Safety and health in the workplace involves protecting employees from injuries from accidents and illness. The human resource manager is responsible for coordinating safety and health programs to address contemporary issues like workplace violence, indoor air quality, repetitive stress injuries, and stress. Programs to address these issues include wellness programs, physical fitness programs, substance abuse programs, and employee assistance programs.

1. Safety
and
health

2. Nature and role of safety and
health
 Safety involves protecting employees from injuries
caused by work-related accidents
 Health refers to employee’s freedom from physical or
emotional illness
 Problems in these areas seriously affect the productivity
and quality of work life
 management has both legal and moral responsibilities
to provide a safe and healthy workplace
 work-related accidents, injuries, and illnesses are costly
 Human resource manager is responsible for
coordinating and monitoring safety and health programs

3. Contemporary Health and
Safety Issues
workplace
violence
indoor
air quality
smoke-free
environment
repetitive
stress
injuries
STRESS!

4.  at-risk workers are those who exchange money and/or interact
primarily with the public, make deliveries, work alone or in small
groups, and work late-night or early morning hours
 recommended HRM actions:
1. develop a plan, including review of policies and employee
treatment; respect to workers must be given
2. train supervisors to identify and deal with troubled employees
3. implement stronger security mechanisms
4. prepare employees to deal with violent situations
workplace
violence

5.  a building is “sick” if it contains harmful airborne chemicals or
indoor pollution
 suggestions for keeping the environment healthy:
1. make sure workers get enough fresh air
2. avoid suspect building materials and furnishings
3. test new buildings for toxins before occupancy
4. provide a smoke-free environment
5. keep air ducts clean and dry
6. pay attention to workers’ complaints
indoor
air
quality

6. • smoke-free policies at work include banning smoking or
restricting it to properly ventilated designated areas
• some employers offer incentives and help for employees
to stop smoking
Costs of smokers:
 increased health premiums
 absenteeism
 lost productivity due to smoke breaks
 maintenance costs
 harm to coworkers by second-hand smoke
smoke-free
environment

7.  injuries resulting from continuous, repetitive movements,
such as typing
 ergonomics, or fitting the work environment to the
individual, can prevent repetitive motion injuries
The study of human interaction with tasks, equipment, tools and
physical environment
.
repetitive
stress
injuries

8.  The body’s nonspecific reaction to any demand made on it
 Affects people in different ways
Symptoms of stress:
 physiological (increased blood pressure, headaches,
increased pulse rate) are the most difficult to observe
 psychological (increased tension and anxiety, boredom,
procrastination) can lead to productivity decreases
 behavioral (increased smoking or substance consumption,
sleep disorders) also affect the organization
STRESS!

9. Common Causes of Stress
 Task demands - job design,
working conditions, work
quotas.
 Role demands - conflicts,
overload and ambiguity.
 Interpersonal demands: lack
of social support
and poor interpersonal
relationships.
 Organizational structure
 Organizational leadership
 Family issues
 Personal economic
problems
 Inherent personality
 characteristics

10. How to deal with health and
safety issues
Programs specifically designed to deal with stress and
related problems include wellness, physical fitness,
substance abuse and employee assistance programs
Wellness programs:
 A view that health is dependent on medical care
 Needs assessment: firms should conduct a needs
assessment before implementing a wellness program
in order to address appropriate employee health needs
 Medical records such as blood pressure checks,
cholesterol level etc
 Absenteeism rates

11. Physical fitness programs:
 Firms have either fitness centers or provide subsidies for
fitness center membership
 There is increasing evidence that if employees stick to
company’s fitness programs, they will experience better
health
Substance abuse programs:
 Deals with the disastrous events like alcohol abuse, use
of drugs etc
 Drug-free legislation and workplace programs

12. Employee assistance programs (EAPs):
A comprehensive approach that many
organizations have taken to deal with burnout,
alcohol and drug abuse and other emotional
disturbances
 provides employees visits with counselors at
company expense; usually visits are off-site
 confidentiality is guaranteed