Safety at the workplace is an important aspect, but there should be clear definitions and an understanding of what safety comprises. More often than not, safety is mistaken for the personal preferences of workers in workplaces. The descriptions of safety and safety standards are components that all personnel should be educated on as part of their onboarding. There are cases where safety definitions and standards are unavailable, which necessitates addressing them. The case example in this discussion post is about ongoing workplace safety concerns. Therefore, the safety issue and the situation need to be controlled by listening to workers’ complaints about headaches and nausea and creating awareness.
Maintenance was done on the door hinges by applying oil lube, and the employees think the oil lube mist is affecting them. The lubricating oil can be smelled, but it is causing them to have nausea and headaches that do not have any foundations. The best way to address this issue is through communication and coordination with the workers and relevant personnel. Educating the workers will also be significant in this resolving the complaints. Firstly, the workers need to know that they are safe and the workplace has no health hazards. There is no industrial hygiene technology to test oil mist concentrations at such a low concentration. The workers must know they are safe, and this can be done by using the elimination method. An oil mist concentration air quality test for hazardous concentrations should be done. The test result is expected to show that oil mist concentration in the room is harmless. That will prove to the workers that the oil mist concentration in the place is not hazardous.
Secondly, the facility management should be directed to implement safety provisions and measures for workers in the workplace. Communication is very crucial for this process because it will facilitate consideration of issues raised by all stakeholders. Implementing safety effectively in the workplace will require the workers, administration, and facility managers to work together. It means they will all contribute suggestions on how they want the workplace to be and discuss to decide on standard issues. Industrial hygiene (IH) standard measures and requirements must be followed in this process to avoid contradicting existing regulations. Studies have shown that perceived clean workplaces bolster productivity (Katz et al., 2019).
Thirdly, the institution needs to implement a safety policy that all workers will have to abide by. Hygiene standards will also need to be improved because workers can smell the oil lube used. It is essential to educate the facility management team on the hygiene standards expected. The formation of a safety committee and subsequent hiring of a safety officer is the next step for the institution. It will help ensure that there is a way to control safety issues and hygiene. The committee should comprise representation from all the stakeholders for purposes of inclusivity in the process.
Lastly, it is essential to educate the employees about safety standards and other relevant issues. More importantly, they should be taught what safety entails and its importance. It is vital to let them know what is safe and what is not and make them aware that they should not panic when faced with an issue in the future. It is crucial to let them know being concerned is okay, but their concerns should have foundations. They should be informed of the available air quality tests and that there currently are no tests for such low concentrations of oil mist. All the workers should know that oil mist cannot cause any harm at such concentrations; it is just their perceptions and misconceptions (Taylor & Snyder, 2017). They should be taught about the dangerous concentration levels and other potential concerns they may have addressed before closing the issue
References
Katz, A., Pronk, N., McLellan, D., Dennerlein, J., & Katz, J. (2019). Perceived workplace health and safety climates: Associations with worker outcomes and productivity. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 57(4), 487-494.
Taylor, W., & Snyder, L. (2017). The influence of risk perception on safety: A laboratory study.Safety Science, 95, 116-124.