Safety and health in the workplace involves protecting employees from injuries from accidents and illness. The human resource manager is responsible for coordinating safety and health programs to address contemporary issues like workplace violence, indoor air quality, repetitive stress injuries, and stress. Programs to address these issues include wellness programs, physical fitness programs, substance abuse programs, and employee assistance programs.
2. Nature and role of safety and
health
Safety involves protecting employees from injuries
caused by work-related accidents
Health refers to employee’s freedom from physical or
emotional illness
Problems in these areas seriously affect the productivity
and quality of work life
management has both legal and moral responsibilities
to provide a safe and healthy workplace
work-related accidents, injuries, and illnesses are costly
Human resource manager is responsible for
coordinating and monitoring safety and health programs
3. Contemporary Health and
Safety Issues
workplace
violence
indoor
air quality
smoke-free
environment
repetitive
stress
injuries
STRESS!
4. at-risk workers are those who exchange money and/or interact
primarily with the public, make deliveries, work alone or in small
groups, and work late-night or early morning hours
recommended HRM actions:
1. develop a plan, including review of policies and employee
treatment; respect to workers must be given
2. train supervisors to identify and deal with troubled employees
3. implement stronger security mechanisms
4. prepare employees to deal with violent situations
workplace
violence
5. a building is “sick” if it contains harmful airborne chemicals or
indoor pollution
suggestions for keeping the environment healthy:
1. make sure workers get enough fresh air
2. avoid suspect building materials and furnishings
3. test new buildings for toxins before occupancy
4. provide a smoke-free environment
5. keep air ducts clean and dry
6. pay attention to workers’ complaints
indoor
air
quality
6. • smoke-free policies at work include banning smoking or
restricting it to properly ventilated designated areas
• some employers offer incentives and help for employees
to stop smoking
Costs of smokers:
increased health premiums
absenteeism
lost productivity due to smoke breaks
maintenance costs
harm to coworkers by second-hand smoke
smoke-free
environment
7. injuries resulting from continuous, repetitive movements,
such as typing
ergonomics, or fitting the work environment to the
individual, can prevent repetitive motion injuries
The study of human interaction with tasks, equipment, tools and
physical environment
.
repetitive
stress
injuries
8. The body’s nonspecific reaction to any demand made on it
Affects people in different ways
Symptoms of stress:
physiological (increased blood pressure, headaches,
increased pulse rate) are the most difficult to observe
psychological (increased tension and anxiety, boredom,
procrastination) can lead to productivity decreases
behavioral (increased smoking or substance consumption,
sleep disorders) also affect the organization
STRESS!
9. Common Causes of Stress
Task demands - job design,
working conditions, work
quotas.
Role demands - conflicts,
overload and ambiguity.
Interpersonal demands: lack
of social support
and poor interpersonal
relationships.
Organizational structure
Organizational leadership
Family issues
Personal economic
problems
Inherent personality
characteristics
10. How to deal with health and
safety issues
Programs specifically designed to deal with stress and
related problems include wellness, physical fitness,
substance abuse and employee assistance programs
Wellness programs:
A view that health is dependent on medical care
Needs assessment: firms should conduct a needs
assessment before implementing a wellness program
in order to address appropriate employee health needs
Medical records such as blood pressure checks,
cholesterol level etc
Absenteeism rates
11. Physical fitness programs:
Firms have either fitness centers or provide subsidies for
fitness center membership
There is increasing evidence that if employees stick to
company’s fitness programs, they will experience better
health
Substance abuse programs:
Deals with the disastrous events like alcohol abuse, use
of drugs etc
Drug-free legislation and workplace programs
12. Employee assistance programs (EAPs):
A comprehensive approach that many
organizations have taken to deal with burnout,
alcohol and drug abuse and other emotional
disturbances
provides employees visits with counselors at
company expense; usually visits are off-site
confidentiality is guaranteed