Workplace Safety Programs

Effective designing and implementation of workplace safety programs can minimize the loss and damage caused to persons and property by eliminating the risk of industrial accidents. In addition to it, the employee safety programs can result in substantial cost savings, increased productivity and establishing harmonious relations with workers.

For designing effective safety plans and implementing them requires thorough analysis of workplace conditions and determining the level of protection required.

The degree of protection depends upon the degree of risk involved in any job. For example, people working in mines require more safety that those working in a BPO. It also depends on the kind of job the person is engaged in. Sales personnel may require higher level of protection than the one in any administrative job.

Workplace safety programs are not only effective in eliminating the risk of damage caused to person but is also an effective tool in retaining the existing and attracting new talent from the industry. Who doesn’t want a safe and healthy work environment? Around 90 percent of working professionals seek safety at workplace rather than a fat package.

Organizations can reduce the risk of accidents at workplace by identifying the level of risk, modifying the already existing policy and implementing it effectively. For this, it needs to design proper and efficient management programs to improve physical environment employee assistance programs to help them diagnose and treat their stress-related problems.

Here is a mention of few workplace safety programs that are implemented by top-notch organizations to ensure workers’ physical and mental safety:

• Safety Policy: It contains a declaration of the employer’s intent towards the safety of employees and means to realize it. It includes causes, extent and remedies for accidents at workplace. The policy specifies the company’s goals and responsibilities and caveats and sanctions for failing to fulfill them.

• Provision of Physical Health Services: Many organizations render periodical physical health check-up services to their employees. Regular medical check-ups of employees help detect the signs and symptoms of tension, stress, ulcers, depression and other diseases resulting from the exposure to harmful gases or other irritants.

  It is considered as one of the major steps to control occupational health hazards and treat them before they become worse. In addition to this, it helps managers in rehabilitating the employees by redesigning their jobs in order to eliminate the further damage to their health.

• Mental Health Services: In order to reduce the risk of mental breakdowns because of tension, pressure and depression and mental illness, a mental health service is provided to the employees in different ways such as psychiatric counseling, co-operation and consultation with specialists, educating employees about the importance of mental health and establishment, development and maintenance of harmonious human relations at workplace.

• Employee Assistance Programs: These are specially designed to deal with stress-related problems of the employees and help in diagnosis, treatment, screening and prevention of both work and non-work related problems. These programs provide real help to professionals and do not carry any negative implications.

• Fitness Programs: These programs focus on overall health of employees and include both disease identification as well as lifestyle modification. The most common programs carried out by the organizations are hypertension identification, physical fitness, exercise, nutrition, smoking and drinking cessation, diet control and personal and work-related stress management.

• Awareness Programs: Conducting the workshops about sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV AIDS help a lot in raising the awareness of employees towards such dreadful diseases. Such programs clear out the confusion and disruption in the workforce.

We all must have heard of a simple phrase, “Health is Wealth.” This is true for individuals as well as organizations. Understanding, developing, implementing and evaluating workplace safety programs not only helps individuals in maintaining their health but also helps organizations in retaining their resources.