In the US there are two workplace safety laws, which affect the most to workers:
- Worker’s compensation, an employer-funded insurance system that operates at the state level
- The Occupational Safety and Health act (OSHA), making sure the work environment is free from hazards (Gómez-Mejía, Balkin & Cardy 2012, 568.)
Worker’s compensation benefits compensate employees for injuries or illness occurring on the job. Those benefits are:
- Total disability benefits
- Impairment benefits
- Survivor benefits
- Medical expense benefits
- Rehabilitation benefits
Worker’s compensation is designed to ensure medical care to employees, and income for them. It encourages employers to invest in safety. OSHA forces employers to provide a safe and healthy work environment, to comply with specific occupational safety and health standards and to keep records of all injuries or illnesses (Gómez-Mejía & al. 2012, 568-571.)
AIDS, violence in the workplace, cumulative trauma disorders, fetal protection, hazardous chemicals, and genetic testing are the most significant safety, health and behavioral issues for employers. Line managers have to deal with with many questions and HR professionals are often asked for help in these situations (Gómez-Mejía & al. 2012, 576-583.)
Comprehensive safety programs usually decrease the amount of accidents. Management needs to involve employees, communicate safety rules to them, invest in training, use incentives to encourage safe behaviors and engage in regular self-inspection and accident research to identify and correct potentially dangerous situations. Employee assistance programs help employees to cope with physical, mental, or emotional problems that affects to their performance (Gómez-Mejía & al. 2012, 585-587.)
First case is about German intern who was working over hours at a bank in London. One day, he was found dead in her apartment. There was a lot of workload, peer pressure and competition in the bank. He had been suffering from epilepsy but hadn’t told this to his bosses. He seemed to be fine at work (Thomas 2013.) Communication from both sides should be open. The employee, but also employer has to make sure that they are in good condition.
Second case is about companies’ wellness programs. Some companies are having good results with them, but some are not. The key is good communication and focusing on positive sides instead of negative (Morgaine 2018.)
An employee at a manufacturing warehouse in Aurora, Illinois shot five of his coworkers. He was in a termination meeting with the company’s HR, because he was repeatedly refusing to wear safety glasses on the job. His colleague knew that he has a gun but didn’t report it because he didn’t believe he would do anything with the gun. The employee had also told before, that if he is going to be fired, he would kill everyone at the company (NBC News 2019.) This is good example, that what people say, should be taken seriously and not ignored. Company’s policies should be clear to everyone from the beginning.
Aviation has a very strong safety culture, and there is a culture which tries to avoid blaming anyone from mistake. Instead, they are reported openly so everyone can learn from those (Rice 2020.) Especially health care has learned from aviation safety. Many other fields could also learn from that.
References
Gómez-Mejía, R. L., Balkin, B. D., Cardy L. R. 2012. Managing Human Resources. Seventh Edition. Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Morgaine, B. 2018. Do Corporate Wellness Programs Really Work? LivePlan. URL: https://www.liveplan.com/blog/does-corporate-wellness-work-the-surprising-truth-about-employee-wellness-programs/ Accessed 2 April 2020
NBC News. 2019. Aurora, Illinois, gunman who fatally shot 5 vowed to kill all his co-workers if he was fired. URL: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/aurora-illinois-gunman-who-fatally-shot-5-vowed-kill-all-n999571 Accessed: 2 April 2020
Rice, S. 2020. What Can Healthcare Learn From Aviation Safety? Forbes. URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenrice1/2020/02/07/what-can-healthcare-and-other-fields-learn-from-aviation-safety/#3bef66af51ce Accessed: 2 April 2020
Thomas, E. 2013. ‘Exhausted’ Merril Lynch intern died from epileptic fit in shower after he ‘pulled three all-nighters at bank where employees compete to work the longest hours’. Dailymail. URL: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2511911/Moritz-Erhardt-exhausted-Merrill-Lynch-intern-died-epileptic-fit.html#ixzz4RTj2xoP1 Accessed: 2 April 2020
Sivuston otsikko 