2. Workplace Safety
• No job is without risk, but many dangers are preventable
or could be minimised.
• The ‘Fatal Four’ are falls, electrocution, struck by object,
and caught-in/between (as in a cave-in or excavation
accident).
• Safety measures are vital, so too is a caring response &
proper compensation for work related injuries &
disabilities. (In India, the Workmens Compensation Act
takes care of this issue for workers)
3. Workplace Violence
• Millions of workers experience violence or the treat violence
in their workplaces every year. These crimes range from
physical assaults to robbery and homicide. Although the
numbers of such crimes have significantly declined in recent
years in developed nations, workplace violence is increasing in
third-world countries.
• Workers in – such as nurses, utility
workers, taxi drivers, letter carriers, and especially those who
work alone or at night – are particularly vulnerable. Unlike
other crimes, the greatest proportions of these crimes are
committed by strangers….Decreasing the occurence of these
crimes is a growing concern for employers & employees
worldwide.
5. The Aruna Shanbagh Case
• On the night of November 27, 1973, while working as a junior
nurse at KEM Hospital in Mumbai's Parel area, Aruna was
brutally assaulted while changing clothes by a ward boy,
Sohanlal Bhartha Walmiki, who used a dog chain to throttle
her, cutting off blood and oxygen supply to her brain, resulting
in injuries to the brain stem and cervical chord injury that left
her in a vegetative state since then.
• She died on May 18, 2015. She was 67.
• Meanwhile, municipal authorities have asked relatives of
Shanbag to contact the hospital staff. Her last known relative,
a sister, passed away a few years ago.
6. The Aruna Shanbagh Case
• In January 2011, the Supreme Court of India had responded to
the plea for euthanasia filed by Aruna's friend and journalist
Pinki Virani, by setting up a medical panel to examine her. The
court turned down the mercy killing petition, saying the
hospital employees were "taking excellent care of her and
wanted her to live".
• Virani had narrated the story of the ailing nurse, who hailed from
Haldipur in Uttar Kannada, in her 1998 non-fiction book called
'Aruna's Story', while Duttakumar Desai wrote the Marathi play,
'Katha Arunachi' in 1994-95, which was staged by theatre director
Vinay Apte in 2002.
7. The Aruna Shanbagh Case
• “Why should we
judge him for his
past? He is good to
the children. In the
evenings, he gathers
them in the lane and
tells them stories. He
still works hard. He
has served his
sentence. What more
should he do?”
8. What can these employers do to help
protect these employees?
• Provide for employees so they know what conduct
is not acceptable, what to do if they witness or are subjected to
workplace violence, and how to protect themselves.
• . Where appropriate to the business, install
video surveillance, extra lighting, and alarm systems and minimize
access by outsiders through identification badges, electronic keys,
and guards.
• Instruct employees where they feel
. Introduce a “buddy system” or provide an escort service or
police assistance in potentially dangerous situations or at night.
• with cellular phones and hand-held alarms or noise
devices, and require them to prepare a daily work plan and keep a
throughout the day.
9. How can the employees protect
themselves?
• Learn how to
by attending
personal safety training programs.
• to any concerns about
safety or security and
immediately in writing.
• Avoid
or situations whenever possible.
10. What should employers do following an
incident of workplace violence?
• Encourage employees all incidents and threats of
workplace violence.
• Provide after the incident.
• violent incidents to the local promptly.
• of their to prosecute perpetrators.
• of the incident with staff members.
about ways to avoid similar situations in
the future.
• Offer stress debriefing sessions and services to
help workers recover from a violent incident.
• , monitor trends in violent
incidents by type or circumstance, and institute corrective actions.
• during regular employee meetings.
