HR6

6.- EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING, HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK

WORKERS SAFETY AND THE LAW

Thanks to improved safety and health conditions in workplaces there has been a decline in job-related fatalities and injuries in the United States. However, the decline may be due to the reduction of work hours for industries reporting high incidence of worker injuries and fatalities.

Many governments have passed action laws to regulate safety in the workplace. In the USA if state has its own workers compensation law, so the professions for funding and enforcing the lot differ by state.

The OSHA law was designed to meet the workplace safer by ensuring that the work environment is free from hazards but this law does not provide compensation for accident victims.

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was passed in 1970 to dress the burdening economic and human costs of workplace accidents and health hazards because around the 60’s the number of fatalities was really high.

OSHA is a federal law that requires employers to provide with a safe and healthy work environment, comply with the specific occupational safety and health standards, and finally keep the records od occupational injuries and illnesses.

MANAGING CONTEMPORARY SAFETY, HEALTH AND BEHAVIORAL ISSUES

The most significant health/safe/behavioral issues for employers are:

• AIDS
• Violence in the workplace
• cumulative trauma disorders
• fetal protection
• hazardous chemicals
• genetic testing

Managers must deal with a range of practical, legal and ethnical questions that usually demand careful balancing of employee’s individual rights (mainly privacy rights) with the needs of the business or organization.

SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAMS

A safe working environment has to be created, it won’t just happen. Many respectable organizations have developed well-devised safety programs. Managers and supervisors at all levels are responsible for enforcing these systems, creating awareness through training and maintaining a safe workplace.

Employees assistance programs, called EAPs, are carefully designed to help employees deal with any problems (physical, mental, stress, etc) that might be undermining their performance. Wellness programs on the other hand are preventive measures designed to help identify potential health risks and solve them before they even become real problems.