essay on occupational health and safety

Occupational Health and Safety: The Need and Importance Essay

Introduction.

Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) can be termed as the rules, legislation, policies, procedures and activities intended to care for the health, safety and welfare of the workers and all the individuals in an organization. It involves looking at the social, mental and physical well-being of workers (Lingard & Rowlinson, p. 124). Moreover, Occupational Health and Safety in an organization help uphold and sustain a high threshold of physical, mental and social well being of all the workers and their employer; protect worker from adverse health effects emanating from poor working conditions; shelter worker when carrying out their activities from risks emanating from factors unfavorable to their health and finally assist workers adopt physically and mentally to the working environment.

In the current world, many organizations tend to put more emphasis on occupational health issues than occupational safety issues as occupational health issues are trickier to tackle. However, when occupational health issues are addressed, safety in a workplace is promoted; this is because when a workplace is termed as a healthy workplace, it also means that the workplace is safe (Reese, p. 232).

It is important, therefore, to ensure that Occupational Health and Safety is observed as it reduces illness, death and injuries to the workers and other individuals that may arise from poor working conditions in a particular workplace. This is because, if the working conditions of an organization are poor, the health and safety of the workers is affected and this may reduce the output of the organization. Moreover, poor working conditions may affect the living environment of the worker and thus affect the workers family and the community at large. The occupational hazards caused by poor working conditions may affect the physical and mental health of the workers, his family and the community (Reese, pp. 235-37). For instance, in an agricultural organization, the chemicals that they use to spray the plants in the fields ends up in the near by water bodies especially when it rains. This contaminates the water which the community may be using for domestic purposes causing diseases like diarrhea and eventual death to them. Moreover, the chemicals may be blown by wind and be inhaled by the people living nearby causing serious health problems.

Occupational Health and Safety in an organization is important as it helps reduce the cost incurred when a worker has been injured, is sick or has died due to occupational diseases or injuries. When an occupational injury or disease occurs, the employer is faced with both direct and indirect expenses. For instance, compensation to the injured worker, repair of the broken machine, payment of unlabored work among others are some of direct cost while replacement of the injured worker, training of a worker to replace the injured, reduction in output are some of the indirect cost that an employer has to pay. For an organization to achieve the above the employer, workers and the unions should be committed to health and safety and thus ensure that workplace hazards are minimized, records of injuries, car accidents and deaths due to occupation diseases or injuries are well kept, risk assessments are carried out and finally ensure that there is an effective occupational health and safety committee that incorporate individuals from all sectors (Dudley, pp. 34-67).

Importance of Occupational Health and Safety professionals being a capable leader

When an organization is choosing an Occupational Health and Safety leader it must look at the current leadership qualities of the potential leaders. Although leadership qualities can be acquired through learning it is important to determine the existing leadership qualities so as to determine what other leadership qualities the leaders need. It is crucial for an Occupational health and Safety leader to be a capable leader and this he/ she can only achieve if he / she has the following qualities;

Vision; a good leader should have a vision for his/ her organization or department. He/ she should be able to evaluate where his/ her department is, future success and how to achieve it. This vision should be shared with all the individuals in the organization so that each and every worker can strive to achieve the future success. Occupational Health and Safety leaders should have a vision on how they will reduce occupational injuries, accidents and occupational diseases. This can only be achieved through improving the working conditions of a workplace, educating workers on safety, its importance and how to achieve it and training workers on occupational health and safety (Lindgard & Rowlinson, pp. 245-67). Moreover, OHS leaders should involve all the workers in all departments of the organization. This ensures that safety is observed in all departments of the organization. Furthermore, by having a vision, the OHS leader is able to set rules and regulation that will govern the behavior and activities of all the workers thus promoting safety in the workplace. However, the leader should be realistic and he should bear in mind the available resources, support by other leaders and support from the workers.

Motivation; a good leader should know what motivates the workers and what activities de-motivate them. An occupational Health and Safety leader should formulate favorable conditions where the employees will feel enthusiastic to work hard and achieve the OHS set goals. This is so because, for an organization to attain the set performance objectives the workers must be capable, work hard and their leaders must support them (Dudley, pp. 80-90). Therefore, an occupational health and safety leader should ensure that all areas are equipped with qualified personnel who are well supported by the leaders and are motivated to work well. This ensures that the set Occupational Health and Safety goals are met. It is important therefore, for OHS leaders to be motivational as this boosts the workers desires to achieve the set Occupational Health and Safety goals. Moreover, the OHS leader should ensure that his OHS goals are realistic and achievable as if they are not the worker will feel de-motivated to work to attain goals that are not attainable. However, when the leader uses rewards as a form of motivation he/ she should evaluate the perception of the workers on the reward as this may bring conflict and strains in the workplace.

Emotional and Intelligence; leaders should be sensitive about the feelings of their workers / those they lead. However, they should be clever as to identify genuine and fake feelings portrayed by the workers. Occupational Health and Safety leaders should be sensitive about the safety and well being of the workers, workers family and the community in which the organization or the firm is in, for instance, when the firm pollutes the a water body that is used by the surrounding communities, the leader should listen to them and offer reasonable solutions (Reese, pp. 245-67) The Occupational Health and Safety leader is liable to creating a working environment that promotes the safety and health of the worker. Moreover, he/ she should value and reply to the needs of the workers and listen to them all the time. This is important because it facilitate workers participation in decision making.

Communication; a good capable leader should be able to communicate to his worker and his juniors in a polite manner. Effective communication is important for the success of an organization. An occupational Health and Safety leader should have good communication skills that will enable him/ her to acquire and transfer information freely from the workers and to the worker respectively. This leadership quality is important because it helps the Occupational Health and Safety leader to gather information from the worker and transfer it to other leaders on matters concerning health and safety of the workers and helps him transfer important information from the seniors to the workers (Dudley, pp. 99- 112). Occupational Health and Safety leaders should ensure that they use the right channel of communication; for instance, they can use written channels like hanging the information on the notice board when they are passing information that does not need immediate answer. But for the information that requires immediate answers an oral channel will be used where the leader may hold meeting with workers and inform them.

Trustworthy; a good leader should be trusted by the workers and his/ her seniors. A leader who can be trusted by the employee or the people who he/ she is leading, more information relating to the organization will be passed to him/ her easily. Moreover, the organization/ firm will have a good reputation in the public. When the employees/ workers feel that they can trust their leaders, they can talk openly about their feeling concerning a newly installed Occupational Health and Safety program and they can be able to contribute freely in decision making meeting and health and safety meetings (Lingard & Rolinson, pp. 134-44).

Assertiveness; a leader should not beat around the bush about something he/she want to be done and how it should be done. He/ she should state clearly what he/ she expects from the worker. An occupational Health and Safety leader should ensure that he/ she go straight to the point when it comes to matter concerning health and safety in the workplace. His/ her statement should clearly state what he/ she expect from the workers and the leader in promoting occupational health and safety and avoiding injuries and occupational diseases (Reese, pp. 287-98). Moreover, he/ she should ensure that the health and safety rules and their penalties are clearly stated with no misunderstanding. This ensures that the workers have no excuse when they break the rules and are liable to punishment with no exception. This is important because it ensures that all people practice safety in their activities and thus more less expenses to the organization.

Dedication; a good leader should be dedicated to his/ her work, for instance striving had to edge a step closer to the vision. An Occupational Health and Safety leader should be dedicate to ensuring that safety is observed in all departments of the organizations. Moreover, he should be dedicated to ensuring that workers are in good health and that the workplace is in good condition. A dedicated leader in Occupational Health and Safety ensures records of all health and safety issues are well kept so as to keep abreast on the trend of safety in the organization (Dudley, pp. 134-65). The health and safety records assist the organization in determining how safe the workplace and help in decision making concerning then health and safety matters. Dedication helps in giving an example to the workers on how to achieve and maintain health and safety in a workplace.

Magnanimity; this is where a leader gives a credit for a job well done. A good leader should ensure that all leaders give tribute to workers when they have done a good job. Moreover, a good leader should also account for failures and accept them as his/ her mistake. This help the worker feel proud about them selves and are motivated to work ever harder and adhere to the set rules and regulation. An Occupational Health and Safety leader should ensure that all efforts by the worker to achieve the set occupational health and safety goals do not go unrecognized. This motivates the workers who feel proud of his/ her achievement and will continue striving hard to achieve the goal. This quality of a leader promotes healthy relationship between the workers and the leaders and arose in the worker a feeling of belonging/ attachment to the organization or firm (Reese, pp. 267-90). Thus he/ she will do work with one heart ensuring that he / she observe the set health and safety rules and regulations.

Creativity; this is where the leader has the ability to think beyond the available solution and tend to look for alternative solutions for a problem. The leader sees thing the other people / workers cannot see, for instance, he/ she can see consequences of a certain decision made by a committee. An Occupational Health and Safety leader should ask him self questions like “what if…” thus ensuring he/ she do not look only at the positive and negative side but also at the possibilities and alternatives of issue (Lingard & Rowlinson, pp. 156-89). He/ she should also ensure that he/ she has alternative for every decision that is made concerning the health and safety of the workers. This is important because it eliminates the possibilities of failures in programs and training in Occupational Health and Safety as there are set solutions for any problem that may arise.

Occupational Health and Occupational Safety are two important issues that should be addressed in all organizations and firms. Occupational Health and Safety leaders should ensure that the workplace is suitable for workers to work on. This means that the workplace has the required conditions to guarantee safety of the workers. Moreover, an organization should ensure that safety to the community is adhered to, i.e. ensure that the surrounding communities’ health is not endangered by the activities of the firm/ organization. For an organization to achieve this, leader must have the required quality so as to deriver the best and reorient people in achieving the set occupational health and safety goals. These leadership qualities assist the leader lead the workers and other leaders in achieving the occupational health and safety goals. Furthermore, training offered to the worker during occupational health and safety workshop and training programs help the worker realize their role in ensuring safety and avoiding occupational diseases.

Reese, Charles. Occupational health and safety management: a practical approach . New York: CRC Press, 2003.
Lingard, Helen & Rowlinson, Stephen. Occupational health and safety in construction Project management . Cambridge: Taylor & Francis, 2005.
Dudley, Curry. Management accounting, second Canadian Edition. Canada: Prentice Hall, 1996.
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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Occupational Health and Safety: The Need and Importance." November 5, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/occupational-health-and-safety-the-need-and-importance/.

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Essay: Health and safety in the workplace

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Accidents and mishaps are unforeseen circumstances that can affect individuals and groups at any time and in any place. Most accidents are preventable, but the carelessness or negligence of the involved individuals leads to major injuries and grievances. Accidents can also occur in the workplace and seriously affect the ability and health of the involved workers.

The objectives of this essay to discuss the safety and wellbeing of all workers are necessary for the organization not only for consistent productivity but also due to regulatory requirements. Workers and human resources are the necessary components of all organizations due to their role in the effective accomplishment of objectives. Corporations cannot achieve long-term success and sustainable growth in the absence of motivated, safe, healthy, and effective workers. The health and safety of all workers are necessary to ensure the enhancement of productivity and efficiency at all levels and areas. Lack of safety measures can create havoc for the organization and negatively affect the working criterion of an organization. The management has to devise and implement effective safety procedures to reduce hazards and prevent accidents in the workplace. The can motivate the employees through this perspective as employees admire working in organizations that prefer safe working conditions. Employees believe that safer working conditions enhance their ability work because they do not feel scared in troublesome situations. The management should coordinate with all the related stakeholders when they devise policies about safety at workplace, as this would enhance a positive change in an organization. Different legislations also depict that organizations should focus on these perspectives and they should attain self-sufficiency in providing workplace safety.

Introduction

Corporations in the current era focus on the development of employees and they believed in the ideology of benefiting employees through different approaches. Safety at the work force is an important aspect that many organizations of today’s world disregard. Many people face mishaps and accidents in various situations especially due to negligence, recklessness, and carelessness. Many accidents and serious injuries are avoidable and preventable by taking effective safety measures and reducing hazards. For example, drivers and passengers can avoid serious injuries and death by wearing seatbelts while traveling in cars. However, many people fail to realize the importance of seatbelts and face a variety of consequences in the event of an accident. Mishaps and accidents are unforeseen occurrences that can lead to several adverse consequences in the absence of effective safety measures and precautions. Accidents, disasters, and mishaps can also occur in the workplace and affect several employees in the absence of precautions and safety procedures. Certain mediocre organizations do not regard this aspect as important and they do not focus on safety at the workplace. The owners and management of the organization need to implement rules, regulations, procedures, and systems relevant to safety and health. The management also needs to ensure that all workers have ample knowledge and information regarding safety procedures, prevention of accidents, and safe working practices.

Human resources

Human resources are one of the most important assets of the organization with respect to success and growth. The success and growth of the organization depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of the human resources. However, the inefficiencies in human resources caused by any circumstances, occurrences, and events can hinder the accomplishments of the organization. Organizations take all necessary measures to ensure the productivity of all workers and employees to maximize profits and achieve organizational objectives (Blair, 2013). The wellbeing, safety, and health of all employees are among the highest priorities of all organizations. Organizations cannot take risk for their respective employees because an occurrence of a negative event would tarnish the credibility of an organization. Safe and healthy workers are more productive as compared to injured or sick employees. Employees that cannot work in safe conditions feel suffocated because of the risks associated with their respective work. Risks and hazards associated with a specific job or organization adversely affect the morale and motivation level of employees. The unsafe or hazardous working conditions have several long-term psychological and physiological consequences for the workers and the organizations. When a negative event occurs in an organization, it sets up the mindset of an employee. Employees would feel that this event would occur again and this would create hurdles in their effective working process. Organizations need to create a safe and healthy working environment for all workers to ensure high levels of motivation and enhancement in efficiency (Stricoff & Groover, 2012).

Safety at Workplace

Workplace safety refers to the prevention of illness, injury, and hazards in the workplace for all employees. Workplace safety involves the creation of a safe and healthy environment for all workers to evade hazards, injuries, and illnesses. Organizations can ensure the efficiency of all workers and circumvent a considerable amount of costs by ensuring workplace safety and health. Organizations develop different strategies through which they set up different work place safety policies and benefit the workers through this. Workplace injuries and illnesses lead to compensation benefits, health insurance costs, hiring temporary replacements, lost work hours, and lawsuits. Lack of concentration would cost severe damage to an organization and they should sort such issues in order to attain proactive benefits. Business can save a considerable amount of costs by creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for all workers. Safeguarding the interests and wellbeing of the employees allows organizations to circumvent costs relevant to injuries and illnesses (Legg, Laird, Olsen, & Hasle, 2014). On the other hand, workplace safety instills a sense of commitment and dedication among the employees due to the safety assurance of the organization. The morale and motivation of the workers increase due to the implementation of rules that safeguard the health and interest of the employees. Employees feel that they are safe to work in this place, and through this perspective, they would perform well.

Purpose of Workplace safety

The primary objective of safety in the workplace is to create a safe, healthy, and risk-free environment for all workers. Workplace safety involves the evaluation, analysis, prevention, and elimination of hazardous and dangerous elements from the workplace. Workplace safety programs evaluate and remove the risks and hazards relevant to the safety, well-being, and health of workers and other relevant individuals. Organizations develop health and safety standards due to several reasons including laws, regulatory requirements, organizational policies, and historical occurrences. Certain industries and their associations bind organizations to work for the benefit of their employees and they force organizations to focus on different safety related perspectives. Workplace injuries and illnesses caused by working conditions or environment can lead to lawsuits, high costs, and deterioration of the corporate image. There are instances when employees at times die because of sever working conditions. Employees might got injured because of certain safety and the lack of safety would be the only probable reason of this. Enhanced safety measures and appropriate quality of these measures can reduce this perspective to a considerable level.

Safety at the workplace enables organizations to comply with regulatory requirements and prevent high costs resulting from injuries and illnesses. Several corporations can consider the fact that these safety measures would save their health and medicinal costs that would arise when an employees would hurt him. They should take proactive measures earlier through which people can benefit from these perspectives. The management can maintain high levels of productivity and efficiency by creating a safe and healthy working environment. Conversely, the employees work with dedication due to their perceptions regarding the commitment of the organization with respect to the wellbeing of the workers.

Importance of safety at workplace

Legislative and legal requirements are the most prominent cause of health and safety policies in most organizations. The Occupational and Safety Health Act is the primary law for the assurance of health and safety of all workers throughout the United States. The Occupational and Safety Health Act (OSHA) necessitates the dissemination of standards, rules, and regulations relevant to the safety and health of workers. The government establishes and enforces the standards for the safety and health of all workers and their families through the Act. All public and private organizations have to comply with the rules, regulations, and standards prescribed in OSHA (Jung & Makowsky, 2014). They would face legal complications if they do not comply with such policies and measures taken by the decision makers. However, many organizations develop and implement health and safety procedures to safeguard their interests relevant to organizational objectives rather than legal requirements. The financial and moral aspects of workers’ health and safety have a greater influence as compared to regulatory compliance. Corporations can save considerable costs by avoiding high insurance expenses, lawsuits, and employee replacement costs in the event of injuries and illnesses (Barling & Frone, 2003).

Manpower and Management

The primary objective of all managers is to enhance and promote productivity and efficiency in all areas and functions. However, the managers cannot uphold efficiency and effectiveness in the absence of a safe workplace. The managers need to create a safe working environment and increase the awareness and knowledge of all employees with respect to safe working practices. The employees and workers also need to understand the importance of workplace safety and reduce personal injury through attentiveness and removal of hazards. These safety hazards are negative for the effectiveness of organizations and create a long-term negative impact. The attitude of the employees, management, and employers plays a vital role in preventing accidents and creating a safe working environment. The negligence on the part of the employers and employees can cause a variety of hazards and accidents (Rahim, Ng, Biggs, & Boots, 2014). However, the diligence and commitment of all stakeholders regarding safe work practices leads to the prevention of major accidents and injuries. The employees and management can create a safe workplace through a shared responsibility model for workplace safety and cooperation. Organizations should own this perspective and they should realize the fact that it is their managerial responsibility to focus on this perspective so that employees can remain safe.

Conclusively, a safety plan is necessary and it comprises of certain steps that would develop a safer workplace. Organizations should make sure that everyone else in the workplace is aware of the core problem. People should notify their respective supervisors and they should file any reports if there is a problem. An important aspect is that people should realize that there is a problem as sitting back and holding the problem for a long time would not solve the problem.

Barling, J., & Frone, M. (2003). The Psychology of Workplace Safety. New Jersey: Amer Psychological Assn. Blair, E. H. (2013). Building safety culture. Professional Safety , 58 (11), 59-65. Cobb, E. (2013). Bullying, Violence, Harassment, Discrimination and Stress: Emerging Workplace Health and Safety Issues. New Jersey: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Jung, J., & Makowsky, M. D. (2014). The determinants of federal and state enforcement of workplace safety regulations: OSHA inspections 1990’2010. Journal of Regulatory Economics , 45 (1), 1-33. Legg, S., Laird, I., Olsen, K., & Hasle, P. (2014). Creating healthy work in small enterprises – from understanding to action: Summary of current knowledge. Small Enterprise Research , 21 (2), 139-147. Mathis, T., & Galloway, S. (2013). Steps to Safety Culture Excellence. New Jersey: Wiley. Rahim, A. N., Ng, H. K., Biggs, D., & Boots, K. (2014). Perceptions of safety, physical working conditions and stress between Malaysia and United Kingdom. International Journal of Business & Society , 15 (2), 321-338. Stricoff, R., & Groover, D. (2012). The Manager’s Guide to Workplace Safety. New York : Safety in Action Press.

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Occupational Health and Safety: Workers Neglect of Precautionary Measures

The issues connected to occupational health within the organizations are extremely significant as the opportunity to work in safe conditions is one of the most important rights of any employee. It is necessary to protect the rights of the employees, and this is why the particular bodies that fulfill this function were established. Workplace Safety and Insurance Board is the committee that provides compensations for the employees who were harmed because of inappropriate work conditions in their companies. The organization is an independent part of the Ministry of Labor capable of rendering the decisions on its own. Nevertheless, both organizations were created to discuss and implement the measures to ensure safety for all the employees and support them in difficult situations. As for my workplace, I am not sure that I know about all the accidents that have happened before. Anyway, all the cases that I have heard about have been reported as my co-workers are quite conscious when it comes to their safety. In the end, the urgent need to meet the requirements of OH&S encourages the management of my company to pay more attention to the equipment that we use and create a safer environment for the employees.

The situation that we have to discuss may become a serious challenge for any plant, and it is very important to define the root of the problem. Who is to blame is the situation when the workers neglect precautionary measures? I am sure that it is the fault of the workers. As it is clear from the question presented, the workers are given access to all the necessary equipment that can protect their ears, eyes, and skin; nevertheless, they continue using this equipment in the wrong way. As for me, a large share of the blame lies with the workers as all the people should think about their safety and take measures to protect themselves. At the same time, the management should also be more careful and encourage the employees to use ways to protect their lives and health. I believe that managers can have the greatest impact on this situation. For example, they can introduce penalty fees at work to urge their employees to observe all safety measures. If solving this problem was one of my responsibilities, I would encourage the management to explain to the workers the possible consequences of their carelessness and illustrate it with the stories of accidents that happened in other companies.

Ways to motivate the employees to work safely

Safety during the working process should be one of the primary values of any company. There are different ways to motivate the employees to work safely, such as educating the leaders and providing the employees with feedback on their ability to manage the risk of serious injuries. If I was supposed to create a work environment motivating the employees to take precautionary measures, I would use many tools to ensure that my work is successful. To begin with, I would apply the method of behavior modification. For instance, I would use special reinforcers to encourage the workers to use protective equipment. In this case, fees could be used to decrease unnecessary behavior. As an additional measure, I would try to provide employees with feedback on their attitudes towards occupational safety. In the end, I am sure that these measures would be effective for the company.

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Open access
Published: 25 November 2022

A study on occupational health and safety

Lídia Maria Costa Araújo Magalhães 1 ,
Ketyllem Tayanne da Silva Costa ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0304-2639 2 ,
Gustavo Nepomuceno Capistrano 2 ,
Maryanna Damasceno Leal 3 &
Fábia Barbosa de Andrade 4

BMC Public Health volume 22 , Article number: 2186 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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Metrics details

This study aimed to evaluate and describe the indicators of occupational health, with a focus on the medical expertise and periodic medical examination.

This is exploratory-descriptive, cross-sectional, documentary, quantitative, and retrospective research, in the historical series: 2011 to 2015.

The number of lost days of work per worker and the frequency of licenses increased despite the decrease in the Absenteeism Duration Index and stabilization of the Frequency of Medical Workers. As for the adhesion of the workers to the Periodic Medical Examinations, it was decreasing, with a higher percentage in the year 2012 (35.3%). During the analyzed period, 5,186 workers performed the Periodic Medical Examination, and the majority (60.6%) presented non-ideal weight, 41.1% were sedentary, 33.2% had dyslipidemia, 29.0% were alcoholic, 3.2% were smokers, 5.9% had diabetics, and 16.4% reported high noise in the workplace, 27.8% inadequate lighting and 35.9% inadequate work furniture.

Conclusions

The results highlight the need to maintain and strengthen the Worker Health and Safety Policy with emphasis on surveillance, aiming at the promotion and protection of the health of the workers, based on the elaboration of the epidemiological profile of health and, consequently, the implementation of positive impact strategies.

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Introduction

Historically, in Brazil, Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is strongly associated with the political-social and economic evolution of the country and is presented as the achievement of rights resulting from claims and struggles of the workers. Work is one of the determinants that most impact man’s conditions, quality of life, and health.

Working is essential for human beings since it is the way in which respect, integration, sociability, recognition, and bonds of friendship are obtained. On the other hand, the living conditions of Brazilian workers are aggravated by the alternation of stages of growth and accelerated industrialization with moments of recession, resulting in the government’s adoption of adjustment measures and financial cuts in social policies, such as education, health, safety, transportation, housing, and work, among others [ 1 , 2 ].

Nowadays, the epidemiological profile of workers' morbidity and mortality in Brazil is characterized by the coexistence of diseases that have an intrinsic relationship with working conditions: diseases related to work and typical work accidents, which have their frequency, appearance, and severity modified by the activity. Added to this reality are diseases common to the population as a whole, which have no etiological relationship with work [ 3 ].

Health Promotion and Surveillance refer to the pillar of the Occupational Safety and Health Care Policy (PASS, in Portuguese) that encompasses quality of life and vigilance actions in the environmental and work processes. Standing out among these are the institution of guidelines and programs in the area of mental health and occupational diseases of higher prevalence; the mandatory provision of Periodic Medical Examinations (PME) for all employees; the training in health and safety at work; the creation of an Internal Committee on Health and Safety at Work and a survey of environmental risks, with a stimulus to the active participation of employees in processes involving their health [ 4 , 5 ].

The PME aims, mainly, the prevention, enabling the health surveillance of the employees of a certain company or institution, contributing to the early identification of diseases related or not to work. It is carried out by an occupational doctor and employers must provide examinations for employees at specific times such as dismissal, admission, leaves of absence or change of function, in addition to periodic examinations, which will vary in frequency according to the workers' age (every two years for those between 18 and 45 years old and annually for those outside this age group) [ 6 ].

The PME is performed through clinical examinations, anamnesis, general and specific laboratory tests, according to the function developed by each worker. In addition, the occupational physician must adapt the exams to the particularities of each case, for example, people with disabilities or people who work with noise and may experience deafness caused by this fact. The result of the PME is not given by score or a question of approve or disapprove workers, it is related to the early diagnosis of health problems [ 6 ].

It is noteworthy that the information generated during the expertise act are important indicators of worker's health, privileged instruments for the construction of the morbidity and mortality profile of public servants, which will help to conduct the development of health promotion actions, since the expert databases issue a variety of data on the most prevalent diseases and the professionals who get sick [ 7 ].

It is of great importance to deepen the study in relation to the health of the federal public servant, considering the need to research, know and analyze the determining and conditioning factors of health problems related to processes and work environments. In this way, it is important to analyze workers' health indicators, which are reflections of the real health conditions of the server, with the objective of guiding managers in the planning and control of activities, in addition to allowing deductions regarding the effects of decisions and their results.

From this perspective, this study aimed to evaluate and describe occupational health indicators focusing on the Official Health Expertise and PME of federal public servants, including professors from the institution and administrative technicians from the education sector of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte.

Materials and methods

This is a cross-sectional, retrospective study with a quantitative approach, where secondary data were obtained regarding PME and official health expertise, specifically the SIAPE HEALTH module of federal public servants of a public institution of higher education in Brazil.

The information contained in this system is federal level and is entered by the experts who perform the exams, uploading them directly into the system, enabling access to the information by users. For the study, secondary and aggregated data from the SIAPE SAÚDE system database were evaluated, as well as management reports made available by the SIASS Unit (Subsistema Integrado de Atenção à Saúde do Servidor) from UFRN, responsible for storing such data.

The study was carried out at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Central Campus, especially at the Directorate of Attention to Servant Health (DAS), where the SIASS Unit is located, the latter being responsible for coordinating actions in attention to the health of the institution's servants, specifically, the performance of the Periodic Medical Examination and the Official Health Survey, objects of this study.

The period chosen for the study was from 2011 to 2015. The preference for this time interval was justified by the fact that the year 2011 marks the beginning of the PME through the computerized system SIAPE HEALTH, and the end of the study period in 2015 characterizes five complete years and the historical nature of epidemiological studies.

The population chosen for the study can be divided into levels of education, the teachers, technical-administrative in education, higher level positions are level E, while the technical-administrative in education, middle and basic level positions are levels C and D.

The official health expertise and the PME were used as a dependent variable. For each indicator, independent variables were selected: a) Official Health Expertise: gender, age, position, number of active statutory employees away, number of days of leave and number of days away; and b) PME: Gender, age, position, ethnicity, smoking, physical activity, BMI, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, spinal pain, inadequate furniture, inadequate lighting, likes what you do, good relationship with the boss, good relationship with colleagues and fast pace. In addition, the following indicators were observed: Absence Severity Index (IGA), Medical Frequency Leave (FML), Frequency of Workers on Sick Leave (FWML) and Absenteeism Duration Index (IDA), as recommended by the Permanent Commission and International Association on Occupational Health [ 8 ] and the authors Hensing et al. [ 9 ].

The information was obtained from Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, being possible to organize and sort the variables into categories. Then, the data were exported and analyzed in the software Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). Relative and absolute frequency distribution was used for categorical variables, as well as measures of central tendency (average), measures of dispersion (standard deviation), and student's t-test for quantitative variables.

For data analysis, the chi-square test and the calculation of the odds ratio were used for correlation of the indicators, adopting a confidence interval of 95% and a significance level of 5% ( p < 0.05) for all tests.

Concerning the ethical aspects, the project was submitted to the Research Ethics Committee of Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte where it was appraised and subsequently approved under opinion no. 1.707.691, from the principles of ethical and legal aspects that govern scientific research on human beings, as recommended by Resolution no. 466/12 [ 10 ], and the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki.

The results showed that there were 4,293 (35%) departures from administrative records and 7,946 (65%) absences from work granted by expert examination.

This expert examination is a procedure carried out by a medical expert, whose function is to identify if there is the presence of an illness or to identify if there has been an accident that has made you totally or partially, temporarily, or permanently unable to perform your professional activities [ 11 ]. The magnitude of these absences can be portrayed when we calculate the sum of lost work time over the five years, which generated 179,916 days of absenteeism due to illness.

Data regarding the sociodemographic characteristics of the studied population revealed that 67.9% (8,312) of the departures occurred in female workers and, for males, 32.1% (3,927). Regarding the age group, 34.6% (4,234) of the licenses were approved for workers between 51 and 60 years old, 24.0% (2,934) from 41 to 50 years, 19.2% (2,355) from 31 to 40 years, 11.8% (1,449) from 18 to 30 years, and 10.4% (1,267) over 60 years.

In relation to the post variable, the number of workers occupying the position of administrative technician in education levels C and D predominated, with a prevalence of 62.2% (4,941), while 23.8% (1,889) workers were in higher-level positions.

Figure 1 shows the absence of workers at work due to health care in the period from 2011 to 2015. It is noteworthy that there is an increase between 2011 and 2013, when there is a peak of 7.1 days not worked. The following years show an oscillation, but with a tendency for growth.

Source: Elaborated by the Authors

Indicators of absenteeism, 2011–2015. Natal/RN, Brazel, 2017. Legend IGA = Absenteeism Severity Index; FLM = Frequency of Medical Licence; IDA = Absenteeism Duration Index; FTLM = Frequency of Workers on Medical Licence.

In this sense, it is also relevant to present the individual absence duration, according to the cause of illness, in order to facilitate the adoption of specific measures focused on the pathologies with the greatest impact on lost days of work. Figure 2 shows the IDA according to each International Classification of Diseases (ICD), 10 chapter, and the highest indexes refer to neoplasms (45.64), mental disorders (32.40), congenital malformations (27.00), and diseases of the circulatory system (23.96), respectively. These findings reveal that absences of longer duration were caused by pathologies of a chronic non-transmissible nature, except for causes of absences in chapter XVII of ICD-10.

Source: Elaborated by the author

Distribution of IDA, 2011–2015. Natal/RN, Brazil, 2017. Legend: C = ICD.10 chapter.

Figure 3 presents the results of this study regarding the adherence of the workers to the Periodic Medical Exam (PME), considering the historical series from 2011 to 2015, when an average of 4,362 workers were called.

Source: Elaborated by the authors

Distribution of call, adhesion, non-adhesion, and coverage ratio to PME, 2011–2015. Natal/RN, Brazil, 2017.

The Periodic Medical Exam consists of the periodic clinical and laboratorial evaluation of the worker, due to the existing risks in the work environment and occupational or professional diseases. The PME foresees the adoption of prevention, tracking, and early diagnosis measures for work-related diseases, besides those more prevalent in the general population, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, neoplasms, dyslipidemias, and ophthalmologic diseases. Also, the PME will be carried out during working hours, without any burden or need for compensating schedules on the part of the employees. It is important to point out that absenteeism is taken into consideration only due to the worker's personal illness, and this diagnosis cannot be related to someone in the employee's care.

Regarding the operationalization for the PME, it is important to mention that at the moment the server is called for the evaluation of occupational health, through personal e-mail, he/she must fill out the consent form as a way to prove the agreement to participate in periodic medical examinations. Thus, going from the situation "INVITED" to "CONFIRMED". It is worth pointing out the importance and potential of the PME, once it allows the early identification of risk factors for getting sick, as well as the construction of collective diagnoses in the Worker's Health area, which makes this action a health management instrument, for monitoring the health situation and work conditions, and the subsidies for interventions to improve the quality of life of the workers.

It can be observed that the call-up ratio increased by 42.0% from 2011 (0.49) to 2012 (0.91). From the year 2013 (0.84), there were oscillations characterized by drop and growth in the calls.

As for non-adherence, in 2012, there was a decrease, and in 2013 (0.78), 2014 (0.8), and 2015 (0.86), there was an increase in the results, characterizing a relevant increase of 15. 0% between the years of 2011 (0.71) and 2015 (0.86).

About PME membership, it is clear that growth occurred only in 2012 (0.35). Then, the index decreased throughout the series, namely: 2013 (0.22), 2014 (0.2) and 2015 (0.14), which explains the non-adherence data, that comprehends the number of called servers that didn't do the PME in the analyzed year, having as reference the total number of UFRN's servers summoned in the evaluated year as being an unfavorable reality in relation to the PME recommendation. This may be related to factors such as excessive work activities of workers, periodic examinations performed through private health insurance, and to the lack of recognition of the importance of PME by workers.

The coverage ratio of the PME represents the servers that have concluded the PME and those that have an updated Occupational Health Certificate in the analyzed year, with the total number of servers at UFRN in the analyzed period as a reference. This coverage ratio increased significantly in the year 2012 (0.4), showing a growth of 26.0% in relation to 2011. Thereafter, the ratio decreased, with an average of 0.26 between the years of 2013 (0.33), 2014 (0.26) and 2015 (0.2), as shown in Fig. 3 .

In the list of risk factors, health indicators of different epidemiological natures were analyzed. Among them, those related to cardiovascular diseases and occupational risk factors, such as the existence of inadequate work furniture and accelerated work rhythm, are presented in Tables 1 and 2 .

In the list of chronic pathologies covering categories II and III of the Schilling classification, the most common causes of morbidity among workers are: Systemic Arterial Hypertension (SAH), chronic respiratory diseases, diseases of the locomotor system and mental disorders. These are pathologies of multiple etiology in which work is considered a risk factor associated with the increased probability of occurrence of these diseases [ 12 ]. Thus, the present study highlights cardiovascular diseases, especially SAH.

Table 1 shows the distribution of the aforementioned risk factors associated with SAH. It is pointed out that 60.6% (3,143) of the workers that performed the EMP presented non-ideal weight; 58.7% (3,044) practiced some type of physical activity; 70.8% (3,670) denied alcohol use; 96.5% (5.005) did not smoke; 93.9% (4,870) did not have diabetes mellitus (DM); and 66.6% (3,453) did not have dyslipidemia. The association between hypertension and all correlated variables was significant at p < 0.001. As for the Odds Ratio calculation, we considered the hypertension disease in relation to the following variables: BMI, sedentary lifestyle, alcoholism, smoking, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. The OR calculation does not imply a cause-and-effect relationship, it only suggests that there is an association.

In Table 2 , it is possible to observe that 35.9% of the interviewed workers are not adequate for their activities. In addition, 16.4% report loud noise in the workplace and 27.8% do not have adequate lighting. Social factors were also obtained, noting that 3.7% of the workers surveyed say they do not have a good relationship with their co-workers, while 4.4% do not have a good relationship with their boss and 2.5% show dissatisfaction with what they are doing.

It should be noted that absenteeism is a term used to denote the employee's absence from work [ 13 ]. The International Organization of Work (OIT) defines it as the period of absence of work that is accepted as attributable to an incapacity of the individual, except for that derived from normal pregnancy or prison [ 14 ].

According to the report of the National Audit Office [ 15 ], in the city of Guernsey, United Kingdom, approximately 3.8% of working time was lost due to illness, and civil workers became sick for an average of 8.7 days in 2005. In Chile, health workers belong to the category that has the highest rates of disability due to illness, with 14.3 days of absence per worker per year; unlike the university workers, who present 6 days of work lost per year, similar to the results of this research [ 16 ]. These findings highlight the data shown in Fig. 1 .

Studies found an average of 7.5 lost days of work per year per worker in the nursing area of a university hospital in Brazil [ 17 ]. Santos and Mattos [ 18 ] observed 9.3 days of absenteeism due to disease for each municipal worker of the city of Porto Alegre in 2005. The studies reported 9.1 and 10.3 days of absence due to illness for each public worker of the municipalities of Goiânia and São Paulo, respectively [ 19 , 20 ].

The worker and financial conditions can cause work accidents and environmental conditions, increase work capacity and the market, which may exclude work and consumption capacity. The employee is also hit with productivity, lack of manpower, loss of manpower and/or equipment damage [ 21 ].

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates about 36 million annual deaths from Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), composed mainly of circulatory diseases, neoplasms, chronic respiratory diseases and Diabetes Mellitus (DM), which have risk factors.—smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and obesity—modifiable in common [ 22 , 23 ].

An important characteristic of epidemiological patterns in Brazil concerns the changes in the composition of morbidity and mortality by groups of causes. Thus, the high prevalence of deaths from infectious and parasitic diseases, present at the beginning of the twentieth century, gave way to NCDs and injuries related to accidents and violence [ 24 ].

In Brazil, according to the Ministry of Health [ 23 ], NCDs are among the main causes of hospital admissions, and the financial cost to the Unified Health System (SUS) represents a growing impact. Estimates for Brazil suggest that the loss of productivity at work and the decrease in family income resulting from chronic pathologies such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke involved spending of US$ 4.18 billion between 2006 and 2015 [ 25 ].

The researchers Moura, Carvalho and Silva (2007) [ 26 ] carried out a study on the repercussion of CNCDs in the granting of social security benefits by the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) and identified musculoskeletal and circulatory system diseases as the main causes for granting sick pay.

This reality is also revealed among public servants in several studies that present the main groups of causes of sick leave for this category of workers, with high rates of absenteeism due to diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, mental and behavioral disorders, chronic respiratory diseases and circulatory system diseases [ 7 , 19 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ].

The implementation of strategies to reduce absenteeism is a great challenge for employers, and it is necessary to analyze the events in the workplace to delineate situational diagnoses and guarantee actions to promote worker health. For the authors, the change in the epidemiological profile of illness and the increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases, as shown in Fig. 2 , reveal concern for the global scenario regarding the impact of these diseases on workers' health, due to the growth in the number of lost workdays [ 21 ].

The epidemiological profile of morbidity and mortality in Brazilian workers is characterized by the coexistence of diseases that have an intrinsic relation with working conditions, and in addition, diseases common to the population are observed, which are not etiologically related to the work [ 3 ]. In this reality, it is important to emphasize the importance of the employees performing the Periodic Medical Examination (PME), for the prevention and/or possible early detection of the pathologies that generate the greatest impact on the lost days of work, highlighting the neoplasms [ 22 ].

The importance of performing the PME in the screening of risk factors for chronic non-communicable diseases, such as dyslipidemia, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, alcoholism, and smoking is highlighted. In addition, through the PME, the workers will be guided and sent to participate in the various health promotion programs offered by the institution. Through these strategies, it is possible to reduce the prevalence of diseases of the circulatory system, another important cause of absenteeism, as shown in Fig. 2 .

As for Fig. 3 , which shows data on the PME, despite weaknesses, it is evident that the most satisfactory results of PME adherence occurred in the year 2012, a time when workers composed the Integrated Subsystem Unit (SIASS in Portuguese), as well as the constant discussion in forums, national meetings, and events related to the PASS, in a context of articulation in defense of the strengthening of the actions of attention to workers' health, which may have contributed to the results [ 23 , 24 , 25 ].

On the other hand, the situational diagnosis of low PME adherence throughout the historical series was possibly influenced by the recent history of PASS construction and the negative impact of the lack of structuring, planning, and evaluation of the actions. Plus, the largest investments and training, by the Ministry of Planning of Brazil, were related to the expert area which reflects as the main activity of the PASS [ 4 ].

The implementation of actions of health surveillance and promotion are major challenges for the consolidation of SIASS, since it is still a recent practice to promote health in public sector workplaces. It is necessary to elaborate indicators to support the actions and allow the evaluation of the results, considering that the information generated through indicators consolidates the control and planning of the organizational processes, as well as supports the decision making [ 25 , 26 ].

This is a prevention tool that has been implemented in Brazil with workers from federal agencies to identify risk factors associated with future illnesses. This approach in the federal public service has had an impact on the quality of preventive health, avoiding the removal of workers from their workplace for a cause classified as a possible prevention of this disease. Another aspect is the increasing number of absences that have been occurring in recent years, that is, the numbers of absenteeism due to physical and mental illnesses, a fact that occurs at increasingly younger workers' ages, which reveals the need for special attention and protector follow-up in their quality of life.

The results presented in this study deserve attention and can contribute to discussions between the professionals of the technical team and managers of the SIASS Unit and PROGESP/UFRN, as it is believed that the production of knowledge about the subject under study can provide the University with instruments, as well as other institutions at the federal public service level, through the PME as an indicator for planning and evaluating Occupational Health actions.

Thus, continuous investments in health policies aimed at public servants are suggested, which contributes to the reduction of illness and early retirement, resulting from disability. In this sense, investment in research that allows a better understanding of the relationship between health and work in the public service is also recommended.

It should be noted that this study had some limitations, as the use of self-reported data by employees who completed the PME may underestimate or overestimate the results presented.

In order to meet the proposed objective, there was the occurrence of neoplasms, mental disorders, and diseases of the circulatory system in terms of duration of absenteeism (IDA), which were the causes of the absences with a longer duration, which ratifies the epidemiological importance and the impact of non-communicable chronic diseases on workers' health. The gravity index of absenteeism revealed that the number of lost days of work per year per worker increased over the historical series, as well as the frequency of absences.

With regard to the epidemiological profile of the employees who underwent the PME throughout the historical series, it was possible to identify a significant prevalence of overweight in the population. The working conditions were considered satisfactory in the perception of the workers. It should be noted that this study presented some limitations, since the use of self-reported data by the workers may underestimate or overestimate the presented results.

Also observed through this study is the need to maintain and strengthen the PASS with emphasis on surveillance, aiming at the promotion and protection of the health of the workers, based on the elaboration of the epidemiological health profile and, consequently, the implementation of strategies of positive impact for OHS.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

International Classification of Diseases

Diabetes mellitus

Frequency of Medical Licence

Frequency of Workers on Medical Licence

Occupational Health and Safety

Absenteeism Duration Index

Absence Severity Index

International Organization of Work

Occupational Safety and Health Care Policy

Periodic Medical Examinations

Systemic Arterial Hypertension

Integrated Subsystem Unit

Statistical Package for Social Science

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Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

This study was partially funded by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel—Brazil (CAPES)—Financial Code 001. Funders have no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, publication decision or preparation of the manuscript.

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Nurse. Master in Public Health, Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil

Lídia Maria Costa Araújo Magalhães

Nursing Student. Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, National Council Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Natal, Brazil

Ketyllem Tayanne da Silva Costa & Gustavo Nepomuceno Capistrano

Nursing Student, Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil

Maryanna Damasceno Leal

Nurse. Doctor in Health Sciences. Post Graduate Program. Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil

Fábia Barbosa de Andrade

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L.M.C.A.M. was the principal investigator of the project and responsible for administration, coordination, and funding acquisition. L.M.C.A.M. and F.B.A. were involved in conceptualization and in the study design. L.M.C.A.M. carried out the investigation. L.M.C.A.M., K.T.S.C., G.N.C. and M.D.L. were involved in formal analysis and data curation and wrote the main manuscript text. F.B.A. reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript. The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ketyllem Tayanne da Silva Costa .

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This project was submitted to the Research Ethics Committee of Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte where it was appraised and subsequently approved under opinion no. 1.707.691, from the principles of ethical and legal aspects that govern scientific research on human beings, as recommended by Resolution no. 466/12 [ 8 ], and the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Magalhães, L.M.C.A., Silva Costa, K.T., Capistrano, G.N. et al. A study on occupational health and safety. BMC Public Health 22 , 2186 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14584-w

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I enjoyed this course because it helped me learn more about practical applications and examples of safety in the work place. Many of the assignments allowed me to think about what I would do in real life situations, and I believe that this helped prepare me for the problems I will face as a health and safety supervisor throughout my career. My favorite part of this course were dealing with health and safety problems in which more than one group of employees would be impacted my decision. For example, the machine guards assignment forced me to determine the benefits and disadvantages of removing the guards in addition to the people that would be positively or negatively impacted by this decision. I believe this course could be improved if we are presented with more complex ethical situations that may have more than one answer. A longer class discussion could be used in order to answer the question so we can benefit from learning everyone’s opinion on the subject.

Goetsch, D. L. (2011). Occupational safety and health for technologists, engineers, and managers (7th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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Good Essay On Occupational Health And Safety

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Topic: Workplace , Disaster , Safety , Employee , Accident , Environment , First Aid , Equipment

Published: 02/20/2023

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Top Ten Causes of Accidents in the Work Place

Accidents are part of life and sometimes are uncontrollable and cannot be prevented. In as much as so much effort is put in ensuring that there is a secure and comfortable workplace, sometimes accidents are inevitable. Below are some of the top ten causes of accidents in the workplace a. Fatigue that result from tiredness. b. Anxiety and work related stress c. Distractions d. A hazardous work environment e. Lack of personal safety equipment or instructions f. Boring routinely motions or movements g. Use of alcohol at the workplace h. Violent behavior among employees i. Incorrect workplace design j. Incorrect work It is always said that it is better to prevent an accident than to cure it and the workplace can be made accident free or the number of accidents can be reduced if precaution is taken. To ensure that happens, it is always wise to create a conducive environment for working and communicate to employees all that is expected of them is as far as their safety is concerned. Below are some of the steps that can be taken to reduce the number of workplace accidents; a. It is always wise to draft a company formal safety policies or procedures that will detail the steps that can be taken so as to prevent accidents. That will include instructions that explain how employees are expected to go on with their work schedule, and if they are to follow that, then cases of accidents will have been reduced. b. It is always wise to have somebody put in charge of safety in the workplace. The company or organization can have an overall safety coordinator who is supposed to ensure that all safety precautions are taken seriously (Schultz & Schultz, 2003). Their duties will include safe storage of materials and equipment and that ensuring that the employee workstations are correct and adequate. c. It is also wise that the employer communicates their expectations for a safe and conducive work environment (Stellman, 1998). It is good that the staff is told on a regular basis, the major safety concerns of their organization. That includes among other things, ensuring that they do not come to work while intoxicated or get intoxicated in the workplace. That can be done verbally or through memos. d. Another good way to go about work safety is that employers inspect their facility on a regular basis to ensure that areas that are of concerned are fixed at all times (Reese, 2011). That way the management will be well aware of the areas of concern. e. It is responsible for the employers always to have the right tools availed to the employees so as to avoid instances where they have to improvise tools (Stellman, 1998). For instance, if employees are expected to use high shelving, there should be a strong ladder to climb. Employees should not be made to climb using improvised climbing equipment such as boxes of office furniture. f. Proper housekeeping or a well-kept work environment can go a long way in preventing accidents. It is advisable that workplaces are inspected and kept clean so as to avoid any toppling, slipping or tripping (Mlam- Perez, 2003). All workplaces should be assessed with a keen eye, paying a lot of attention to the layout to ensure that it is not only clean but also well maintained. g. It is good that the employers invests in first aid training for their employees or even have a first aid kit. (Reese, 2011). First aid knowledge will go a long way in helping employees attend to injuries when they happen to prevent the accident from getting out of control. A first aid kit may not help prevent an accident, but it can be used to prevent a minor accident from becoming fatal.

Mlam- Perez, L. A. (2003). HR How- to: Work Place Safety, Everything You Need to Know to Ensure a Safe and Healthy Work Place. Chicago: CCH Reese, C. D. (2011). Accident/Incident Prevention Techniques. 2/e. New York: Taylor & Francis Schultz, D. & Schultz, E. S. (2010). Psychology and Work Today: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology. 10/e. New York: Routledge. Stellman, J. M. (1998). Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety. 4/e. Geneva: International Labor Office

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1.1: Reflection - Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health

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Kimberly Mosley
Long Beach City College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)

It's Your Turn

New World of Work (NWOW) Assessment: What kind of worker are you? How do you view worker safety?

Self awareness.

As we begin our exploration of work it is only fitting that you reflect on your experiences and perspectives of and with work. One of your first activities was to introduce yourself and share some of your background. This next activity is one designed to have you get a better understanding of why you may have certain views on work and worker safety, being ever mindful of who you are.

The Keirsey assessment is one of many types of personality profiles that seek to place individuals in groups with specific traits that may align with career paths or competencies. It is therefore reasonable that personality traits may also shape how you will view and approach safety in the workplace.

Access the Keirsey Assessment here or the 16personalities assessment and record your results. If you use the 16personalities assessment you will need to contrast your results with slides 6 and 17 below to determine which quadrant you belong. You may also just speak to your attribute without associating with it with the Keirsey temperament.

Reflect on your assessment by choosing one of the self image attributes (slide 17) of the Keirsey Overview sharing how that attribute would make you a safer worker. Provide detail, minimum one paragraph.

Using the Four Keirsey Temperaments

Seeing yourself in the four temperaments, nwow-do you value all workers, social diversity.

Respecting and valuing differences is a basic tenet for the future of work. How you view yourself and co-workers shapes your perspective on who matters and what matters in a work setting. When there are differences in who matters, there will be challenges to keeping all workers safe. The following personal reflection activities are designed to encourage you to value differences to ensure all workers matter.

Gender and Ethnicity

Use the the following excerpts from the NWOW social diversity lesson 1 to complete the questionnaire and class discussion at the end of the lesson.

Attributes of Social Diversity Awareness

Respectful of differences in others’ backgrounds and beliefs in local communities and the world at large.
Values diversity in the workplace, including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and age. Understands these differences can actually improve products, services, or work processes.

Understanding Sex and Gender

Gendering in the workplace.

There are still inequalities that exist in modern work environments for the types of jobs considered more appropriate for men and women.
Can you name some examples of types of work where you feel there is a stereotype of it being a “male” job or a “female” job?
There are also inequalities in pay scales for men and women occupying the same positions.
The 2017 Economic Justice Report showed a 20% wage gap between men and women in the United States. It estimated that based on the rate of pay from 1960-2015, women are not projected to reach pay equity until 2059.
This pay gap increases for both women and men of color.

Understanding Race and Ethnicity

Class activity.

Having open discussions and striving to understand others from their own perspective, not from yours, is the first step in Social/Diversity Awareness.

What is your global literacy quotient? Take the Quiz. The passing score averages 30%

Next answer the following questions:

What is your self-identified ethnicity?
Have you ever felt you were defined by gender and/or race, and what impact did this have on you?
How do discussions of what makes us different help expand the idea of what is “normal”?
Is it important to include physical/cognitive impairments and workforce generation in the conversation of what is "normal" in Social Diversity?

Remember, you want to avoid situations like this:

Diversity Awareness

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BMC Public Health

A study on occupational health and safety

Lídia maria costa araújo magalhães.

1 Nurse. Master in Public Health, Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil

Ketyllem Tayanne da Silva Costa

2 Nursing Student. Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, National Council Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Natal, Brazil

Gustavo Nepomuceno Capistrano

Maryanna damasceno leal.

3 Nursing Student, Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil

Fábia Barbosa de Andrade

4 Nurse. Doctor in Health Sciences. Post Graduate Program. Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil

Associated Data

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

This study aimed to evaluate and describe the indicators of occupational health, with a focus on the medical expertise and periodic medical examination.

This is exploratory-descriptive, cross-sectional, documentary, quantitative, and retrospective research, in the historical series: 2011 to 2015.

Conclusions

Introduction

Materials and methods

The results showed that there were 4,293 (35%) departures from administrative records and 7,946 (65%) absences from work granted by expert examination.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is 12889_2022_14584_Fig1_HTML.jpg

Source: Elaborated by the Authors

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is 12889_2022_14584_Fig2_HTML.jpg

Distribution of IDA, 2011–2015. Natal/RN, Brazil, 2017. Legend: C = ICD.10 chapter.

Source: Elaborated by the author

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is 12889_2022_14584_Fig3_HTML.jpg

Distribution of call, adhesion, non-adhesion, and coverage ratio to PME, 2011–2015. Natal/RN, Brazil, 2017.

Source: Elaborated by the authors

It can be observed that the call-up ratio increased by 42.0% from 2011 (0.49) to 2012 (0.91). From the year 2013 (0.84), there were oscillations characterized by drop and growth in the calls.

Risk factors associated with hypertension, 2011–2015. Natal/RN, Brazil, 2017

OR Odds ratio, p P value

Risk factors associated with fast pace of work, 2011–2015, Natal/RN, Brazil, 2017

Table Table1 1 shows the distribution of the aforementioned risk factors associated with SAH. It is pointed out that 60.6% (3,143) of the workers that performed the EMP presented non-ideal weight; 58.7% (3,044) practiced some type of physical activity; 70.8% (3,670) denied alcohol use; 96.5% (5.005) did not smoke; 93.9% (4,870) did not have diabetes mellitus (DM); and 66.6% (3,453) did not have dyslipidemia. The association between hypertension and all correlated variables was significant at p < 0.001. As for the Odds Ratio calculation, we considered the hypertension disease in relation to the following variables: BMI, sedentary lifestyle, alcoholism, smoking, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. The OR calculation does not imply a cause-and-effect relationship, it only suggests that there is an association.

In Table Table2, 2 , it is possible to observe that 35.9% of the interviewed workers are not adequate for their activities. In addition, 16.4% report loud noise in the workplace and 27.8% do not have adequate lighting. Social factors were also obtained, noting that 3.7% of the workers surveyed say they do not have a good relationship with their co-workers, while 4.4% do not have a good relationship with their boss and 2.5% show dissatisfaction with what they are doing.

It should be noted that this study had some limitations, as the use of self-reported data by employees who completed the PME may underestimate or overestimate the results presented.

Acknowledgements

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Authors’ contributions.

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Declarations.

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Advancing social justice, promoting decent work ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations

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A study on occupational health and safety

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BMC Public Health

Occupational Safety and Health, Essay Example

Related Essay Samples & Examples

Utilitarianism and Its Applications, Essay Example

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Good Essay On Occupational Health And Safety

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Cite this page

Other Pages

1.1: Reflection - Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health

New World of Work (NWOW) Assessment: What kind of worker are you? How do you view worker safety?

Using the Four Keirsey Temperaments

Gender and Ethnicity

Understanding Sex and Gender

Understanding Race and Ethnicity

A study on occupational health and safety

Ketyllem Tayanne da Silva Costa

Gustavo Nepomuceno Capistrano

Fábia Barbosa de Andrade

Associated Data

Conclusions

Introduction

Materials and methods

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Availability of data and materials

Migrated Content

Related content

Occupational Safety and Health Act - OSHA

Occupational Safety

Related Essays