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Accidents and mishaps are unforeseen circumstances that can affect individuals and groups at any time and in any place. Most accidents are preventable, but the carelessness or negligence of the involved individuals leads to major injuries and grievances. Accidents can also occur in the workplace and seriously affect the ability and health of the involved workers.

The objectives of this essay to discuss the safety and wellbeing of all workers are necessary for the organization not only for consistent productivity but also due to regulatory requirements. Workers and human resources are the necessary components of all organizations due to their role in the effective accomplishment of objectives. Corporations cannot achieve long-term success and sustainable growth in the absence of motivated, safe, healthy, and effective workers. The health and safety of all workers are necessary to ensure the enhancement of productivity and efficiency at all levels and areas. Lack of safety measures can create havoc for the organization and negatively affect the working criterion of an organization. The management has to devise and implement effective safety procedures to reduce hazards and prevent accidents in the workplace. The can motivate the employees through this perspective as employees admire working in organizations that prefer safe working conditions. Employees believe that safer working conditions enhance their ability work because they do not feel scared in troublesome situations. The management should coordinate with all the related stakeholders when they devise policies about safety at workplace, as this would enhance a positive change in an organization. Different legislations also depict that organizations should focus on these perspectives and they should attain self-sufficiency in providing workplace safety.

Introduction

Corporations in the current era focus on the development of employees and they believed in the ideology of benefiting employees through different approaches. Safety at the work force is an important aspect that many organizations of today’s world disregard. Many people face mishaps and accidents in various situations especially due to negligence, recklessness, and carelessness. Many accidents and serious injuries are avoidable and preventable by taking effective safety measures and reducing hazards. For example, drivers and passengers can avoid serious injuries and death by wearing seatbelts while traveling in cars. However, many people fail to realize the importance of seatbelts and face a variety of consequences in the event of an accident. Mishaps and accidents are unforeseen occurrences that can lead to several adverse consequences in the absence of effective safety measures and precautions. Accidents, disasters, and mishaps can also occur in the workplace and affect several employees in the absence of precautions and safety procedures. Certain mediocre organizations do not regard this aspect as important and they do not focus on safety at the workplace. The owners and management of the organization need to implement rules, regulations, procedures, and systems relevant to safety and health. The management also needs to ensure that all workers have ample knowledge and information regarding safety procedures, prevention of accidents, and safe working practices.

Human resources

Human resources are one of the most important assets of the organization with respect to success and growth. The success and growth of the organization depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of the human resources. However, the inefficiencies in human resources caused by any circumstances, occurrences, and events can hinder the accomplishments of the organization. Organizations take all necessary measures to ensure the productivity of all workers and employees to maximize profits and achieve organizational objectives (Blair, 2013). The wellbeing, safety, and health of all employees are among the highest priorities of all organizations. Organizations cannot take risk for their respective employees because an occurrence of a negative event would tarnish the credibility of an organization. Safe and healthy workers are more productive as compared to injured or sick employees. Employees that cannot work in safe conditions feel suffocated because of the risks associated with their respective work. Risks and hazards associated with a specific job or organization adversely affect the morale and motivation level of employees. The unsafe or hazardous working conditions have several long-term psychological and physiological consequences for the workers and the organizations. When a negative event occurs in an organization, it sets up the mindset of an employee. Employees would feel that this event would occur again and this would create hurdles in their effective working process. Organizations need to create a safe and healthy working environment for all workers to ensure high levels of motivation and enhancement in efficiency (Stricoff & Groover, 2012).

Safety at Workplace

Workplace safety refers to the prevention of illness, injury, and hazards in the workplace for all employees. Workplace safety involves the creation of a safe and healthy environment for all workers to evade hazards, injuries, and illnesses. Organizations can ensure the efficiency of all workers and circumvent a considerable amount of costs by ensuring workplace safety and health. Organizations develop different strategies through which they set up different work place safety policies and benefit the workers through this. Workplace injuries and illnesses lead to compensation benefits, health insurance costs, hiring temporary replacements, lost work hours, and lawsuits. Lack of concentration would cost severe damage to an organization and they should sort such issues in order to attain proactive benefits. Business can save a considerable amount of costs by creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for all workers. Safeguarding the interests and wellbeing of the employees allows organizations to circumvent costs relevant to injuries and illnesses (Legg, Laird, Olsen, & Hasle, 2014). On the other hand, workplace safety instills a sense of commitment and dedication among the employees due to the safety assurance of the organization. The morale and motivation of the workers increase due to the implementation of rules that safeguard the health and interest of the employees. Employees feel that they are safe to work in this place, and through this perspective, they would perform well.

Purpose of Workplace safety

The primary objective of safety in the workplace is to create a safe, healthy, and risk-free environment for all workers. Workplace safety involves the evaluation, analysis, prevention, and elimination of hazardous and dangerous elements from the workplace. Workplace safety programs evaluate and remove the risks and hazards relevant to the safety, well-being, and health of workers and other relevant individuals. Organizations develop health and safety standards due to several reasons including laws, regulatory requirements, organizational policies, and historical occurrences. Certain industries and their associations bind organizations to work for the benefit of their employees and they force organizations to focus on different safety related perspectives. Workplace injuries and illnesses caused by working conditions or environment can lead to lawsuits, high costs, and deterioration of the corporate image. There are instances when employees at times die because of sever working conditions. Employees might got injured because of certain safety and the lack of safety would be the only probable reason of this. Enhanced safety measures and appropriate quality of these measures can reduce this perspective to a considerable level.

Safety at the workplace enables organizations to comply with regulatory requirements and prevent high costs resulting from injuries and illnesses. Several corporations can consider the fact that these safety measures would save their health and medicinal costs that would arise when an employees would hurt him. They should take proactive measures earlier through which people can benefit from these perspectives. The management can maintain high levels of productivity and efficiency by creating a safe and healthy working environment. Conversely, the employees work with dedication due to their perceptions regarding the commitment of the organization with respect to the wellbeing of the workers.

Importance of safety at workplace

Legislative and legal requirements are the most prominent cause of health and safety policies in most organizations. The Occupational and Safety Health Act is the primary law for the assurance of health and safety of all workers throughout the United States. The Occupational and Safety Health Act (OSHA) necessitates the dissemination of standards, rules, and regulations relevant to the safety and health of workers. The government establishes and enforces the standards for the safety and health of all workers and their families through the Act. All public and private organizations have to comply with the rules, regulations, and standards prescribed in OSHA (Jung & Makowsky, 2014). They would face legal complications if they do not comply with such policies and measures taken by the decision makers. However, many organizations develop and implement health and safety procedures to safeguard their interests relevant to organizational objectives rather than legal requirements. The financial and moral aspects of workers’ health and safety have a greater influence as compared to regulatory compliance. Corporations can save considerable costs by avoiding high insurance expenses, lawsuits, and employee replacement costs in the event of injuries and illnesses (Barling & Frone, 2003).

Manpower and Management

The primary objective of all managers is to enhance and promote productivity and efficiency in all areas and functions. However, the managers cannot uphold efficiency and effectiveness in the absence of a safe workplace. The managers need to create a safe working environment and increase the awareness and knowledge of all employees with respect to safe working practices. The employees and workers also need to understand the importance of workplace safety and reduce personal injury through attentiveness and removal of hazards. These safety hazards are negative for the effectiveness of organizations and create a long-term negative impact. The attitude of the employees, management, and employers plays a vital role in preventing accidents and creating a safe working environment. The negligence on the part of the employers and employees can cause a variety of hazards and accidents (Rahim, Ng, Biggs, & Boots, 2014). However, the diligence and commitment of all stakeholders regarding safe work practices leads to the prevention of major accidents and injuries. The employees and management can create a safe workplace through a shared responsibility model for workplace safety and cooperation. Organizations should own this perspective and they should realize the fact that it is their managerial responsibility to focus on this perspective so that employees can remain safe.

Conclusively, a safety plan is necessary and it comprises of certain steps that would develop a safer workplace. Organizations should make sure that everyone else in the workplace is aware of the core problem. People should notify their respective supervisors and they should file any reports if there is a problem. An important aspect is that people should realize that there is a problem as sitting back and holding the problem for a long time would not solve the problem.

Barling, J., & Frone, M. (2003). The Psychology of Workplace Safety. New Jersey: Amer Psychological Assn. Blair, E. H. (2013). Building safety culture. Professional Safety , 58 (11), 59-65. Cobb, E. (2013). Bullying, Violence, Harassment, Discrimination and Stress: Emerging Workplace Health and Safety Issues. New Jersey: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Jung, J., & Makowsky, M. D. (2014). The determinants of federal and state enforcement of workplace safety regulations: OSHA inspections 1990’2010. Journal of Regulatory Economics , 45 (1), 1-33. Legg, S., Laird, I., Olsen, K., & Hasle, P. (2014). Creating healthy work in small enterprises – from understanding to action: Summary of current knowledge. Small Enterprise Research , 21 (2), 139-147. Mathis, T., & Galloway, S. (2013). Steps to Safety Culture Excellence. New Jersey: Wiley. Rahim, A. N., Ng, H. K., Biggs, D., & Boots, K. (2014). Perceptions of safety, physical working conditions and stress between Malaysia and United Kingdom. International Journal of Business & Society , 15 (2), 321-338. Stricoff, R., & Groover, D. (2012). The Manager’s Guide to Workplace Safety. New York : Safety in Action Press.

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Work health, and well-being, related articles, the changing face of worker safety, health, and well-being in a post-pandemic future, it’s not just personal: the economic value of preventing bullying in the workplace, a healthy workplace starts in bed, how covid-19 has changed the standards of worker safety and health — and how organizations can adapt.

Two warehouse workers wearing a mask and hardhat. The female is in the foreground pointing to the left and the male is in the background operating a vehicle.

by Katherine J. Igoe

Ensuring health and safety in the workplace is already a critically important issue; organizations that invest in occupational safety perform better, reduce turnover, and help workers do their jobs more effectively. But COVID-19 has forced companies to act quickly and decisively to keep workers safe. As employers endeavor to slow the spread of the virus while keeping a supportive and productive work environment, they’ve had to adapt new business processes and address existing structures that are lacking.

“COVID-19 has stressed the system. All the flaws that have been in place are totally exposed and have come to the forefront of our daily conversations,” says Jack Dennerlein , adjunct professor of ergonomics and safety in the Department of Environmental Health and co-director of Work Health and Well-being: Achieving Worker Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. From distancing procedures to the availability of remote work, the pandemic has metaphorically ripped off the mask covering the flaws in organizations’ working conditions. How has COVID-19 changed the standards of worker safety and health, and how can employers adapt to these changes?

Total Worker Health and Its Impact in the Workplace

Total Worker Health (TWH) aims to address, reactively and proactively, the challenges of worker safety, health, and well-being. At its core, it measures and assesses what a worker experiences, collects data to understand what to change, provides approaches on how to modify an environment, and encourages collaboration across traditional organizational boundaries to ensure a safe workplace. It’s both an acknowledgement of workers’ existing health, and initiatives to keep them healthy.

“These two general fields — protecting and promoting health — work together in a single workplace. It makes sense to think about this as an integrated effort instead of two siloed efforts that act in parallel,” says Nico Pronk , adjunct professor of social and behavioral sciences, president of the HealthPartners Institute, chief science officer at HealthPartners, Inc., and co-director of Work Health and Well-being: Achieving Worker Health .

As an example, he explains, “If you have diabetes, your eyesight might be diminished, and you might end up with an injury because your work is putting you at risk.” Critically, though, TWH focuses more on an organization’s framework rather than solely on an individual: “the conditions of work rather than on the behaviors of the work. You set the environment — physical, social, economic — which shapes how the workplace is organized. Within that, these factors start to drive the behavior of the individuals within it.”

COVID-19 has fundamentally uprooted assumptions about worker safety, health, and well-being and been an accelerant of addressing these issues. The pandemic has also highlighted classic social issues that workers face, like childcare, sick leave, and disability issues, and underlined safety concerns in health care environments where professionals need to treat patients. The absence of TWH — where workers don’t feel safe in their workplace — is also much more visible. Implementing TWH effectively helps make organizations more resilient during this time.

Even though COVID-19 can be used as a leverage point, Dennerlein notes, “We should be doing it for the good of the people, not just because of COVID-19. If we want this country to be productive, we have to invest in the health and safety of our workforce.” Adds Pronk, “What if you didn’t get sick? What if you didn’t get injured? The benefits come back in spades. You cannot be successful if you don’t have healthy workers, but that recognition is still hardly there.”

“Protecting and promoting health work together in a single workplace. It makes sense to think about this as an integrated effort instead of two siloed efforts that act in parallel.”

Applying and Adapting Total Worker Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

While the values of TWH may not change, the implementation has evolved to protect workers against COVID-19. In a paper titled “ An Integrative Total Worker Health Framework for Keeping Workers Safe and Healthy During the COVID-19 Pandemic ,” Dennerlein, Erika Sabbath, Susan Peters, and Glorian Sorensen outlined six key characteristics that are essential for applying TWH in this context:

Focusing on working conditions for infection control and supportive environments for increased psychological demands
Utilizing participatory approaches involving workers in identifying daily challenges and unique solutions
Employing comprehensive and collaborative efforts to increase system efficiencies
Committing as leaders to supporting workers through action and communications
Adhering to ethical and legal standards
Using data to guide actions and evaluate progress

In this way, organizations can address the unique demands (including physical, ethical, and legal) of counteracting COVID-19 alongside the needs of workers to complete their tasks in a safe space, while using data and feedback to make changes.

According to the researchers, the most challenging aspect of using a TWH framework is getting top-level support. “Overall organization engagement towards this shared vision of a goal is critical — some key performance indicator for the institution has to include TWH or recognizing its impact. You have to think about that at the systems level,” says Dennerlein.

“If we want this country to be productive, we have to invest in the health and safety of our workforce.”

The Practical Implications of Implementing Total Worker Health in a Pandemic

The researchers have worked with companies to take these theoretical constructs and translate them to practical insights in the workplace. “It took companies as much as six months to learn how to bring health and safety together. Health is in HR, safety is in Operations, and the two don’t usually interact,” Pronk says. Not rushing the organizations and giving them up to a year to develop an implementation plan was key.

After buy-in from leadership, the next step is to test these six characteristics using data and feedback. Previous studies show that program design principles or characteristics are correlated with good health outcomes. “The business units that scored the highest had the lowest number of health risks in their populations. The more they followed these characteristics, the healthier their group was,” Pronk says. Following implementation, organizations would then be able to make changes and use a team-based approach to maintain awareness and continue to evaluate efficacy.

Thus, TWH can be effective, and not just in the short-term. Even after COVID-19 is no longer an immediate threat, the challenges of worker health and safety remain. “What are we doing to create a more resilient workforce ? When we start thinking about the work of the future, workers are going to have to continually reinvent themselves, because work is constantly changing. COVID-19 was a big slap in the face for that. How do we all adapt?” says Dennerlein.

“We rely on the human element in the workforce so much because humans are problem-solvers. TWH tries to broaden that and realize what a great resource we have here. Why aren’t we using that element better? Why aren’t we weaving it more effectively into our organizations to help them make better decisions to affect the bottom line?”

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health offers Work Health and Well-being: Achieving Worker Health , which provides the full set of skills needed to improve worker health, safety, and well-being in the workplace .

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Importance of Health and Safety at Workplace, Essay Example

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Both the employer and the employees are responsible for health and safety of the workplace. The most important responsibility of an employee is taking reasonable care of their own safety and health this means you are you own keeper. The employees should use properly any material provided to them for safety purposes, health and safety. For example protective clothes like gloves, protective masks and laboratory coats should always be worn as required. An employee should also ensure that they understand and adhere to what they are trained on concerning the health and safety policies of the company they are working for. For example they should understand all the technical aspects of the machine they operate to avoid accidents and should also observe safety precautions as far as operation of machines is concerned. In operation of machines, loose clothing, long hair, jewellerly which can get entangled by moving parts of the machine. This can be achieved by avoiding such clothing and jewellerly when operating machines and wearing head scarf incase of the long hair.

In any working environment, employees should also be responsible for their colleague’s health and safety by ensuring that what they do does not pose risk to other workers and the environment (Dalton, 98). For example when mixing chemicals in laboratory poisonous gases might be released and so safety precautions – working in a fume chamber- must be taken to avoid their release to the environment because they can produce hazardous effects to the environment in which case the near surrounding is your colleague and also members of the public. Another example is when working in a microbiology laboratory the dust coats and any other protective clothing worn should remain in the lab to avoid contaminating other environments with microbes some of which are a health hazard.

The employer has also responsibility towards the health and safety of his employees. The very vital role is to ensure that the employees get the best training in understanding safety procedures of the work place and providing sufficient protective measures and materials to their employees. For example they should have measures to cater for any emergencies like in case of fire exits should be available. For the disposable protective material like gloves the employer must ensure constant supply. Employers should also change their employee’s jobs if they report any strains resulting from the kind of job they do or if under any medication that reduces their working ability or even in case of pregnancy. Employers have also the duty of ensuring a comfortable work place for their employees’ their duties include ensuring providing the right work equipment and ensuring proper maintenance ensure that ventilation, washing and rest facilities are up to standard as per health safety and welfare requirements. (Directgov.uk)

Addressing health issues and safety in the workplace does not only help the employer save money but also increases business value. This is because when workers sty healthy and whole the business saves costs which would have been spend on occupational injuries which of course come directly from company profits. Direct cost-savings to businesses include: reduced medical expenditures; lower insurance costs used to compensate workers’; reduced costs incurred in job accommodating workers with injuries; reduced expenditures during return-to-work programs; less expenses for overtime benefits and reduced numbers of faulty product.

Health and safety at workplace also result into decreases in costs incurred indirectly due to: increased productivity, production of products of higher quality which means increased sales. Safe workplace also fosters good labor or management relations and hence employees re motivated consequently there is increased production of high quality products s well s decreased turnover.

Employees and their families benefit from safety health and safety also have benefits to the employees and their families because it minimizes stress and they are able to protect their income as well as protecting injuries from hampering the families. It is very clear that health and safety add value not only to businesses, but also to the workplaces as well s lives and therefore protecting people in the workplace should be in our economy, our families, colleagues, and the community at large best interest(Cogwell Anderson R. & Kaczmarek B., vol.4 )..

OSHA and Its Basic Requirements or Provisions

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an Americans agency under the Labor Department whose responsibility is assuring the health and safety of workers in America by providing education, training and outreach; setting and enforcing standards; encouraging continued improvement in terms of health and safety in the workplace and establishing partnerships (Summary Guide of OSHA Regulations and Requirements).

Requirements or Provisions

OSHA is assigned two main functions by The OSH Act .these re setting standards and inspecting workplace to ensure employers compliance with the standards and provision of a healthful and safe workplace. The OSH Act applies to employees and employers in varied fields like, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, long shoring,, medicine, law, disaster relief and charity , private education and organized labor. Fields not covered by OSH ct include work conditions under the regulation of other federal agencies and statutes like nuclear energy, mining end many parts of the transportation industry, people who re self employed and local government end states employees(Summary Guide of OSHA Regulations and Requirements).

Federal OSHA Standards

OSHA standards my require that employers adopt some means, processes and practices necessary for protecting workers t work. It is the employers’ responsibility to familiarize with standards required by their establishments as well as complying with the standards and to ensure hazardous free conditions to their best capability. Employees must also comply with rules and regulations applicable to their own conduct and actions.

OSHA Standards are divided in four categories: General industry, agriculture, Maritime (long shoring, shipyards, marine terminals and construction. Each of these classes of standards imposes requirements that are aimed to the specific industry except in some instances where they are similar in all industries. Standards that impose similar requirements on all industrial sectors include standards for access to medical records, communication of hazards, access to records of exposure and personal protective equipment.

Equipment for personal protection standard require employers to provide cost free equipment for person protection against certain hazards. Such equipment include goggles, helmets for head protection, eye and hear and gauntlets for iron workers. This standard is separately added to standards for every industrial sector with the exception of agriculture. Access to medical and records of exposure standard requires employers to grant their employees access to all the records they maintain of employees exposure to hazardous substances and medical access. Hazard communication standard require both importers and manufactures of materials that re hazardous to carry out hazard evaluation of the products they import or manufacture and have the containers of the product labeled appropriately if it’s confirmed to be hazardous under the standards terms. In addition safety data sheet should also accompany the material on the first shipment to a new customer. Employers who use the safety data sheet must also have the employees trained on how to follow the safety instructions in the sheet and avoid the present hazardous material.

Reporting, posting and record keeping is imposed by OSHA regulations not a standard. Record keeping regulation require all employers under OSH cover with more than ten employees to maintain specified OSHA records of illnesses and injuries related to job. The regulation has n exception for low industries of low hazards like finance, real estate, some service industries, insurance and retail. The OSHA record keeping requires two forms be filled. form 200 is a log for illnesses or injuries with a separate entry for serious injuries which need recording .These include deaths related to the job, serious illnesses which require hospitalization and medication, restriction from work or motion or which led to transfer from one job to another .the form has also another section where all the injuries for the past year re recorded and posted in the work place every February. The other form is form 101 which provides additional report bout every workers recordable illness or injury. Despite the business category or employee numbers each employer must give reports to the OSHA office in the nearby if any accidents occur and cause hospitalization of more than three employees or cause fatalities. OSHA carries out investigations into the cause of the accident and whether it was s result of violation of standards.

Generally all employers must maintain hazard free workplaces to protect their employees from deaths or serious physical harm regardless of whether OSHA does not give a specific requirement or standard addressing such hazards. in such areas where OSHA has not given a standard to address a certain hazard, its employers responsibility to comply with the “general duty” clause for OSH Act which states that every employer “shall furnish a work place which is free from recognized hazards that are likely to or are causing serious physical harm or death to his employees” (Summary Guide of OSHA Regulations and Requirements).

Works Cited

Cogwell Anderson R. & Kaczmarek B. : The Importance of Promoting Health in the Workplace . The Internet Journal of Academic Physician Assistants. 2004 Volume 4 Number 1

Dalton A,P. Health and Workplace Hazards . London: Cengage Learning.1998.

Employers’ Health and Safety responsibilities . Web. 9 Oct. 2008 http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/HealthAndSafetyAtWork/DG_4016686

Summary Guide of OSHA Regulations and Requirements . Web.4 April 2008 http://www.ehso.com/oshaoverview.php

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Work and Well-being: The Changing Face of Occupational Safety and Health

There is strong evidence that work, health and well-being are closely and powerfully linked and need to be addressed together. (Dame Carol Black) [1]

The conjunctive phrase “…and well-being” is often used in the occupational safety and health (OSH) literature in the context of health and well-being. However, historically, well-being has not been defined, operationalized, prioritized or specifically considered. To gain perspective on the concept of well-being, it is useful to think of the history of OSH in a conceptual way in terms of five overlapping characteristic eras (see Figure 1)*. These include: Foundational concepts; Child labor/basic welfare/emerging perspectives; Toxic chemicals/physical agents/safety; Health and productivity/work organization factors and stress-related disorders; and, Total Worker Health®/well-being/future of work/sustainability. The most recent era starting with the early 2000’s is influenced by:

1) the realization that the nature of work, the workforce, and the workplace is changing in major ways and at a rapid pace;

2) recognition that a large number of factors external to work such as health behaviors (e.g., alcohol and drug use), aging, pandemics, and chronic disease are influencing work and workers’ health, that some of these conditions are in turn influenced by workplace exposures, and that these factors and effects require new, systems-oriented prevention strategies;

3) growing attention to fatigue, psychosocial hazards and effects; and

4) increasing consideration of decent † , sustainable and healthy work as societal goals. [2] [3]

essay on health and safety in the workplace

Well-Being Defined

To better address these four contemporary factors there is need for an overarching concept such as “well-being”, that encompasses the broad range of domains in the most recent eras of OSH. In general, well-being is understood as a summative concept that characterizes the overall quality of workers’ lives (work and nonwork), including OSH aspects, and it may be a major determinant of productivity at the individual, enterprise and societal levels.[4] [5] As treated in the literature of various disciplines, well-being can be subjective, objective or a composite of the two.[6] Subjective well-being can include flourishing, happiness, satisfaction, and a sense of purpose. Objectively, well-being is having adequate food, clothing, shelter, economic resources, and legal rights.

The threat to well-being of workers is not due just to changes in work and workplace hazards, it is also due to the interaction of work and nonwork factors.[7] Such factors as demographics, economic considerations and globalization, migration, climate change and chronic disease are drivers of current and future working conditions. To optimize well-being, there is need for a comprehensive perspective that allows full consideration of possible leverage points (direction, magnitude and causality) for producing meaningful change.[8] To achieve this, we need to understand the relationship between ‘well-being in work’ and ‘well-being in life’ in terms of directionality, magnitude and causality.

Studying Well-Being in OSH

Much of the literature on the relationship between ‘well-being in work’ and ‘well-being in life’ looks at the intersection between life satisfaction and job satisfaction.[9] [10] [11] Commonly it has involved cross-sectional studies where causal inference is generally not able to be assessed. More recently, a 2020 longitudinal study determined relationships between factors involved in job satisfaction and life satisfaction.[8] These relationships can be bi-directional or uni-directional (life-to-work or work-to-life).

The concept of well-being can be used in OSH in a variety of ways. As shown in Figure 2, it, can be used in research, practice, and policy. To these ends, well-being can be investigated in terms of what can cause it and its impact on productivity, organizational effectiveness, and health-related outcomes. Well-being may prove to be a leading indicator of these outcomes. It can be a practical objective for employers and workers, and it can be the target of policy or an indicator of whether a policy achieves well-being.

If the concept of well-being is to be operationalized for use as an objective or a condition of workers or organizations there is a need for a way to measure it. The literature on measuring well-being is broad and provides many approaches.[12] The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a conceptual framework for worker well-being that includes five domains and 20 subdomains that have been incorporated in a survey instrument called the NIOSH WellBQ . [13] [14] The instrument may be useful as a tool for research, practice and policy development.

Using Well-being in OSH and Beyond

Ultimately, if the concept of well-being is to be used by OSH in the future there is need for the OSH field to be prepared for, and to have the capacity to use it. This preparation requires that, in the future, OSH investigators and practitioners need to have appropriate training, understanding of relevant complementary disciplines, and the readiness to think about OSH concerns from a multifactorial perspective. Three approaches to expand OSH training to address well-being can be envisioned. One pertains to increasing the knowledge base and skill sets of OSH practitioners and investigators with augmented training and systems-thinking that is inclusive of extra-organizational influences and cross-disciplinary perspectives and approaches. The second is to engage professions outside the OSH discipline to understand basic principles of OSH, expand their attention toward OSH and to develop collaborations and partnerships with OSH professionals. The third would be a combination of both.[15] For all three approaches to focus on well-being as an outcome of OSH activity, a holistic analysis of worker health and well-being is needed.

The OSH field will need to have a more transdisciplinary focus. A transdisciplinary focus means that researchers and practitioners from different disciplines work jointly using a shared conceptual framework drawing together disciplinary-specific theories, concepts and approaches to address common problems.[15] Recognizing the need for a more holistic framework in OSH, NIOSH has initiated a new program of research under the rubric of Total Worker Health ® (TWH) to better understand how conditions inside and beyond the work environment combine to influence the well-being of workers, to develop integrative prevention strategies that cross these domains to improve worker well-being, and to improve the capacity of occupational health professionals in systems approaches to OSH.[16]

While OSH professionals generally take a systematic approach to their work, how to train OSH professionals in systems-thinking and skills could be a challenge because of the multifactorial nature of so many of the contemporary and emergent OSH problems, [15] although training programs of this nature have already been initiated by some partners of the NIOSH TWH program. Systems thinking in OSH involves taking a holistic view of factors and interactions that contribute to problems, diseases, and outcomes in workers. [17]

Ideally, OSH will become part of a societal consideration that includes sustainability, climate change, decent work and a future impacted heavily by technology, all impacting work and worker well-being and requiring more expansive intervention strategies in OSH. As noted, in this scenario, researchers and practitioners conducting research and developing and implementing OSH interventions will require a broader set of skills and perspectives.[18] Psychosocial hazards in particular will likely become an even greater problem for workers and employers, necessitating additional skills and new inter-disciplinary partnerships for OSH professionals., While recognizing the increasing role of psychosocial hazards and adverse effects, the OSH field will also have to address the ongoing threats of all hazards which the current era overlaps with as shown in Figure 1, as well as new physical, chemical, and biological hazards.

Ultimately, adoption of the well-being concept in OSH will require further agreement on how to operationalize the concept and development of investigatory and intervention strategies that reach beyond the workplace. It is important to guard against blaming the workers for poor well-being outcomes and to consider privacy and confidentiality concerns when addressing non-work characteristics. Additionally, because some interventions necessary to address the well-being of workers may be outside the control of the workplace, broader society-level policies, changes in personal choice-making, clinical services, and health promotion interventions will be necessary to affect well-being in these instances.

Moving Forward

Critical in the evolution of OSH (from a labor to more of a public health perspective) will be the need to address not only hazards in work and elsewhere as they relate to worker well-being, but also lack of workers’ opportunity in terms of unemployment and underemployment. The technological displacement of workers is a growing issue and one that will affect the workforce into the future. The impact of underemployment and unemployment on well-being has been richly described; however, in the future it may become more significant. Intervention to address this will be a challenge for OSH. The field will have to evolve to address lack of employment opportunity as a hazard to workers by adopting a more public health approach to worker health. Additionally, the OSH field may have to think not only of hazards to workers, but hazards to, and characteristics of the workforce, and the health and welfare of workers’ families (Figure 3) ‡ . Strategies to affect all or parts of the workforce will be of critical importance. Both of these new focal areas for OSH are well beyond historical practices and perspectives. However, they ultimately tie to worker well-being and a more broadly prepared field of OSH professionals would ideally be well-positioned to pivot, evolve, and envision solutions and quickly implement them.

Paul A. Schulte, Ph.D., is the Director of the NIOSH Division of Science Integration.

Steven L. Sauter, Ph.D., is a consultant to the NIOSH Total Worker Health program.

This blog is part of a series for the NIOSH 50th Anniversary. Stay up to date on how we’re celebrating NIOSH’s 50 th Anniversary on our website .

* These eras represent the authors’ interpretation of occupational safety and health history based on supporting literature. See Melling and Carter (2012) [19] for further discussion.

† “Decent work sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives. It involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, ability to organize and participate in decisions that affect their lives, and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men.” ILO [20]

‡See the 2012 WHO report on the importance of health, safety, and well-being at work.[21]

1. Black C. [2008]. Working for a healthier tomorrow. London England: The Stationary Office.

2. Burton J [2010]. Healthy workplaces: a model of action for employers, workers, policy-makers and practitioners. Geneva Switzerland: World Health Organizations.

3. Howard J. Nonstandard work arrangements and worker heath and safety. Am J Ind Med 60 (1): 1-10, 2017.

4. Schulte PA, Vainio H [2010]. Well-being at work – overview and perspective. Scan J Work Environ Health 36(5):422-429.

5. Gervais R, Buffet M-A, Liddle M, Eekelaert L [2019]. Well-being at work: creating a positive work environment. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.

6. Schulte, PA, Guerin RJ, Scholl AL, Bhattacharya A, Cunningham TA, Pandalai S, Eggerth D, Stephenson CM. [2015]. Considerations for incorporating “well-being” in public policy for workers and workplaces. AJPH, August 0015; 106 (f) 31_e44, https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302616# .

7. Schulte PA, Pandalai S, Wulsin V, Chun K. Interaction of occupational and personal risk factors in workforce health and safety. Am J Public Health 102; 434-448, 2012. Pls let me know if you have further questions.

8. Weziak-Bialowolski D, Bialowolski P, Luigi Sacco, VanderWeele TJ, McNeely E [2020]. Well-being in life and well-being at work: which comes first? Evidence from a longitudinal study. Front. Public Health. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00103/full

9. Bowling NA, Eschleman KJ, Wang Q [2010]. A meta-analytic examination of the relationship between job satisfaction and subjective well-being. J Occup Organ Psychol. 83:915–34. doi: 10.1348/096317909X478557.

10. Judge TA, Watanabe S [1993]. Another look at the job satisfaction-life satisfaction relationship. J Appl Psychol 78:939-948. Doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.78.6.939.

11. Rain JS, Lane IM, Steiner DD [1991]. A current look at the job satisfaction/life satisfaction relationship: review and future considerations. Human Relations. (1991) 44:287–307. doi: 10.1177/001872679104400305.

12. Cooke PJ, Melchart TP, Connor K [2016]. Measuring well-being: a review of instruments. The counseling psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000016633507 .

13. Chari R, Chang C-C, Sauter SL, Petrun Sayers EL, Cerully JL, Schulte PA, Scholl AL, Uscher-Pines L [2018]. Expanding the paradigm of occupational safety and health: a new framework for worker well-being. JOEM 60:921-929.

14. NIOSH [2021]. NIOSH worker well-being questionnaire (WellBQ). By Chari R, Chang CC, Sauter SL, Petrun Sayers EL, Huang W, Fisher GG. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2021-110 (revised 5/2021), https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHPUB2021110revised52021

15. Schulte PA, Delclos G, Felknor SA, Chosewood LC [2019]. Toward an expanded focus for occupational safety and health. Int J Environ Res and Public Health 16, 4946; DOI:10.3901/jerph 16244946.

16. Hudson HL, Nigam JAS, Sauter SL, Chosewood LC, Schill AL, Howard J [2019]. Total Worker Health. American Psychological Association Washington D.C. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000149-000

17. Carey G, Malbon E, Carey N, Joyce A, Crammond B, Carey A [2015]. Systems science and systems thinking for public health: a systematic review of the field. BMJ open. 5(12):e009002. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009002.

18. Schulte PA, Streit JMK, Sheriff F, Delclos G, Felknor SA, Tamers SL, Fendinger S, Grosch J, Sala R [2020]. Potential scenarios and hazards in the work of the future: A systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature and gray literatures. Ann Work Exp and Health 1-31. Doi: 10.1093/annweh/wxaa051.

19. Melling J, Carter T [2012]. Donald Hunter and history of occupational health: precedents and perspectives. In Baxter ed al (eds) Hunter’s diseases of occupations. Pp5-23. https://doi.org/10.1201/b13467

20. International Labour Organization. Decent Work. https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/decent-work/lang–en/index.htm

21. Kim, P. [2012]. WHO and well-being at work. Presentation well-being at work 2012. Manchester UK May 21, 2012. https://www.hsl.gov.uk/media/202146/5_kim_who.pdf

70 comments on “Work and Well-being: The Changing Face of Occupational Safety and Health”

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Very informative blog.

Thank you for sharing this informative blog with us..

It is informative.. And also covered everything in details.

Nice Blog. explained really nice

Useful Information, thanks for sharing.

This is a good one Thanks

Thank you for sharing this informative.

keep sharing this type of informative content. This is a very informative content. Thanks

strongly agree, health and safety at work is a priority that must be owned by someonem. Btw iam from indonesian

great article share thanks for information.

very good article, thank you

thanks for sharing with us

Great article share thanks for information. Strongly agree, health and safety at work is a priority that must be owned by someones.

101℅ agree with your thoughts and idea.

Will read more like this Thanks

I agree ! I like it due to lots od information and refrences

I think health and occupation is a relevant topic to talk about, since, I’ve seen these two things collide with each other. Working while being best at your health is hard these days due to diversity of working style in out country. Some people work at places where more physical movement is demanded. For young people it isn’t that bad but, for people over 40 it gets a little difficult to work. I think to avoid health problems due to work after 40’s, jobs opportunities should be changed. Since, younger people are more energetic, they should have job opportunities related with physical work, whereas, people who develop poor health condition over time should be provided jobs that require less physical activity.

101℅ agree with your thoughts and idea. Good bless you.

Will read more like this….. Thanks

Thank you for your post sharing with us. Really it’s a very helpful post. Hope everybody will be benefited from your post.

I think this is very informative, but there are a few things I’m afraid I have to disagree with. Even so, it is an additional insight for me.

Thank you for your post and sharing it with us. it’s a very helpful post. Hope everybody will be benefited from your post.

Such a very Impressive Article . i got more useful information thanks for sharing it with us

thanks, the article is very great and useful

Great article share thanks for information. Strongly agree, health and safety at work is a priority that must be owned by someone.

Great article share thanks for information.

indeed in a job, a very important factor is work safety. This of course must be accompanied by a certificate of competence on work safety. In Indonesia, it must be owned by every employee, especially employees in oil and mining

work safety is the most important

Completely agree. This is why we approach everything in our company in balance. More than anything, we let our employees rest, and when they feel overwhelmed, we grant them leave.

Thank you for your post sharing with us. Really it’s a very helpful post. Hope everybody will be benefited from your post.

Nice information.

Nice article and Very Informative. I think health and occupation is a relevant topic to talk about, since, I’ve seen these two things collide with each other. Working while being best at your health is hard these days due to diversity of working style in out country.

Agreed to each and every points . Great article for daily workers.

Nice article.

very very useful article and Very Informative. I think health and occupation is a relevant topic to talk about, since, I’ve seen these two things collide with each other. Working while being best at your health is hard these days due to diversity of working style in out country.thank you

La salud y el trabajo es un tema delicado y hay que saberlo manejar. Hay que hilar despacio.

From Google Translate: Health and work is a sensitive issue and you have to know how to handle it. You have to spin slowly.

Thanks for sharing

informative blog…thx

Agreed to each and every points. Great article for daily workers.

thanks for the information

Thank you so much as you have been willing to share information with us.

Hey Thank you for the informative post. After the COVID thing, from the day, we started WFH, we all almost forget about the well being so it is necessary to have a full knowledge how to be balance your life and work.

This article sheds light on other aspects of well-being in regards to the workplace that are very rarely touched upon. The most interesting one to me is external work factors – alcohol and drug use, aging, chronic disease – I’d even include family/living dynamics at home.

An employee can come to work and do their job but you have no idea what’s going on in their personal lives that may affect their true well-being as a human. Perhaps they are living in a loud environment, don’t get any sleep and require sleep medication. Or they live in a dangerous neighborhood and have to carry self defense weapons for protection which increases their stress.

I like the discussion about well-being at work and well-being at life. Are people fulfilled if they are not doing work that aligns with something purposeful in their lives? Can well-being at work truly align with well-being in life if you are working for a company or someone else and don’t get full say on your role and objectives? Perhaps some people can, but I venture that it’s very challenging for most. At the end of the day, a job is a job that pays the bills, and sadly the employee, and the employer, understand this.

Very beautiful infography and helpful tips. Appreciated. Thank you.

thank you this very helpful blog

Great article

Thanks for putting this together.

thank you this very helpful this blog

Thank you on this helpful article!

Completely agree. This is why we approach everything in our company in balance.

This article provides an insightful overview of the evolution of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) with a particular focus on the emerging emphasis on workers’ well-being. I commend the inclusion of broader societal factors such as sustainability and climate change, that indirectly but significantly impact worker well-being. The notion of well-being encompassing not just physical safety but also psychosocial aspects, underemployment, and the influence of non-work factors reflects the complexity of contemporary work environments. As OSH evolves to address these facets, the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration and a systems-thinking approach cannot be overstated. This comprehensive perspective promises to pave the way for healthier workplaces and a more holistic approach to worker health and productivity.

Thank you for your comment. This is precisely the direction the NIOSH Total Worker Health Program is taking us. Please visit the Total Worker Health webpage for more information.

Wow, what an insightful blog post! As someone who has always prioritized both my work and well-being, it’s refreshing to see a topic that hits close to home. The evolving landscape of occupational safety and health is something we can’t ignore, especially with the changing dynamics of the modern workplace.

The way you highlighted the importance of striking a balance between work and well-being resonated deeply with me. It’s not just about physical safety anymore; mental and emotional well-being are equally vital. Our workplaces should be nurturing environments that encourage growth, productivity, and, most importantly, happiness.

I particularly appreciated your emphasis on the role of employers in promoting a healthy work environment. I am a Call Center owner and when employers prioritize the well-being of their employees, it fosters a positive culture that leads to increased job satisfaction and overall productivity. After all, a happy employee is a productive employee!

It’s fascinating how technology has both facilitated and challenged the field of occupational safety and health. On one hand, it has revolutionized workplace practices, allowing for remote work and flexible schedules. On the other hand, it has introduced new risks and challenges that we need to address proactively.

Overall, this blog post has shed light on a crucial aspect of our lives. It’s a wake-up call for both employers and employees to recognize the significance of work-life balance and well-being. Let’s continue the conversation and strive for workplaces that not only keep us safe but also promote our holistic well-being. Great job!

Thank you. We appreciate your comments.

Occupational safety and health is very important . Especially in developing countries common safety guidelines in any occupation are not properly followed. This piece of information is very beneficial. Thanks

Thank you so much

I like this informations !!

I really enjoyed reading your blog post about work and well-being. I agree that it is important to find a balance between work and personal life, and that both can contribute to our overall well-being.

I found your point about the importance of having a sense of purpose in our work to be particularly interesting. I think that when we feel like our work is meaningful, it can make a big difference in our overall happiness and satisfaction.

I also appreciated your suggestions for how to improve work-life balance. I think that setting boundaries, taking breaks, and making time for relaxation are all important things that we can do to improve our well-being.

Thanks for sharing your insights!

This blog post sheds light on a crucial and often overlooked aspect of occupational safety and health – the interconnectedness of work, health, and overall well-being. It’s a perspective that resonates with Dame Carol Black’s insight that these elements are tightly intertwined and must be collectively addressed.

The authors highlight a fascinating progression through distinct eras in the history of occupational safety and health. From foundational concepts to the emerging focus on total worker health and well-being, the evolution is marked by evolving societal norms, changing work environments, and a deeper understanding of the complexities involved.

The modern era, starting in the early 2000s, has brought about a paradigm shift in how we perceive work-related health and well-being. Factors like rapidly changing work dynamics, external influences such as health behaviors and pandemics, and the recognition of psychosocial hazards, fatigue, and stress-related disorders have pushed the boundaries of traditional occupational safety considerations.

Moreover, the concept of “decent, sustainable, and healthy work” reflects a forward-thinking approach that aligns workplace goals with broader societal aspirations. This evolving perspective acknowledges the significance of fostering environments where employees not only thrive but contribute to a larger vision of a healthier and more sustainable society.

As we navigate the complexities of the modern workplace, it’s crucial to recognize that a holistic approach to occupational safety and health is essential. By integrating well-being into the conversation, we move closer to a comprehensive understanding of how work impacts individuals and society as a whole. This thought-provoking article invites us to contemplate the evolving landscape of occupational well-being and consider innovative strategies to ensure the health and vitality of the workforce.

This thought-provoking analysis sheds light on the evolution of occupational safety and health (OSH) and the often overlooked aspect of well-being. It is intriguing to see how the concept of well-being has been gradually integrated into the OSH framework over time. This article offers valuable historical context and raises important questions about the future of work and the significance of well-being in creating sustainable and thriving workplaces. An insightful read indeed! 👍

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Occupational Safety and Health Standards and Instruments

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Safety Management

Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs

A safe workplace is sound business.

The Recommended Practices are designed to be used in a wide variety of small and medium-sized business settings. The Recommended Practices present a step-by-step approach to implementing a safety and health program, built around seven core elements that make up a successful program.

The main goal of safety and health programs is to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths, as well as the suffering and financial hardship these events can cause for workers, their families, and employers. The recommended practices use a proactive approach to managing workplace safety and health. Traditional approaches are often reactive –that is, problems are addressed only after a worker is injured or becomes sick, a new standard or regulation is published, or an outside inspection finds a problem that must be fixed. These recommended practices recognize that finding and fixing hazards before they cause injury or illness is a far more effective approach.

The idea is to begin with a basic program and simple goals and grow from there. If you focus on achieving goals, monitoring performance, and evaluating outcomes, your workplace can progress along the path to higher levels of safety and health achievement.

Employers will find that implementing these recommended practices also brings other benefits. Safety and health programs help businesses:

Prevent workplace injuries and illnesses
Improve compliance with laws and regulations
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Why health and safety is important to your business

Workplace health and safety is all about sensibly managing risks to protect your workers and your business. Good health and safety management is characterised by strong leadership involving your managers, workers, suppliers, contractors and customers. In a global context, health and safety is also an essential part of the movement towards sustainable development.

Why is it important?

It’s good to know the benefits, so we’ve listed 10 reasons why health and safety is important.

It is morally right to ensure your workers return home safe and healthy at the end of every working day.
By protecting your workers, you reduce absences, ensuring that your workplace is more efficient and productive .
Research shows that workers are more productive in workplaces that are committed to health and safety.
Reducing down-time caused by illness and accidents means less disruption – and saves your business money .
In some countries, health and safety legislation is criminal law and you are legally obliged to comply with it. Legal breaches can result in prosecution, fines and even imprisonment of senior executives.
To attract investors and partnerships you may need to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability and corporate social responsibility, which will include how you protect your workers.
Increasingly, customers want to buy products and services that are produced ethically. You also need to think about the work practices throughout your supply chain and deal only with ethical suppliers that protect their workforce.
More and more, job hunters – particularly Millennials and Generation Z – seek roles with employers who share their values. Without strong corporate responsibility and sustainability practices you may struggle to attract or retain the best employees .
A good health and safety record is a source of competitive advantage . It builds trust in your reputation and brand, while poor health and safety performance will directly affect profitability and can result in loss of trade or even closure of the business.
Good health and safety at work secures long-term benefits for you, your business and the wider community.

Five things you can do to improve health and safety in your workplace

Find out more about risk management – you can find information on this through our website or other credible sources.
Lead from the top. Workers are much more likely to get involved and comply with controls if senior management make it clear that health and safety is taken seriously by your business. Actively discourage negative behaviours such as taking risks to save time or effort.
Improve health and safety competence in your business. IOSH provides training courses to meet your needs at all levels.
Get your workers involved in risk assessment: this will increase ‘buy-in’ and ownership of their own health and safety. Set up health and safety representatives, and if they are already established, support them more visibly.
Implement a health and safety management system for your business. This should include an overall policy setting out your commitment, responsibilities allocated to individuals and your arrangements detailing how you will actually control your risks. The UK’s Health and Safety Executive publishes its freely-available standard HSG 65 Managing for health and safety or there is the international standard ISO 45001 .

If you are looking to train yourself or members of your staff on the basics of health and safety, we have a number of courses for all levels within the business.

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1.1: Reflection - Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health

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Kimberly Mosley
Long Beach City College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)

It's Your Turn

New World of Work (NWOW) Assessment: What kind of worker are you? How do you view worker safety?

Self awareness.

As we begin our exploration of work it is only fitting that you reflect on your experiences and perspectives of and with work. One of your first activities was to introduce yourself and share some of your background. This next activity is one designed to have you get a better understanding of why you may have certain views on work and worker safety, being ever mindful of who you are.

The Keirsey assessment is one of many types of personality profiles that seek to place individuals in groups with specific traits that may align with career paths or competencies. It is therefore reasonable that personality traits may also shape how you will view and approach safety in the workplace.

Access the Keirsey Assessment here or the 16personalities assessment and record your results. If you use the 16personalities assessment you will need to contrast your results with slides 6 and 17 below to determine which quadrant you belong. You may also just speak to your attribute without associating with it with the Keirsey temperament.

Reflect on your assessment by choosing one of the self image attributes (slide 17) of the Keirsey Overview sharing how that attribute would make you a safer worker. Provide detail, minimum one paragraph.

Using the Four Keirsey Temperaments

Seeing yourself in the four temperaments, nwow-do you value all workers, social diversity.

Respecting and valuing differences is a basic tenet for the future of work. How you view yourself and co-workers shapes your perspective on who matters and what matters in a work setting. When there are differences in who matters, there will be challenges to keeping all workers safe. The following personal reflection activities are designed to encourage you to value differences to ensure all workers matter.

Gender and Ethnicity

Use the the following excerpts from the NWOW social diversity lesson 1 to complete the questionnaire and class discussion at the end of the lesson.

Attributes of Social Diversity Awareness

Respectful of differences in others’ backgrounds and beliefs in local communities and the world at large.
Values diversity in the workplace, including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and age. Understands these differences can actually improve products, services, or work processes.

Understanding Sex and Gender

Gendering in the workplace.

There are still inequalities that exist in modern work environments for the types of jobs considered more appropriate for men and women.
Can you name some examples of types of work where you feel there is a stereotype of it being a “male” job or a “female” job?
There are also inequalities in pay scales for men and women occupying the same positions.
The 2017 Economic Justice Report showed a 20% wage gap between men and women in the United States. It estimated that based on the rate of pay from 1960-2015, women are not projected to reach pay equity until 2059.
This pay gap increases for both women and men of color.

Understanding Race and Ethnicity

Class activity.

Having open discussions and striving to understand others from their own perspective, not from yours, is the first step in Social/Diversity Awareness.

What is your global literacy quotient? Take the Quiz. The passing score averages 30%

Next answer the following questions:

What is your self-identified ethnicity?
Have you ever felt you were defined by gender and/or race, and what impact did this have on you?
How do discussions of what makes us different help expand the idea of what is “normal”?
Is it important to include physical/cognitive impairments and workforce generation in the conversation of what is "normal" in Social Diversity?

Remember, you want to avoid situations like this:

Diversity Awareness

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Indian J Occup Environ Med
v.26(2); Apr-Jun 2022

A Study of the Effectiveness of Workplace Health and Safety Programmes in a University Setting in Canada

Zakia hoque.

Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John's, NL, A1B 3V6, Canada

Veeresh Gadag

Atanu sarkar, introduction:.

Nearly a quarter-million people work in universities in Canada, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors. Although each university provides occupational health and safety services and training programmes to their employees, there have been no studies conducted on the impact of such programmes on employees’ knowledge, attitude and behaviour. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of dissemination of information of workplace health and safety programmes to workers at a Canadian university.

The study compared two cross-sectional online surveys of employees of a Canadian university regarding workplace health and safety with a previously conducted cross-sectional study and thematic analysis of key informant interviews to address the issues raised in the surveys.

Participation in health and safety presentations could enhance understanding and practices of safety. Age, employment status and duration of employment were associated with the levels of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of employees and graduate students. The key informant interviews highlighted some new initiatives such as the establishment of workplace health and safety committees in all university buildings; the development of a safety app and health and safety management system; routine annual inspections of all university building offices and laboratories; new orientation for undergraduate students where general safety rules are described.

Discussion:

University should have regular presentations on the available health and safety programmes and should increase the number of safety training programmes and keep track of the employees that have not received any training, particularly for those working in hazardous environments.

I NTRODUCTION

The labour force in the university sector in Canada is large and has considerable occupational diversity. According to Statistics Canada, out of 17 million-member workforce, 1.3 million (8%) are in educational services, and almost 20% of these individuals (~250,000) work in various universities.[ 1 ] The 2016 census shows that educational services in Canada had the fourth-highest rate of growth and more than half of this increase was in universities.[ 2 ] The working environment in universities is highly diverse, as there are a wide range of disciplines involving teaching, research, administration and maintenance. Due to this multifaceted working environment in the universities, employees encounter various types of occupational health risks. Despite the complexity of occupational risks, little has been written about occupational health and safety programmes of the university employment sector.[ 3 ]

In Canada, workers are covered by provincial or federal labour codes, depending on the sectors in which they work. While workers in mining, transportation, and the federal government are covered by the Canada Labor Codes, other workers such as employees of universities are covered by provincial health and safety legislation.[ 4 ]

Venables and Allender (2007) described the occupational health services in 93 universities in the UK by drawing on data from surveys carried out in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Most survey responses were received from universities and in-house services. The surveys requested self-completed information on occupational health services from each university. The results indicated that 50% of the universities had an in-house health service, 32% relied on a contractor, 9% used the campus student health service, and a further 9% had an ad hoc arrangement or no arrangement. On average, the service was poor, as usually only one half-day doctor with one full-time nurse and a part-time clerk were available to provide service. The wide variation among universities in staffing levels suggested that some universities might have less-adequate services than others.[ 3 ] A study examining the safety concerns of faculty members of a university campus in USA (Alabama) showed that women faculty members took more personal safety precautions than men and felt more strongly about the need for the improvement of safety features on campus. A 160-item questionnaire was distributed to the faculty members asking about socio-demographic information, daily campus activities, personal safety protection taken while on campus, awareness and attitudes about safety on campus, and reported cases of victimization on campus. A few months later, the authors examined the safety awareness of male and female staff members in the same university using the same questionnaire. The results indicated that although female staff members reported more regarding acts of violence against them than male staff members, there was not much difference in their attitudes towards improving safety features on campus. Faculty and staff members identified that they like to use avoidance strategies such as walking with a friend or using objects as a weapon rather than contacting campus security.[ 5 ]

All Canadian universities have Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) or similar departments through which Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) services are provided. All the universities follow a similar practice such as a) having health and safety committees on the campus, b) promoting health and safety and providing risk management services, c) conducting regular workplace inspections and reviewing incident investigative reports, e) creating annual reports about incidents, lessons learned, and providing recommendations to senior administrators, and e) organizing health and safety information session for the employees. The EHS unit mainly offers training on fire safety, first aid, laboratory safety, biosafety, X-ray safety, radiation and laser safety, WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System), contractor safety, respiratory protection, ergonomics, hazardous waste management and disposal and also provides health and safety committee representative training.[ 6 ]

Despite the existence of occupational health and safety programmes in various Canadian universities, recorded evaluation of such programmes is sparse. Considering the large workforces in universities and their unabated positive growth, it is crucial to evaluate the existing occupational health and safety programmes in Canadian university settings. The aims of this study were: a) to evaluate the effectiveness of health and safety programmes through well-designed surveys of faculty members, staff and graduate students of a Canadian university (Memorial University of Newfoundland or MUN); and b) to conduct a key informant interview of the officials of MUN responsible for the operation of the health and safety unit to address the issues raised in the surveys.

In 2013, MUN contracted a third-party consultant to conduct an impartial assessment of the safety culture at the university. The consulting group was asked to do a complete assessment of the current state of health and safety programmes offered by MUN through the Office of the Chief Risk Officer and to identify gaps in the programme. The consulting group surveyed about 10% of the permanent employees of MUN in 2013 and produced a report in 2014. The Office of the Chief Risk Officer called the report a ‘Gap Analysis (GA) survey’. In 2015, to address the identified gaps and to increase awareness about the health and safety programmes, the Office of the Chief Risk Officer organized several health and safety presentations for MUN employees. We sought to examine if these presentations had any effect on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of the employees and graduate students at MUN and if their level of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour are sustainable over time. As a result, in consultation with the EHS Unit in 2016, we administered two identical online surveys to employees and graduate students at MUN. The purpose of the first survey was to answer the following research questions:

Has there been any significant improvement in the perception of the workplace health and safety of MUN employees since 2013 when the survey on gap analysis in safety culture was conducted?
Do knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the health and safety of MUN employees differ with respect to demographic variables?
Is there any significant difference in the perception of safety practices between those who attended the health and safety presentations and those who did not attend these presentations?

The purpose of the second survey (using the same questionnaires of the first survey) was to assess the retention of health and safety knowledge over the period of 6 months. The intent of conducting the surveys was to gain insight into important factors that could make MUN's health and safety programmes more effective. The study also intended to explore the responses of the officials to the issues raised in the surveys.

We used a mixed-methods approach by collecting, analysing and integrating quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (interviews) data to gain in-depth understanding and corroboration while offsetting the weaknesses inherent in using each approach by itself.[ 7 , 8 , 9 ] Approval from the ethics committee was obtained. The date of the approval 23rd August 2016.

Survey participants

The survey participants in the two surveys that we conducted, included graduate students/researchers, faculty members and staff, as they work for the MUN as employees. As the surveys were anonymous, the second survey was sent to the same entire population and not to only the respondents of the first survey. This allowed us to compare the results with those of the independent surveys to determine if there are any changes in the knowledge level of the employees on health and safety-related information.

Survey design

Two identical online surveys of MUN employees were conducted between 1) October 19, 2016 and November 30, 2016, and 2) April 10, 2017 and June 10, 2017. The purpose of the first survey was to gauge the level of uptake of the information on health and safety, disseminated by the EHS Unit to the MUN Community through their safety workshops in 2015–2016 as well as through their broader reach-out mechanisms. Further, we wanted to study the effect of the knowledge about health and safety on the attitudes and behaviour of the employees and graduate students at MUN. The second survey was conducted six months after the first survey. It targeted the same population and followed the same methodology as the first survey and aimed to understand the retention of knowledge over time and whether the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of the employees changed over time.

Our survey was developed based on input from the EHS unit. Some questions were based on questions from the GA survey with the intent of comparing the results. We also adopted some questions from the survey questionnaire of the study ‘Montana Tech Campus Safety, Security and Safety Awareness Survey’ conducted by Kristine Witt in 2011 at Montana Tech University, USA.[ 10 ] We conducted a pilot survey of some faculty members, staff and graduate students to ensure the readability, clarity, and organization of the survey questionnaire. We sent e-mails to all faculty and departments of MUN's main campus in St. John's and affiliated Grenfell campus in Corner Brooke, detailing the nature of the survey and provided a web-link (Survey Monkey ® ) to access the survey. The questionnaire with the references is presented in a supplementary file (S1) . At the beginning of the survey, online consent was obtained. The survey instrument was prepared to capture the awareness, attitudes and behaviour of employees and graduate students toward health and safety programmes offered by MUN. The questions were divided into three groups: 1. Knowledge (refers to the awareness and perception of the participants related to health and safety); 2. Attitudes (collects information on the viewpoints and beliefs of the participants about occupational health and safety); and 3. Behaviour (collects information on participants’ day-to-day safety practices/protocols at the workplace).[ 11 ] Questions 7-18, 21, 22, 25, 29, 31 and 40 were designed to test the knowledge of the participants regarding occupational health and safety; questions 19–20, 26–27 were combined to assess their attitudes; and questions 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 and 41 were grouped under behavioural questions (please refer to the questionnaire in supplementary file S1 ). The last few questions were on the perceptions of the participants about safety in specific areas on the campuses.

In the knowledge group, there are 18 questions. For each question, we assigned a score of 1 for the answer “No” and a score of 2 for the answer “Yes”. We added the scores of these 18 questions, which ranged from 18 to 36. We divided this range of responses into halves, 18–27 representing lower score and 28–36 representing higher score, following the procedure described in.[ 12 , 13 ] we used a similar procedure with four questions representing attitudes and six questions representing behaviour groups. The purpose of creating these categories was to test for the association between the levels of the knowledge, attitude, and behaviour of the participants among themselves and with the demographic variables, using frequency analysis technique.

In order to compare with the GA survey, we selected only the Yes/No-type questions (similar to the GA survey) and divided them into three broad themes: i) Environmental Health and Safety Office-related questions, ii) Faculty/Building-related questions, and iii) Department/Division-related questions.

Key informant interviews (KII)

After completing the cross-sectional surveys, we conducted KII with eight officials who have been responsible for the development and implementation of health and safety programmes at MUN. Among them, five officials were from the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) unit, two officials were from the Workplace Health and Safety Committee (WHSC) and one official was from Facilities Management (FM). The interviews were recorded in writing. A thematic content analysis approach was used for data analysis. Each transcript was reviewed and coded to identify key emerging themes. We then compared the coding of the transcripts. The first question of the interview is about the initiatives taken by the EHS unit to raise awareness about health and safety among MUN employees after 2013. For further analysis, we divided the rest of the questions into three groups. The first group is about knowledge and awareness of safety policies. Questions 2–6, 12 are included in this group. Questions 7–10 are in the group on laboratory safety and workplace hazards. Questions 11, and 13–15 are in the group of MUN facilities and services (please refer to the questionnaire in supplementary file S2 ). The primary motivation of the KII was to collect further information related to the survey questionnaire and to find answers to some of the comments made by the participants in the surveys. Therefore, some questions asked in the KII were based on the outcomes of the survey results.

Data analysis

Apart from descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests were conducted for correlation and P - value less than 0.05 was considered significant. For data analysis, SPSS (version 24) was used. For a detailed statistical analysis, please refer to the supplementary file (S3) .

In the first and second surveys, 148 and 103 valid independent respondents were identified, respectively. Table 1 shows demographic information of survey 1 and survey 2 participants. There was an increase in the level of the participants’ knowledge/awareness about MUN's health and safety policies, when compared to GA survey (please see detailed findings in Supplementary file (S4) ). There was an increase in the level of awareness among the employees about the presence of the EHS unit at MUN and improved communication with the Health and Safety Committee compared to GA results. On the other hand, there were lower levels of knowledge about MUN's working alone procedures, and about AED (automated external defibrillator) locations. In all three surveys, the participants demonstrated little familiarity with the OHS Act.

Demographic characteristics of the university worker participants

We have observed some association between demographic variables and knowledge, attitudes and behaviour (safety practices) of employees regarding health and safety programmes. Table 2 presents the association between the knowledge level score and demographics of the employees. In the first survey, there are associations between ‘the level of health and safety knowledge of the participants’ and their (a) ‘attendance at the safety presentations’ ( P < 0.05), b) ‘employment status’ i.e., faculty/staff/graduate student ( P < 0.05) and c) ‘age’ ( P < 0.05). For a detailed statistical analysis, please refer to supplementary file (S3) [Tables # S3.3.1 , S3.3.2 , S3.3.3 ]. In the second survey, there are associations between: ‘the level of health and safety knowledge’ and (a) ‘employment status’ ( P < 0.05), b) ‘age’ ( P < 0.05), and c) ‘duration of employment’ ( P < 0.05). For a detailed statistical analysis, please refer to supplementary file (S3) [Tables # S3.3.4 , S3.3.5 , S3.3.6 ].

Cross-tabulation between demographics and Knowledge level score

* Low score: 18-27; High score: 28-36; α significant for survey 1, β significant for survey 2

Table 3 presents the attitude level score and demographics of the participants. In the first survey, there are associations between ‘the level of attitude towards safety’ and: a) ‘employment status’ a) ( P < 0.05), and b) ‘age’ ( P < 0.05). In the second survey, no association was found between any of the demographic information and attitude towards safety. Please refer to Supplementary file S3 for a detailed statistical analysis [Tables # S3.4.1 , S3.4.2 ].

Cross-tabulation between demographics and attitude level and behaviour level scores

α significant for survey 1, β significant for survey 2

Table 4 also presents the association between ‘the behaviour (safety practice) level score’ and ‘demographic variables’ of the participants. In the first survey, there are associations between ‘behaviour level score’ and: a) ‘attendance at the safety presentation’ ( P < 0.05), and b) ‘employment status’ ( P < 0.05). In the second survey, there is an association between ‘attendance of the safety presentation’ and ‘behaviour level score’ related to health and safety ( P < 0.05). Please refer to Supplementary file S3 for a detailed statistical analysis [Tables # S3.5.1 , S3.5.2 , S3.5.3 ].

Laboratory safety related responses from different groups (in percentage)

In our two surveys, we observed that those who attended safety presentations had a better level of safety practices than those who did not attend the safety presentations. Overall, there is no significant difference in the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour of the employees and graduate students between the two surveys. In Tables Tables2 2 and and3, 3 , the Chi square test results indicate that the levels of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of the employees and graduate students have not changed much over the period of six months.

The only change we observed is a decrease in the knowledge of graduate students and researchers regarding laboratory safety in the second survey [ Table 4 ]. In both surveys, the participants reported that some places on the campus are safe [ Table 4 ]. In the first survey, 70% of the faculty/staff reported that they felt safe in the campus labs, and 51% of graduate students/researchers reported that they felt safe in the campus labs. Compared to the first survey, the difference in knowledge regarding lab safety between faculty/staff/administrators and graduate students/researchers decreased in the second survey (Please refer to Table 5 for the results). It can, therefore, be stated that the graduate students/researchers need more awareness sessions and training on laboratory safety.

Group wise health and safety ratings of different on-campus areas (except laboratories) (in percentage)

For KII, five officials from the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) unit of MUN, two officials were from the Workplace Health and Safety Committee (WHSC) and one official was from Facilities Management (FM). During the interviews, the participants from the EHS unit highlighted several initiatives undertaken by their unit since the release of 2013 Gap Analysis (GA) results. Some important recent initiatives undertaken by EHS were: (a) Five to seven safety campus-wide presentations were organized, some of which were geared towards senior management and WHSC members; (b) MUN restructured 27 WHSCs on its campuses to provide adequate safety services and to meet the legislated requirements of CCOHS and the University OHS Act and Regulations. Each of the 27 WHSCs covered few buildings on campus; (c) In 2014, MUN implemented electronic safety reporting system (e-alert) (d) MUN Safe App was introduced in 2016; (e) Inspections of all university building offices and 350 laboratories are being conducted annually; (f) Orientation sessions for new undergraduate students each year are being organized, where general safety rules are described; (g) Established a chemical management system for labs; and (h) Created annual water sampling procedure for drinking water safety. The participants from WHSCs also mentioned some initiatives undertaken by the EHS unit such as (a) an increase in the participation of representatives from the EHS Unit to sit on the WHSC meetings and (b) more frequent laboratory inspections. The participant from FM mentioned some initiatives such as maintaining a good database to track the expiry date of the employee training; and more engagement in the weekly Toolbox Talks to discuss potential hazard assessment.

Most of the KII participants mentioned that the graduate students’ supervisors are responsible for providing information to the students on laboratory safety rules and whom to call first in the event of an incident/accident. They placed the responsibility for providing laboratory safety equipment on the Department Heads. The participants emphasized budget and manpower as the main bottlenecks for addressing workplace hazards in a timely manner. There were some suggestions from the KII participants to improve health and safety at MUN such as (i) making attendance of safety presentations mandatory and included as part of the new employee and student orientation packages, (ii) demonstrating the AED in every building, (iii) encouraging all university members to install the MUN Safe App on their phones, and (iv) constantly improving app on a regular basis.

D ISCUSSION

The survey results indicate that there are significant associations between: a) ‘attendance at the safety presentation’ and ‘participant's health and safety knowledge’, b) ‘level of attitude’ and ‘behaviour levels’, c) ‘employment status’ and ‘participant's knowledge level on health and safety’, d) ‘participant's age’ and 'safety knowledge level’, and e) ‘length of service’ and ‘participants’ level of knowledge on health and safety. In our two surveys, we observed that those who attended safety presentations had much better understanding and practices of health and safety than those who did not attend. It is clear from the results that there should be more emphasis on dissemination of the activities of the EHS unit to a larger number of MUN employees and students on a regular basis. The results of the cross-sectional surveys (our two surveys and the GA survey) show consistency in the three survey results. As presented in Table 2 , the respondents increased their awareness about the presence of the EHS unit at MUN and improved their (respondents) communication with the Health and Safety Committee over time. On the other hand, we identified some issues that need to be addressed such as less familiarity with MUN's working alone procedures, AED locations, and OHS Act. The dissemination of information on the OHS Act needs improvement, as this is the basis of all health and safety-related regulations, responsibilities, and rights.

Health and safety programmes should be evaluated periodically to ensure that best practices are being followed on a regular basis. Programme Evaluation always helps the institute to update guidelines as necessary, and to address areas of need or concern in the institute. In some of the previous studies, periodical evaluations were conducted to investigate any change or improvement in population health. Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in1990 and in 1998 in Copenhagen, Denmark to investigate whether the prevalence of skin-prick-test (SPT)-positive allergic rhinitis had increased in an adult general population in Copenhagen, Denmark. A screening questionnaire on respiratory symptoms was distributed in random samples of 15–41-year-old people in 1990 and in 1998. Among the responders, random samples were invited to a health examination including SPT.[ 14 ] Two International Studies on Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) - questionnaires based surveys were carried out in 1994 and in 2001 among school children in Singapore to evaluate the hypothesis that the prevalence of asthma would further increase and approach to western figures over time.[ 15 ] A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in 1973 among 12 years old children in South Wales, Britain. In 1988, the survey was repeated in the same area among 12 years old children to again to observe whether the prevalence of asthma had increased.[ 16 ] Frequency of prescribed drugs use was assessed by a sample of elderly people 65 years and over in Nottingham in 1985 and 1989. The aim was to observe the change in numbers in the use of prescribed drugs.[ 17 ] Though in our study, we do not observe any significant difference overall in the knowledge, attitude, and behaviour of the employees between the two surveys, we observe a significant decrease in the knowledge regarding laboratory safety in the second survey. Our study is therefore, successful to investigate the change in perceptions of the employees regarding workplace health and safety over time.

This study used a mixed-methods approach as such a method allows for a more robust analysis.[ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ] We conducted online surveys as online survey can easily obtain large sample, it can control answer order, it required completion of answers, and online survey can ensure that respondents answer only the questions that pertain specifically to them.[ 18 ] Through the quantitative online survey analysis of MUN employees and graduate students, we learned of their perceptions regarding MUN's workplace health and safety programmes. These perceptions are a one-sided view of the survey participants, and quantitative survey analysis does not provide a detailed explanation of several issues. Through the KIIs, we collected further information related to health and safety programmes at MUN and clarified some of the issues raised by the participants in the surveys. Such as, the KII participants clarified that the graduate students’ supervisors are responsible for providing information to the students on laboratory safety rules and whom to call first in the event of an incident/accident; the Department Heads are responsibility for providing laboratory safety equipment; and budget and manpower are the two main bottlenecks for addressing workplace hazards in a timely manner. The KII participants also mentioned some recent beneficial initiatives such as, the arrangement of five to seven safety presentations campus-wide, restructuring of the WHS and EHS committees, the implementation of an electronic safety reporting system and the MUN Safe App, new orientation for undergraduate students where general safety rules are described, and development of the Health and Safety Management System. There had been a gap in understanding about health and safety matters between the employees and MUN health and safety officials. The qualitative analysis of the KII has filled this gap.

Our study is the first of this kind in the context of Health and Safety Program evaluation in Canadian university. Our study focused on the level of uptake of the information on health and safety disseminated by the university EHS unit through their safety presentations and workshops. We have also studied the effect of employee's and graduate student's knowledge about health and safety programmes at MUN on levels of their attitudes and behaviours. In addition, we have conducted KII interviews of the officials who are engaged in developing workplace health and safety programmes at MUN. As a result, improvements in the health and safety programmes have been planned by university officials. This is the practical implication of this study as the KII participants suggested some future procedures to improve health and safety at MUN such as making attending safety presentations mandatory for all employees and students; demonstrating the AED in every building; and encouraging all university residents to install the MUN Safe App on their phones.

There were some limitations of our study. The sample sizes of the surveys were small as participation was voluntary, and there was no incentive for participating in the surveys. The survey participants were not equally distributed across the disciplines, as the numbers of respondents from some faculties were much higher (Engineering faculty) than the number of respondents from other faculties (Arts and Education faculties). The survey data were anonymous, so our assertion on sustenance of the perceptions of the health and safety of respondents over the six-month period of time is not stronger.

In future surveys, undergraduate students should be included, as they are also exposed to similar risks as graduate students, and they outnumber graduate students. There is a sizable workforce involved in post-secondary university institutions in Canada, and this sector is growing. Varying ranges of working environments in the universities expose employees to multiple occupational risks. Safety training in a university is often not mandatory, and the survey analysis clearly indicates that there is need to increase the level of uptake on the information on health and safety programmes of university by employees and graduate students. Therefore, the universities should increase the number of safety training programmes and keep track of the employees that have not received training, particularly for those working in hazardous environments. Assured provision of financial resources is the key to maintaining a safe work environment and practices.

Key Messages

Universities should make safety training mandatory for all employees and graduate students. Therefore, there is a need to increase the number of training sessions to accommodate all eligible persons. Also, the universities should keep track of the employees and students that have not received training, particularly for those working in hazardous working conditions. The universities have to set aside financial resources for such regular trainings.

Financial support and sponsorship

Conflicts of interest.

There are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Associate Director of the EHS Unit of the Office of the Chief Risk Officer, Memorial University, Ms. Barbara Battcock, for her valuable suggestions throughout the survey. We would also like to thank all the anonymous participants who volunteered for the surveys and for the key informant interviews.

Supplementary File S1

Memorial University-Workplace Health and Safety Survey .

1. Did you attend the Safety-Presentation provided by Environmental Health and Safety Unit at Memorial University?

[ ] I don’t remember.

2. Employment Status

[ ]Faculty.

[ ]Researcher/Graduate student.

[ ]Administrator.

4. Which faculty/office do you belong to?

[ ] Medicine

[ ]Pharmacy

[ ]Engineering

[ ]Business

[ ]Education

[ ]Administrative office

[ ]Other (Please specify)

5. In which age group do you fall?

[ ] Less than 30

[ ] 60 or more

6. How long have you been on the Campus as an employee?

[ ] less than 5 years

[ ] 5-9 years.

[ ] 10 -14 years

[ ] 15-19 years

[ ] 20-24 years

[ ] 25 years or more

7. Are you aware of the presence of the Environmental Health and Safety Unit at Memorial University? (GA Survey, 2013)

8. Are you aware of Workplace Health and Safety Committees (WHSC- formerly known as Occupational Health and Safety Committees) of the building you work in? (GA Survey, 2013)

9. Does the WHSC in your building communicate with you? (GA Survey, 2013)

10. Do you read newsletters, brochures, bulletins, etc., relating to health and safety e-mailed by Environmental Health and Safety Unit? (GA Survey, 2013)

[ ] I don’t receive any of them.

11. Were you informed about the Occupational Health and Safety Act? (GA Survey, 2013)

12 Do you know where to report a safety concern, a safety hazard or accident? (GA Survey, 2013)

13 Do you know your role in the event of an emergency? (GA Survey, 2013)

14) Do you know the campus emergency telephone number? (GA Survey, 2013)

15. Do you know the shortest exit route from your work area (s)? (GA Survey, 2013)

16. Do you know whom you call first if you get injured at work? (GA Survey, 2013)

17. Are you aware that there are Automated External Defibrillators (AED) available in campus buildings? (GA Survey, 2013)

18. Do you know where the AEDs are located in the buildings you work? (GA Survey, 2013)

19. If AED training is made available through MUN, would you be interested in participating in the training? (GA Survey, 2013)

[ ] I am already trained in using AED.

20. In your experience, do you think that safety is a priority within your department/division/faculty/office? (GA Survey, 2013)

21. Do you understand your responsibilities for your and your colleagues’ health and safety? (GA Survey, 2013)

22. Are you familiar with MUN's health and safety policies? (GA Survey, 2013)

23. Please rate how safe you feel in the following areas on campus. (Montana Tech Safety Awareness Survey, 2011).

Please elaborate on any other particular areas you feel unsafe.

24. What precautions do you think you should take to increase your safety on campus? (Check all that apply). (Montana Tech Safety Awareness Survey, 2011).

i) Carry a cellular phone.
ii) Let others know where I will be.
iii Take safety- training classes.
iv Other, please specify.

25. Are you aware of Memorial's online reporting system for the health and safety issues/concerns? (GA Survey, 2013)

26. Do you report unsafe acts/conditions if you see them? (GA Survey, 2013)

’Toolbox Talks’ is the name of a meeting, which gives opportunity to Memorial University workers, supervisors and Department Heads a means of communicating health, safety and environmental initiatives as well as accident/incident ‘Lessons learned’ and expressing concerns, obtaining information, and resolving issues related to safety in the workplace.

27. Are toolbox talks/safety meetings relevant to your task? (GA Survey, 2013)

[ ] I do not know.

28. Have you participated in a toolbox talk/safety meeting? (GA Survey, 2013)

29. Are you aware of MUN's working alone procedures? (GA Survey, 2013)

30. Do you work after hours at least some times? (GA Survey, 2013)

31. Are you aware of MUN's safety escort service? (GA Survey, 2013)

32. Do you work at a lab or visit one frequently?

33. Please rate the following regarding laboratories on campus.

34. Is safety discussed in your workplace? (GA Survey, 2013)

35. Were you provided information/training on the safe use and maintenance of tools and equipment necessary for your job? (GA Survey, 2013)

36. Have you requested specific safety training appropriate to your position? (GA Survey, 2013)

37. Were you informed about the hazardous materials that are present in your workplace? (GA Survey, 2013)

For the purpose of this survey a hazard is defined as: ‘Any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone under certain conditions at work’.

38. How many hazards have you identified in your work place in the last one year.

0 1 2 3 4 or more.

In the above question if your answer is 1 or more than 1 go to question 34 or else go to question 35.

39. How many of them have been corrected in a timely manner?

40. Are Employees given feedback on accidents that occur in your workplace? (GA Survey, 2013)

41. Do you have any concerns regarding your safety and/or security in your faculty or department?

If you answered yes please specify.

42. Which of the following do you think MUN should provide to help increase the safety of the campus community? (Check all that apply). (Montana Tech Safety Awareness Survey, 2011)

Improve safety escort service.
More emergency call boxes.
Additional lighting.
More security guards.
More safety presentations.
Self-defence classes.
Other, please specify

Supplementary File S2

Key Informant Interview Questions

Q1. After the 2013 Gap Analysis survey on safety culture, can you recall any additional initiatives that EHS Unit has initiated to create awareness on health and safety among MUN employees?

Q2. In the surveys less than 50% respondents (first survey 46.6%, second survey 40.8%) notified that they had participated in the safety presentation/workshop in 2015. Is this level of participation satisfactory? If not what additional steps can be taken to reach out to more people at MUN?

Q3. The survey results indicate that, the graduate students and researchers have low level of knowledge/awareness on occupational health and safety programmes compared to the faculty and staff. Knowing that the graduate students and researchers are more exposed group to different safety critical scenarios,

i Does this appear as a concern?
ii How do you think the safety awareness of graduate students and researchers can be improved?

Q4. In the surveys less than 65% of the participants know whom to call first if they get injured at work. Is this level of awareness acceptable? What are the current mechanisms to educate researchers/employees about this information? How do you think this information can be disseminated more effectively?

Q5. The respondents have suggested to improve communication and implementation of the policies and to provide more auditing of safety policies by EHS department to ensure compliance, do you have a similar observation? Is there any continuing effort to improve this concern?

Q6. The surveys indicate that, among the people who said Tool Box Talk is relevant to them, the level of participation in toolbox talk decreased over time. Does your observation support this finding? If so, what can be done to increase the participation?

Q7. The survey analysis indicates that, the graduate students and researchers need more training on eyewash station and safety shower, can you explain the current mechanisms for training graduate students on these basic safety practices? Do you see any way to improve the provision of training and increase the level of participation?

Q8. The respondents suggested to install more flammable gas detectors and improve the splash proof safety goggles. In your opinion are the units/labs equipped with adequate gas detectors and splash proof safety goggles?

Q9. The respondents commented on shortage of lab space and shortage of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).

i) Is there any continuing effort to create more lab space?
ii) Who is normally responsible to provide the PPE to the researchers/graduate students? How can one address the shortage of PPE in labs at MUN?

Q10. In the surveys over 50% of the respondents mentioned that, none of the hazards at their workplaces had been addressed in a timely manner.

(i) What are the current practices for reporting, follow-up and correction of hazards?
(ii) Do you see any bottleneck in the addressing the hazards in a timely fashion?

Q11. The survey results show that over 70% of the respondents want to participate in AED training. Is there any continuing effort to provide AED training to the employees and students at MUN?

Q12. The surveys indicate that a significant portion of the employees is not aware of MUN's working alone procedure though most of the employees are working after hours at the office. Is this a concern? If so what can be done to increase awareness on working alone procedure among the employees?

Q13. The participants have suggested repair of walkways and parking lots and removal of thick layer of ice from the parking lots to prevent slips and falls. Does this come under the purview of EHS Unit? If yes how can one address this issue?

Q14. Many respondents showed their concern about the design and usage of MUN Safe App. Is there a continuing effort to improve the App and make it user friendly?

Q15. In the surveys many of the participants have suggested the improvement of the on-campus safety escort service. How is the current safety escort service implemented and what additional steps can be taken to improve it?

Supplementary File S3

Table s3.3.1.

Chi-Square Tests for table 3

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 14.02, * p-value < 0.05 considered significant

Table S3.3.2

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 6.89

Table S3.3.3

Chi-Square Tests for Table 3

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 17.08

Table S3.3.4

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 6.67

Table S3.3.5

Chi Square Tests for Table 3

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 12.53

Table S3.3.6

a. 1cells (25.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 3.67

Table S3.4.1

Chi-Square Tests for table 4

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 8.71

Table S3.4.2

Chi-Square Tests for Table 4

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 21.79

Table S3.5.1

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 14.75

Table S3.5.2

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 6.94

Table S3.5.3

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 8.87

Supplementary File S4

Comparison of surveys

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Workplace Safety: Importance, Benefits, And Ways To Incorporate It

A work environment free from injuries and accidents attracts employees. Employees are more satisfied and productive in such an environment.

A safe work environment is essential for both employees and employers alike. It is the right of all employees to have safety in the workplace.

Workplace safety is essential regardless of the size of a company. All companies, big or small, need to incorporate safety in their workplaces.

Well-implemented safety measures keep employees safe and also protect industrial equipment. It is the responsibility and duty of employers to protect their employees and keep them safe.

What is the Need for Safety in the Workplace?

It is not possible to measure the effects of human casualties. They can have grave consequences for employees and their families and friends as well.

This is why workplace safety and health measures are necessary. They are essential for the well-being of employers and employees alike. The feeling of assurance that one has, knowing that he will return safely from work, is more significant than anything else.

There are occupational safety and health risks in every company. Factors affecting workplace safety include unsafe working conditions, environmental hazards, substance abuse, and workplace violence.

For example, employees working in an IT company may have to work with faulty wires or electronics. Whereas in a construction company, employees may be exposed to the dangers of operating heavy equipment.

To combat these risks, employers should create strategies that ensure and promote safety in their workplaces.

Employers should also learn the desired aspects of their employees in terms of safety and protection. This will help increase productivity and the quality of the products and services.

Here are some benefits of a safe and healthy work environment -

The safer the work environment, the more productive it is. Productive employees are an asset to all companies. For instance, productive employees can produce more output in less time, reducing operational costs.

Workplace safety promotes the wellness of employees and employers alike. Better safety equates to better health. Healthier employees do tasks more efficiently, and they are happier in general.

There are very few accidents in a safe working environment. This results in less downtime for safety investigations and reduces costs for worker’s compensation. This also reduces the time needed for employees to heal from injuries.

Damage to industrial equipment creates costs for replacement and repair. Avoiding workplace injuries and damage to industrial equipment will incur fewer expenses and increase profit.

If employers are concerned about the safety of their employees, the employees are more confident and comfortable in general. Also, absenteeism rates drop, and employees are more focused on doing their tasks.

Ways to Create a Safe Working Environment

Being aware and identifying workplace hazards.

This is the first step to create a safe working environment. Employers need to identify workplace hazards and safety issues first. Then they must take measures to address them accordingly.

Workplace safety hazards can include mechanical issues, dangerous chemicals, hazardous electrical equipment, etc.

Mechanical problems can occur at any time while operating machinery in the workplace. Also, working with heavy equipment is very risky and can cause accidents.

If employees need to work with chemicals, they have to be very cautious. Dangerous chemicals can burn or poison employees. Inhaling or ingesting them can even cause death.

Also, working with electronic equipment can have risks as well. Faulty electrical equipment can electrocute employees, causing severe problems.

To tackle all these hazards, employees should be aware of the types of equipment and know the hazards in their workplace. For example, metal detectors can be instrumental in detecting hidden metal hazards in a food packaging plant.

This enables them to stay clear of such dangers and unfortunate situations. Also, employers should train employees in the proper operation and maintenance of machinery and equipment.

Implementing Workplace Safety Programs

The first step in building a safety program is to get all employees to commit to workplace safety. One way to do this is to include workplace safety in the company’s mission statement. It should be the duty of every employee to carry out the safety policies.

Employers should investigate all accidents in the workplace. They should encourage employees to follow all safety procedures.

Moreover, employers should clearly state the hazards of not following them in writing. This reduces the chances of mistakes.

Providing Proper Safety Training to Employees

Training is an important part of every company’s safety program to protect employees from accidents. Research shows that new employees have a higher risk of workplace accidents . It is the lack of knowledge of workplace hazards and proper work techniques that cause this greater risk.

Employers should provide employees with the necessary training to reduce workplace accidents. Employees should operate all equipment and machinery safely and adequately.

For instance, employers should adequately teach the operation of heavy machinery to employees. Only trained or certified employees should operate such types of equipment. This is why it is essential to provide safety training to employees by experts.

Using Protective Safety Equipment

The usage of equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards that cause workplace injuries is significant. Not doing so can cause injury or even death.

Employees may have to work with chemicals, machines, electronics, and other potential work hazards. Employers must provide such employees with personal protective equipment (P.P.E.).

P.P.E. should be safely designed, constructed, and fit comfortably. Examples of P.P.E. are gloves, protective eyewear, clothing, earplugs, hard hats, etc.

Reporting Unsafe Working Conditions

Employees must inform any safety hazards or work risks to the management. Employers are legally obligated to ensure safe working environments for their employees. They must end workplace safety hazards and promote safety in the workplace.

Practicing Correct Posture

Bad posture is one of the main reasons for back pain. It is imperative to practice good and correct posture to reduce the risk of getting hurt.

For example, if you have to sit for long hours, use specially designed chairs. Also, always sit upright.

Reducing Workplace Stress

Workplace stress can cause many health problems like anxiety, depression, etc.

Job insecurity, workplace bullying , high workload, etc., cause workplace stress. Learn how to combat workplace stress and avoid its adverse effects. Workplace stress can have drastic effects on workplace productivity and employee health.

Promoting Regular Breaks

Employers should encourage employees to take regular breaks. Taking frequent breaks will prevent tiredness and fatigue. This will further prevent injuries or illnesses. Breaks help employees stay fresh and focused.

Staying Sober and Alert

One of the major reasons for workplace fatalities is substance abuse. Substance abuse causes around 40% of all industrial workplace fatalities.

Individuals under the influence of alcohol or drugs are less alert. Their decision-making ability, coordination, concentration, and motor control get compromised. This creates risks for workplace injury and fatalities.

Easy Access to Exits in Case of Emergencies

If there is an emergency, it is important to have easy access to emergency exits. Easy access to emergency exits will reduce injuries and casualties.

Also, it is important to have quick ways to shut down equipment in case of emergencies.

Using Mechanical Aids

An industrial job may need employees to work with heavy equipment. There are many injury risks involved in trying to lift and move heavy objects. Employees can use a conveyor belt, forklift, or wheelbarrow instead of lifting manually.

The Bottom Line

A safe work environment is a feature of good companies throughout the world. All employees want assurance of their safety and protection.

Workplace safety is a critical issue. Employers should ensure that their employees are working in a safe environment.

Management systems and business owners are responsible for promoting workplace safety. Employers should encourage employees to adopt safe practices and use safety equipment. They should encourage safety policies and safety programs.

Also, employees should be aware of the risks of operating hazardous machinery.

Besides working as a content marketer at Vantage Circle , Shah Alif Ahmed is also an internationally certified nutrition specialist, competitive bodybuilder and a musician. For any queries reach out to [email protected]

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Occupational Health and Safety and Workplace Accidents Essay

Hazards, risks, and injuries, unsafe conditions and unsafe acts, the steps of accident investigation, the internal responsibility system and duties, the types of accidents at the workplace, works cited.

One of the most important responsibilities of an employer is to provide his or her employees with a safe and healthy workplace. Occupational health and safety involve a workplace that is free of any hazards, risks, or injuries. A Hazard refers to an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon within the workplace that is a source of danger and can cause an event to result in one way or another (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 121). Hazards classify as biological, chemical, or physical. Risks refer to the possibility of harm or infection occurring given that exposure to an infectious agent or a source of danger has occurred. Risks within the workplace involve possibilities of one incurring a misfortune.

Injuries refer to any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accidents within the workplace (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 123). The three elements have a close relationship because they influence each other. Hazards expose people to risks within the workplace. The more someone has greater exposure to risk, the higher the chances of getting injuries. A hazard can cause harm while a risk is the chance of harm occurring. Injury is the extent of harm.

Unsafe conditions and unsafe acts are very important concepts in understanding occupational health and safety. Injuries and accidents are very common within the workplace, and these two elements are some of the causes. An unsafe act refers to human action, activity, or execution of a task in a manner, which poses a threat to the health, and/or safety of an individual within a workplace (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 364).

Unsafe acts involve human factors, thus they are not easy to identify and respond to within the workplace. Any person within the workplace can make an unsafe act. Examples of unsafe acts within the workplace include insubordination, operating machines without the necessary expertise, removing workplace safety instructions and devices, failure to wear protective clothing, failure to provide warning, and being in dangerous positions among others (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 366).

On the other hand, an unsafe condition refers to a situation within a workplace that has the potential to cause injury to people or property. Unsafe conditions expose one to various risks, thus hard to avoid them. Most workplaces are typically unsafe places for people to be, because of their numerous hazards that make occupants vulnerable to harm. Examples of unsafe conditions within the workplace include poor housekeeping, congestion, lack of protective clothing, inadequate or lack of warning signs, poor ventilation, and defective tools among others (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 369).

One of the nightmares that most people dread within the workplace is an accident. Workplace accidents are common, despite the employment laws providing strict guidelines to employers in order to ensure that all workers are safe. Therefore, it is important for employers to have a reliable and effective plan for dealing with such cases whenever they arise in the workplace. Occupational health and safety experts, advise all employers to have an accident plan that provides the essential steps of investigating an accident (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 144). There are four crucial steps taken when conducting an investigation of an internal accident.

The first step is an examination of the accident scene to determine what happened. This step should give a report on the tools involved in the accident, the condition of their user manuals, their maintenance condition, and availability of warning signs. The information gathered applies in determining the cause of the accident (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 145). The services of a professional investigator can be sourced if the cause of the accident is not easily identifiable.

The second step is establishing the visible facts of the accident scene. This happens by taking photographs and measurements of the whole scene. Forensic experts use the photographs and measurements to develop drawings that show the relation between the different elements collected from the accident scene. This step is all about the visual evidence, and its impact on understanding the cause of the accident (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 147).

The third step involves speaking to the witnesses of the accident. In conducting an internal accident investigation, it is necessary to speak to people who witness the accident, as well as people who might have any form of lead information about the same. The best people to interview for any lead information are people with similar job descriptions as those involved in the accident, supervisors, and employees trained to give first aid (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 150).

It is also important to talk to colleagues that the affected people associate closely with within the workplace. One important rule that investigators need to follow, is to ensure that all people who give written responses sign against them for the sake of reference and avoiding biased reactions. The fourth step involves reviewing all the collected data, as well as the work records of the employees involved in the accident.

This should give a clearer picture of the cause of the accident, and steps to prevent a similar mistake from happening at another given time. This step seeks to answer a number of questions for investigators regarding the accident (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 154). These questions focus on the intention of those injured, their qualifications for performing the task, work experience of those involved, choice of tools used, the availability of supervision, and any potential hazards on the scene of the accident.

One of the workplace characteristics is the availability of different types of jobs, whose duties and responsibilities vary. Everyone within the workplace has an ethical responsibility to ensure that duties are performed within the required standards. People also need to be accountable for their actions and take full responsibility whenever required to do so (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 428). Importantly, all these duties and responsibilities ought to apply in a safe and healthy workplace that is free of any kind of hazards. The combination of all these workplace elements creates an internal responsibility system.

The internal responsibility system integrates into an organization’s corporate culture, and it helps to allow all people within a workplace to contribute towards the attainment of occupational health and safety. This workplace strategy applies the format of a chart, where each employee is assigned a health and safety goal to promote and achieve within the workplace (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 430). Each employee holds full responsibility for his or her assigned element and is accountable to the rest of the employees.

The internal responsibility system applies a bottom to top responsibility approach. This means that everyone is answerable to the person above them. The basic structure of this system has the director at the top of the hierarchy, followed by the president, vice president, manager, supervisor, and worker respectively. Although these ranks have different levels of responsibility, people can interact freely with those above or below them for the sake of solving health and safety challenges within the workplace (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 436).

The duty of the internal responsibility system is to solve the dilemma of who ought to ensure the health and safety of employees within the workplace. Organizations that apply this strategy in their workplaces often experience safe and more secure environments characterized by low-risk levels. Some organizations are likely to record increased productivity and high employee morale to work. The reason for this is that the internal responsibility system helps to develop employee elements such as their ingenuity, acquaintance levels, management qualities, and better work experience (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 439).

The first accident type is working at risky speeds that are either too fast or too slow. The speed at which one does his or her work can compromise their safety because they can easily forget to observe safety rules. A good example is loading a truck with goods within a short time (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 66). This accident is avoidable by considering the age and physical condition of all employees. The second type is insubordination accidents.

It is important for workers to stick to jobs they are qualified to do. A good example is an accountant doing the work of a systems manager. The third type is poor storage accidents. When equipment and tools are stored poorly within the workplace, they are likely to cause accidents (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 69). Employers need to train their workers in good housekeeping skills in order to avoid accidents (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 72).

The fourth type is complacency accidents. Certain employees feel comfortable with their achievements and think they can try out new things. Employees need to avoid taking chances through shortcuts but instead stick to the safety regulation for their work. The fifth type is taking on risky body positions that expose employees to danger. For example, maintaining an erect upright position on top of chairs and tables is very dangerous (Bohle, Lamm & Quinlan 77). Employees need to learn better methods of executing their duties.

Bohle, Philip, Lamm Felicity & Quinlan Michael. Managing Occupational Health and Safety: A Multidisciplinary Approach . New York: Macmillan Education, 2010. Print.

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