Safety and Health Problems in the Workplace - Essay Example

HЕАLTH АND SAFETY IN WОRKРLАСЕ By Student’s name Code+ course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date Introduction It is clear that understood that the workplace and all the things used in the working process for example, substances and plant should be safe and not health risky. Laws governing the health and safety aspects in the workplace have focused a lot on elements that place duties on those who require job to be done (Alli, 2008.). It has been observed for some time that work needs to be undertaken in a way that is safe and free from health risk. In order to promote these aspects laws needs systems that are safe and associated information, training and supervision as well as instruction to be delivered by the employer. Work system, resources consideration and other crucial work requirements have a high likelihood of providing for health and safety if all the relevant accounts are taken into consideration at all circumstances (Hartline-grafton, 2004). Consultations in legislations are aimed at making sure that information contribution I effective. Therefore the information flow in such systems should be made continuous with information volunteering rather than being provided when it is sought for during the formal consultation process. There are certain cases where the physical work place environment and the inputs are all safe and are supported by an effective work system and training, however, incidents where people suffer or find themselves at death and injury risk. This can be contributed to by individuals who do not act safely and in accordance with the set policies and procedures (Alli, 2008). These kind of behavior may result from individuals’ lack of understanding or the system procedures, lack of risk appreciation, people failing to follow the system by considering them inappropriate and ineffective as well as existence of tension between safety and productivity. Safety outcomes requires those who are concerned with them to undertake them in accordance with the work system that have been put in place for them and in which instructions have been provided and trained accordingly. It is clear that work system may be put in place to minimize or eradicate cases of accidents and injuries in the work places, however, without high class attitudes and behaviors of people in the organization the whole process would not beer the expected results. This report seeks to expound more on this statement by using examples and case studies where appropriate. Core elements of Managing health and safety It is a legal duty for organizations to put into place appropriate provisions to manage for health and safety. A common sense is encouraged for as this is seen as a wide raging and general requirements. This should also be part of the daily process in the run of an organization and the fundamental workplace altitude and behaviors. Managing for health and safety does not get affected by organization aspects such as size or an organization nature and the keys to effective management of the stated aspects include the following; Management and leadership and presence of a well-trained and skilled workforce that operates within an environment that comprises of trusted people who are also involved in a Successful delivery of set organization goals which can be achieved rarely by one off interventions (Hartline-grafton, 2004). A systematic and sustained approach is also important which may require health and safety management system that is formal. Organizations provide safety bulletins with an aim of creating and raising awareness of the control hazards and at the same time reinforce appropriate control measures. The safety and health documents are proposed to be kept concise and functional with more emphasis based on the effectiveness other than a sheer paper work volume. These are all positive steps that are set towards addressing the issues of health and safety in the workplace effectively. However, the performance of any system or process that sis put in place centers on the attitudes and behavior of people within an organization. This mean that focusing a lot on health and safety management system formal documentation brings in distractions of addressing the human elements in the context of its implementation where the focus becomes the process of the system other than the actual process of controlling risks. Effective health and safety management In general recognition, the safety and health management should embrace more on the connections that exists between the workstation environment, structure, people, as well as, people of an organization in a holistic way (Asbury, & Asbury. 2014). Effective risk and health management in any organization partly depends on the behavior and altitudes of individuals towards the set operational system. There is a substantial number of accidents in the workplace that can be linked to unsafe behaviors within an organization. Unsafe behaviors can be encouraged by aspects such as equipment’s that are poorly designed, poor systems and working conditions. However, these kind of behaviors are not inevitable. Altitudes and ethics within an organization’s in regard to a safe working environment are crucial aspects impacting on its tactics towards work and eventually a healthy and safe routine. In other words, it is not sufficient for an organizations management to put in place safe systems, equipment’s and procedures if the existing culture dose not at all encourage healthy and safe working. Effective health and safety procedures in an organization can also depend more on an organizations culture. This is following the fact that a culture that is poor can result into weakness because of the difficulties within a person working boundary. Perhaps this can result from poor training and communication. A meager culture gives in room for an atmosphere that accepts vices of people failing to comply with the safe working practices. Often, those organizations that olds on a deprived safety culture can insist on similar underlying altitude towards all processes. This may lead into deprived safety culture within the workplace which would extend into a poor product quality and financial control. The biggest challenge that organizations have is to have and maintain an optimistic sway on an organization’s healthy and safe culture. Changing the beliefs and altitudes a workforce is a hard task especially when it is done through direct persuasion, however, acting safely can make workers to start thinking in a safe way. This is what has led to the growth and development of a behavioral safety methodology. Culture develops slowly and a fundamental change in it requires time to take effect. The health and safety professional have a task to undertake and must aim to use current thinking into practice in order achieve a safer and healthier working environment (Thomas, 2012). As stated earlier a culture refers the process of undertaking things which are copied and mutual. In every culture every one tends behave a way that is considered to be a norm. Consequently, an organization’s healthier and safety culture comprises of working practices, propensity to tolerate and accept risk, hazard control procedures, as well as, how the accidents are dealt with. This culture also brings in how people take and feel about safety and how they react and adopt to the set policies and procedures that have been set by an organization (Kusluvan, 2003). A healthier and safety culture comprises of the following elements; working procedures and rules set for effective control of hazards, an altitude that is positive headed for risk management and acquiescence with the control procedures. Finally, it is the ability to learn from accidents, safety performance, and near misses with an aim of bringing about continual improvement. Attitudes and behaviors The performance of any organization depends mainly on the well- being of employees. That is, an organizations wealth again depends on the health conditions of employees. It is important to foster a safe and healthy workplace in any organization and this cannot be achieved only by setting or putting into place a safety and health management system. As it has been indicated in the report attitudes and behaviors of all stakeholders and more so the employees is a key factor to consider (Lack, 2002.). That is, are behaviors of people in line with the requirements of the set system or do they have a positive or negative attitude towards the safety and health procedures set? Despite of having a safety and health management system the following are a few tips or examples that shows that the behavior and altitudes of employees have a role to play in promoting the health and wellness within the workplace. Work surfaces and devices cleanliness A work place that is clean and tidy makes sure that the productivity is better and keeps the employees healthier. In order to undertake this task effectively a house keeper has to have a positive attitude towards his or her work by making sure that all the desks and remises within the work place remains tidy by regular cleaning as well as dusting. The working devices such as computers, tеlерhоnеѕ must also be cleaned on a regular basis to eliminate the blowout оf germs. This reduces spread of dishes such as flue among employees (Cox, & tait, 1991). Although it is the duty of the housekeeper to tide the place the other people in the organization has a role to play in keeping the place clean. For example, littering the place because it is the work of the housekeeper to tidy the place. This is a behavior that will initially result into an effective health and risk management.  Idеаl workroom tеmреrаturе According to many studies that have been conducted in this area has shown that presence of improper levels of tеmреrаturе and in door quality air that is poor affects the productivity of employees. It is clear that an office environment temperature should be maintained in a way that an employee’s wearing normal clothes should not complain of feeling nеіthеr tооl cold nor too warm (Yiannas, 2009). This is a health and risk factor that should be considered and proper safety and health management system put into place. The performance of this kind of safety procedure also partly depends on the attitudes and behaviors of people. The point is that they have to develop a positive culture towards the effort put into place by the organization. Imрrоvеd іndооr аіr quаlіtу A research conducted by the environmental protection agency in the US indicated that a large number of indoor environments are polluted compared to outdoors. This can affect the health and productivity of working staff badly. People’s behavior can hinder the effectiveness of a health and safety system once they fail to avoid blocking the air ventilations, follow the building and smoking policy, dispose garbage properly and promptly, fail to use bothersome contaminants and odors (Lingard, & rowlinson, 2005). Other behaviors include failure to keep the windows open often and confiscate toxins to give room for fresh air, and to take the responsibility of consulting the facility managers in case they suspect an indoor air quality problem although it is not their duty. Drug test programs Substance abuse is a personal problem of an employee and an organization has a duty to make sure that none of its employee’s works under the influence of drugs. Working under the influence of drugs can be a risky and a health hazard for the entire organization workforce. This is because making mistakes that can cause serious accidents in the workplace when working under the influence of drugs is possible (Boskin, graf, & kreisworth, 1990). There are set management system in this case but again the attitudes and behavior of employees must be positive in order to make the process effective. Case study example: working partnership to develop a healthy and safe culture In line of reducing the number of workforce illness, injuries and unsafe behaviors a gas services group integrated its health and safety policy into the general business administration plan (Tooma, 2008). They also introduced a partnership approach comprising of safety representative and employees whose task was to; update staff on crucial issues and improvements, ensure that the previous time injuries were investigated by a whereby any lessons learnt were communicated immediately to the employees. The partnership approach also gave a clear definition on the role and responsibilities to the line managers and gave them support through a workforce enactment review (Kipp, & loflin, 1996). Another task was to give a report on the occurrences and hazards and which encompassed of a healthy and safe packages of the whole administration conferences. There were frequent meetings among the safety consultants, safety agents and managers. It was ensured that training, investigations, communication and inspections had proper support the scheme through, attending administration meetings, as well as, gathering with the staff members. All these task are a clear example that the people’s altitudes and behavior has a crucial role in the effectiveness of a safety a health management system. Conclusion This report has identified that to achieve an effective managing for health and safety does not only call for a management or safety management system. The success of whatever process or system is in place still calls in for the attitudes and behaviors of people in the organization. There are numerous way make the workplace a healthier, happier and more productive environment and make employees feel more comfortable during their working hours which can assist in better productivity and reduction in the number of accidents and injuries. This shows that a prerequisite for a positive attitude and behavior results into a safe organizational culture which serves as a good information flow. However, for it flow effectively the workforce must be willing to take part in the process and be prepared to report their mistakes accidents and near misses as well. This level of willingness will be contingent on how an organization inspects incidents and how it handles blame. A safety and health culture that punish and blames people for any mistake that occurs will encourage negative attitude and behavior. On the other hand, a culture that does not punish or blame and allows all mistakes to take place and go unpunished inclusive the unethical ones certainly is not realistic and perhaps will not be conventional to an organization. Thus, the best momentous healthy and safe culture should be based on a reasonable allocation. However, the utmost uncontrolled healthy and safe disasters should be communicated without any retribution fear. In order for this to place an organizations should come up with a clear line procedure among tolerable and unacceptable, irresponsible behavior and attitudes. The idea in this case is to make sure that people develops a positive attitude and behavior towards the safety and health aspects in an organization. Reference list Ally, B. O. 2008. Fundamental principles of occupational health and safety. Geneva, International Labor Office. Asbury, S., & Asbury, S. 2014. Health and safety, environment and quality audits: a risk-based approach. Abingdon, Oxon, Rutledge. Ashrae presidential group on health and safety under extraordinary incidents. 2002. Risk management guidance for health and safety under extraordinary incidents: report. Atlanta, Ga, The Society. Boskin, W. D., Graf, G., & Kreisworth, V. 1990. Health dynamics, attitudes, and behaviors. St. Paul, West Pub. Co. Cox, S. J., & Tait, N. R. S. 1991. Reliability, safety, and risk management: an integrated approach. 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