Communication plays an important role in creating awareness about Health & Safety but what is more important is that the communication is done positively which makes the entire intention more effective and forthcoming with all.

Instead of warning employees about unpleasant consequences or showing lurid images, it is best to address real issues with the concerned people by being simple and specific with a tangible benefit.

A review of the health & safety policies of an organization can be done, again in a positive light, with explanations of being concerned for the well being of all as well as to minimize harm. Reiteration that safe working practices are mandatory as the management cares and roles of all officers involved should be clarified and open to suggestions.

Training as a must for preventive practice can be stressed upon as not only being important to managers to ensure all are well protected but for individuals for self defense too.

It is the social responsibility of every organization to monitor and lessen the stress levels of employees so as to provide a good quality work life. Stress usually results from the inability to cope with the demands of the job or peer interactions and excessive stress can result in illness. All this leads to lesser employee effectiveness and overall reduced organizational productivity.

Stress can be managed and reduced by the following ways-

• By taking into account Work-Life balance. Flexi working and special leaves should be provided to employees who have additional domestic responsibilities as single parents, carers and even otherwise.
• By clear & effective job design- A defined structure to manage responsibilities is helpful in reducing ambiguity regarding a job role which could result in conflicts
• By analysing performance and placement- Employees should be assigned job roles based on their individual capabilities with achieveable targets which may be stretched accordingly
• By fair performance management & couselling- A transparent performance review is not only helpful in gaining trust of employees towards the management but also allows for honest dialogue on the ambitions and problems faced by the employee. This ensures career planning is done effectively and promotions take place fairly. Moreover regular counselling programmes help to vent out which would have otherwise affected the environment of the workplace

Research indicates that occupational health and hygiene should be monitored in every organization because it massively affects the productivity as a whole. Every year 1.2 million people are affected by muscular disorders like back pain and repetitive strain injury. Noise, fatigue & stress levels should also be monitored as they are rapidly affecting the workforce leading to as many as 20 million working days being lost in a year.

Hence special attention should be paid on controlling hygenic and health conditions in an organization. This is possible by taking the following steps-

• Using Ergonomic equipment- The workstations, machines and processes used by employees should be as close to natural ease as possible especially while designing and establishing work routines so as to prevent the most commonly caused muscular disorder RSI-repetitive strain injury.
• Conducting Preventive Medicine Programmes- This process develops a standard of health to be maintained by an organization and involves regular audits to ensure potential health hazards as well as examinations for those at risk.
• Using Design and process engineering to eliminate the hazard at source or using less harmful alternatives
• Isolating potentially harmful proceses and substances as well as providing protective equipment
• Conducting pre-employmeny medical checks, regular checkup of those exposed to risk and imparting proper training for self defense against any hazardous material
• Keeping premises and machinery clean to eliminate possibility of harmful radiations and toxic materials

Safety Inspections are processes designed to locate and define any faults or causes of accident in the system, operations or equipments of any organization’s department or manufacturing process. These should be carried out regularly and consist of the following steps-

1. Allocating responsibilities for inspections
2. Maintaining a checklist which defines the points to be covered
3. Division of attention to be given to various areas of a plant or department
4. Defining the frequency of inspections- possibly daily in case of critical areas
5. Carrying out random spot checks in accordance with the checklist
6. Carrying out special investigations. Example: Increasing throughput by operating machinery in the absence of guards
7. Setting up a reporting system. Generally forms are used for recording results of inspections
8. Monitoring safety inspections by means of a commitee or otherwise so as to ensure scheduled and corrective action being taken as appropriate.

Performance related to safety measures can be calculated by identifying in good time where actions are necessary. The  most commonly used measures are-

• The Incidence Rate =        ((number of injuries)*(100))/average number of employees in a particular period
• The Frequency Rate =     ((number of injuries)*(100,000))/number of hours worked
• The Severity Rate =           number of days lost due to accidents or  health problems/1,000,000   hours worked
• The Cost Severity Rate =    total cost of accidents/1,000,000 hours

The Cost Severity rate is is used when organizations adopt a ‘total loss control’ approach covering cost of accidents to an organization under headings such as loss of production, damange to machinery or factory, pay to people off from work etc

A Health & Safety Audit examines a whole organization including planning, policy making, implementation, hierarchies, processes, and decision making to test whether all safety aims & objectives are being met.It provides for a comprehensive view of policies, procedures and safety practices. The purpose is to generate action after assessing priorities and costs and draw up action programmes for approval by the board.

Regarding Health & Safety policies, the audit checks if legal requirements are met and the commitment level of the management at all levels. Also an investigation is made on the effectiveness of the health & safety commitee is there is one else why one has’nt been formed.

Regarding Health & Safety procedures, the audit checks how effectively the policies are implemented and communicated so as to provide for systematic risk assessment. It looks into safety training especially during induction and in case of job change as well as ensuring that accidents if any that occur should be thoroughly investigated. Importance is also given to health & safety considerations while designing, manufacturing and operating processs for products/services.

Regarding Health & Safety practices, the audit checks how safety practices conform to the legalities which lay down regulations, evidence to prevent recurrence of accidents and commitment levels of managers. The audit does a thorough analysis of the trends of performance indicators -positive or negative

These audits are conducted by safety advisors or specialists in HR but the more involvement there is of the line managers the better it is. Usually a Health & Safety committee is formed while otherwise outside agencies are hired. Example: Ernst & Young, British Safety Institute etc

A Hazard is defined as anything that can cause harm.

Example: electricity, chemicals, working with sharp objects etc

Hazards are generally classified as -

 Catastrophic- When imminent danger exists capable of causing widespead illness or death

• Critical- When possibility of serious illness, severe injury, damage to property and equipment exists
• Marginal- When there is some possibility of damage, illness or injury but not on a very great or severe extent
• Negligible- When there is a remote possibility of damage beyond first aid case

There are some activities that are more hazardous  like roof work, transport movement, maintenance of plant & machinery like installation of equipments, using hand tools etc. Other activities like lifting & carrying raw materials, stacking & storage of falling materials, movement of people/materials causing falls & collisions, processing of raw materials leading to exposure to toxic substances, failure to wear protective equipment like hats, boots etc can also be a cause of concern but usually are not that dangerous.

A Risk is a small or large chance of harm being caused by the hazard. It is calculated by the following formula given by Holt and Andrews (1993)-

Risk=(Severity) * (Probability)

Risk Assessment is the identification of hazards and estimate of risk associated with them. Its purpose is to take preventive action and enable control measures according to the relative importance of risks. If there are more than 5-6 employees then it should definitely be incorporated in an organization’s working.

Risk Assessment is of 2 types-

• Quantitative- This form of risk assessment produces an objective estimate based on specific data that is immediately applicable to the circumstances where risk occurs
• Qualitative- This form of risk assessment is subjective and based on generalised data. If there is little or no specific data available judgements are made systematically after analysing working conditions and hazards.

When a risk assessment is carried out it is necessary to identify who all could be affected by it apart from employees like public coming in to buy products or enlist services, contractors, cleaners etc. Also there should be clarity on what is the worst that could happen, the likelihood of such an incident and the headcount of those affected. Accordingly a risk can be rated as -

• Probable- likely to occur immediately/shortly
• Reasonably Probable- Likely to occur with time
• Remote-May occur with time
• Extremely Remote-Unlikely to occur

An action plan is formulated according to a sequence of safety precedence consisting of the following steps-

• Elimination of Hazards- Using changed proceses, improving designs and using alternatives
• Substitution- Replacement of products used with those that are less hazardous. Example: using less harmful chemicals
• Barrier Usage- Removal of a possible hazard from a worker & vice versa
• Use of Procedures- This involves using safer systems of work that depend on human response and limit exposure. It involves using warning systems like signs & instructions and also protective clothing.

Once the action plan has been formulaed it is necessary to continuously monitor it so as to eliminate hazards or atleast reduce them to an acceptable level.

Health and Safety policies are required to be documented to demonstrate that the top management is concerned about its employees protection and safety and to make clear what preventive measures it will implement. This documentation is necessary to generate a climate of trust and care as well as assist in the actual implementation.

Hence, the 3 declarations mandatory in such a policy are-

• Declaration of intent
• Declaration of means to realise the intent
• Declaration of guidelines to implement the policy

The declaration of intent is a general policy statement to safeguard the health & safety of employees. It consists of 4 main points-

• Safety of employees and of all those associated with the organization’s produce/working is of paramount importance
• Safety takes precedence over expediency
• Involvement of employees across various levels of hierarchy will be made as much as possible to develop and implement the health & safety processes
• The policy will be implemented as much in law as in spirit

The declaration of the means to realise the intent and implement the policy describes the health & safety organization throughout the company by which standards are set and achieved. Such a statement defines the responsibility of the top management, key result areas for performance and accountabilities for safety of various employees, role of the safety commitee, specialist, safety officers, medical officers etc

Health, Safety and Welfare Management deals with the legal and social responsibilities of an organization by means of the services provided by the Human Resource department to ensure a healthy and safe place of work, help elderly & retired employees, help employees cope with their personal problems and provision of recreational facilities.

Health and Safety policies deal with the protection of employees and other people affected by an organization’s produce & against hazards arising from their employment or links with the organization. They are also concerned with minimising loss and damage to property and prevention of accidents.

Occupational health programmes dealing with prevention of ill-health arising from working condition consists of two elements-

• Occupational Medicine- This is a specialised branch of preventive medicine concerned with diagnosis and prevention of health hazards at the workplace and dealing with stress or ill health that has resulted inspite of preventive actions
• Occupational Hygiene- This branch is concerned with measurement and control of environmental hazards and comes under the area of work of an ergonomist, engineer or chemist dealing in preventive measures

Mainly Health, Safety and Welfare Management is concerned with the following steps-

• Development of Health, Safety and Welfare policies and procedures
• Identification of hazards and assessment of risks attached to them
• Audits and Inspections
• Implementation of occupational health programmes
• Stress Management
• Accident Prevention
• Performance measurement related to health & safety
• Communication regarding good health, safety and welfare practices
• Training
• Organization of the entire Health, Safety and Welfare of the company