Introduction
According to the available literature, there has been an increase in the number of deaths resulting from work-related accidents or illnesses. The result is a loss of about four percent of the total annual GDP of the entire world being lost. It is, therefore, paramount that organizations should maintain safety standards to remain competitive (Goh et al. 2010). The competitive edge is not only gained as a result of the reduction in claims related from but also from the decrease in the lost work hours.
Employees who suffer work-related injuries have to be exempted from duty resulting in lower production and output. The incidences are also directly responsible for increasing the cost of insurance for the organizations (Lewis & Thornbory 2010). To enable organizations to achieve a competitive edge by reducing losses related to work injuries and diseases, the International Labour Organization developed safety measures that organizations can apply to curb the incidences.
Company Profile
The company of focus in this case study is IKEA, which is ranked among the largest consumer goods companies in the world. The company puts enormous efforts to ensure that it remains competitive by ensuring the safety of its employees. IKEA drives all its strategies related to employee safety through its Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, which ensures that employees’ safety and environmental safety are upheld in all the company operations.
At IKEA, the standard operating procedure requires that organizations should prepare safety policies that cover multiple issues related to employee safety. The document must paint a clear picture of all health and security objectives for IKEA. The report also outlines the organization’s commitment towards preventing occupational diseases as well as injuries. The document also includes the responsibility of the organization to improve continually on the policies that are related to workplace safety. Each of the companies is also required to demonstrate a commitment to comply with the country legislation on top of the internal IKEA standards.
Method
The data for this report was collected from a primary source who is an employee of IKEA in their UEA regional offices. The employee requested anonymity for the interview, which was conducted in his offices. The respondent is the local head of human resource and administration and has been with the organization for close to two decades. The set of open-ended questions used during the interview ar included in the appendix.
Findings
IKEA comprehends that its profitability and its ability to remain competitive in the market is pegged on ensuring that the incidences of work-related injuries and illnesses are kept at a bare minimum. As such, the organization takes multiple measures to ensure that the standards of safety. IKEA intends to gain a competitive edge by ensuring that it continuously conducts safety training for all the employees. The organization has set aside a budget to ensure that it conducts fire drills every six months in its different sites. The company has also appointed first aiders in all its departments. The program is aimed at ensuring that employees actively participate in the safety program and can predict the occurrence of accidents (Hopkins 2011).
IKEA also ensures that its processes are safe. The organization lays ground on the safety of its manufacturing process right from the development and creation of the manufacturing processes. For the processes to be secure, it is paramount that machinery safety is also put into consideration. The organization ensures machine safety by introducing control locks for the machine. The organization ensures that employees whose jobs involve outdoor operations undertake a driving test for skills evaluation.
IKEA’s desire to remain competitive in the consumer goods industry has led to the development of hiring processes that are meant to ensure that persons who are being employed are in good health. The organization has a policy aimed at ensuring that it only employs individuals who are conscious about workplace safety (Hughes & Ferrett 2009). The net effect is that such persons are less likely to take risks in their areas of work. The result is that IKEA reduces the costs that emanate from workplace losses. The organization is also able to reduce the number of hours that the employees are out of their place of work and as such production does not have to be downsized.
The organization also ensures that there is worker participation in the issues related to workplace safety to raise awareness. In IKEA, there is total employee involvement in the issues of workplace safety and as such creates a situation where the communication occurs in an upward manner. The organization recognizes that the employees are better placed to create ways in which the safety in the workplace can be improved. The empowerment of the employees to be in a position to resolve issues related to workplace safety promotes team work (Bjerkan 2010). IKEA creates safety committees that are comprised of the organization’s employees and grants them enough power to control the issues related to employee safety.
The organization also has a reward system that is intended to ensure that all the staff members at IKEA are motivated to conform to the culture of ensuring that there is safety in the workplace. The reward system at IKEA is designed to ensure that employees adopt preventative measures against incidences that may jeopardize their safety in the workplace. The system has safety programs that encourage the employees to raise issues related to injuries and illnesses in the workplace. As such, IKEA experiences less loss time to accidents.
The employee behavior modification is further enhanced by the adoption of an incentive program that recognizes exemplary performance in the control of work-related injuries (Lewis & Thornbory 2010). The incentive program does not take a back seat in the organization but rather it receives high visibility leading to a more adoption by the employees. The incentives are tied to measurable milestones that are understood by the staff members making it easy for the management at IKEA to set key performance indicators related to safety.
The management at IKEA is also committed to ensuring that the organization derives a competitive advantage from its safety policies. The commitment of the management is critical in ensuring that an organization’s safety program is successful by fostering training programs as well as participating in the committee meetings. IKEA’s managers understand that the value attached by the employees in the safety program is both a function of the management as well as the employee’s concern for its own security.
IKEA also ensures that there is constant communication and feedback from its Health and Safety Officers. The communication and feedback processes are based on the principle that most of the major injuries that occur in the workplace are presided by minor incidences that caused minimal harm to the employees. The communication is critical as it enables the program managers in IKEA to interpret the near misses as real incidences that require to be addressed. The feedback mechanism is also important in facilitating the evaluation of the success of the preventative measures in the organization.
Recommendation
The success of an organization is based on its ability to figure out the different hazards that result from its operations. The organization should be in a position to undertake risk assessments and document all the results. The organizations are also required to comply with legal requirements of the country of operation and undergo regular scrutiny to ensure compliance (Bjerkan 2010). All processes that occur in the organization should embed the need to ensure that the workplace policy is highly regarded in the organization.
List of References
Bjerkan, A 2010, ‘Health, environment, safety culture and climate – analysing the relationships to occupational accidents’. Journal of Risk Research, vol. 13, pp. 445-477.
Goh, Y, Love, P, Brown, H & Spickett, J 2010, ‘Organizational accidents: A systemic model of production versus protection’, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 47, pp. 1-25.
Hopkins, A 2011’Risk-management and rule-compliance: Descision-making in hazardous industries’, Safety Science, vol. 49, pp. 110-120.
Hughes, P & Ferrett, E 2009, Introduction to Health and Safety at Work. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
Lewis, J & Thornbory, G 2010, Employment Law and Occupational Health: A Practical Handbook, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.