Causes for Optimized Work - Report Example

? Issues At Workplace Health & Safety Shakeel [Pick the Contents 3 Introduction 4 Issue at hand 4 Discussion and Solutions to Issues 6Responsibilities of Employers and Employees 6 Hygiene Control 7 Noise Pollution 7 Sexual Harassment 8 Out of date Equipment 8 Bullying 9 Conclusion 10 Recommendations 10 References 12 Abstract Reflective journal does in recording tensions that are generally faced in the workplace. Having given the journal a closer look, one of the issues that stand out the most is that the safety and health at the workplace is greatly overlooked. We are going to look into this problem with more scrutiny and find out the root causes that are hindering optimized work and proper training. Introduction Working in an organization requires that an employee gives their best but the workplace safety and health concern is one of the main issues in workplace due to which performance of the organization declines (Dana & Griffin, 1999). In an occupational environment, health and safety basically entails is the focus that quality of work is affected by the poor arrangements or the unfriendly work environment that habitats the office. The health safety in workplace not only refers to the physical aspects of the person that are affected in a bad way but also the impact on the psyche and mental health of the employee or the employer himself (Dennis, 1997). Ensuring health and safety in a workplace is not only the responsibility of the employer or the organization that a person works in, but also the responsibility of the employer (Jackson et al, 2009). As in any other relationship, where you get certain rights, there are also certain responsibilities that you have to adhere to as well; May it be a parent child relationship, husband wife or in this case between an employee and organization. This would be further discussed later with the solution to the case problem. Issue at hand What I have been able to gather from the reflective journal is that this issue of safety in the workplace is not only limited to the psychological problems that are faced by the employees in the workplace. One of the main problems that have been at hand is the noise pollution that the employees have had to tolerate while they go about daily work. The fact of the matter is that the office is situated in a place where a lot of traffic passes and lot of noise is directed towards the workplace. The biggest problem faced because of this is that the concentration level is hindered while working and several neurological abilities may also have lasting effect on them due to excessive noise (Government.nl, 2013). Sexual harassment is one of the major factors that contribute to the detriments that are posed to the workplace. This is not just about some minor suggestive remarks, innuendos, friendly jokes or pat on the back; it is about the serious suggestive behavior that some the team members, especially the females, encounter while working with the other members of the organization. What it does is not only make them threatened and insecure but also affect their work as a team which is not something that anyone at the workplace wants as a regularity because it is a fact that the better the team performs, the better it reflects on everyone because even though there is no I in a team. Another problem is the poor hygiene that is kept at the workplace. It is in no way, shape or form to suggest that the workplace is only a dirty place, but the standards of cleanliness at the workplace is not something that contributes to the welfare of the workings in the team. A person has to be responsible about the hygiene around him, but what would happen when the trash in the office is not cleaned up way till noon. Poor hygiene in the workplace not only gets people sick and but enables employees in cashing in on their sick leaves in a calendar year. The unfriendly atmosphere also makes employees cranky, which further down the line actually exacerbates the already stressed out employee (Government.nl, 2013). One of the main problems affecting the workplace safety and health is that the equipment used in office work like the chairs, desktop etc. are not up to the standard quality. The main problem here is that workplaces that are usually established sometimes ago have an issue where equipment does not get replaced unless it completely dies out. For example, one might still have to use a monitor instead of an LCD which has only weakened my eyesight further due to excessive use (Government.nl, 2013). Bullying is another issue that goes unnoticed by most of the superiors because it is mainly done behind their backs. Bullying can not only stress the one who is being bullied, but also affect their health (Einarsen, 2011). All of these problems need to be handled head on and different strategies should be made to rectify this because this is not a problem that goes away with simple tweaking. Organizations have to develop proper strategies to counter this, in order to increase productivity. Following are the main factors which cause the organizational or departmental performance issues of health and safety at workplace. Discussion and Solutions to Issues Responsibilities of Employers and Employees The rights that employees are entitled to are actually defined by the government laws and regulations and these are the things that an employee is privy to and cannot be deprived of. Organizations should buckle down on this issue and not only make strict application of the rules provided by the government, but they should also provide their own guidelines in the workplace pertaining to the business that an organization conducts (Nidirect, 2013). Employers should be aware of the fact that they should not make use of any kind of substance that would lead to causing problems in the workplace. For example, excessive noise, disturbing others or physical agents might be detrimental to personal health or of others. Employers should provide instruction and training to the employees about the safety and health in workplace and the issues that arise in the process. On the other hand, employees need to recognize the fact that they need to take responsibility and not do anything in the workplace that would endanger them or others physically or mentally. Employees have to be responsible in working diligently and should be aware of the fact that working under influence of alcohol or drugs would only lead to bad consequences for the firm and themselves. Employees should also report to any defects or problems they face in the workplace (Nidirect, 2013). Hygiene Control It is prudent that any immediate danger to an employee should be controlled and prevented. So, what needs to be done in this case is that organizations not only need to provide proper environment for the hygiene but it is also the responsibility of the employee that he keeps the environment around him as clean as possible. The employees should take responsibility in reminding the employer on their responsibilities about any health and hygiene issue that is faced or issues that pose an immediate danger to their effective work. The organizations need to develop proper policies in order to provide proper hygiene in the office environment (Tranter, 2004). Noise Pollution An organization should be aware of the factors in work that are affected by noise pollution and the cause of stress. What the organization should do is offer annual vacation to the staff that would rejuvenate the system of the employees and the stress would eventually pan out while the employee would be able to start anew when they resume work. If giving a proper time off is a problem for the organization, the best practice that the organization can indulge in is that it should provide proper sound proofing to place where employees are hard at work. If that is also too much of a hassle, the employer should look ways that they can relocate to a place that would provide a better working environment (Cummings & Worley, 2009). Sexual Harassment Human resource management should be active in defining a proper procedure that the company would go through in the event that any sexual harassment occurs in the workplace. Employees should also take responsibility and they should report to the management if there is any such case where they feel threatened by another employee. An employee who witnesses such case should also take initiative in case the victim of the sexual harassment is too afraid or embarrassed to file a complaint. What Human resources and the employer then need to focus on is the investigation through proper channel. Because it is a possibility that kind actions or extremely friendly behavior of another employee might come off as something offensive to the one filing the complaint, in which case their only needs to be established a boundary between the two employees. There might also be the case that the victim is in fact lying about the whole situation to exploit some kind of situation (Achampong, 1999)  Out of date Equipment From a human resource management strategic point of view, it is important that the environment and the equipment that the employee actually works with should be top notch in order to produce excellent productivity. The organization should be aware of the fact that the productivity would only get better if the employees work with the equipment and environment that is not only eco-friendly but also produces less stress on the worker. So, the focus is to have the human resource talk it out with the employees about what kind of problems there are that they face in the workplace. It would not only help with this issue but also with the above mentioned issues that have been the main cause of problem for the employee to work safely. This would help with the human resource making a report on what most of the employees feel is the common problem and which one has immediate repercussions. Not all problems can be fixed overnight and the employers have to prioritize in what they want to be fixed at first. Bullying An employee should report any incident involving bullying because it affects the safety and mental health of the victim. Fact of the matter is that many of the employees might be intimidated or pressured into not going forward with complaints. In such cases, what an organization needs to do is have a human resource strategy that would help them pick up on the subtle clues of sick leaves, absentees, customer complaints, employee turnover or other grievances and stress that an employee might be going through. An organization should be able to find out the problem in its initial stages, prevent it from escalating any further. Another strategy that the employer needs to have is that they should recognize the need to provide awareness training to the staff and managers. Even the employers at the top level should know better if they bully people under them that bullying only produces stress in the person whom they are getting work from and in turn deprives them of the productivity. All of this needs to be prevented because it is a fact that bullying never leads to good business within an organization (Crothers &Lipinski, 2013). Conclusion It has been established firmly thus far that not only the employer should take responsibility in providing a safe workplace to the employees, but the employees also need to take responsibility in getting their act together. Employees should not try to escalate problems within workplace by trashing the environment, bullying colleagues or subordinates and making suggestive passes on the fairer sex but they should contribute to the organization by committing themselves forward with the problem at hand. In return, organization needs to identify the strategies that the human resource management should come up with to solve problems that occur in the workplace. Recommendations Employees should clean up after them and the organization should take responsibility in keeping the workplace as clean as possible. Proper noise cancellation equipment should be used or the location of the workplace should be changed. There should be proper policies that lay down punishments and precautions about sexual harassment and proper investigation should be undertaken. Human resource management should be active in determining the problems in workplace that an employee faces in order to make documentation about it. Human resource management should maintain proper strategies from the organization perspective in order to solve immediate issues that need to be fixed. Employers should stay away from bullying and work towards making policies in order to prevent bullying within the system. Employers and employees should know about their responsibilities in contributing towards the welfare of the workplace and its safety. Top of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form References Achampong, F. (1999). Workplace sexual harassment law: Principles, landmark developments, and framework for effective risk management. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Quorum Books. Crothers, L. M., & Lipinski, J. (2013). Bullying in the workplace: Symptoms, causes and remedies. Brunner-Routledge. Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2009). Organization development & change. Australia: South-Western/Cengage Learning. Danna, K., & Griffin, R. W. (1999). Health and well-being in the workplace: A review and synthesis of the literature. Journal of management, 25(3), 357-384. Dennis, P. (1997). Quality, safety, and environment: Synergy in the 21st century. Milwaukee, Wis: ASQC Quality Press. Einarsen, S. (2011). Bullying and harassment in the workplace: Developments in theory, research, and practice. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Government.nl (2013). Risks and measures | Health and safety at the workplace | Government.nl. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.government.nl/issues/health-and-safety-at-the-workplace/risks-and-measures [Accessed: 3 Oct 2013]. Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., Werner, S., & Jackson, S. E. (2009). Managing human resources. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Nidirect (2013). Employees' health and safety responsibilities | nidirect. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/employees-health-and-safety-responsibilities [Accessed: 3 Oct 2013]. Tranter, M. (2004). Occupational hygiene and risk management. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More