Definition and Meaning of Workplace Safety - Research Paper Example

Definition and Meaning of Workplace Safety Introduction Workplace safety generally refers to the protection of employees while they are on job. Workplace safety has been one of the major concerns for employees, as well as for managers. Almost every country has made significant laws to improve and ensure workplace safety because of increased concerns of media personnel, employees, and public about this issue. However, the cases of hazardous workplace injuries are still caching the attention of public. Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) is the American employee safety act which also deals with workplace safety issues. In this paper we will discuss whether OSHA is proving successful in dealing with workplace safety issues or not. Problem Statement The problem statement for the research paper is, ‘Is OSHA Proving Successful in Ensuring Workplace Safety for Construction Related Occupations and Other Dangerous Occupations’. Literature Review There are various kinds of occupations that an individual chooses to earn his/her living. Some of those occupations are considered dangerous from the perspective of personal heath, whereas some occupations are somewhat less dangerous and are considered harmless. Workplace safety is the biggest concern for any individual while adopting any occupation. People prefer to adopt such occupations that are considered less dangerous. The reason is that health is the most precious asset for a person. Employees’ level of productivity is linked directly with the level of protection that they feel while at work (Hayes, Perander, Smecko, & Trask, 1998). If employees feel safe at work, their level of productivity increases as they can focus on their work properly. On the other hand, concerns over safety adversely affect their levels of concentration and productivity. However, sometimes people have to adopt such occupations that are most vulnerable to personal safety. Construction related occupations fall into the category of those occupations that are considered dangerous. The reason is that construction related occupations have many concerns regarding workers’ safety. As Cullen (2002) states, “most jobs have expected, known hazards” (p. 7). For example, many laborers and even engineers while working lose their lives falling accidentally from high roofs of multistory buildings. In the same way, sometimes electricians suffer deadly electric shocks when they forget to apply appropriate security measures regarding electric current while doing electric work in new buildings. These are just some of those risks that make construction related occupations unsafe and dangerous for health. However, the fact is that construction related occupations are not the only type of occupations that are hazardous; there also exist some other occupations that are even more dangerous as compared to construction related occupations. Some of those occupations include firefighting, fishing, criminal justice system related occupations, farming, and aircraft pilot. OSHA guidelines are there to protect most of these occupations. The guidelines are proving very effective as they have reduced the number of per year causalities associated with these occupations up to some extent (Lanoie, 1992). However, workers are still suffering workplace injuries because management officials of most of these occupations are not skilled enough to implement OSHA safety mechanisms properly. Therefore, a lot more still needs to be done by the management officials in order to overcome the issue of workplace safety properly. Workplace safety is the main factor that plays its part in making people consider some occupations dangerous and risky for personal health and safety. People are usually not aware of OSHA guidelines regarding workplace safety nor they have in their minds that whether the companies for which they are going to work follow OSHA safety guidelines or not. Therefore, they consider adopting safer occupations. They just hear the news about workplace causalities and start thinking bad of some occupations. They hardly know about the effects of OSHA guidelines on the reduction of such incidents. The reality is that OSHA has been able to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities up to a great extent. It is just up to the management officials to follow the guidelines properly in order to ensure workplace safety for employees. One cannot say that workplace injuries occur because of lapses in OSHA guidelines. The fact is that sometimes managers fail to implement the guidelines properly which increases the chances of workplace injuries. OSHA guidelines are playing a critical role in helping the Department of Labor of America achieve its workplace goals. OSHA not only provides guidelines for improving workplace safety but also plays its role in inspecting workplaces, offering consultation, providing compliance assistance, and fostering relationships with organizations to resolve the issue of workplace safety (Lanoie, 1992). OSHA is playing its role remarkably, but there are a few challenges that need to be overcome in order to ensure more progress towards the issue of workplace safety. Some of those challenges include overseeing an increasing diverse population of workers, developing safety mechanisms in accordance with the changing trends in American workforce demographic characteristics, addressing transportation and construction safety, and addressing emergency related issues. These are some of the major challenges that OSHA needs to overcome in order to prove its effectiveness in all areas of employee safety. Criminal justice related occupations, firefighting, and the occupation of aircraft pilots are such occupations which have a very level of personal safety risk. For example, in criminal justice occupations, police officers and lawyers have to deal with offenders who sometimes build up personal grudges with them and upon getting some chance, they do not hesitate from taking revenge from the officials who either arrested or played their role in punishing them. For such occupations, OSHA does not seem to be very effective because such occupations involve the factor of revenge and personal grudges which have least to do with the safety guidelines of OSHA. The occupations of police officers and lawyers are considered very risky particularly in third world countries as in these countries there are many weak holes in the law enforcement systems. In construction related occupations, risk factor is comparatively low because there is no revenge factor in place. The only injuries that can occur in construction sites include ones that involve some lack of proper care. Moreover, construction companies make full use of OSHA safety mechanisms in order to eliminate the chances of workplace injuries. In construction related occupations, workplace injuries do occur even with the implementation of OSHA guidelines but the ratio and nature of injuries is very different from the injuries that criminal justice officials get. Occupation of airline pilots is also very risky and dangerous as compared to construction related businesses. The reason is that a minor technical issue in a plane can put the lives of hundreds of people and the pilot in danger. In this occupation, a large number of people suffer the lack of care shown either by the plane management or by the pilot. OSHA guidelines have also proven effective in reducing plane accidents. However, the cases of planes crashes still occur posting a question mark on the effectiveness of OSHA. One can take example of Air India Express flight # 812, which crashed in air a couple of years ago causing nearly 158 fatalities. OSHA needs to implement some effective safety measures to make this occupation safer for people. Construction related businesses are the best examples of the effectiveness of OSHA guidelines in resolving the issue of workplace safety. Since the development of OSHA guidelines, the number of per year causalities related to construction industry have seen a continuous decline. The reason is that OSHA guidelines are designed specifically to meet the safety needs of those who work under some specific work environment (Lanoie, 1992). OSHA takes care of every issue that may arise in such workplaces and presents the best safety mechanisms to the employers and employees to resolve that issue. “Falling from great heights, being crushed under heavy equipment, and crashing into a fiery explosion are just a few of the job dangers many workers face daily” (Celeste, 2011). OSHA has designed special mechanisms for construction workplaces that have been able to reduce workplace injuries at construction sites. Although the health and safety management guidelines provided by OSHA have proved effective in dealing with workplace safety issues whether in construction related businesses of other dangerous businesses, but they cannot guarantee 100 percent workplace safety for employees or employers. The reason is that if some type of fatal injury has to take place, no one can stop it. A person can only think on some specific ways to ensure workplace safety but the larger control is in the hands of God. However, OSHA guidelines have been able to reduce the number workplace injuries up to a great extent (Cooke & Gautschi, 1981). Efforts still need to be made at the government level in order to make dangerous and hazardous construction occupations safer. The government of America needs to make it essential for the managers of all registered and unregistered construction companies to implement the safety management measures proposed by OSHA. Methodology - Overall Research Design The researcher used questionnaires/surveys and interviews to collect the data. There were 15 safety related questions in the questionnaires. The date obtained through questionnaires was managed in the form of charts and tables. - Sampling Design The researcher distributed questionnaires among employees and employers of 10 big organizations, as well as among the employees and employers of 4 small organizations. The researcher also personally visited 10 managers and 20 employees for interviews. - Procedure The researcher sent survey forms to the organizations to get them filled by employees. The researcher also administered interviews with employees and managers at their workplaces and offices in the first month of the research. The whole research took around two months for completion. Data Analysis Method The researcher used quantitative data analysis method for data analysis and General Linear Model for statistical analysis of the data. Results The researcher found that although OSHA has improved the workplace safety level of employees working for construction companies, as well as for other industries, but still a lot more needs to be done to ensure complete workplace safety for employees. The researcher also found that OSHA has been able to reduce workplace injuries by providing free consultation services, assisting employers in correcting workplace environment, and conducting a fair and strong enforcement program to ensure workplace safety. The researcher found that the results were quite helpful in getting an exact idea about whether OSHA guidelines have improved employee safety or it needs some improvements. The researcher believes that the results were different from the previous researches due to recent developments towards the resolution of workplace safety issue. The researcher also believes that the questionnaires, interviews, and the study of existing researches was very helpful in conducting a thorough research, which ultimately helped him/her present a clear picture of the role of OSHA in improving and ensuring workplace safety. Summary of Results OSHA guidelines are playing a critical role in helping the Department of Labor of America achieve its workplace goals Workers are still suffering workplace injuries because management officials of many occupations are not skilled enough to implement OSHA safety mechanisms properly OSHA not only provides guidelines for improving workplace safety but also plays its role in inspecting workplaces, providing compliance assistance, offering consultation, and fostering relationships with organizations to resolve the issue of workplace safety OSHA does not seem to be very effective in criminal justice occupations because such occupations involve the factor of revenge and personal grudges which have least to do with the safety guidelines of OSHA Construction companies make full use of OSHA safety mechanisms in order to eliminate the chances of workplace injuries OSHA guidelines have also proven effective in reducing plane accidents but the cases of planes crashes still post a question mark on the effectiveness of OSHA workplace safety. Conclusion Summing it up, workplace safety is a major concern for both employees and managers. Managers take effective safety measures to ensure workplace safety for employees because they know that employee safety is the key towards increased employee productivity. Many governments have taken such measures to ensure workplace safety and reduce injuries and other fatalities. OSHA is one those measures that has been applied by a number of organizations to reduce workplace injuries. Although OSHA is proving successful in ensuring workplace safety for construction related occupations and other dangerous occupations, but a lot more still needs to be done to overcome completely the issue of workplace safety concerns. References Celeste, R. (2011) Top 10 Most Dangerous Jobs. Retrieved from http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/03/01/top-10-most-dangerous-jobs/ Cooke, W., & Gautschi, F. (1981). OSHA, Plant Safety Programs, and Injury Reduction. A Journal of Economy and Society, 20(3), 245-257. Cullen, L. (2002). A job to die for: Why so many Americans are killed, injured or made ill at work and what to do about it. California: Common Courage Press. Hayes, B., Perander, J., Smecko, T., & Trask, J. (1998). Measuring perceptions of Workplace Safety: Development and Validation of the Work Safety Scale. Journal of Safety Research, 29(3), 145-161. Lanoie, P. (1992). The Impact of Occupational Safety and Health Regulation on the Risk of Workplace Accidents: Quebec, 1983-87. The Journal of Human Resources, 27(4), 643-660. Read More