EMPLOYEE

SAFETY AND
HEALTH
Reporter:

Nelita C. Alura
Ph.D.T.M. Student

Subject:
Professor:

TM 725 (Personnel Management)

Dr. Rodulfo Burgos

WHAT IS HEALTH AND

SAFETY

Health refers to that condition which indicates that a

person is free of illness, injury, or mental and
emotional problems that impair normal human
activity. Maintaining the overall well being of an
individual is referred to as health maintenance and
management.

Safety may be defined as freedom from danger or

risk. Excluded in this definition is the concern about
the mental and emotional well-being of the
employee.

Health and Safety

Performance will depend much on the physical and

mental condition of workers.
Workplaces that are not safe can seriously affect the
performance of even most healthy employees.
Work interruption due to accidents, illness, and
death affects productivity.
As such, there is a need to minimize if not to prevent
the occurrence of such incidents. Maintaining sound
policies concerning health and safety is an important
requirement.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR

HEALTH AND SAFETY?

Safety and health is too important and they

must be the concern of every personnel in
the organization.
Responsibility for employee safety and
health, however, are normally assigned to
managers and supervisors. This is expected
because they are in direct contact with
employees.

CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS AND

ILLNESSES IN THE
WORKPLACE
Classification of causes attributed to workrelated accidents and illnesses.

Tasks,
Working conditions, and
Nature of the employees.

Tasks

There are tasks or jobs that are more risky than

others. For example, the risk of accidents is high for
those working in the offshore oil drilling projects.
Clerical jobs, on the contrary, are expected to be
less susceptible to accidents.
Some tasks require handling of dangerous
chemicals like dyeing textiles and filling LPG tanks.
Apart from dangerous chemicals, some tasks
require the use of equipment that exposes the
workers to the possibility of accidents.

Working Conditions
Refer to the environment where the workers perform their jobs.
Accidents and illnesses may be caused by poor working conditions,
which include:
Inappropriate design of the building
Machines that are incorrectly installed
Lack of protective gear
Fatigue as a result of long work hours
Noise
Poor lighting
Boredom
Fighting
Daydreaming
Alcoholism

Nature of Employees
Individuals are different from one another.
Temperament, attitude and behavior differ from
person to person and what the individual
accomplishes will depend much on this factors.

Accident repeaters (persons who have more

accidents than the average) may be classified as
either:

Impulsive and irresponsible people who are compelled

towards accidents; or
People with physiological deficiencies, such as poor
reaction times and inadequate muscular coordination.

PREVENTING ACCIDENTS

Accidents may be prevented with the

adaptation of certain strategies, which include
the following:

Employee selection
Employee training
Safety incentive programs
Safety audits
Accident investigation
Safety committees

Employee Selection

Accidents in the workplaces may be reduced

to a great extent if accident-prone individuals
are not hired. This may be done through the
use of effective selection methods.
Personality tests are useful in determining the
characteristics of job applicants and may be
used as basis for screening out individuals
who are deemed accident-prone.

Employee Training
Employees may be trained to perform safe and
proper job procedures.
The employees may also be trained in the use of
emergency first-aid equipment as well as personal
safety equipment. Examples of personal safety
equipment are:

Safety glass and goggles for welders

Safety shoes and gloves for handlers of hazardous
chemicals
Hard hats for construction workers
Hair protectors for some types of factory work
Safety belts for drivers

Safety Incentive Programs

In the promotion of safety in the workplace,

employee motivation is an important factor.
The organization may adapt a safety
standard that will be used as basis for
granting rewards.
It is difficult to pinpoint the safety record of
each individual, then the group with the best
safety record is rewarded.

Safety Audit

A safety audit is one undertaken to determine

unsafe job behaviors aimed to prevent unsafe
acts on the part of the employees. In a safety
audit, the supervisor or the safety committee
observe employees while at work and correct
unsafe behavior.

Accident and Investigation

One of the means used in accident

prevention is the determination of the cause
of accident, if one has occurred.
When the cause is determined through
investigation, measures may be undertaken
to eliminate the cause and, thus, prevent an
accident from happening.
Minor accidents may be investigated by the
supervisor.

Safety Committees
A safety committee is one, which involves workers
in safety.
The safety committee performs the following tasks:

Assist with inspections and accident investigations;

Conduct safety meetings;
Answer workers questions about safety programs;
Bring workers safety concerns to managements
attention;
Help develop safety incentive programs; and
Develop ideas to improve workplace safety.

PROTECTING EMPLOYEE
HEALTH
Protecting the health of employee is a
concern as important as preventing
accidents. This is made possible through
the following:

Maintaining a healthy work environment;

Adaptation of the preventive approach to health
maintaining; and
Maintaining health services for employees.

A healthy Work
Environment
To a great extent, the work environment affects the
health of employees. This consists of whatever the
employees comes in contact with during the
course of work. The work environment may be
characterized by any or a combination of the
following:

Exposure to chemicals
Air pollution in the workplace
Exposure to dangerous rays emitted by machines and
equipment.
Exposure to sick persons

The Preventive Approach to

health Maintenance
It is a well-established dictum that prevention is
better than cure.
The preventive approach to health maintenance
involves encouraging employees to make lifestyle
changes through:

better nutrition,
regular exercise programs,
abstinence from smoking and alcohol,
stress counseling, and
annual physical examination.

Experts agree that when a persons nutrition is

deficient, his physiological and psychological wellbeing is placed at a great risk
The lack of exercise places the health of many
employees in jeopardy. Health conscious persons
are well aware of the benefits of exercise.
Smoking and alcoholism have long been
established as health hazards. Companies can
formulate policies to curb the ill effects of smoking
and the use of alcohol.
Stress counseling is a way of helping employees
copes with the psychological demands of their jobs.
An elaboration of this topic is presented shortly.

The annual physical examination is a very

useful means of helping employees avoid
contracting diseases or prevent the
progression of existing ones. The company
must provide some assistance in the form of
the following.

Blood tests,
Urinalysis,
Stool examination,
Chest X-ray,
ECG,
Stress test, and
Some others

The Management of Stress

Stress is a very important component of the

activity of every employee.
If stress in the workplace is not managed
properly, it can compromise the productivity
of the organization as a whole.
If the stress is mild, it even helps motivate the
workers. Deadline, quotas, and the presence
of supervisors are sources of mild stress.
When a worker is given a deadline, for
instance, the stress caused by it prods him to
finish his work within the required time.

Stress defined
- is the strain a person experiences from the
pressure of outside forces.
- is the result of an interaction between a person
and the environment, in which the person believes
the situation to be overwhelming and dangerous to
this or her well-being.
Types of Stress
- Stress may be physiological or psychological
- It is physiological when the effects of the stressor
includes the chemical, neurological, or any general
body response.
- It is psychological when it affects the emotional,
behavioral, mental, or social aspects of an
individuals health.

Indicators of Stress.
The emotional indicators of stress include:

Prolonged unhappiness or boredom,

Explosive anger in reaction to minor difficulties, and
A pessimistic view of life

Some of the behavioral indicators of stress are the

following

Insomina,
Difficulty in concentrating,
A feeling of hyperactivity, and
Excessive use of alcohol or drugs.

When left unchecked, the physical manifestations

of stress progresses into four stages as follows

Stage one trembling, twitching, or foot or finger

tapping;
Stage two sweating palms, nausea, nervous stomach,
or rapid breathing;
Stage three variable heartbeat rate, erratic blood
pressure, oversecretion of stomach acids, and breath
holding; and
Stage four headaches, ulcers, asthma, or
hypertension.

Potential Sources of Stress.

Environmental,
Organizational, and
Individual

The organization is a great potential source of

stress for the employee. Among the organization
factors that may confront the worker relate to:

his or her job

his or her role in the organization
interpersonal demands created by other employees
excessive rules and lack of participation in decisions
leadership styles that breed tension, fear, and anxiety
among employees

Individual Approaches to Stress Management.

Increasing physical exercise,

Relaxation training, and
Expanding the social support network.

Organizational Approaches to
Stress Management

The organization has several available

strategies in stress management. These are
as follows:

affective selection and training procedures to help

ensure that the workers are really qualified to do their
respective jobs;
clearly written job description to reduce worker
anxiety regarding job responsibilities;
clearly stated performance expectations to reduce
worker stress; and
effective rewards system to relieve stress regarding
pay expectations.

Increasing formal organizational

communication with employees to reduce
worker uncertainty by lessening role
ambiguity and role conflict;
Increasing employee involvement in
decision-making; and
Redesigning jobs so employees can have
more responsibility, more meaningful work,
more autonomy, and increased feedback,
which result to reduced stress.

ORGANIZING FOR SAFETY

AND HEALTH
The concern for safety and health may be pursued
by using any of the following organizational
strategies:

As separate units in any organizational level, or

As combination units in any organizational level.

As separate units, the health and safety functions

may be directly attached to either the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), or to a concerned middle
manager
The other strategy is to combine health and
functions as one unit and be made to report to any
of the three management levels.

THE SAFETY AND HEALTH FUNCTIONS AS SEPARATE UNITS

Chief Executive
Officer

employee
safety

employee
health

LEVEL 3

employee
functions

Middle Manager
LEVEL 2

employee
safety

employee
health

employee
functions

Lower Manager
LEVEL 1

employee
safety

employee
health

employee
functions

THE SAFETY AND HEALTH FUNCTIONS COMBINED AT VARIOUS LEVELS

Chief Executive
Officer

employee
safety and health

LEVEL 3

other
functions

Human Resource
Department

employee
safety and health

LEVEL 2

other
functions

Supervisor
LEVEL 1

employee
safety and health

other
functions

EVALUATING HEALTH AND SAFETY

PROGRAMS
Before evaluating health and safety
programs, the following must be in place:

A reliable recording system concerning

accidents and illnesses;
An effective reporting system;
Well-developed rules and procedures; and
A system of rewards for effective management
of the health and safety function.

The health and safety programs may be

evaluated through cost-benefit analysis.

THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND

SAFETY LAW
Recognizing the importance of health and safety in
the workplaces, the government incorporated in
the Labor Code a pertinent chapter (Chapter II,
Occupational Health and Safety). This particular
chapter consists of four articles (Articles 162 to
165), which deal with the following:

The mandatory enforcement of occupational health and

safety standards;
The development and implementation of training
programs relating to occupational safety and industrial
health; and
The assignment of the Department of Labor as
administrator and enforcer of occupational and safety
and health laws, regulations, and standards.

To facilitate implementation of the Occupational Health and

Safety Law, the implementing Rules (Rule II, Occupational
Health and Safety) were provided.
Rule II provides elaboration on the following:
what activities and undertakings are covered;
general occupational health and safety standards;
the proposed Occupational Health and Safety Code and the
affectivity of existing standards;
work conditions not covered by standards;
training provided by the company to its personnel regarding
safety and health;
general duties of workers;
duties of other persons;
administration and enforcement;
research; and
continuous training provided by the Bureau of Labor
Standards.

Reference:

Medina, Roberto G. 2006. Personnel and

Human Resources Management. Rex Book
Store Inc.