How Can Employee Involvement Contribute to Improving Occupational Health and Safety?

Health and safety at work act 1974 and 1992: This act is put into place for all places of employments. All employees have a duty of care to provide for the staff, ensuring that all equipment is safe and it does not have any risk. Employee, staff and volunteers have to take care of themselves and others around them.

If invested in and developed, employees are more likely to feel their social needs are met by being part of a team are well regarded and appreciated for their skill set and therefore motivated to work harder to reciprocate which leads to higher production and efficiency. People are able to realise their abilities and potential, take on more responsibility or variety of tasks which improves versatility and prevents boredom leading to demotivation. Staff feel happier if they feel valued and are likely to stay within the organisation.

Workplace safety is a major issue faced by nurses in healthcare settings. It is said that, hospitals are hazardous workplaces; unsafe workplaces are dangerous for the patients too. Today, many nurses are suffering hospital violence, heavy workloads causing serious injuries, contracting diseases caused by exposures to certain diseases, antineoplastics, and certain health care toxins, that workers bring home to their families. This in turn leads to acute staff shortages. Ample supply of nurses is very important in providing safe and timely care to the patient population. Maintaining a healthy workplace will enable the healthcare systems to control costs associated with healthcare management as well as enhancing the productivity of nurses in health care. It is estimated that creating a healthy environment in the workplace not only benefit nurses, but also benefits patients and other members of the health care team. This report explains some of the safety issues existing in health care, which directly or indirectly affects nurses as well as the health of the Canadian population.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), often referred to as the "OSH Act," was enacted in 1970 by President Richard M. Nixon. Its purpose is to assure safe and healthful working conditions for men and women (EPA, 2006). The Act is administered and enforced at the national level by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a division of the US Department of Labor. The application of the OSH Act in the current employment climate will be discussed as it applies to a variety of industries; considerations that are most applicable to the specific type of industry will be discussed initially, and those that are equally important regardless of the type of business will complete the section. Finally, this paper will discuss how the

Since late 19th century, workplace occupational health and safety has drawn more and more attention in Canada with relative legislations becoming stronger and more comprehensive. Effective OH&S programs could help business save considerable cost on worker’s injury or illness. OH&S becomes even more significant in some open-to-public workplaces, such as schools, which not only relating to staffs’ health and safety, but also thousands of students’. George Brown College who has four campus all located in downtown of Toronto, ON. Let us look at some statistics about GBC. According to statistics from “Fast Fact 2014-2015” (2013) published by GBC, there are more than 25,000 full-time enrolled students; 3,200 part-time students and around 1,300 fulltime and nearly 1,900 part-time employees in GBC in the period of 2013-2014 fiscal year. The college makes noticeable efforts to ensure both public and staff’s health and safety and try to reduce the injury and illness.

According to Safe Work Australia over the last three years Australia has consistently lost over 160 workers each year as a result of fatal work place injuries and over 94% of the workplace fatalities in 2014 were men.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has come a lengthy way to cut the death rates of firefighters in half. In 1970, they implemented a plan to help change working conditions for all Americans. OSHA was charged with the accountability of fulfilling health and safety standards, conducting inspections, issuing citations and penalties for noncompliance of regulations. OSHA created a division called National Institute Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). This division, the NIOSH, conducted research on the causes and prevention of work-related illnesses, injuries, and deaths, then provide information on what new measures can be used to prevent this from occurring so often. The group was

Landsbergis, P. A. (2003). The Changing Organization of Work and the Safety and Health: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from http://journals.lww.com/joem/Abstract/2003/01000/The_Changing_Organization_of_Work_and_the_Safety.14.aspx

Decrease costs related to turnover, burnouts, absenteeism & accident-related disability 2. Improvement in employee performance & therefore increase in productivity 3. Counselor can play the role of a business partner to manage behavioral problems brought about by organizational changes (Navare, 2008).

The US Department of Labor has recorded a steady decrease of work-related injuries and fatalities since 2012 and as of 2014, 120 work related fatalities have been recorded, 38% lower than 2013 (6). This decline in fatalities can be attributed to several factors, safer equipment, more safety regulations, etc.

Outcome1: Identify the legal responsibilities of both employers and employees and the importance of health and safety in the working environment

There was a coordination and collaboration among all departments in the organization that resulted in faster accomplishment of tasks. Also, the goals of the organization were clear for the employees and they were always stressed by their managers.

The employees feel that they have greater responsibility and trust put on them, this can generate greater participation, commitment, and a better job performance.

In the United States, construction has always been one of the most dangerous industries to work in. The number of fatalities that occur in this industry year after year demonstrate this. In 2014, 19.6% of worker fatalities, in private industry, were in construction (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015) despite the industry comprising only 6.8% of the total work force. This epidemic is not unique to the United States. Essentially every country faces similar problems regarding construction safety. For example, in 2004 the Australian construction industry employed approximately 8% of the countries workforce. However, workers compensation statistics indicated that the industry’s incidence rate was 28.6 per 1000 employees,

These accidents can occur due to an explosion inside a mine, leakage of poisonous chemicals and gases, flooding of mines, or collapse of the mine roof, which can be attributed to malfunctioning equipment, lack of adequate safety training, or lack of supervision—all are responsibilities of the mine operator or employer. Refinery explosions tend to make front-page news, too, because of their link to high profile petrochemical industry and because of the massive devastation they can cause. They occur as a result of hazardous practices and conditions that increase the risk of an explosion, such as placing of atmospheric vents on pressure units, inability to manage hazardous gases in a controlled manner, and poor management of alarm systems. Construction has the largest number of fatal injuries of the main industry groups. In 2008/09p there were 53 fatal injuries giving at rate of 2.5 per 100 000 workers. Relative to other industries, a higher proportion of reported injuries were caused by falls from height, falling objects, contact with moving machinery, collapses/overturns and electricity. Moreover, workers may be inadequately trained in the prevention of accidents; emergency response systems may be inadequate at the plant. Exposure to chemicals in the workplace can be either through skin penetration, or inhalation of gases and vapors, such