the lab to avoid contaminating other environments with microbes some of which are a health hazard.

The employer has also responsibility towards the health and safety of his employees. The very vital role is to ensure that the employees get the best training in understanding safety procedures of the work place and providing sufficient protective measures and   materials to their employees. For example they should have measures to cater for any emergencies like in case of fire exits should be available. For the disposable protective material like gloves the employer must ensure constant supply. Employers should also change their employee’s jobs if they report any strains resulting from the kind of job they do or if under any medication that reduces their working ability or even in case of pregnancy. Employers have also the duty of ensuring a comfortable work place for their employees’ their duties include ensuring providing the right work equipment and ensuring proper maintenance ensure that ventilation, washing and rest facilities are up to standard as per health safety and welfare requirements.  (Directgov.uk)

Addressing health issues and safety in the workplace does not only help the employer save money but also increases business value. This is because when workers sty healthy and whole the business saves costs which would have been spend on occupational injuries which of course come directly from company profits.  Direct cost-savings to businesses include: reduced medical expenditures; lower insurance costs used to  compensate workers’; reduced  costs incurred in   job accommodating  workers with injuries; reduced expenditures during  return-to-work programs; less expenses for  overtime benefits and reduced numbers of  faulty product.

Health and safety at workplace also result into decreases in costs incurred indirectly due to: increased productivity, production of products of higher quality which means increased sales. Safe workplace also fosters good labor or management relations and hence employees re motivated consequently there is increased production of high quality products s well s decreased turnover.

Employees and their families benefit from safety health and safety also have benefits to the employees and their families because it minimizes stress and they are able to protect their income as well as protecting injuries from hampering the families. It is very clear that health and safety add value not only to  businesses, but also to the workplaces as well s lives and therefore protecting people in the workplace should be  in our economy, our families, colleagues, and the community at large best interest(Cogwell Anderson R.  & Kaczmarek  B., vol.4 )..

OSHA and Its Basic Requirements or Provisions

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an Americans agency under the Labor Department whose responsibility is assuring the health and safety of workers in America by providing education, training and outreach; setting and enforcing standards; encouraging continued improvement in terms of health and safety in the workplace and establishing partnerships (Summary Guide of OSHA Regulations and Requirements).

Requirements or Provisions

OSHA is assigned two main functions by The OSH Act .these re setting standards and inspecting workplace to ensure employers compliance with the standards and provision of a healthful and safe workplace. The OSH Act applies to employees and employers in varied fields like, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, long shoring,, medicine, law,   disaster relief and charity , private education and organized labor. Fields not covered by OSH ct include work conditions under the regulation of other federal agencies and statutes like nuclear energy, mining end many parts of the transportation industry, people who re self employed and local government end states employees(Summary Guide of OSHA Regulations and Requirements).

Federal OSHA Standards

OSHA standards my require that employers adopt some means, processes and practices  necessary for  protecting workers t work. It is the employers’ responsibility to familiarize with standards required by their establishments as well as complying with the standards and to ensure hazardous free conditions to their best capability. Employees must also comply with rules and regulations applicable to their own conduct and actions.

OSHA Standards are divided in four categories: General industry, agriculture, Maritime (long shoring, shipyards, marine terminals and construction. Each of these classes of standards imposes requirements that are aimed to the specific industry except in some instances where they are similar in all industries. Standards that impose similar requirements on all industrial sectors include standards for access to medical records, communication of hazards, access to records of exposure and personal protective equipment.

Equipment for personal  protection standard require employers to provide cost free equipment for  person  protection against certain hazards. Such equipment include goggles, helmets for head protection, eye and hear and gauntlets for iron workers. This standard is separately added to standards for every industrial sector with the exception of agriculture. Access to medical and records of exposure standard requires employers to grant their employees access to all the records they maintain of employees exposure to hazardous substances and medical access. Hazard communication standard require both importers and manufactures of materials that re hazardous to carry out hazard evaluation of the products they import or manufacture and have the containers of the product labeled appropriately if it’s confirmed to be hazardous under the standards terms. In addition   safety data sheet should also accompany the material on the first shipment to a new customer. Employers who use the safety data sheet must also have the employees trained on how to follow the safety instructions in the sheet and avoid the present hazardous material.

Reporting, posting and record keeping is imposed by OSHA regulations not a standard. Record keeping regulation require all employers under OSH cover with more than ten employees to maintain specified OSHA records of illnesses and injuries related to job. The regulation has n exception for low industries of low hazards like finance, real estate, some service industries, insurance and retail. The OSHA record keeping requires two forms be filled. form 200 is a log for illnesses or injuries with a separate entry for serious injuries which need recording .These include deaths related to the job, serious illnesses which require hospitalization and medication, restriction from work or motion or which led to transfer from one job to another .the form has also another section where all the injuries for the past year re recorded and posted in the work place every February. The other form is form 101 which provides additional report bout every workers recordable illness or injury. Despite the business category or employee numbers each employer must give reports to the OSHA office in the nearby if any accidents occur and cause hospitalization of more than three employees or cause fatalities. OSHA carries out investigations into the cause of the accident and whether it was s result of violation of standards.

Generally all employers must maintain hazard free workplaces to protect their employees from deaths or serious physical harm regardless of whether OSHA does not give a specific requirement or standard addressing such hazards. in such areas where OSHA has not given a standard to address a certain hazard, its employers responsibility to comply with the “general duty” clause for OSH Act which states that every employer “shall furnish a work place which is free from recognized hazards that are likely to or are causing serious physical harm or death to his employees” (Summary Guide of OSHA Regulations and Requirements).

Works Cited

Cogwell Anderson R.  & Kaczmarek  B.  : The Importance of Promoting Health in the Workplace . The Internet Journal of Academic Physician Assistants. 2004 Volume 4 Number 1

Dalton A,P. Health and Workplace Hazards . London: Cengage Learning.1998.

Employers’ Health and Safety responsibilities . Web. 9 Oct. 2008 http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/HealthAndSafetyAtWork/DG_4016686

Summary Guide of OSHA Regulations and Requirements . Web.4 April 2008 http://www.ehso.com/oshaoverview.php

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Ensuring health and safety in the workplace is already a critically important issue; organizations that invest in occupational safety perform better, reduce turnover, and help workers do their jobs more effectively. But COVID-19 has forced companies to act quickly and decisively to keep workers safe. As employers endeavor to slow the spread of the virus while keeping a supportive and productive work environment, they’ve had to adapt new business processes and address existing structures that are lacking.

“COVID-19 has stressed the system. All the flaws that have been in place are totally exposed and have come to the forefront of our daily conversations,” says Jack Dennerlein , adjunct professor of ergonomics and safety in the Department of Environmental Health and co-director of Work Health and Well-being: Achieving Worker Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. From distancing procedures to the availability of remote work, the pandemic has metaphorically ripped off the mask covering the flaws in organizations’ working conditions. How has COVID-19 changed the standards of worker safety and health, and how can employers adapt to these changes?

Total Worker Health and Its Impact in the Workplace

Total Worker Health (TWH) aims to address, reactively and proactively, the challenges of worker safety, health, and well-being. At its core, it measures and assesses what a worker experiences, collects data to understand what to change, provides approaches on how to modify an environment, and encourages collaboration across traditional organizational boundaries to ensure a safe workplace. It’s both an acknowledgement of workers’ existing health, and initiatives to keep them healthy.

“These two general fields — protecting and promoting health — work together in a single workplace. It makes sense to think about this as an integrated effort instead of two siloed efforts that act in parallel,” says Nico Pronk , adjunct professor of social and behavioral sciences, president of the HealthPartners Institute, chief science officer at HealthPartners, Inc., and co-director of Work Health and Well-being: Achieving Worker Health .

As an example, he explains, “If you have diabetes, your eyesight might be diminished, and you might end up with an injury because your work is putting you at risk.” Critically, though, TWH focuses more on an organization’s framework rather than solely on an individual: “the conditions of work rather than on the behaviors of the work. You set the environment — physical, social, economic — which shapes how the workplace is organized. Within that, these factors start to drive the behavior of the individuals within it.”

COVID-19 has fundamentally uprooted assumptions about worker safety, health, and well-being and been an accelerant of addressing these issues. The pandemic has also highlighted classic social issues that workers face, like childcare, sick leave, and disability issues, and underlined safety concerns in health care environments where professionals need to treat patients. The absence of TWH — where workers don’t feel safe in their workplace — is also much more visible. Implementing TWH effectively helps make organizations more resilient during this time.

Even though COVID-19 can be used as a leverage point, Dennerlein notes, “We should be doing it for the good of the people, not just because of COVID-19. If we want this country to be productive, we have to invest in the health and safety of our workforce.” Adds Pronk, “What if you didn’t get sick? What if you didn’t get injured? The benefits come back in spades. You cannot be successful if you don’t have healthy workers, but that recognition is still hardly there.”

“Protecting and promoting health work together in a single workplace. It makes sense to think about this as an integrated effort instead of two siloed efforts that act in parallel.”

Applying and Adapting Total Worker Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

While the values of TWH may not change, the implementation has evolved to protect workers against COVID-19. In a paper titled “ An Integrative Total Worker Health Framework for Keeping Workers Safe and Healthy During the COVID-19 Pandemic ,” Dennerlein, Erika Sabbath, Susan Peters, and Glorian Sorensen outlined six key characteristics that are essential for applying TWH in this context:

• Focusing on working conditions for infection control and supportive environments for increased psychological demands
• Utilizing participatory approaches involving workers in identifying daily challenges and unique solutions
• Employing comprehensive and collaborative efforts to increase system efficiencies
• Committing as leaders to supporting workers through action and communications
• Adhering to ethical and legal standards
• Using data to guide actions and evaluate progress

In this way, organizations can address the unique demands (including physical, ethical, and legal) of counteracting COVID-19 alongside the needs of workers to complete their tasks in a safe space, while using data and feedback to make changes.

According to the researchers, the most challenging aspect of using a TWH framework is getting top-level support. “Overall organization engagement towards this shared vision of a goal is critical — some key performance indicator for the institution has to include TWH or recognizing its impact. You have to think about that at the systems level,” says Dennerlein.

“If we want this country to be productive, we have to invest in the health and safety of our workforce.”

The Practical Implications of Implementing Total Worker Health in a Pandemic

The researchers have worked with companies to take these theoretical constructs and translate them to practical insights in the workplace. “It took companies as much as six months to learn how to bring health and safety together. Health is in HR, safety is in Operations, and the two don’t usually interact,” Pronk says. Not rushing the organizations and giving them up to a year to develop an implementation plan was key.

After buy-in from leadership, the next step is to test these six characteristics using data and feedback. Previous studies show that program design principles or characteristics are correlated with good health outcomes. “The business units that scored the highest had the lowest number of health risks in their populations. The more they followed these characteristics, the healthier their group was,” Pronk says. Following implementation, organizations would then be able to make changes and use a team-based approach to maintain awareness and continue to evaluate efficacy.

Thus, TWH can be effective, and not just in the short-term. Even after COVID-19 is no longer an immediate threat, the challenges of worker health and safety remain. “What are we doing to create a more resilient workforce ? When we start thinking about the work of the future, workers are going to have to continually reinvent themselves, because work is constantly changing. COVID-19 was a big slap in the face for that. How do we all adapt?” says Dennerlein.

“We rely on the human element in the workforce so much because humans are problem-solvers. TWH tries to broaden that and realize what a great resource we have here. Why aren’t we using that element better? Why aren’t we weaving it more effectively into our organizations to help them make better decisions to affect the bottom line?”

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health offers Work Health and Well-being: Achieving Worker Health , which provides the full set of skills needed to improve worker health, safety, and well-being in the workplace .

A safe and healthy working environment

Improving Safety and Health Through Supply Chains and Building a Culture of Prevention and Protection

A Safe and Healthy Working Environment

The burden of occupational mortality and morbidity is not equally distributed across the world, among industries and among the workforce. About two-thirds (65 per cent) of global work-related mortality is estimated to occur in Asia, followed by Africa (11.8 per cent), Europe (11.7 per cent), Americas (10.9 per cent) and Oceania (0.6 per cent). The rates of fatal occupational accidents per 100,000 workers also show stark regional differences, with rates in Africa and Asia 4 to 5 times higher than those in Europe. 

Human Rights Due Diligence

Nine business practices to improve safety and health in supply chains.

The International Labour Organization and the United Nations Global Compact have identified nine business practices to improve safety and health through supply chains and create a culture of prevention and protection: 

• Map your supply chains to gain a better understanding of existing OSH challenges
• Include OSH and employment injury protection in procurement practices
• Improve the monitoring of OSH compliance, including through closer engagement with suppliers
• Promote vertical and horizontal knowledge and capacity sharing
• Align and complement the national legal and policy framework and be a driver for improvement
• Promote workers’ participation and social dialogue
• Support efforts to enhance the reporting, recording and notification of occupational injuries and diseases to improve data collection
• Engage with development partners to share knowledge of good practices and innovative approaches to build capacity and partnerships
• Join international initiatives to support the development of national policies and strengthen national institutions in sourcing countries on OSH practices and employment injury protection

To learn more, click here to read the new brief from the ILO and the UN Global Compact  (available in English and Korean) , which focuses on the role that businesses can play in ensuring safe and healthy workplaces, especially when operating in countries with deficient national safety and health and employment injury protection schemes.

Sustainable Development Goals

Robust OSH laws and policies and good business practices, combined with employment injury insurance schemes, contribute to the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 1 (No Poverty), Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), amongst others.

Both employment injury insurance schemes and occupational safety and health are the primary drivers behind realizing decent work for all women and men under Goal 8. Target 8.8 of Goal 8 has made occupational safety and health a sustainable development priority. It calls for concerted action: “protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular, women migrants, and those in precarious employment”.

From the UN Global Compact Academy

• Nine Business Practices for Improving Safety and Health Through Supply Chains and Building a Culture of Prevention and Protection (ILO and UN Global Compact, 2021)
• A safe and healthy work environment e-learning module (UN Global Compact, 2022)
• ILO Helpdesk for Business on International Labour Standards
• ILO Vision Zero Fund: Improving occupational safety and health in small and medium-sized enterprises – Training module  
• How to Develop a Human Rights Policy (UN Global Compact and OHCHR, 2015)
• International Labour Standards on Occupational Safety and Health  
• ILO Vision Zero Fund: Collective Action for Safe and Healthy Supply Chains   
• Global database on occupational safety and health legislation (ILO)
• Tools and resources for business on occupational safety and health (ILO)
• The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH)
• Catch the wave (IOSH)
• Sustainable development (IOSH)
• Health and safety guidance for business (IOSH)
• European Agency for Safety and Health at Work — OSH Barometer
• Explore all the work of the UN Global Compact on labour
• Towards a safe and healthy future of work (IOSH)

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Developing a culture of safety for sustainable development and public health in manufacturing companies—a case study.

1. Introduction

2. literature review, 3. materials and methods, 4.1. questionnaire survey, 4.2. questionnaire interview, 5. discussion, 6. conclusions.

• The company’s employees rate the level of safety culture highly, reflected in an average score of 4.59 out of 5.
• The highest scores were given to components such as “psychological, social, and organizational factors” (4.96), “safety management” (4.94), and “values” (4.84), highlighting the importance of training and management involvement.
• A high level of safety culture correlates with fewer workplace accidents and improved overall employee health.
• Increased awareness of occupational safety and employee engagement in safety activities contribute to a safer working environment.

Author Contributions

Institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Kabiesz, P.; Tutak, M. Developing a Culture of Safety for Sustainable Development and Public Health in Manufacturing Companies—A Case Study. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 7557. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177557

Kabiesz P, Tutak M. Developing a Culture of Safety for Sustainable Development and Public Health in Manufacturing Companies—A Case Study. Sustainability . 2024; 16(17):7557. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177557

Kabiesz, Patrycja, and Magdalena Tutak. 2024. "Developing a Culture of Safety for Sustainable Development and Public Health in Manufacturing Companies—A Case Study" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7557. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177557

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Workplace Health and Safety

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Three U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) agencies have responsibility for the administration and enforcement of the laws enacted to protect the safety and health of workers in America.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

• OSHA administers the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act .
• Safety and health conditions in most private industries are regulated by OSHA or OSHA-approved state plans .
• Nearly every employee in the nation comes under OSHA's jurisdiction with some exceptions such as miners, some transportation workers, many public employees, and the self-employed.
• Employers subject to the OSH Act also have a general duty to provide work and a workplace free from recognized, serious hazards.
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• Office of Workers' Compensation Programs - Administers four major disability compensation programs which provide wage replacement benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation and other benefits to certain workers or their dependents who experience work-related injury or occupational disease. You can also read more at our workers' compensation topic page . 
• Office of the Ombudsman for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOMBD) and the SHARE initiative also play a role in the administration of DOL workplace safety and health programs.

For help in determining which safety and health standards apply to particular employment situations, select from the subtopics lists. Also, see the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s webpages on safety and health in the workplace .

How to Manage the Health & Safety of Remote Workers

As an employer, your duty to protect your workers applies wherever they are. Whether they’re sitting in your office or halfway across the globe, if they’re working on your behalf, you have to plan for their health and safety.

This guide explains how to manage the health and safety of your remote workers. It covers the legislation you need to be aware of, as well as practical advice for protecting employees working from home.

What the Law Says

Close to half of all employed adults in the UK (44%) now work from home at least some of the time. A decade ago, this figure was a little under 14%.

The majority of health and safety regulations you must comply with as an employer were written before this explosion in remote work. But remote work isn’t an entirely new concept. Officials recognised that legislation needed to protect everyone working, regardless of where that was.

So, you must protect your hybrid or home workers as you would your office-based employees. We’ve summarised what you need to do below.

The Health and Safety at Work Act

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) legally requires employers to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.

There are no concessions or loopholes. If someone is working for you, you’re accountable for their wellbeing. You must take reasonable steps to prevent the work you assign from causing harm wherever they’re based.

Employees also have responsibilities under the HSWA. They must cooperate with you on health and safety matters and follow all agreed policies and procedures. They must also take reasonable steps to protect themselves while working.

Remote workers arguably have more personal responsibility for safety than their office-based counterparts. They operate without supervision and have more control over their work environment. But this autonomy doesn’t void your duty of care. You’re still expected to make work as safe as possible, and you could face enforcement action from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) if an employee is harmed while working remotely.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations

The HSWA is the law. It establishes the legal need to protect workers, but it doesn’t set out how to manage health and safety. In other words, it’s the destination, not the map.

To fulfil your duty of care under the HSWA, you need to comply with the health and safety regulations passed in support of it – the most important being the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (aka the Management Regulations) set out your most important duty: carry out risk assessments.

A risk assessment is the process of identifying what might cause harm and taking steps to eliminate or control it. You need to apply this process to your premises and the places where remote workers operate. We’ll cover this in more detail later.

HR Compliance Courses

Our HR compliance courses help businesses ensure legal compliance and the well-being of employees. The courses cover various topics integral to modern workplaces, such as bribery, sexual harassment, diversity and inclusion, modern slavery, etc.

Other Health and Safety Regulations

Health and safety (first aid) regulations.

You must also comply with the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981. Under these regulations, you must assess your workplace first aid needs and have enough provisions and trained first aiders on hand to cover any medical emergencies.

Remote workers must also be supplied with appropriate first aid provisions and training.

Employees who work desk-based jobs from home won’t need much, as they don’t risk many injuries that require emergency care. But workers who travel a lot might need a personal first aid kit, as well as instructions on how to use it.

You must carry out a first aid needs assessment to be sure of the safe level of provisions.

Display Screen Equipment Regulations

Because of the nature of remote work, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (the DSE Regulations) are guaranteed to apply.

Any device that can display text, numbers or images counts as display screen equipment (DSE). DSE use carries a number of risks, including eye strain, headaches and neck pain, so you’re required to assess and manage these risks under the DSE Regulations.

The DSE Regulations also cover workstations, not just display screen equipment, so they’re particularly relevant for remote workers, who might not have dedicated workspaces.

Improvised desk setups can force employees to adopt uncomfortable or unsafe positions while working, which can cause pain or even serious injury over a long enough timeframe. So, you must provide remote employees with the equipment and training necessary to maintain a suitable and safe home workstation.

How to Manage the Health & Safety of Remote Workers

Risk assessment.

A risk assessment is a process, not a document. And the process always involves five steps:

• Identify hazards that might cause harm.
• Assess the likelihood of that harm happening and how severe it will be (the risk).
• Eliminate or control the assessed risks.
• Record your findings.
• Review your control measures regularly and update them as required.

This process is more straightforward for low-risk work environments, such as offices. It’s typically even simpler for home workers, who have probably already taken steps to make where they live safe.

But you’ll still need to go through the risk assessment process to be sure the work activities you expect them to complete remotely haven’t created uncontrolled risks.

As an employer, you’re responsible for ensuring risk assessments happen, but you don’t need to carry them out yourself. You can appoint other people, including workers, to conduct the risk assessment as long as they’re competent.

Competence means having the necessary skills, knowledge, experience and training to do something safely. Because homes are generally hazard-free and desk work is relatively safe, risk assessments for remote workers should be simple.

In fact, it’s rarely necessary to actually visit the remote workspace in question. You can usually trust workers themselves to handle the risk assessment process, provided they’ve been given the necessary training and support.

Risks are specific to the place of work and the work itself, so we can’t cover every point that might come up on a working-from-home risk assessment. But there are some common risks most remote workers face, such as:

• Discomfort or injury caused by poorly designed desk spaces or improvised office furniture.
• Mental health issues caused or made worse by long periods of isolation.
• Electrical fires and shocks caused by overloaded sockets.
• Eye strain or headaches caused by long periods of using DSE.

Control Measures

Most risks your remote workers face are relatively straightforward to control. With the right training, workers can often be taught how to manage health and safety for themselves.

But you must account for every identified risk, so other controls are sometimes necessary. For example, if your worker’s DSE assessment shows they need a better monitor, you must provide it free of charge. (You cannot charge for any equipment necessary for a worker’s wellbeing.)

How to Manage the Health & Safety of Remote Workers – Key Takeaways

• Employers are legally responsible for ensuring the health and safety of remote workers, regardless of their location.
• Conducting risk assessments for remote work is essential to identify and control potential hazards.
• Common risks faced by remote workers include poor ergonomics, mental health challenges and electrical hazards.
• Providing necessary equipment and training free of charge is necessary to help remote workers create safe and healthy work environments.

Online Health and Safety Training

Protecting your remote workers is as important as protecting those in your office. But how do you ensure they know what to do?

Our online HR Compliance Courses are designed to support remote workers. They include training on DSE risk assessment and maintaining a productive and healthy home-working environment. These courses provide practical guidance to help your team avoid common risks and stay compliant with workplace regulations, even from home.

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Jonathan Goby

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Mentally healthy work – short essays on important topics

To help businesses and organisations as they build and support mentally healthy work, we have published a series of short essays about this important area.

Our aim when planning this book was to invite a range of experts, practitioners, thought leaders and interested parties to share their knowledge and insights on the range of topics associated with mentally healthy work in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This resource has been produced by local scholars and practitioners for Aotearoa New Zealand. We hope you find it useful. Our thanks to all those who have worked so hard to bring this book to completion.

Mentally Healthy Work in Aotearoa New Zealand – Short essays on important topics

The full resource is available for download above.

Mentally Healthy Work in Aotearoa New Zealand

This essay explores how health and safety practice, legislation, research policy, and cultural developments are changing our understanding and practice of mental health at work in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Mentally Healthy Work context

This essay places Aotearoa New Zealand policies and practices on mentally healthy work in an international context in relation to the OECD Council Recommendation on Integrated Mental Health, Skills and Work Policy.

Mentally Healthy Work: The drive to thrive

This essay explores elements of the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015, WorkSafe’s role, and concepts which can help build and support mentally healthy work.

The Health and Safety at Work Act and psychosocial risks: Change the legislation or change our mindset?

This essay explores the role of legislation, legal practitioners and Government to make workplaces safe for everyone.

Mentally Healthy Work: Obligations and opportunities

This essay explores what needs to be done for businesses and organisations to demonstrate they care and to establish a mentally healthy workplace, that not only meets all legal obligations but also creates opportunities for people to thrive.

How we kōrero about mental wellbeing matters

In this essay the changing landscape of mentally healthy work is explained through the language and concepts of mental health that currently prevail, as well as those that are emerging.

Psychosocial factors: Pathways to harm and wellbeing

This essay introduces psychosocial factors as a key determinant of mentally healthy work and briefly outline the link between work and psychosocial hazards, before drawing upon three theories of work stress (job demands-resources theory; effort-reward imbalance theory; and organisational justice theory) to explain how psychosocial factors can lead to adverse outcomes for workers and the organisations in which they work.

Māori in the workplace: Understanding drivers of mental health

This essay looks at the context for Māori and the potential for businesses and organisation to provide both organisational support and build personal resources that facilitate mental health.

Organisational culture for psychological health at work

This essay defines culture and climate in organisations, outlines their relevance to psychologically healthy work, and presents suggestions about how cultures can support inclusive and unifying work environments, through leadership and engagement of staff at all organisational levels.

Health and Safety Representatives as enablers of workplace mental wellbeing

This essay covers the role of a health and safety representative, challenges health and safety representatives face, how businesses and organisations can support and enable health and safety representatives and how health and safety representatives can use their role to support mentally healthy work.

Workplace bullying in New Zealand: A review of the research

This essay reviews research of workplace bullying in New Zealand.

Stress – has it had a bad reputation?

This essay discusses work-related stress to create some food for thought and challenge views about what ‘stress’ is.

Positive and negative spillover: An intersection of work and personal life

This essay discusses how it is impossible to separate our work and personal lives, explores the health impact that work can have on people and highlights opportunities for work to influence healthier societies.

Systems of thinking, systems of work

This essay looks at where efforts should be targeted to assess and measure workplace mental health and wellbeing, suggesting that any effort to improve worker mental health should consider that businesses are part of a broader socio-technical system in which different agencies and entities play a role and need to be considered when assessing risk.

Growing a wellbeing movement at work

This essay challenges leaders on the way they engage with your colleagues and employees.

Mentally healthy work in the public service

This essay explores how the public sector approaches health and safety, both within its work and the requirements it places externally, and how this can contribute to better health and safety outcomes for workers across a wide range of New Zealand workplaces.

Last updated 22 September 2022 at 15:09

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Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024

The Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (WHSOLA Act), implements legislative change from the 2022 Review of Queensland's  Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), as well as recommendations from the national 2018 Review of the Model Work Health and Safety Laws (Boland Review).

Its primary focus is to strengthen worker protection and representation, while also encouraging the uptake of health and safety representatives (HSRs) in the workplace.

The WHSOLA Act amends the WHS Act and  Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011 . Amendments to the  Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (WHS Regulation) have also been made to support these changes.

WHSQ is preparing guidance to help you navigate these changes.

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Premier of South Australia

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Landmark work health and safety reforms come into effect

Significant reforms to strengthen south australian work health and safety laws come into effect from today..

The Work Health and Safety (Review Recommendations) Amendment Act 2024 implements law reform recommendations made by the Independent Review of SafeWork SA, delivering on a major Government election commitment.

The Independent Review was conducted by respected former WorkSafe Victoria executive director Mr John Merritt in 2022, and included dozens of meetings with different individuals and groups involved in work health and safety.

The Independent Review made 39 recommendations of which the Government has accepted 36 in whole, in part, or in-principle.

Significant changes made by the Act include:

• Giving the state’s independent industrial umpire – the South Australian Employment Tribunal – a greater role in resolving health and safety disputes, including the power to order employers to fix safety issues on a worksite.
• Reforming restrictive confidentiality rules and enabling SafeWork SA to share more information with people affected by health and safety incidents, including victims, their families, and their representatives.
• Establishing the SafeWork SA Advisory Committee as a permanent forum to build a stronger relationship between the regulator and key stakeholders such as business groups, trade unions, and safety professionals.
• Prohibiting insurance contracts which purport to indemnify employers against serious criminal penalties for breaches of workplace laws, such as for industrial manslaughter offences.

Attributable to Kyam Maher

These reforms represent some of the most important changes to South Australia’s health and safety laws since the creation of the Work Health and Safety Act.

They will make South Australian workplaces safer, they will make our system fairer for victims and their families, and they will help to fix safety issues at an early stage before serious workplace injuries or workplace deaths can occur.

Attributable to SA Unions Secretary Dale Beasley

These WHS reforms are a huge step forward for every South Australian worker's safety and wellbeing. It puts us on the right track to become the safest place to work and do business in the country.

Coming home from work safe isn't just a priority; it's a right. These reforms give workers a say in keeping themselves and their workmates safe.

It's much harder to make a workplace safer when you can't demonstrate that there's a hazard. So, these reforms close absurd legal loopholes that prevented union representatives from taking appropriate measurements and photographic evidence of safety issues.

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Guest Essay

Surgeon General: Parents Are at Their Wits’ End. We Can Do Better.

By Vivek H. Murthy

Dr. Murthy is the surgeon general.

One day when my daughter was a year old, she stopped moving her right leg. Tests found that she had a deep infection in her thigh that was dangerously close to her bone. She was rushed off to surgery. Thankfully, she’s now a healthy, spirited young girl, but the excruciating days we spent in the hospital were some of the hardest of my life. My wife, Alice, and I felt helpless and heartbroken. We got through it because of excellent medical care, understanding workplaces and loved ones who showed up and reminded us that we were not alone.

When I became a parent, a friend told me I was signing up for a lifetime of joy and worry. The joys are indeed abundant, but as fulfilling as parenting has been, the truth is it has also been more stressful than any job I’ve had. I’ve had many moments of feeling lost and exhausted. So many parents I encounter as I travel across America tell me they have the same experience: They feel lucky to be raising kids, but they are struggling, often in silence and alone.

The stress and mental health challenges faced by parents — just like loneliness , workplace well-being and the impact of social media on youth mental health — aren’t always visible, but they can take a steep toll. It’s time to recognize they constitute a serious public health concern for our country. Parents who feel pushed to the brink deserve more than platitudes. They need tangible support. That’s why I am issuing a surgeon general’s advisory to call attention to the stress and mental health concerns facing parents and caregivers and to lay out what we can do to address them.

A recent study by the American Psychological Association revealed that 48 percent of parents say most days their stress is completely overwhelming, compared with 26 percent of other adults who reported the same. They are navigating traditional hardships of parenting — worrying about money and safety, struggling to get enough sleep — as well as new stressors, including omnipresent screens, a youth mental health crisis and widespread fear about the future.

Stress is tougher to manage when you feel you’re on your own, which is why it’s particularly concerning that so many parents, single parents most of all, report feeling lonelier than other adults . Additionally, parents are stretched for time. Compared with just a few decades ago, mothers and fathers spend more time working and more time caring for their children , leaving them less time for rest, leisure and relationships. Stress, loneliness and exhaustion can easily affect people’s mental health and well-being. And we know that the mental health of parents has a direct impact on the mental health of children.

All of this is compounded by an intensifying culture of comparison, often amplified online, that promotes unrealistic expectations of what parents must do. Chasing these expectations while trying to wade through an endless stream of parenting advice has left many families feeling exhausted, burned out and perpetually behind.

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Work Safety, Accidents’ Causes and Prevention Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
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Introduction

Research background.

Since the Stone Age, man has often made his works, easier, efficient and effective through the use of tools, machines and equipment. Even with the better production processes and methods attached to the items, come hazards on the user of these items. These range from simple scratch to possible fatalities.

The rate and severity of damage caused by an accident at work place seem to increase as an organization size increases. In large organizations, several activities have to be put together to attain a given goal. Several activities mean that large and coordinated workforce has to be in place. It is this interaction among people and between people and systems that results to accidents. (Proctor & Zandt, 2008)

Crichton (2008) highlights that minimization of accidents in work place has been a goal that has always accompanied productivity. In as far as an economic entity is to produce, it should be done at minimal accidents occurrence. It therefore, calls for establishment of a safe environment which lessen the chances of an accident happening.

Safety in work place has been on one of the most contentious issues, attracting ubiquitous confrontations between management and those in operational levels. Even as an organization purports to economically operate, it can not ignore the welfare of the most important assets it possesses -human resource. It is also factual that these people will not be able to operate in solitary, devoid of machines and equipment. The safe interaction between the people and machinery should be at the heart of every organization.

Problem statement

An accident, injury or death caused to an employee or any other person by the mechanical nature of a business, means a consequent financial loss to the company and the victim or the victims dependants. So much is paid to insurance companies, usually corresponding to the magnitude of likelihood of accident occurrence in an organization.

Damage which accrues to a particular accident has incidental negative financial loss to the business. This comes from the repair expense to be incurred or the damage that happens to the products in process at the inopportune time. These losses can be reduced if management put in place sufficient safety measures in mechanical areas among other areas. In establishing and maintaining safety in work place, a business should identify the major cause of the accidents in its systems of operations. This study assessed the major causes of accidents across the business fraternity and suggested recommendations that would help curb situations from occasioning or alleviating damage that would occur.

Safety in work place is a wide area but this research project specialized on major causes accidents in workplace. Safety here emphasizes on the most vulnerable areas such as safety in points that involve motion of overall machine, part of it, the operator or goods undergoing processing. Other possibilities of accidents in workplace such as slippery floors, air conditioning, electricity accidents have also been considered.

The objectives of the study include;

• To evaluate the impact layouts, stress, aggression and violence, workload and types of machines on rate of accidents.
• To evaluate effectiveness of appropriate clothing to accident prevention
• To determine the effect of accident (insurance expense) on business financial performance
• Safety measure reduces the financial losses to a business.
• Given layouts of machines and equipment influence the rate of accidents in an organization.
• Inappropriate dressing and inadequate training accelerates the rate of accident in work setting.

Literature Review

This study builds on massive researches done by various scholars in academic institution and researchers in various organizations. Their allusions and insinuations in their publications may attract questions whose answers calls for a study as this one and comments to streamline the facts as presented in the work place away from concepts and theories (Mendez, 2011).

Theories and concepts

According to Huchner (2010) Systems portend the largest cause of accidents in work place. The nature of machines and equipment has a good take on frequency of accidents in a business. For instance the more a manual a machine is, the more the operator is prone to injuries caused by such a machine.

The human resources, at the same time do not escape the blame because of their imperfect nature and their Omni-exposure to erring (Whittingham 2004). The author delves much into theories and concepts, unearthing the level of weaknesses engulfing human being and how mistakes, ignorance, lapses and slips among others cause errors and consequent vulnerabilities. With the previous allusion that it’s the systems that cause accidents, the probability attributable to each the two causes still remain to be explored.

Hughes (2007) has a different look about the same issue. He focuses on losses that come with the accidents instead of the causes. In addition to loosing experienced expertise, time and products, a business incurs financial loss, underfunds its operations and as the vicious spiral whirls, its public image and general performance heads to a detrimental future.

It’s true that for a business to grow and maintain its going concern nature, the losses have to be kept at minimum while its operation are carried out in the most impeccable way. This can be done by preventing any interruptions fathomable (Apgar, 2000). It is always better to deal with the root of a problem, which in this study happens to be causes of perils at the work place. Ultimately losses will be minimized –the very goal of any business.

Conceptual framework

Various items are known to cause accidents in areas where machines and equipment are used. Due to the scope of this study, dressing, training, machines types and their layouts are considered. Their impacts were measured with regard to their contribution to the workplace accidents and the resultant financial losses.

Methodology

To be able to come up with the data and subsequent analysis, historical data from a sample of selected companies were to be collected. A sample of 15 companies in was selected on convenience basis to represent the larger picture of situation in the entire businesses world.

The chosen companies also represent the two types of business sector, that is, manufacturing and service sectors. It is from these companies’ databases of work place accidents that information on aforementioned independent variables was collected for analysis.

From the warehouse of data and statistics, this study identified what each of the fifteen companies identifies as the major cause of accidents in its workplaces.

R esults and Discussion

Data Analysis and Discussion

According to the data collected from the statistics of representative companies it is seen that, stress scores highest as the major cause of accidents in the work place. Various post –accidental investigations by the companies reveal a significant similarity on accidents resulting from human error; the causing agent, and most of the times the victim, erred because he was stressed up and did an action irresponsibly. At least 26% of companies attribute major causes of accidents at workplace to stress.

The results seen here are supported by Lee (1997) who explains succinctly the impacts of stress in work place. He reiterates that stress not only lead to lowered productivity but also is a major cause of accidents. The temporarily blinded and exhausted mind is bound to fail in coordinating other human faculties and therefore irrational activities that lead to accidents. When sober and devoid of stress, one is bound to not only carry out ones duty as required, but also be cautious of any latent dangers ones workplace exposes one and others to.

Workload and Multitasking

Workload refers to the amount of work that a worker is supposed to do in a given time. Multitasking is an aspect of workload defined by the number of different activities a worker is bound to do in a given period of time.

From the statistics collected it is seen that a significant proportion (20%) of companies mention these as the cause of accidents in their workplaces. Such companies cite exhaustion and lack of specialization as the forces behind workplace accidents. This is prevalent in businesses which are under the manufacturing sector where individual are involved in strenuous activities, which wears off the ability of these people to handle more work. Service industry is not exempted but it reports comparatively lower cases.

Inappropriate Dressing

It has been noted that poor dressing is a major cause of accidents in some companies. 6.7% of companies, most companies, especially those that produce chemical or use chemicals in their operations, face accidents emanating from poor dressing. This means that workers do not use the approved protective clothes and end up contacting chemical or inhaling the poisonous fumes.

Inappropriate layouts of machines

Machines especially those that are in motion have been identified to cause accidents too. 20% of the sample elements identified this as a major cause of accidents in their workplaces. When machines are place in areas where people moving to and fro, their activities are a hazard to these people. This is aggravated by the nature of machines. Manual, rotating and cutting machines cut the limbs of many in organizations while belts are known to grab people by their loose clothes or hair and dragging them along causing serious injuries.

Inadequate Training

This is a major cause of accidents, according to this study, for 6.7% of companies. Companies here mention that those that do not have enough experience or have not attained adequate training are the major cause of accidents in work places.

Aggression and violence

These come around due to poor relations among employee. A fifth of the companies have aggression and violence as their major cause of accidents in work places. Fighting or negligence as a result or disagreements leads to the unpalatable outcomes accidents (Gunningham & Johnston, 1999).

Companies in this category were unable to identify any major cause of accidents in their organization. Instead, their identified several causes such as the ones mentioned as well as others, for instance, malicious motives of some individuals, weather and other catastrophe.

Recommendations

As stated earlier, accidents in work place have tremendous consequences both to the workers and the company. Even though accidents cannot be completely eliminated, safety measures and mechanisms can be employed to reduce the frequencies of these incidents occurrences and their severity as well. The following may serve as some of guidelines to curbing accidents in workplace;

• A company should, through the available means, ensure that the relationship among its employees is healthy, provide appropriate protection to its workers, give the proper orientation and training before deploying personnel to task. The company should also install their machines in location that do not expose workers and attach to these machine easily comprehensible warning labels in places where they can be seen. Precautions should be well explained during training and whenever need arises.
• Potential hazards such as naked electric wire, chopping blades, rotating part and moving belts should be handled with much care. Harmful emissions in workplace should be prevented by regular checks of emission pipes and cylinders. Harmful liquid and other chemical should be transported in tightly sealed containers (Killham & Krueger, 2007).
• All the precautions usually considered trivial should be observed. These include avoiding spilling liquids on the floor, aerating workplaces by providing ventilation, disposing off broken object and anything that may cause tripping.
• Companies should strive to ensure that each of its employees is well emotionally. They need to combat the eminent stress that would results from conflicts from home or at work place. This can be done by incorporating relaxation moments in the course of job and promoting games, for instance, after work. This will mean there will be no buildup of stress.

According to studies, safety in the workplace is a fundamental issue which should occupy a good deal of business’ strategic debates. Cases of accidents cost a company detrimentally contributes to financial losses and even fall of some businesses. The amounts paid for insurance as well as other compensations add up to additional expenses that can be reduced by implementation of safety in workplace.

Safe working environment is a source of motivation to workers, an incentive for efficient and effective processes and an ingredient that lures qualified employees while acquiring and retaining customers. Positive public image thus assumed, widens the market and improve public relations.

Still, with the understanding that it is hard to get rid of risks, the organization will require efforts to maintain their combatant urge against accidents in the workplace. It is with these efforts that going concern will be able to plan, forecast and attain their goals since minimal contingencies will exist.

This project paper indicates that business operations are prone to differing likelihoods of accidents occurrence. It is also seen that an organization has a role to play in reducing these accidents. Appreciating safety in work place for serene and economical operations, calls for everyone to be a part of the effort.

Apgar, M. (2000). The alternative work place . Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Crichton, M. (2008). Safety at sharp end . Burlington: Ashgate publishing Company.

Gunningham, N., & Johnston, R. (1999). Regulating workplace safety: Systems and sanctions . New York: Oxford University Press.

Huchner, P. (2010). Work safety practices: Staff safety and Management . Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Hughes, P. (2007 ). Introduction of health and safety in production . Burlington: Elsevier Publishers.

Killham, E., & Krueger, J. (2007). At work: feeling good at the workplace . New York: Gallup press.

Lee, D. (1997). The hidden cost of trauma in work place: The John Liner Review, 11 (3), 33-38.

Mendez, A. (2011). Compensation: Health Insurance. New York: W. W. Wiley & Sons Company.

Proctor, R. W., & Zandt, V. (2008). Human efforts in simple and complex systems . Boca Raton: CRC press.

Whittingham, R. (2004). The blame machine: Why human errors cause accidents . Burlington: Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann.

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