DOSHTI: Importance of Health, Safety and Environmental Management

The Importance of Health, Safety and Environmental Management

Safety is everyone's responsibility. Employees are the most important resources of an organization. An employer has legal responsibilities to ensure the health and safety of its employees and others on the work site. A safe and healthy workplace has low risks of injuries or damage to property and low incidents of illness, injury and disability in its workforce. The assurance of safety in the workplace is an essential function and responsibility of employers.

As such, safety management in the office is something to take seriously, because there are many devastating effects that can come from unsafe, or hazardous, work environments.

Management

Safety is everyone's responsibility. However, management is responsible for the formation and implementation of safety and training programs meant to keep employees safe and well. Employers need to know and understand the safety regulations that pertain to their industry and make sure that their work sites follow recommended guidelines.

Employees

Employees need to understand the procedures and policies of the organization and their responsibilities to themselves and their co-worker’s. When employees feel an organization is interested in their overall well-being, they are more motivated and have stronger feelings of loyalty to the organization.

Safety Management

Safety Management means that a company evaluates safety concerns and comes up with ways to minimize exposure to health and safety threats in the workplace. Safety management functions to keep employees and employers safe. It is an integral part of business, because employers who do not take proper precautionary measures to ensure safety are risking accidents and injuries at work.

Safety Protocols

Employers may adopt safety protocols to institute in their places of work, to increase employee safety practices. Posting signs and symbols for safety risks is another way that employers can warn employees of a potentially hazardous situation. Holding safety trainings at work is a good way to make sure employees are properly trained and educated about their company's safety policies and standards.

Payback

Good health and safety practices can improve an organization's prominence with various stakeholders. The company's perception and standing with customers, the local community and employees can be enhanced by having positive safety and health policies and programs in place.

Lost Productivity

If a worker is injured on the job, it can cost the company in terms of lost manhours, increased insurance costs, workers' compensation premiums and legal costs. Absenteeism drops when employers take steps to implement effective safety and wellness programs.

Benefits

Industrial accidents create not only personal grief and distress but also huge financial costs and unwelcome negative publicity for the organisation and industry concerned. They are of great interest and concern to all of the organisation’s stakeholders e.g. employees, managers, shareholders, local residents and businesses, and suppliers.

In this modern Technical Society, people will not allow organisations to ignore the impact of their activities on surrounding communities. Not all of the stakeholders have the same interests. In meeting their health, safety and environmental responsibilities, businesses have to strike a balance between conflicting interests. When a firm puts forward a safety recommendation, its shareholders will want to know the cost of implementing it, whilst employees are more likely to ask how many illnesses, injuries or deaths it is likely to prevent each year.

Safety and Wellness Programs

The Organisation must introduce health promotion and wellness programs that prove successful for many companies and employees. Such programs can result in reduce absenteeism, increase employee retention, reduce health care costs and employee satisfaction.

Today, socially responsible organisations go beyond these standards. They monitor and evaluate their performance and develop approaches to health and safety that reflect best practice across each industry in which they operate.