Introduction
Health and safety are very significant aspects of the workers of any organization. Most of the organizations need to put health and safety as a priority. They need to prioritize the well being of the staff, contactors and even the clients. This usually provides ideal working conditions. Hazards are supposed to be controlled and injuries prevented.
There are several factors that might affect the health as well as safety of those within an organization. Good examples are organizational needs, values and the personality of those involve. The existing perceptions and the decisions made may also directly or indirectly affect the health and safety of the employees of any organization.
Research findings have proved that the aspect of people working hard also has effect on the health and safety of organizations employees, contractors or employees.
Research findings as reported by Abraham (2000) have shown that the safety measures taken by an organization, the disasters that may occur as well as people’s misbehaviors might significantly affect the health and safety within the organization (Abraham 2000, pp. 269-292.).
The other aspect that might affect the health and safety of the people within an organization include the aspect of employees having fun at work which encompasses propagation of rumors, and humor and even romance at the workplace. Other aspects include the lack of humor at the workplace and team work.
The essay will cover those aspects that affect the health and safety at the workplace especially those involving the employees. These include the corporate values like team behavior, values, needs and people’s personality.
The essay covers those aspects that contribute to the safety and health of employees as well as those that are a threat to the safety and health of the people at the workplace. The recommendations for improving the health and safety within organizations have been given. The paper sums up the aspect of health and safety within an organization in the conclusion (Dylan 2007).
First Body
Corporate Values. Team Behavior
Team behavior is very important in ensuring that the set goals and objectives are easily reached. A team provides social satisfaction for individuals. Groups usually have different people with different behaviors or character traits.
Employees are able to socialize and talk out their issues hence minimizing issues of stress and complications that come thereof. Team behavior usually encourages unity within the organization and in the event of a health or safety risk, people are able to work towards the alleviation of the same in unison.
Values, Needs and People’s personality
Organizations usually have the need to ensure the safety of its employees through the elimination of risks or reducing them to levels that are manageable. Most organizations put the safety at the workplace as a priority and always strive towards improving their performances in health and safety as their business strategy.
Going by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs human beings always strive to satisfy their needs right from the basic physiological needs like food, shelter and clothing.
After the basic ones are met, people usually strive towards ensuring that their safety needs are met, followed by social, self esteem needs and they finally strive to achieve their self actualization needs. Without the fulfillment of any of these needs, the result is usually conflict and this could endanger the health as well as the safety of the employees.
(Andersson (1997, p. 449) reports that whenever any of these needs are not met, employees might for instance opt to riot or perform their duties poorly hence putting the organization at risk. An organization might satisfy the employees’ physiological needs by paying them well enough for them to be able to afford food, shelter and clothing which are the most basic needs.
Their health and safety might be achieved if the employees are provided with benefits like health insurance. A good pay might satisfy their safety as well as self esteem need. An organization should have a reward system so as to reward the employees that perform well.
Promotions also go a long way in ensuring that the esteem needs are met. Social needs might be met by organizing get together parties and other social events for the organization. Self actualization needs can be met by an organization through the provision of opportunities for the employees to grow and develop while on/off the job as well as issuing tasks that are challenging or interesting (Andersson 1997, pp. 449-469).
Values are set principles that an individual or groups holds onto and bases their judgment as well as decision making upon them. They include; integrity, non-violence, honesty, compassion, social justice among others. Organizations usually have some set values that might widely be referred to as organizational culture.
As people mature, they want to identify with certain values and they might even resign from an organization on the basis of their values. One will therefore be comfortable within an organization that fosters his/her values. If the organization does not have good values, then the safety of the employees might be at risk. An individual will always be proud of any organization that fosters and rewards the values that are similar to his/hers.
Personality on the other hand encompasses an individual’s character traits which make him/her unique as distinguishes his/her behavior or line of thought. According to the study done by Neubert (as reported by Berman 2002), people have traits that make them suitable for whatever position. An outgoing and sociable person might for instance thrive as a customer care consultant or sales person but not as an analyst.
It is always important for an organization to put into account a person’s personality before putting him/her in a given position. Doing so has an impact on the safety of that person and others within the organization (Berman 2002).
Contributes
There are a number of factors that contribute to the overall wellbeing of workers in terms of health and safety at the workplace. These factors foster their well being hence ensuring that there is a good working environment for these workers, hence ensuring efficiency and effectiveness which in the long run results into increased productivity.
They therefore need to be enhanced and implemented at the workplace as they have a positive impact to the workforce as well as the overall production. They include the following.
Perceptions and Decision Making
Decisions made within an organization both at the management as well as individual level are very significant in ensuring that the health and safety of indiduals is either maintained or improved. A decision by the management to have a dispensary near the workplace might for instance help to boost the health of the employees within the organization.
On the other hand, a decision made by the management to shift the organization to a place near a nuclear plant might put the health as well as the safety of the employees at risk. Most of these decisions are usually influenced by people’s perceptions about certain issues.
Simon (1996) reports that in case of an emergency situation within an organization, the decisions made at that time might greatly influence the health and safety of the other employees. The management might for instance decide to invite experts to deal with the situation or leave it as it is, both of which might have significant effects on the other people within the organization.
Perceptions might differ and what one manager or management team might consider as a problem might actually not be a problem to another. Every decision that is made is usually screened and evaluated before the conclusion is reached. The final decision usually depends on an individual’s perception about the issue at hand and in some cases it might be prone to biases (Colbert 2004, pp. 600).
Fun at the Workplace
The workplace is usually perceived as a place where serous business is undertaken and less of humor or fun is expected. Some humor at the workplace might however be of great benefit as it leads to comic relief hence making the workers to enjoy their work and significantly reduce the chances of the employees developing stress related complications.
According to Melissa Dylan, not every fun at the workplace is meant to distract the employees performing their tasks, in fact, some of the fun is meant to boost the morale of the workers and encourage them to work even harder and more effectively (Dylan, 2007).
Workplace relationships might greatly affect the health and safety of the employees within an organization. Most of the organizations do not have any formal or recommended way of going about the same. The relationships that start at the workplace might have positive consequences to the parties involved. Some might for instance end up marrying. Workplace romance can therefore result in effectiveness at the workplace.
An organization is usually faced with the challenge of ensuring that the safety of the employees, contractors or clients is observed. The relevant training as well as other measures are taken to the same effect.
An organization might for instance put the instructions concerning safety measures at a point where most people could see. Safety equipment like fire extinguishers and first aid kits might be strategically placed at the organization’s premises so as to be of great help in case of an emergency.
Working Hard
The aspect of working hard might have very significant effects on the health and safety of an organization. Employees of any organization need to be motivated so as to help them develop a positive attitude towards their jobs hence increasing productivity.
This also goes a long way in ensuring that employees become patriotic to their organization and strive towards ensuring the safety of the organization and the people therein (Schnur, 2009, pp. 120).
Threats
Disaster, Safety and Misbehavior
Misconduct of the employees might cause a disaster within an organization hence putting the health and safety of the people within that organization at risk.
An individual might for instance sabotage his/her duties or responsibilities which might be of great importance in ensuring that the whole organization is safe hence putting the health and safety of other people at risk. Whenever a disaster occurs within an organization, the result in most cases might be death or casualties within the organization (De Dreu 2008, pp. 5-18).
Disaster in most cases usually comes without warning and it is likely to occur when an organization is less prepared hence leading to the destruction of property, injury and loss of life. If the disaster is of a large magnitude, the health facilities put at the organization might have an influx in the number of patients hence causing strain to the same facilities (Pierce 2001).
The organization might therefore require external assistance. Some of the disasters usually damage the health facilities put in place and this poses even a higher risk on the health and safety of those affected.
The situation is usually trickier when the disaster involves a disease outbreak whereby the rest of the population is to be prevented from further infection hence the need to have the required medical facilities in place (Falkenberg 1990, pp. 110).
Less Fun at Work
Some workplaces are characterized by lack of fun. They might have incidences of conflict, bullying as well as violence some of which might be as a result stress. Some work places might be very involving result in the employees emotional exhaustion.
This might result in them getting stressed up hence reacting emotionally through conflicts or engaging in cases of violence. This usually leads to a threat to the employees’ safety given that such violence might lead to confrontation and even injury (Redman 2002, pp 60).
Bullying at the workplace might be perpetrated by a coworker or senor. It ranges from physical, verbal as well as psychological abuse. In some cases, the bullies tend to use the set rules and regulations as their tools for the perpetration.
Bullying might directly or indirectly affect the health and safety of the targets. Bullying might result in stress related complications particularly to the targets as they are psychologically affected as well. Some might even end up committing suicide.
A study was made by The American Bureau of Justice Statistics and a report was released which proved that about 1.7 Americans were victims of occupational violence. About 1.3 of these were victims of simple assaults while.
This is about 75% of the reported victims while about 19% were victims of aggravated assaults. The officers working in the police department, taxi drivers and even the taxi drivers were the most affected (Mills 2006).
Working Hard
The aspect of hardworking might be misused in some cases hence putting the health and safety of the employees at risk. An organization that overworks its employees might expose the employees to the problems of stress and depression. This might in the long run lead to other complications like heart diseases hence putting the health of the employees at risk (Riach 2007, pp. 80).
Stressed workers might indulge in risky activities like riots which might have very negative consequences on other employees as well as jeopardize the safety at the work place. Riots might result in confrontation and injuries hence putting everyone else at the risk of receiving injuries and even in some cases death (Simon, 1996).
According to the NIOSH Publication, today job stress is a very significant threat to the health of employees. The publication gives the causes of stress at the workplace and gives suggestions for the possible workable solutions (as reported by Stranks 2005).
According to research findings, most employees view their jobs as the main stressors to their lives. There is a strong connection between workplace problems and the health complaints of the workers. Research has proved that pathetic working conditions coupled with a bigger workload are the major causes of stress at the workplace. If not dealt with they are likely to cause psychological breakdown to the victim.
Fun at the workplace
The relationships that start at the workplace might also have negative consequences to the parties involved. They could for instance result in rivalry at the workplace which if not well taken care of might lead to fights or grudges hence putting the safety of the parties at risk (Harris 2006).
Unreasonable romance and sexual activity at the workplace might also result in the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS hence putting the health of the parties involved at risk. Workplace romance can therefore result in ineffectiveness and inefficiency at the workplace.
If not checked however, it might result in slander and grudges hence leading to tense and unhealthy relationships among the workers and this could lead to life threatening situations. The same case is with the rumors. They are usually unhealthy and might lead to tension and grudges or even confrontations at the workplace (Fisher 2000, pp. 130).
Recommendations
Given that the health and safety of the employees within an organization are very important components for the success of that particular organization, steps need to be taken towards ensuring the same (Stranks 2005, pp. 30).
There are several steps to be taken by an organization in ensuring that the employees healthy and safety is ensured. The steps vary from organizational to individual actions. Some of the recommended courses of action include the following;
- An organization needs to put the relevant safety measures in place so that in the case of an emergency, then the relevant action is taken so as to prevent further destruction. The organization might for instance put fire extinguishers at strategic points so as to control fire outbreak. Another action might involve putting first aid equipment at strategic points.
- The organization’s management needs to have sessions or forums where all the employees meet and discuss or are taught about the dangers of unhealthy relationships at the workplace (Thomen 1996, pp 31-32).
- The relevant measures should be taken to enhance the organization’s disaster preparedness. Medical facilities as well as ambulances as well as early warning systems might be put in place so as to prevent casualties and death in the event of a disaster.
- Rapport needs to be established among the employees so as to prevent cases of bullying.
- An organization needs to give chance for relation and socialization so as to prevent stress related complications.
- The organization should have good organizational cultures that encourage behavior and activities that promote the health and safety of an organization.
- An organization needs to have mechanisms in place so as to deal with the issues of bullying among the employees. Those involved in bullying activities might have to be punished so as to ensure that the other employees are safe.
Conclusion
Organizations need to engage in activities that encourage the health and safety of the employees as this is vital for any organization. Potential safety or health hazards need to be identified and tackled before posing a health or safety risk to the employees, clients or even the contractors. Positive employee behavior should be encouraged so as to prevent any of these risks.
People need to be assigned tasks that are in agreement with their personalities. It is advisable for the employees to develop emotional resilience and even seek guidance in the event that they become stressed. It is always good to have the employees trained on the relevant safety precautions to be taken before or after a disaster (Witt 2004, pp. 150).
The leaders need to be sensitive to the needs of the employees and not use bullying tactics to coerce the employees to do whatever they want. The employees need to be encouraged to behave responsibly and carry out their tasks as expected so as to prevent any hazards occurring within the organization.
The organization on the other hand needs to pay the workers well and provide them with other benefits like health benefits so as to avoid conflicts within the organization (Mainiero 1986 pp. 750-762).
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