Workplace Health, Safety & Welfare - Coursework Example

? Workplace, Health, Safety and Welfare Introduction Workplace health, safety and welfare are a broad discipline that deals with protecting the health, safety and welfare of those engaged in an employment or work. The main goal of workplace health and safety is to foster a healthy and safe workplace environment. As its secondary impacts, workplace health and safety continually protects family members, co-workers, employers, suppliers, customers, and members of the public whose workplace environment impact on. The discipline also reduces elements of sick leave, medical care and costs of disability. Workplace health, safety and welfare involve broad subject areas such as occupational hygiene, occupational medicine, public health, industrial engineering, health physics, safety engineering, chemistry, and ergonomics. The agency for safety in places of work in the Europe asserts that the workplace health, safety and welfare regulations entail a broad range of basic issues of health, safety and welfare and is applicable to majority of workplaces. Exceptions are made for the application of the regulations on those workplaces involving ship operations, construction sites, and mining grounds. However, the general guidance on workplace safety covers all areas of work and is applicable on particular subjects such as temperature, ventilation, cleanliness, lighting, workstations and seating, room dimensions, falling objects, floor conditions, translucent and transparent doors, windows, gates and walls, ventilators, escalators, skylights, washing facilities, and sanitary conveniences among other matters. The requirements under the regulations demand that the employers perform a general duty of ensuring that the health, safety and welfare of the employees at workplace are taken care of appropriately. Even people who control the non domestic premises carry a duty to people who use those premises even if they are not their employees. The health and safety regulations ensure all employers carry on their duties to protect the safety, health and welfare of everyone within and around the workplace as well as the provision of sufficient welfare facilities to the people in the workplace. The set regulations see to it that all places of work meet the safety, health and welfare requirements of all the employees as well as those with disabilities. The suitability of things to everyone is ensured by these regulations. This involves making parts of the workplace such as passageways, lavatories, stairs, particular doors, showers, and workstations accessible to those with disabilities. The major focus of workplace health, safety and welfare are on concerns such as the improvement of the work and its environment for conduciveness in relation to health and safety, the promotion ad maintenance of the health of workers and their capacity to work, and the development of cultures of work, working organizations in a direction supporting safety and health in the workplace as well as promoting an optimistic smooth operation and social climate which may eventually enhance their undertakings in terms of productivity. The working culture concept here means the reflection of an essential system of value that is adopted by the concerned undertaking. The mentioned culture if reflected in practice of the personnel policy, managerial system, training policies, principles of participation, and the quality management of the employee undertaking. Generally, the primary reasons why employers have no choice but to adopt the workplace safety, health and welfare regulations include: moral reasons like the unacceptability of placing the safety and health of people at risk, reasonable care duty owed to people, the attitude of society to the moral obligations, and making cases of morals to the senior management; legal reasons which may result into compensatory as a result of law effects, punitive, prevention of the effects of the law; and the economic reasons including both the indirect and direct costs that are associated with the safety and health incidents and the effects of the same to the organization. It is however clear that the workplace safety, health and welfare commits employers to ensuring a healthy and safe working environment to the staff and customers as well as the visitors to their premises. Employers are expected to implement various health and safety measures in their organizations such as the health and safety committees, a system of reporting that investigates and records health and safety incidents and accidents, procedures of safety audits and workplace assessment, and various trainings and advice on health and safety issues at the workplace. The objectives, activities and procedures of health and safety should also be reviewed continuously in order to ensure that the health and safety regulations and policy guides the organization well and effectively. Every staff member must ensure that they recognize their duties and responsibilities. This requires that the continual incorporation of the principles of workplace health and safety are done as well as ensuring an ongoing allocation and commitment of the resources to workplace health and safety is done effectively. There must be an effective communication between the staff members at all levels. The principles of workplace health, safety and welfare if effectively implemented, will ensure the health protection of the public and community against health and safety risks that arise due to the connection with or out of the work activities and/ or plant operations by a person at work; elimination of the risks to safety, health and welfare at their source for the people at work; encouraging associations that are registered to assume constructive duties in enhancing improvements in workplace safety, health and welfare practices as well as helping the employees and employers in achieving a safer and healthier environment at workplace; and involving employers and employees in the issues that affect workplace safety, health and welfare in general. In summary, the employers should perform various plans of action that ensure the principles of workplace safety, health and welfare are implemented. Some of the action plans that are recommended include: continually attending workshops on workplace safety, health and welfare activities and procedures; continually reviewing the provisions of the safety and health services and reports of the findings by the health and safety committees; offering advice to the supervisors and the executives on the evacuation procedures and their developments for buildings; continually advising supervisors on setting objectives and goals; ensuring attendance of workshops on safety and health awareness by the staff; implementing and meeting all the set objectives on health and safety; continually reviewing the provision of the services of first aid available and training the staff on the same; establishing an appropriate and effective safety and health audit as well as the procedures of workplace assessment; ensuring effective review of the procedures of evacuation and developing an appropriate plan where possible; and develop and review on yearly basis the safety objectives and goals for every area where responsibility arises. Bibliography European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. 2004. Effectiveness of economic incentives to improve occupational safety and health. Bilbao, Spain: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work Press Read More