Workplace Safety in Today\'s Society,

Workplace Safety

In today's society, the emphasis is on the human being and the rights inherent in living as a human being among others of diverse kinds. As such, various political and social policies have been put in place in order to help people function in harmony and satisfaction with their fellow human beings. As much of the adult's time is spent in the workplace, employment policies form a vital part of experiencing satisfaction and fulfillment in life. For this reason, it is vitally important that the workplace incorporate a safety program to ensure the well-being of its employees and indeed of all citizens living or moving within the premises of any specific workplace.

In creating a workplace safety program, several issues of humanity should be taken into account One of these is for example the fact that social and political policy has developed in such a way that the diversity found in society is mirrored in the workplace. As such, the workplace safety program should take into account the needs and paradigms of the different cultures represented within the employee pool. Other issues of importance include the corporate culture, safety factors in the specific workplace, public safety and the creation and outcomes of safety audits, costs, and recommendations.

The importance of a well-written safety program

The most important part of any workplace is its human resources; the employees living and functioning on the premises on a daily basis. The well-being and job satisfaction of these individuals depend largely upon the safety measures inherent in the workplace.

In addition to the psychological well-being of the employee, the well-being of employers is also protected in terms of savings. A well-written safety program prevents accidents that could lead to injury, illness or death, in extreme cases. Preventing these ensures that employees are able to continue their work uninterrupted. This saves the employer the man hours that would otherwise be lost by an out of commission worker. Furthermore, costs are saved in terms of money paid out in health insurance, workers' compensation benefits, and the additional cost of hiring temporary help. Furthermore, worker hours are also saved when there is no need to train temporary employees in terms of their duties at the workplace (Nonprofit Risk Management Center, 2005(a)).

The stress levels of all employees are reduced when injury and illness are prevented, and when there is subsequently no need for other employees to burden themselves with extra work as a result of fewer workers until temporary help can be found.

It is therefore generally beneficial for both the physical and psychological well-being of both employers and employees to establish a well-written safety program in the workplace. It saves not only concrete costs, but also hidden costs such as rising stress levels as a result of work overload and fear.

Steps to establish a safety program

The first step in establishing a safety program, is to ensure that all factors causing a safety risk in the first place be eliminated. This can be done by conducting a safety audit of the workplace. To do this, the organization can establish an investigating committee to determine potential health and safety hazards as they are currently present within the company. This investigation is referred to by the Nonprofit Risk Management Center (2005(b)) as a "job hazard analysis."

The aim of such an analysis is to identify potential hazards before they occur, and in this way to prevent the potential damage of these hazards. The final outcome of the analysis or safety audit is then a strengthening one in terms of the worker's relationship with the task performed during the work day, the necessary tools, and the environment in which the functions related to the job are performed.

Like the benefits of a written safety program, the safety audit relates not only to the physical workplace, but also to the emotional and psychological well-being of workers. The investigating team needs to ensure that workers are able to perform their tasks at an acceptable level of quality and within the necessary time frame.

Psychological factors such as addiction issues, general well-being, fatigue and stress need to be taken into account in this regard.

A and volunteers are fit for work. Fitness for work involves drug and alcohol issues, physical and emotional well-being, and fatigue and stress.

Creating and maintaining a safety program

When outcomes have been determined and addressed, the next step is to begin creating the actual safety program to minimize any hazards that may still exist. In this, it is important that employers and employees function as a team. Specifically, the next step is to establish as "safety culture." In order to do this, all persons within the workplace, including management and employees, need to be aware of the importance of safety standards. There also needs to be an awareness that such a safety culture benefits everybody: managers benefit because health risk costs are reduced, while employees benefit from feeling safer and stress is reduced as a result. Cultivating this awareness draws managers and employees together as a team, which strengthens the ultimate goal of maintaining the safety plan (Nonprofit Risk Management Center, 2005(b)).

The safety committee plays an important role in maintain not only the safety culture, but the actual human and workplace factors that contribute to general workplace safety. As such, the committee would monitor possible hazards and violations of the safety code. Enforcement of the safety code should mostly be conducted by means of encouragement rather than punishment. The reason for this is that, psychologically, people tend to be more open to encouragement and rewards than punishment. The safety committee should therefore be focused on implementing a reward system for those upholding and promoting the safety code.

Such a reward system could take several forms. One of these is reporting additional hazards as they arise, or violations when they occur. Addressing violations is an important issue. A company that favors reward over punishment is faced with a problem in terms of violations. Rather than establishing punishments for violations, these could rather take the form of consequence awareness. In this way, all parties involved can be made aware of the consequences of unsafe actions, while additional training opportunities can result for the benefit of the company. This method, rather than punishment, will furthermore reinforce the unity of the safety culture within the company.

In terms of maintaining the safety program, it is therefore necessary to focus on the positive aspects of a safety program. Positive reinforcement is more encouraging towards maintaining a safety program than negative reinforcement such as blatant punishment. This is particularly true when working with adults, who are able to respond to reasoning and can foresee consequences, whether positive or negative.

The safety culture within such a workplace is then reinforced by involving the entire workforce in foreseeing, correcting and promoting the safety program. Implementing such a safety program is integrated with the cultural diversity within a workplace.

The role of cultural diversity in workplace safety

As mentioned earlier, cultural diversity is almost a given in any Western workplace. In order to ensure a healthy work environment in which the safety program is effectively implemented, an assessment is needed of the paradigms and cultures within the workplace, and how these affect the safety program.

The safety committee can play an important role in this. Any religious or cultural objections to safety procedures should be noted and dealt with before implementing the safety program. Team work is important in this regard.

Another important matter is how the variety of cultures integrate with the general corporate culture. Each organization distinguishes itself by means of culture, which is delineated by the values and norms to which the company adheres. These need to be integrated with the safety culture framework, and the implementation of the safety program.

As part of the corporate culture, group norms have to be clearly delineated. This also should be integrated with the various languages and cultures within the workplace. It is important that each employee be able to function within a group, especially in terms of the safety program. This is another aspect that will ensure the longevity of such a program. This is especially true in cases where a large part of the workforce is not used to functioning as a group, and where the work is of such a nature that individuals within the company perform their duties alone.

In such a case, a well-written safety program and its practical applications should be strongly emphasized to each individual within the company. If an individual within the company fails to respect the norms of the workplace safety program, he or she endangers the other members of the group. This is an aspect that can be emphasized during training sessions.

The written safety program

To ensure that each employee is armed with full knowledge regarding the workplace safety program and its implementation, a written version of such a program needs to be publicly available to every member of the workforce. All aspects of the program needs to be fully addressed and explained. Furthermore, in respect of the various cultures and languages within the workforce, the manual could also be printed in each representative language, as far as this is deemed necessary. This will ensure full understanding of the rules and regulations, and also promote the function of the entire workforce as a group (Nonprofit Risk Management Center, 2005 (b)).

Writing such a manual would then address the various important aspects of the program. These for example would include the reasons for the safety program, and its benefits for employers and employees. The rules and regulations of safety should then be thoroughly explicated, including the reasons for their implementation and consequences of not following such rules. A consequence of not wearing a hard hat in the required workplace areas can for example increase the danger of a head injury. Finally, the manual should include the rewards for promoting safety via not only following the rules and functioning effectively as a group, but also via reporting when failure occurs. It should be emphasizes that such reporting will result not in punishment, but rather in further training when this is estimated as a necessity. This section should also include a full explanation of the function and necessity of the safety committee, and the importance of respecting its position and authority within the workforce.

Ensuring a healthy work environment: Employee Assistance Programs

Employee assistance programs can be used to promote, reinforce and facilitate the implementation of a safety program. These programs can also help with other aspects of workplace safety, such as ensuring that employees are able to perform their duties, are in good physical and mental health, and are able to maintain a good interpersonal relationship as a group. Employee assistance programs can also be used for training and maintenance purposes in a safety program. If shortcomings are for example identified, employees can bring this to the attention of the safety committee via employee assistance programs (Safety Information