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Health---Safety---An-overview
Most countries have some form of Health & Safety at Work legislation. The legislation was needed to reduce the number of workplace accidents and fatalities
Health & safety now have to be factored into costs for any company. The company cannot allow unsafe practices to go on, without being liable in law for any accidents that happen. That's the theory anyway.
In fact spending in many companies on health and safety is budget limited, rather than being needs defined. Managers talk the talk, but sometimes that is as far as they go. Memos are issued and the individual managers seem to think that the company is protected against legal liability because they have proof that certain practices have been banned.
The legal position is much more complex, but the company must usually demonstrate that safety policy pervades every aspect of the company, that employees complaints are listened to and acted upon.
Health & Safety at work has improved and continues to improve as management and workers learn about their responsibilities. Employees are accepting that they are responsible for their own safety; that they must use safety equipment that the company provides, that they must bring unsafe working practices to the attention of management.
Gone are the days when an employee could be sacked for pointing out a safety hazard. Now the employee must be listened to. If management judges the complaint a fair one then a safer way of working must be found.
Stress is increasingly being recognized as a source of accidents at work and companies must act to remove sources of excessive stress. This is still a contentious area, with employers arguing that a certain amount of stress is inherent in any work-place environment. The courts still have to rule on what “reasonable stress” is.
Examples of excessive stress are often obvious and agreed between labor and management, like company employees being required to drive 14 or 15 hours in a day. This case is so obvious that legal restrictions on the number of hours an employee can drive for are now in place. It is the marginal cases where “reasonableness” is still being debated.
Health & Safety is a worrying issue for many.
This site will help you find out more. If you are looking for a more in depth treatment of Health & Safety Issues then try this resource site. |
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