Safety And
Health At
Work
Unit 6
Introduction
Management has both legal and
moral responsibilities to provide a
safe and healthy workplace.
Work-related accidents, injuries, and
illnesses are costly.
Concept
Occupational Safety is freedom from work
related accidents. It is protection of workers
from accidents
Occupational health is absence of health
hazards and illness at work place. It is
physical as well as mental well-being
Importance
Legal Compliance
Every country has legal framework to enforce
occupational safety and health
USA has OSHA ( Occupational Safety and Health Act)
Nepal has Labour Act
Moral Requirement
Employers have moral duty to provide safe
and healthy working conditions for better
quality of life to employees
Importance
Productivity
Health and safe environment promotes
productivity.
Cost Savings
The cost can be medical expenses plus
compensation payable to the employees.
Employee Retention
Helps to improve employee retention by
decreasing labour turnover and absenteeism.
Improved Labor Relations
Promotes harmonious relations between
employees and management
Enhance company image as good employer
The Occupational Safety and Health
Act
1970 Federal legislation
Established health and safety standards.
Authorized inspections and fines for
violations.
Empowered OSH Administration to ensure
standards are met.
Requires employers to keep records of
illnesses and injuries, and calculate accident
ratios.
The Occupational Safety and Health
Act
OSHA Enforcement Priorities
Imminent danger: Where an
accident is about to occur that can
lead to serious injuries or death
Employer must report within 8 hours.
Employee complaints: Employees
have right to call OSHA.
The Occupational Safety and Health
Act
OSHA Enforcement Priorities
Inspection of industries with the highest
injury or illness rates
chemical processing
roofing and sheet metal
meat processing
lumber and wood products
Additionally, special emphasis is placed on
the handling of hazardous waste.
Sexual Harassment
Unwelcome sexual advance, unwelcome
request for sexual favor or other unwelcome
conduct of a sexual nature which makes a
person feel offended, humiliated and where a
reasonable person would anticipate that
reaction in the circumstances
Acc to Us Sex Discrimination Act 1984, defines
nature and circumstances in which sexual
harassment is unlawful for a person to be
victimized for making or proposing to make, a
complaint of sexual harassment to Human
rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
Examples:
Unwelcome Sexually Making Sexually
touching explicit questions explicit
pictures or about a physical
posters person's contact
private life or
body
Staring Unwanted Unnecessary Sexually explicit
invitations to go familiarity, e.g. emails or SMS
out on dates deliberately text messages
brushing up
against a
person
Suggestive Request for sex Insulting others
comments or based on sex
jokes
Preventive measures
Code of conducts
Policies, procedures
Ongoing training & communication
Self initiations
Drug & Alcohol issues in
Workplace
Use of alcohol products and Marijuana,
cocaine, brown sugar, etc
Using drugs and alcohols impairs decision
making abilities as well as physically
impairs people
Sometimes employers suffer from hiring
substance abusers
Basically seen in mining & construction,
hotel industries
Two specific kinds of drinking behavior
significantly contribute to the level of
work performance:
Drinking right before or during working
hours and heavy drinking the night
before that causes hangovers in the
next day
Symptoms may be extreme mood
swing, glassy eyes, slurred speech
frequent absenteeism, noticeable
exhaustion, increase in accidents, etc.
Effects (For both)
Decrease morale of co-workers
Workplace accidents, injuries
Absenteeism/extra sick leaves
Spoil of mutual understanding
Decrease in productivity
Increase turnover
Increase cost of insurance and compensation
Physical distortions ( weight, heart problems,
brain functioning)
Financial problems, involvement in criminal
activity, declining in social life
Preventive Measures
Effective workplace drug program
Testing
Educating
Handling in effective way (Employee
assistance Program (EAP)
Dealing with problems, providing short-
term-counseling (confidential)
The Occupational Safety and
Health Act
OSHA Punitive Actions
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of 1990 allows fines up to $70,000 if
violation is severe, willful and repetitive.
Fines can be for safety violations or
failure to keep adequate records.
Courts have backed criminal charges
against executives when they have
willfully violated health and safety laws.
Labour Act 1992
Labour Act 1992 requires occupational
health and safety measures. Occupational
hygiene consists of:
Protection of eyes from chemical materials
Safety from dangerous machines
Upper limits of lifting weights
Fire safety
Monitoring of safety measures by labour
office
Work injury compensation for wounds,
damages to the vital organs and death in
course of work
Job Safety Programs
Costs of Accidents
Workers’ compensation premiums.
Time lost due to injury.
Time to investigate/report accidents.
Damage to equipment/materials.
Work stoppages
Job Safety Programs
Causes of Accidents
Accidents are generally classified as human or
environmental.
Human causes responsible for majority of accidents.
Environmental causes include
tools
equipment
physical plant
general work environment
Job Safety Programs
Preventative Measures
Education
Skill training
Engineering
Protection devices
Regulation enforcement
Job Safety Programs
Ensuring Job Safety
Management needs feedback from
inspections, reports, and observations.
Safety should be part of organizational
culture.
Top management must be committed to
safety.
Safety committees empower employees to
maintain a safe environment.
Maintaining a Healthy Work
Environment
Sick buildings are office environments
that contain harmful airborne chemicals or
indoor pollution.
Maintaining a Healthy
Work Environment
Sick Buildings
Suggestions for keeping the
environment healthy include:
Making sure workers get enough fresh air.
Avoiding suspect building materials and
furnishings.
Testing new buildings for toxins before
occupancy.
Providing a smoke-free environment.
Paying attention to workers’ complaints.
Maintaining a Healthy Work
Environment
The Smoke-Free Environment
Costs of smokers include
increased diseases
Absenteeism
lost productivity due to smoke
breaks
maintenance costs
harm to coworkers by second-
hand smoke
Maintaining a Healthy Work
Environment
The Smoke-Free Environment
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.
Maintaining a Healthy Work
Environment
Repetitive Stress Injuries
Injuries resulting from continuous,
repetitive movements, such as
typing.
Also referred to as musculoskeletal
disorders (MSDs).
The most frequent injury is carpal
tunnel syndrome, which occurs in
the wrist.
Maintaining a Healthy Work
Environment
Repetitive Stress Injuries
Ergonomics, or fitting the work
environment to the individual, can prevent
repetitive motion injuries.
Includes design of environment and
furniture to fit the individual.
