We are getting into a quite serious topic this week. Not paying attention to the workplace safety can have horrible impacts even on a company's existence. And naturally, everybody expects to go to a work, where we feel safe. Providing this for employees is not only a legal obligation but also a part of company's CSR. Violating damages trust between employers and employees, commitment to work and performance and can lead, at the most severe, to a loss of human life.
Luckily, there is a constant decline (in the US and Europe- based on Eurostat statistics) in on-the-job injuries due to companies improving the working conditions. Another reason is that the job structure is changing and many jobs that involved danger for people are nowadays done by machines.
If a worker is hurt on the job, he has to get some form of compensation. The point of compensations is not only to rehabilitate the worker/their families but also to encourage employers to invest in safety and promote research on how to ensure a safe workplace. An important point is that an employee may only receive a compensation in case he/she was hurt during performing the job. The form of the compensation depends on the severity of the injury. Usually, it is a certain amount of lost income due to the injury, medical coverage and if the worker can no longer perform the same job as before the injury, the employer has to move the person to a different position.
Paying insurance for the employees is a significant cost for companies. The amount the company has to pay is directly related to the type of job, the number of previous accidents and the payroll. Unfortunately, insurance is a common subject of fraud from both, the employers (not paying it all or underreporting the salaries) and the employee (arranged injuries to get financial compensation). The most common causes of on-the-job injuries are overexertion which can be physical (lifting, or carrying too heavy stuff) or psychical (working too many hours as it was in the case of Moritz Erhardt. Another cause is repetitive motion, which is less obvious than but can lead to serious long-term syndromes). Abrill mentions 10 most common workplace injuries, among these, there are:
- vehicle accidents (in case of truck or taxi drivers)
- falling object injuries,
- falling from heights
- slipping
(some of these also seen in the video Workplace Accidents). Knowing this information helps the managers to know what to prevent and avoid to ensure a safe workplace.
As mentioned above, employees can commit a fraud to get the benefits from the company's compensation system. Paying a fraud injury can result in high costs for the company and more employees committing such frauds. Common ways of frauds are overexaggerating or making up an injury, claiming an injury that in fact did not happen when performing the job or trying to extend the benefits during the recovery phase. There are some steps the management should do to avoid or lower the risk of frauds. Mainly, keeping the workplace safe and educating the employees. In case of fraud already happened, the company should communicate with those, who were present to the 'injury' and stay in contact with the employee, who is on compensation leave.
As mentioned above, employees can commit a fraud to get the benefits from the company's compensation system. Paying a fraud injury can result in high costs for the company and more employees committing such frauds. Common ways of frauds are overexaggerating or making up an injury, claiming an injury that in fact did not happen when performing the job or trying to extend the benefits during the recovery phase. There are some steps the management should do to avoid or lower the risk of frauds. Mainly, keeping the workplace safe and educating the employees. In case of fraud already happened, the company should communicate with those, who were present to the 'injury' and stay in contact with the employee, who is on compensation leave.
A large number of accidents in the past led to establishing governmental organizations that provide information and legislation on job-safety. In the US this organization is called OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act), which is enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The same agency is operating within the EU and it is called EU-OSHA. On top of that, each country has its own agencies and legislature regarding the workplace safety. Main tasks for the employers secured by these organizations are:
- providing the workplace free from recognized (predictable, possible) risks
- keeping a record and reporting work-related injuries and illnesses (companies actually have to document also injuries that could have happened, not only those that happened)
- following health and safety standards desired for a specific industry
Also, the employees have their rights and obligations granted by this agency. They can file safety or health grievances, they must have an access to all information regarding safety and participate in inspections. As mentioned in the last week's topic, an employee can refuse to do a task that would involve an immediate risk to his or somebody else's health. On the other hand, employees have to work according to safety standards and report all hazardous conditions or injuries that happened to them or to other employees.
OSHAdministration is often criticised for being the expensive bureaucracy that makes companies spend money on useless details. However, in the long-term run, it remains an effective agency that helps companies find the right safety solutions to avoid accidents, lawsuits, and other costly troubles.
The main activities done by this (or similar agency in other countries) are:
OSHAdministration is often criticised for being the expensive bureaucracy that makes companies spend money on useless details. However, in the long-term run, it remains an effective agency that helps companies find the right safety solutions to avoid accidents, lawsuits, and other costly troubles.
The main activities done by this (or similar agency in other countries) are:
- defining occupational standards for different industries and jobs (e.g. what tools or machinery should be used)
- giving variances (which can be asked for by an employer, who is in the implementing phase or who found a different way to achieve the desired results)
- conducting workplace inspections to make sure safety regulations are met
- Citation and penalties for violations. Giving penalties is handled on a case-by-case basis and many factors (the severity, company's good faith and its history and the size of the company) are taken into consideration.
The main criticism of OSHA is that some of the directives are not feasible especially in small or specialized companies. There is also a debate whether or not the inspections in companies should be unexpected or not.
I have an example related to this issue, my mother works in a city library and recently there has been an unexpected safety inspection. The library got some reprehension for not owning the right book of injuries, for an inappropriate placing of the microwave in their kitchen and for keeping boxes with old books in a corridor leading to the fire exit. Even though those might seem a bit ridiculous, they now got two weeks to fix those problems and if the next inspection claims that everything has been fixed they will not pay any fine.
Apart from providing safe working space, the company is also responsible for handling contemporary safety and behavioral issues. Those involve managing people with some serious or terminal illness (for example AIDS, which can be an important issue for companies that operate in developing countries), CTD (Cumulative Trauma Disorder)- which probably was the cause of death of Merrill Lynch intern, Employees that have to deal with constant noise or hazardous chemicals.
Employers are not allowed to address people with some kind of a disease differently or put them on different jobs if the disease does not affect the performing of the job. On the other hand, the employer should provide appropriate conditions for those, who might need them. This can also be considered as a company's CSR. Most companies have specialized programs called Employee assistance programs. The idea is to help those workers, who suffer from some kind of physical or mental problem. This makes sense from ethical and legal point of view and can improve the employee's commitment to the job.
A serious problem that may appear is violence in the workplace. I wrote last week about bullying, other examples are assaults or threats among employees. Some employees also could commit a sabotage, which can be very harmful to employees or even the whole organization.
The employer should be aware that the causes of this behavior could come from the job (frustration, boredom, interpersonal conflicts, feeling of being humiliated by the supervisor) and that there is a solution for these problems. The reasons might also lie in employee's personal life and also those problems should be discussed with the employer.
So far, I have mainly talked about potential bad situations and solution to problems, however, the prevention should be the main aspect of a company's safety policy.
Cautious companies develop Safety programs that should ideally begin at the highest level but with the involvement of line employees, since they know the best the risks of different jobs. Another very popular way of prevention is so-called Wellness programs. To successfully implement some kind of wellness program, a company should follow these steps:
SuperSafety11. Workplace Accidents- Prevent-it. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jLGkmOVtnI. Accessed: 6.3.2018.
Employers are not allowed to address people with some kind of a disease differently or put them on different jobs if the disease does not affect the performing of the job. On the other hand, the employer should provide appropriate conditions for those, who might need them. This can also be considered as a company's CSR. Most companies have specialized programs called Employee assistance programs. The idea is to help those workers, who suffer from some kind of physical or mental problem. This makes sense from ethical and legal point of view and can improve the employee's commitment to the job.
A serious problem that may appear is violence in the workplace. I wrote last week about bullying, other examples are assaults or threats among employees. Some employees also could commit a sabotage, which can be very harmful to employees or even the whole organization.
The employer should be aware that the causes of this behavior could come from the job (frustration, boredom, interpersonal conflicts, feeling of being humiliated by the supervisor) and that there is a solution for these problems. The reasons might also lie in employee's personal life and also those problems should be discussed with the employer.
So far, I have mainly talked about potential bad situations and solution to problems, however, the prevention should be the main aspect of a company's safety policy.
Cautious companies develop Safety programs that should ideally begin at the highest level but with the involvement of line employees, since they know the best the risks of different jobs. Another very popular way of prevention is so-called Wellness programs. To successfully implement some kind of wellness program, a company should follow these steps:
- identify potential problems and risks, while analyzing the jobs.
- educate employees about these risks and their impact on health
- encourage employees to change their lifestyle.
Live Plan encourages the use of wellness programs but warns about potential risks- especially about involving everybody and giving everybody equal chance and access to these programs. Further, employees should be rewarded if they achieve the desired improvement, but shouldn't be punished if they fail, since a reward is a bigger motivator then a threat.
I personally think that these programs show one problem. If we take an example of a free gym that is provided by the company, the people who go there, might be those, who would pay for a gym membership anyway even if it wasn't provided and accordingly, those, who don't like to work out, they won't go exercise even if it is for free and on a convenient location for them. Then this only introduces an extra cost for the company without desired results.
From my working life, I have a good example of wellness programs. At the Siemens Czech Republic, there is a large department of coders, who basically sit all day on a chair and stare at a computer. The company recognized potential risks of this behavior and made a special space for those employees. There are football tables, sitting bags and even a small room designed as a rainforest with calming sounds of nature and hammocks. Employees can freely go to these places to relax and rest. After an only even 5-minute break they feel much better and their productivity raises. This demonstrates the positive impacts of well-implemented wellness programs.
Sources
Arbill. TOP 10 MOST COMMON WORKPLACE INJURIES. Available from: http://www.arbill.com/arbill-safety-blog/bid/202877/Top-10-Most-Common-Workplace-Injuries. Accessed: 6.3.2018.
Europa.eu. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Available from: https://osha.europa.eu/en. Accessed: 6.3.2018.
Eurostat Statistics Explained. Accidents at Work Statistics. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Accidents_at_work_statistics.
Gómez-Mejia, L. & Balkin, D. & Cardy, R. Managing Human Resources. Pearson Global Edition. 8th edition.
LivePlan. Do Corporate Wellness Programs Really Work? Available from: https://www.liveplan.com/blog/2015/10/does-corporate-wellness-work-the-surprising-truth-about-employee-wellness-programs/. Accessed: 6.3.2018.
Mail Online. 'Exhausted' Merrill Lynch intern died from epileptic fit in shower after he 'pulled three all-nighters at bank where employees compete to work the longest hours'. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2511911/Moritz-Erhardt-exhausted-Merrill-Lynch-intern-died-epileptic-fit.html#ixzz4RTj2xoP1. Accessed: 6.3.2018.
SuperSafety11. Workplace Accidents- Prevent-it. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jLGkmOVtnI. Accessed: 6.3.2018.
United States Department of Labor. Occupation Safety and Health Administration. Available from: https://www.osha.gov/. Accessed: 6.3.2018.
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